in Defense, Game Day, Offense, Pat Narduzzi, Pitt Football, Players, Podcasts, Statistics, Writing 274 Words

POV Sunday Podcast: 2016 Season Wrap-Up

Now that the 2016 football season is over we can talk about the ups and downs, good and bad, positive and negatives and who did well and who fell short of what we expected of them.  I’ll have a few controversial thoughts about this team and I’m sure we will have time to talk about it, but I’ll try not to repeat too much of what we’ve already written and discussed.

It is 60 minutes long but it’s Sunday and what else do you have to do?  Especially because it’s cloudy and cold in Pittsburgh.

Something not covered in the podcast; below is the 2017 recruiting class listing as it stand this morning (from Rivals.com). 

rivals-1

rivals-2

 I have to say that I’m not overly impressed with the class so far. I see some solid performers there who may turn out to be very good ones; DB Ford is one as are RB Sibley, LB Cam Bright, TE Reeves … and obviously there are starters in that group since there basically has to be.  But we need to have more sure bets in the pipeline to grow better as a team; one four-star recruit is just not enough.

Now will see what this next week or two brings in before the kids sign on the dotted line on LOI day but if we don’t land some big fish soon I think we are two recruiting classes behind being able to have a real championship caliber team.

Enjoy and I’ll have some more articles up this week – I’m trying to get back to one a day.

 

112 thoughts on “POV Sunday Podcast: 2016 Season Wrap-Up”

  2. but i do like the focus out of state in places like oh, md, nj, va and fl.
    if you ask me wpial is overrated

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  3. The overated WPIAL gave us Bisno, Johnson, Bookser, Orndoff and Parrish on our offensive line. Price and Jarrett on the defensive line. Boyd, Hamlin, Whitehead, Paris Ford. Conner from Erie. Many important pieces of our success.

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  4. 28 min mark.

    Pride is Conklin and Narduzzi’s fault. Pride got them one of Nation’s worst defense.

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  6. If you look outside wpial, you will find 4 stars. I’m not saying ignore the wpial but if we are overdependent on it, you will fail. Pitt needs to be more than a regional player. They need to be East Coast. And yes – it is over-rated compared to the quality you will find in other states. wpial = slow

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  7. Sorry, this belonged on BB POST. Please be careful about optimism over Stallings recruiting class. Rating based more on quantity than quality. Time will tell.

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  8. PSN reported late this morning that Rivals just raised Charles Reeves from 3 star to 4 star. That at least gives us two 4 stars and here’s hoping they both perform like 5 stars at Pitt

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  9. I certainly agree we need to recruit nationally. But important to keep our share of the home town kids at home. If WPIAL is so overated why is ND who can recruit anywhere taking all these kids from the WPIAL?

    Jurkovec may be the best QB to come out of the WPIAL since Marino.

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  11. important to build a wall like wanny said. but also important to reach outside WPA. There will always be kids in wpial infatuated with tOSU, Michigan or the Domers. Domers can and will always pick off a kid or two. but if you want to be a hometown hero and make some noise, local kids need to stay home. Few have gone on and done great things elsewhere. The few you know are generally HOF’s though.

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  12. Dixon was smart enough to leave. His career is now re-energized. The expectations and bar set very low at TCU. Plus TCU is doing whatever they can to help him succeed. Now what is Pitt doing?
    1. Hired a re-tread who is on the decline
    2. Hired an AD that never had any intention on staying and probably soon realized the toxic culture would work against his success
    3. Seems ambivalent towards the fast declining attendance numbers at the Pete and lack of enthusiasm by the fans
    4. Seems to accept mediocrity once again
    5. SOP

    Now a real AD (Tressell) can change this. A leader that can stand up to the BOT. A leader that can purge the toxic culture. A leader that can partner with Gallagher.

    But Pitt will hire a search firm and pick an inexperienced, gutless candidate to lead Pitt towards endless mediocrity.

    Times like this I just want to say F U Pitt.

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  13. Glad we have such a Athletic Guru leading us again in the Pharmacy School Guy. LOL.

    You called Stallings a retread. That would mean he actually did something in his career. He is a neverbeeen. Worse than a retread and looks like he should star in a AARP Ad.

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  14. In recent years the WPIAL has really put some quality players out there. I agree that the quantity may be down a little but over-all I think WPA is still a fertile ground for high school players and for coaches to recruit from.

    The podcast was fun to listen to again, it’s become a nice Sunday morning addition to my old time habit of reading the Sunday paper.

    However and then I will let this go fore-ever. It caused me to go back and FINALLY re-watch the bowl game over again because I just don’t buy the theory that PITT was not ready to play that game.

    NW gets the opening kickoff and PITT stops them

    PITT gets the ball and drives down the field where Henderson is stopped for an 8yard loss followed by Orndorf dropping a pass. PITT kicks a field goal.

    NW is again stopped and has to punt.

    PITT takes the ball down to the 6 yard line where Canada calls for the tackle pass. Next play Conner runs up the middle to the 2 yard line followed by Aston slip down on 3rd and goal.

    NW gets a big run and takes the ball for a TD

    PITT gets the ball back and on 2 plays have the ball at the NW 8. After a 3 yard run Orndorf is called for illegal motion taking the ball to the 10 yard line where NP throws an interception on 2 and goal.

    This takes us to the 13:00 minute mark of the second quarter.

    I get it that we can all see things a little differently and depending on our own agenda’s maybe they become a little askew, this includes myself of course.

    I just didn’t see a team that was not ready to play that game. imo

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  15. Watch the HUDL highlight video of Deslin Alexandre. What do you guys think? A Rivals 5.5? I don’t think PN thinks that rating is right.

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  16. For you to run down UPitt
    Kevin Stalling
    * 3 x SEC Coach of the year
    * 455 wins 25th most active coaches
    * 9 x NCAA tourney. Final 8 2x
    * 3x Conf Champs
    * 8 NBA Draft picks

    Easy to hit a man when he’s down!

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  17. Stallings did some very good things at Vandy. But I believe he’s past his peak. Thats why I am disappointed in the hiring. Pitt need a fresh face. A younger face with ties to East Coast cities. Take a flyer on a guy that is relentless at recruiting and plays an exciting brand both on O and D. The new AD will relieve Stallings in 2 years anyway.

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  18. Dan72 – LOL

    He was SEac Coach of the Year in the 90’s. That was the worst conference in hoops then. That is like saying he is the prettiest of the fat girls. Made the tourney 9 times over 30 years and that is supposed to be a positive????? 30
    Years of coaching. That is SOP mediocre mindset. Who cant win 455 games over 30 years when you buy 15 a year against turd schools. He sucks. Sorry. If he was on your staff you would fire him. Actually you are smart enough you would never of hired him. Worst coach in D1. Down 30 3 games in a row. It is comical. All while Dixon is moving and shaking. Only Pitt.

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  19. What the hell did he do at Vandy???? Worst Conf in Hoops and he was there forever. Gosh is the bar low for you folks. Please let me work for you.

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  22. And he was only SEC coach of year 2 times. So prettiest of the fat girls only 2 times in 17 years.

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  23. The Pete will be empty and laughing stock. New AD if they have balls will fire him at end of year. Again, if they have testicles.

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  25. Ike – I was talking about the demeanor of the kids and staff on the sidelines. If you were there it was different than what was on TV – I watched the game in its entirety on ESPN DVR.

    As I said – that wasn’t just my thoughts as the game was being played but a topic of discussion. You would have thought after beating the #2 team in the country then going into a bowl game they would have been more excited – but it didn’t seem to be the case.

    The bottom line with that game is we should have put 21 points in the 1st quarter against that team… instead here is what we did.

    1st and 10 at PITT 42

(12:52 - 1st) Nathan Peterman pass complete to Dontez Ford for 38 yds to the Nwest 20 for a 1ST down
1st and 10 at NW 20

(12:30 - 1st) Quadree Henderson run for a loss of 8 yards to the Nwest 28 Quadree Henderson fumbled, recovered by Pitt Quadree Henderson
2nd and 18 at NW 28

(12:13 - 1st) Nathan Peterman pass incomplete to Scott Orndoff
3rd and 18 at NW 28

(11:59 - 1st) Nathan Peterman pass incomplete to Dontez Ford
4th and 18 at NW 28

(11:53 - 1st) Chris Blewitt 46 Yd Field Goal

    Good God Ike – we went from the Pitt 44 to the NW 20 in one play then went backwards, fumbled, recovered, two incompletions and settled for 3 points.

    Next trip couldn’t push it in from the 1 yard line:

    1st and 10 at NW 42

    (6:42 – 1st) Nathan Peterman pass complete to Aaron Mathews for 24 yds to the Nwest 18 for a 1ST down
    1st and 10 at NW 18

    (6:27 – 1st) James Conner run for 4 yds to the Nwest 14
    2nd and 6 at NW 14

    (5:57 – 1st) Darrin Hall run for 7 yds to the Nwest 7 for a 1ST down
    1st and Goal at NW 7

    (5:37 – 1st) Brian O’Neill pass incomplete to George Aston
    2nd and Goal at NW 7

    (5:14 – 1st) James Conner run for 4 yds to the Nwest 3
    3rd and Goal at NW 3

    (4:33 – 1st) George Aston run for 2 yds to the Nwest 1
    4th and Goal at NW 1

    (3:50 – 1st) James Conner run for no gain to the Nwest 1

    Yeah – NW did well, but their doing well meant Pitt, with the “best OL” and the “Best” RB and our most prolific offense ever didn’t get the job done.

    Next series we turn the ball over.

    Say what you will but those three starting series were some of the worse offensive football we played all year. All season we averaged 6.6 yards per play; in those three series we averaged 8.1 and came out with three points.

    Those injuries everyone points to didn’t happen before the game was played – they happened well into the game . They mattered buy if Pitt had been playing with the same energy we did in Death Valley we’d have had the game won in the first half before those kids went down.

    It was a showing of players and staff who were totally unprepared to play that bowl and came out against an opponent they thought they would walk over. You could see it from the stands very easily – those kids were flat, for whatever reason but i’ll look at the staff first with that, and stayed flat all game.

    You know what? Pitt lost that game for a lot of reasons but the reality is Northwestern didn’t beat us when we were at our best – they beat us because we played like crap almost the whole first half because we weren’t excited about playing ….

    Maybe they thought they deserved a better bowl or I don’t know what but seven 1st half series and a total of ten points from one of the best offenses we have ever had and one that average 40 ppg against opponents better than the Wildcats is horse dung production.

    BTW – screw your ‘agenda’ and mine also. When i write to you what i see and hear other media types say about Pitt football that isn’t my agenda – it is me sharing that info with you guys. The fact that you may not like that info is on you – not me.

    Christ Ike – just WTF do you think I drive 450 miles to attend every home game (and two away games to boot this season) and get media credentials to sit up in the press box. Hell, I could watch TV at home like 50% of {Pitt “fans” do and write articles… but I think you readers deserve more. Then I spend between 2-3 hours almost every day to get you guys the best i can get to you.

    That’s my goddamn agenda Ike – take a good look at yourself for yours.

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  26. If there was a lack of urgency and intensity, that starts with the head coach who, interestingly, inserted the third team quarterback instead of the back up.
    What message does that send?
    Again, I worked…didn’t attend the game. But if I’d have spent my hard-earned to watch a coach half-ass it, I never would have dropped another nickel on Pitt sports.

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  27. I expected more from Barnes with his BB background. But I am also in the camp no one really good was interested in taking the job after Dixon. Miller had no interest and that was the only hot name bantered around after Dixon.So unless a new AD can bring a significant name with him, can’t see Stallings gone unless that happens.

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  28. And while I am at it, the demise of Pitt hoops has been understated.
    Barnes allows Jaimie to walk into TCU’s open arms at a discount while we sink into the abyss of the ACC.
    ‘Boy, I’d really like to stick around to see how all this plays out, but mom is sick, as is my daughter, and there aren’t any hospitals in western PA, so I’m moving seven hours away from both of them. And that $5M I eliminated from the buyout, consider that my parting gift. Ciao.’

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  29. I appreciate your opinion and all those that were sitting up there with you. My point was in particular to how the first 18 minutes went down and I did not see a team that appeared flat at all. Not one bit. What I did see was some serious bad play calling by Canada. PITT should have been up 10-0 if not for a stupid tackle around pass and a slip down by Aston. Remember on 2nd down, Conner ran straight up the middle for 4 yards, then the slip. This after stopping NW on consecutive series.

    You have continually pick pick picked on Narduzzi the entire season. So I guess it’s my agenda to call what I see as unfair. You can’t even give the current O-line coach any dues. You point out that last year Boyd ran many end around sweeps. Who was the OC and who was the O-line coach? Chaney and Peterson, Peterson being the constant. Johnson and Bizz were big time recruits and they were both only jr’s when Peterson took over. The offensive line was impressive this year and that was thanks to the 2 year O-line coach for PITT.

    You seem a little hot under the collar there Reed. I’m not going to get all bothered and use the Lords name in vain but that’s just how I feel. I happen to be 61 years old and have certainly been a PITT fan as long as you and know how to watch a football game either live or in person as a do buy season tickets. I can also listen and learn another’s opinion and take from it what I feel is fair. You guys up in the booth with all your SOP is something I do not agree with no matter how upset you get with me. I also know why you drive the miles you do. You love PITT football, it’s just imo you have become very critical this past year. ….ike

    btw, I don’t and won’t proof read any of my posts for grammar and spelling. I’m moving on.

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  30. Ike – the team was not ready to play in NYC by the fact that the skilled players did not execute when they were called on – re-read your post of the drives up to the 13:00 mark. This team was NOT ready. The injuries were not a factor at that point yet…

    I agree with Reed and so do many, many Pitt fans. The Pinstripe was a BAD loss to a team we should have beat. This team left an undesirable pile on the front porch.

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  31. C’mon Pitt stopped itself on its 1st 3 series of the bowl game.

    The 8 yard loss on the very 1st series was a botched handoff between Peterman and Henderson with no NW player within 5 yards of them.

    If you want to blame a coach, then blame Canada on the 2nd series when he called for an OT pass.. Still, Pitt should have easily scored on the following play, but the usually reliable Ashton tripped on the 3 yard line … again with no other NW player near him.

    Then, on the 3rd series, the senior TE commits a false start penalty followed by an interception thrown near the goal line by the senior QB.

    These plays were botched by Peterman, Henderson, Orndoff and Ashton …. guys who have produced all year. For anyone to imply that the coaches were at fault here is unconscionable,

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  32. PITT stopped NW first two drives…They were ready
    PITT took the ball on offense 3 straight times deep into NW territory. They were ready

    I have never said that the game was not a horrible loss. Orndorf wasn’t ready to play and a few others. Penalties, fumbles and dumb interceptions are not necessarily the coaches fault.

    We can all have our own opinions. PITT stunk most of the game and I think some of that may have been due to their own fault as players and OC. I will admit he may have taken the game for granted with his dumb early play calling.

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  33. I don’t hear any mention of coaches except Ike and gc. The players were not focused, thus not ready.

    Ike – I’ll give you that the D made 2 stops at the beginning – maybe they were ready. But they still gave up 30+ points and allowed a RB to rush for 224 yards –

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  34. A comedy of errors prevented a Pitt win in that bowl game. It was classic Pitt pitting and SOP. It also soured an otherwise very good season. Its culture and mindset. Thats at the very TOP. If Gallagher is really serious about his front porch, I ask him to do something about it. I continue to see that ratty Hoopie couch and strewn bottles of IC Light. But he’s an academic and bureaucrat so WTH does he know about sports and running a university.

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  37. Imagine if we had competent professionals in our AD Dept.

    I’d do the job at a discount and in 3-5 years we would be top 25 in hoops and football and a few others. Top facilities and not play bitch to everyone. Media, BOT, Steelers, PSU, Our Chancellor.

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  38. Pitt’s leaders are frauds. That’s the problem. All talk and no action, no results, accept mediocrity at its finest. You want to show me you’re serious BOT and Gallagher? Screw these damn search committees. Find another B-ball coach. Pony up the money to keep Nard Dog and find an excellent OC. Fund a feasibility study for an OCS or MMPC. Hire Tressell immediately. But they are all jagoffs so we now what will happen…SOP.

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  39. Seriously we need more alum and fans of the ‘right’ mindset. We dont need to cheat and sanction child rape to be great. But we do need to start taking sports seriously. There is only so much us fans can do.

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  40. If the Cowgirls win and Stillers lose, I will become unhinged for sure. Right now, my Pitt lifeline isnt looking too strong. Bad B-ball team, no OC and no AD. And pretty weak recruiting by Nard Dog thus far.

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  41. Tx Panther – Get to Southlake at a kids party for Princesses and bar across the street. I can use one. Haha.

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  42. Ike – see, that is you dragging the coaches in. Do they “control” these young men’s minds?

    Yes, they can amp them up with speeches and work on fundimentals in practice, but at the end of the day the player gets himself ready to play, both mentally and physically.

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  43. Just watched Aaron Rodgers draw the cowgirls offsides – he was prepared to run the play through completion as was his receiver who ran the route and caught the TD.

    It’s called focus.

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  44. TCU: Former Cal head coach Sonny Dykes will join the TCU staff in an undetermined role, according to 247Sports’ TCU site and ESPN. A full-time staff spot opened when Doug Meacham left for Kansas, but Arizona State offensive line coach Chris Thomsen is also joining the TCU staff.

    Memphis: Running backs / assistant head coach Darrell Dickey has been promoted to offensive coordinator, quarterbacks graduate assistant Kenny Dillingham has been promoted to quarterbacks / tight ends coach, and offensive line coach Ryan Silverfield has added the title of run game coordinator. Dickey was Memphis’ co-offensive coordinator from 2014-15 under Justin Fuente and was retained by Mike Norvell. Dillingham has been at Memphis for one year and previously worked with Norvell at Arizona State.

    Auburn: Former Oregon State HC Mark Helfrich is rumored to be ready to accept the Auburn offensive coordinator position according to AL.com.

    Pittsburgh: Staff assistant Landan Salem announced on Twitter that he is leaving the Pitt program for an upward career move. Rumor is the new position will be with the Arkansas State Red Wolves – not confirmed.

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  45. I agree…focus. We need more focus at Pitt. I think Pitt’s been too focused on being mediocre though. Focused on Pitting. Focused on thinking we fans and alumni are deplorables. I think a regime change is in order. Not sure if Gallagher is any better than NerdBall at this point.

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  46. I like cows and girls. Just not the combo. Things looking good thus far in Jerry World. I may not lose it after all. I’ve got my bar set up at here at home. No kids or wife at the moment. Only good beer and an entertaining game on TV. I’m in man heaven.

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  47. I don’t enjoy singling out a player who tries hard but just can’t cut it so I won’t mention his name though I will mention that he was a LB and a senior. It was painfully obvious that he had no business being in that game except maybe as a ceremonial senior starter (not that the first minute of a game is not as important as the last). So the question is, why was he playing and getting beat so badly? Maybe there was no one else though Wirginis should have been capable of playing that position. I understand that Brightwell was not able to play for some unknown reason. And maybe there just was no one else. The fact of the matter is that if you have a seriously inadequate player at a LB position you are not going to stop the run. If the level of inadequacy rises to a certain point the offense is going to run you to death. We all saw that happen.

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  48. Upitt lay off the fat girl references, you’re tarnishing some of my fondest memories as a young man. Say what you will but I never met a fat girl that was unappreciative.

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  49. Expect a couple Pat Signals no later than Wednesday. Our new OC gets announced by the end of the week. And now that Upittbaseball has publicly admitted that he will work at a discount, he gets a serious interview early next week as our new AD.

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  50. TX – ease up on Sir Patrick G for the moment. He did deliver Duzz and eliminated Smug Steve.

    I’ll give him a pass on the Barney hire, who then delivered his famous “search firm Stallings”.

    The new AD will be looked on as a second chance to show the loyal Pitt fan that he, Sir Patrick G, is serious about the front porch.

    The clock is ticking though…

    Why does Tressel seem like such an easy, great and logical choice to me? Was the rumor that Tressel was interested in Pitt really false?

    Lucy, hold the ball, I’m ready to kick off now…

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  51. Doc – I hope your right on at least 2 of 3.

    Per PSN – Another player that was supposed to visit Pitt this weekend has committed to another school. Florida DE Stephon Zayas gave a commitment to Central Florida. Two other heavily recruited players for Pitt committed to NC State earlier today – one OL and one DL.

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  52. Hey getting back to recruiting, I can’t remember but when Paulie C was recruiting a lot of 2 star recruits the term ‘coach him up’ was tossed around a lot on another blog that a lot of us visited. I don’t hear that term thrown around anymore. Is it because Narduzzi is recruiting more highly rated players ?

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  57. Notrocket – Nope just funny what he does with. Ajor buy in and support from Admin. I respect it.

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  59. mmanuel Acho ‏@thEMANacho 21 hours ago
    To think, I got traded for #DionLewis back in 2013…. someone needs to be fired for that. He a beast!

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  60. Not to perseverate, but Herman will go down as sinking hoops and letting the winningest coach go at a discount.
    When is the moving van arriving?
    I’ll help.

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  61. Gasman – Gallagher is letting him have 6 months before he transitions then we will pay him a bonus and make him a pie to take with him.

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  65. Guess if AVP is the 1st choice for OC we won’t hear any for another week or three. If GB gets in the Super Bowl Isuppose that means Pitt goes to LOI day without an OC. I get the idea the some of us don’t think that is a big deal. I can’t stand it.

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  66. I don’t think AVP has any college experience as a coach.
    If that ends up the choice, will be shocked.

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  68. Correct. AVP has only NFL experience and I believe only 1 year as an OC. But apparently he taught Aaron Rogers all he knows!

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  70. I hope this isn’t about letting the candidate finish his recruiting class where he is leaving. I think I’d lose my mind. Barnes needs to go and the OC needs to be here.

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  72. this tweet makes a lot of sense to me

    raig Meyer ✔ @CraigMeyerPG
    In all seriousness, what a rough week for Cowboys fans. Alabama football blew the title game, Duke basketball’s struggling and now this.

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  75. Need More than FG’s to win in NFL. Playcalling cery suspect. Would be very lucky to lull this out.

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  79. Upittbaseball is a douche bag! All you do is bash anything relating to Pitt, can’t wait to meet you in person and will find you!

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  83. @ike
    I was at the game. Pitt came out flat. You could see it in the players body language waiting to run on the field. They were not ready to play.

    Was it the coaching? Was it the players? If it had been just a few players, it would be one answer – but it was the entire team.

    I watched this team come out of the runway and practice on the field at Heinz every home game this year – I bet I was one of the first through the gates and in my seat every game. There was something different in NYC. Arrogance, indifference, hangovers, lackadaisical discipline…I don’t know what it was. 90% of the time this happens in sports and a favorite comes out flat you will see the coaching staff take the blame after a loss…

    …it is not fair to blame Reed as unobjective for stating his thoughts on this matter – almost every Pitt fan in our full section at YS saw and said the same things Re not ready to play. You had to be there – it did not come across on TV. I very much do not agree with some of things Reed says – but in this case he is spot on.

    I think it is a fair subject to discuss because it seems to happen frequently in Pitt athletics – the Men’s BB Team is going through the same problems 3 games running; and probably at least 7 this year… the Women’s team has done it at least 2 times at home (go to all those games too)…one was the game Herman was stalking the sidelines – and things just felt different.

    I do feel there is something rotten in the Pitt athletic department CULTURE that has some influence on all the teams at times that needs to be addressed. Someone needs to shake out the dirty laundry and somehow get rid of the indifference to and worse, the acceptance of, losing.

    It is better after Smily’s ruinously incompetent reign but now that we have fortunately gotten rid of another mediocre carpetbagger AD (but not before he set the BB program back 5 years) and it is time to hire a WINNER.

    H2P

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  84. Alabama: AL.com reports athletic director Bill Battle will step aside this week, and the Arizona Daily Star reports Arizona AD Greg Byrne will be named Alabama AD. Battle’s contract ends in March. Byrne has been at Arizona since 2010.

    Pittsburgh: Acting Pitt AD Randy Juhl assumes duties on January 20th. Oregon State bound AD Herman Barnes will remain on payroll through February will he has minor surgery and tends to family health issues.

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  85. San Diego State: New athletic director John David Wicker will earn $340,000 annually, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. That’s $75,000 more than the previous AD.

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  86. OK, why is it when this team comes out excited, energized and ready to play as hard as they possibly can like we saw at Clemson this season all I heard in the media after that game was how ready the kids were because Pat Narduzzi had pumped them up, that he was a great coach and had them ready to play etc, etc…. Which is part of that win for sure.

    But when the opposite happens; almost the exact opposite happens, no one on here is a ready to point fingers at the coaching staff. If we give them credit for the getting the kids energized and pumped up and ready to play then we should also be able to lay blame where we think it should lay when the kids come out and play like they didn’t want to be in New York in the first place.

    The Northwestern players were out on the field before the game almost all the time they could be. The Pitt players didn’t come out until barely half an hour before and just went through the exercises like they were all bored or something. And then when we were watching the players on the sidelines and going out for the coin toss into the beginning to game it was like the air got sucked out of the stadium and the fans kind of felt it also.. and there wasn’t much energy in the stands or in the air that day.

    Again, it wasn’t just Tommymac and me saying this…it was THE topic of conversation during and after the game up in NYC.

    That’s my final word on this subject.

    New article up soon.

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  87. Agree Reed.. all have their opinion on that game.. we lost and teams lose for a variety of reasons encompassing the
    Physical and mental aspects of the individual participant and the team… Time to move on…

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  88. OK, so they didn’t come out visibly fired up … but the FACT is that they stopped NW on their 1st 2 drives, giving up 19 total yards, while gaining 162 yards on their initial 3 drives in which they stopped themselves. In fact, Pitt only punted once the entire first half … at 5:34 left in the 2nd quarter.

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  89. I think they were ready to play. Aston doesn’t trip over himself and it is 10 nothing and after two possessions PITT is at 100 yards and NW is at 6. Bottom line. After that bad breaks and injuries lost us the game.

    If the improvement over the last 30 months to the program continues for the next 30 months we will be a top 20 program routinely. Gallagher, Narduzzi, script, bigger budgets, No SP is a good start for me and a pipe dream three years ago.

    The recruiting class is very similar to last year in terms of star rating. Not counting the kicker 3.0 with every recruit having solid P5 offers. Not a reach in the bunch. Solid class. If they had got Jeter (who I think is going to flop) and Wade it would have looked like a great class, but this is a solid class and better than anything PC got. You could look at a PC class and pretty much take 7 guys and almost know they had no chance. Even with Wanny you knew some of his 4 and 5 star players were way over-rated (Hale, Bostick, Rippy, Durant and many others – I think Jeter is similar). I look a this class and some of the lowest rated kids like Sear, Drexler and Huoy all look like they got a chance to produce just like the second lowest rated kid in last years class has already shown things (Ffrench) and the class before like Lopes. Yet the lowest rated guys in PC’s last class like Poker never saw the field. Solid, solid class.

    I think it is obvious that the expectations have risen in this latest chapter of PITT football.

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  91. When a football team wins, it’s the coaches, players and the complete staff that make up the team ‘s effort and the same goes for losing a game. I get that. The premise of my debate was never the game wasn’t important or not, or whether the team looked sluggish. It was the implying and or alluding to the fact the coaches somehow allowed the players to not be ready to play for this bowl game. PITT came out at the start of the game and dominated NW the first 18 minutes of the game. From where I was sitting I couldn’t see the players demeanor or body language but I could see a team that stopped NW’s first 2 drives while driving the ball themselves all over the field on their first 3 possessions, then the bottom fell out. All the while showing the world they were ready to play at the beginning of that game. That’s all I will say on the topic. Next, the complaining about the new OC and AD, can’t wait for that…. ike

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  92. We were prolific on offense all season. We simply did not play the bowl game with the same intensity and focus as NW. If we had, we would have hung 60 points on that 6-6 team. Taken together with our performance against Navy last season, there appears to be an issue with HCPNs bowl game preparations.

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  93. EDR, I also agree with the direction of the PITT football program and I look at the entire PITT football puzzle as slowly coming together. Narduzzi to me seems to recruit a different kind of 3 star if you will. The top half instead of the bottom half. I don’t always agree that a coach has to have his own players to run his team out onto the field, a coach should adapt to the players he has in the locker-room for the first few years while recruiting other players. I’m not certain HCPN did that so much on defense but on offense they did. This after having 2 OC’s in 2 years. By the end of next year I would think we will see a much different type of defense that sports taller and faster defenders. Then we will see if Narduzzi’s style of defense is best suited for the ACC conference play…

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  95. Don’t hold your breath on waiting for a Pitt AD hire. That probably won’t be finalized for weeks! I will be very surprised if we don’t get a Pat Signal today or tomorrow however. I’m seeing Jason Pinnock, a CB recruit, giving a verbal to the Panthers within 48 hours.

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  97. Tommymac and Reed, I wasn’t at the game so I have to accept your opinion on how the team looked. But like you said, you couldn’t see it on TV. They didn’t look flat, just appeared nervous after making so many mistakes. To me a flat team gets pushed around, that didn’t happen. The defense made a couple stops and the offense moved the ball well until the individual screw-ups. The only guy that looked flat was Conner, who never got it going.

    The problem with losing the last game is it gets kicked around for months instead of a week.

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  99. Upitt: I think that’s the same guy that came on here a few weeks ago or maybe around the holidays. Seems as though something in particular lights his fire late at night. Just a wild guess.

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  100. Alex Paulina and Ibraham are leaving the program. It appears Narduzzi is setting up a really good closing here. Weekend visits went well Pitt wont get everybody, but Pitt will have another very good class to add to last year. This is Narduzzi’s second class that he was the HC from the get go. Probably a mid 30’s class to top 30. He brings in Peterman, Browne as well. Narduzzi is setting the tone of competition and driving the talent bus here. Program is getting much better in talent and depth moving forward. It will take some time to integrate coaching to play on the field, but look out when the talent is seasoned and mature. :

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  101. Opening up more slots for new guys. Sad that Ibrahim never got to make an impact, at one time it looked like he would.

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  103. Shame about Ibrahim, he actually returned the last pooch kickoff by NW and really looked like he had been slowed by that knee injury. Good luck to Rachid and Alex.

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  105. So it looks like Ollie is staying. I am hoping he spends the off season in the weight room and becomes our power back next year. Need someone with Aston that can bruise their way in the endzone like Conner.

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  107. Back to the pinstripe.
    The team played like they got screwed by acc.
    A crap bowl
    vs a crapy team
    on a crap day
    with shitty weather
    on a shit field
    ACC teams that were not ranked got sun and good opponents.
    They are kids and they know they got jobbed and went through the motions.
    N.B playing Dinucci was the right move. Giving reps to a guy leaving waste of time

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  108. gc – Rachid did make an impact in an indirect way – he was Conner’s roommate throughout their college careers – through good times and bad. From what I hear he was a great friend and confidant to James. Those types are priceless.

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  110. The first I heard about the Pinstripe pre-game warm-ups was that Pitt was on the field only 75 minutes before game time. Now, it is barely a half hour. Which is accurate? In two more weeks, is it going to change to Pitt players lacing up as they lined up for the opening kickoff?

    I don’t think it was over an hour – I got to the press box an hour before the game and the NW players were out there drilling and Pitt wasn’t. I saw Pitt come out about 30 or so minutes early and then stay until the game started. That isn’t the key issue though and we’ve talked enough about it – the fans that were threer felt one thing – the TV viewers obviously felt something different.

    BTW IKE – The tennor in the press box at home games most definitely isn’t SOP that I’ve noticed – some newspaper reporters themselves can’t seem to give credit much though.

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  112. I blamed the coaching staff too about coming out flat. Said Pitt considered the bowl game as a reward instead of an important game.

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