in Pitt Football 151 Words

POV’s Tuesday Round Table; 3/21/17

We had a great hour long conversation again this evening with Dr. Tom, Ike, Missing Wlat as a newcomer, Pittman4ever and myself.  Since we had the latest news about the new AD hire we started off with that – after a tour of Missing Wlat’s man cave (we are all jealous).

Here is the recording.  I hope the audio side is clear – we could hear each other very well.

I will ask for a list of participants earlier in the week next time so that we can get some diversity in opinions out to our readers. 

Thanks guys – you all were great.

I’ll be leaving at around 4-5 am for the drive to Pittsburgh’s Southside for the Pro Timing and weight lifting day – I hope to get some good photos and some insight behind the scenes for you all.

HTP!!

42 thoughts on “POV’s Tuesday Round Table; 3/21/17”

  3. Sounds like a good discussion, sorry I missed. My apologies for not calling in after I said I would…had a work emergency and didn’t get home until 11. I will try again next week. Sounds like a good discussion, sorry I missed.

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  4. Once again enjoyed the discussion. However, I would temper the expectations of the FB program and the number of wins right now. We have no idea how good or bad the teams we play will be. It may be hard to believe right now but Pitt was the favorite over PSU last year.

    I also don’t like the notion that because Pitt beat PSU and Clemson, they should have gone undefeated. One thing …. we had to play PSU, at Ok St and at UNC in a 3 week period … then later in the year, 3 straight games versus Va Tech, at Miami and at Clemson. These are not easy (UNC is the only team here that didn’t finish ranked and they barely lost to Stanford in the bowl)) … and 4 of the 6 were away games. Think about that!

    Now this year’s team has to play a tough September, going into it with a lot of inexperience (PSU and Ok St are in all pre-season Top 10s, and then have to go against the triple option the following week.). And we have no idea how good or bad the ACC opponents will be.

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    1. @wwb… nobody in the Roundtable suggested that we should have gone undefeated. The games you mentioned were not layups. However, when you beat the eventual National Champion and also a top 5/10 team (admittedly not at the time that the game was played) who is your rival, 5 other losses are disappointing. Especially when every one of those games with the exception of Miami was in their grasp. And as far as next year goes, I think we all have tempered our win/loss expectations a bit given the difficulty of the upcoming schedule. I don’t think that hoping for a one game improvement to 9 wins is unreasonable, although as I said during the discussion, the ball bounces funny sometimes. Would I be shocked if we regressed to 7 wins given the schedule? No. But it would be disappointing nonetheless.

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  6. wwb – I agree. You are what your record says you are. Pitt had some really good wins. They were competitive in most losses … but Pitt has it’s own demons it has to overcome. Secondary concerns. The cultural bias of getting over that proverbial hump. I truly believe Pitt is headed in the right direction but this upcoming schedule is going to test what will be a really young team. Especially on defense. On paper it’s the toughest non-con in the land. On the field, it may play out differently. Pitt had been stuck on 7 wins. Now we’re stuck on 8 wins. Can we take that next step? And will it only be one step? Or can we make bigger strides and get to 10 wins? The buzz is palpable though. I’m finally seeing a groundswell on these boards of where more and more are becoming more optimistic about Pitt FOOTBALL … emphasis on football … not Pitt or the athletic department in general … but the buzz around football is real.

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  7. wwb – my only thought would be because he used the backside of the blade to flick the puck up and past Lehner.

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  8. Three Billionaires in Pittsburgh, Henry Hillman, Maggie Hardy Magerlo, and Ed Stack, go get em Heather.

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    1. I’d be willing to bet there’s more than three. That guy who gave all that money to Pitt and CMU a few years ago, William Dietrich, was, if not a billionaire, really close to being one, and no one had even really heard of the guy. I’d guess David Shapira, former Giant Eagle CEO, the Donahues, who founded Federated Investors, and probably a few Mellon family heirs are in the billionaire club, too.

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  10. Yep, the round-table is fun stuff and it’s easy to see how it could be difficult for some to set aside an hour or so on a Tuesday nite. You guys don’t actually have to participate the whole time or even at all. If you feel like listening live for awhile and then maybe chiming in, you can do that. Reed has brought us this great and very unique concept that is really new to blogging. You guys can go on BlueJeans any time of the week and give it a spin. It’s really super easy. I realize I have a voice for the newspaper but that doesn’t stop me although it would be great if you don’t have to hear my voice every week. I encourage all to try it out, even the lurkers. Turn your camera off or on and same goes for the mic, one hit of a button. Reed insisted on doing the round-table last night even though he had to travel to Pittsburgh so early this morning instead of just leaving last night. The guy works so hard for all of us here and I know you all appreciate that fact. I know the POV has become a big release for me during my long dog days of winter.. ike

    H2P!

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  11. Another great roundtable guys. You will get a call I expect when the ACC network gets off the ground . Missing Wlat, I need to up my game after seeing your man cave. All I have is a Pitt script pool table cover, lol.

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    1. …my next move is the Pitt Script pool table felt… as the kids would say, “It’s lit!!!”

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  12. somewhat off topic but not unexpected … Damon Wilson to transfer. The only experience left for next year is Luther, Johnson and Nix

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  13. That’s right wwb, Richard Mellon Scaife is a PITT alumni. I don’t know whats going on with that family? No more Pittsburgh Trib and the Greensburg version is watered down with little content. Seems like the family is dividing all that money up among themselves. Scaife did give away plenty of money in his lifetime..

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  15. Ike,
    I totally agree with your praise of Reed. He has given us all an avenue (Forbes?) to walk down with other Pitt guys – and that is PRICELESS! I live outside of Houston and was medically forced into semi early retirement (Full Disability)
    several years ago. While I keep busy, and am a d#mn good cook and house wife, the pov is a real life line for a guy like me. I grew up in Dormont, 7 miles from Heinz Field! Let’s Go Pitt!!!!!

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    1. the sentiment was since Pitt beat Clemson and PSU, they were good enough to win more games. Well maybe they overachieved those 2 games, and really wasn’t good enough to stay with OK St, VT and UNC … but did. Yes, we could have won those 3 …. but we could also have lost to PSU and Clemson (2 top 6 teams) as well as GT..

      My point is that the team could have every bit been considered as overachieving … as opposed to underachieving.

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  20. He did Pete, one year.. The guy does have a special place in his heart for Pittsburgh though. I think he would buy PITT if he could. He could pay for half a stadium as long as they put his name on it with 50′ high letters… As long as he gets all the revenue from the gates to the beverage and foods.

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  21. @WLAT – So they see if any of them can chase down a kick returner as they are sprinting to the endzone on a short kick, slightly gassed. Remedy – Get a kicker with a stronger leg. Kick em all out of the end zone. From what I saw, good discussion last night fellas.

    I think we are all saying the same thing about AD. Not a splash hire. Give her a chance. We will know in 2-3 years. Look, I was critical of her introductory speech because it was the same as her EMU intro speech and thought that just lacked authenticity. That hasn’t changed. I was critical of her 16 years at OSU and in Compliance when tattoo gate happened. Told me that she couldn’t handle the issue and that the NCAA had to get involved. She was not a fast tracker and that is what bothers me the most. The fast trackers are the innovators, the leaders. That said, I will support her until I don’t. The only thing she’s done so far at Pitt is copied her canned speech from EMU. It’s too early.

    Another transfer is terrible for the Pitt image and that needs to be considered when evaluating Stallings. Every kid that leaves in a bad state of mind, spreads that back to his high school and aau coach, who has influence over the next batch of kids. This is when I saw the end of Dixons run. Remember when he got cute with a couple recruits out east and it left a bad taste in their mouths? It was around the Khem Burch experiment. Image means alot. Stallings image is damaged in my opinion with the high school and aau coaches of those players and all that left this year. If he is smart, he is on the phone and meeting with the players coaches and AAU reps explaining what is going on. He may be able to land a recruit by being honest and upfront now, versus waiting for the next prospect to come out of one of the coaches program.

    As far as next years FB record, who knows! We may have advantages over NC, VT and Miami this year because they lost great talent, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t replaced that talent with better talent. It’s a wash until week 1. No predictions. What if Max Browne gets injured and we are starting a RS QB? Does the 8 win guess, turn into 6? I would be ecstatic with an 8-4 record and a bowl win.

    Every year we go with the same systems in place and continuity in our Head Football Coaches Program, sustained excellence can occur. Steve Pederson has hosed us with the schedule for the last time. We need to keep out of conference scheduling at 3 expected victories and one toss up game, which would allow for all the magic to happen should we catch lightning in a bottle.

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  22. How much is Mike Ditka worth? Tony Dorsett? Fralic? Reuben B? Could easily start a Letterman’s Club Endowment for athletics and raise $20M in a trust and start building it. Welcome to the “Cuban Complex”. Would have to be the Mark Cuban Field to be politically correct. House the nerdy IT dudes (apologies to the nerdies) in with the new Athletic Field. He could stroke a check for $25M to get it started. I always wanted him to buy the Pirates. Notice how free wheeling I am with other peoples money?

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  23. Wbb…off on Blewitt. He ran a 4.45 timed by me and many others around me.

    I am drafting this pro day article now and will post in in a couple of hours if you all can hold your horses. Very long and information laden..

    Right now I’m at 2,637 words and still going.

    Please be patient.

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  27. Until the new post arrives, throw up an ad for Ukrainian Brides. I can whittle away the hours until my wife catches me.

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  28. I
    m trying to get 59 photos out of my phone and into tghe laptop then to the article. A six-pack of beer is going to help.

    Blewitt’s time was real – freaked everyone out a bit.

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  30. If I’m Heather my first call goes to Cuban.

    The Stallings thing is not done.

    Hearher involved in discussions with BOT.

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  31. Don’t look now but former HCPC currently has a top 10 recruiting class at 247Sports –

    http://wisconsin.247sports.com/Season/2018-Football/Commits

    He has 8 total verbal commitments with 6 being on the defensive side. Also 1 QB.

    Reed – while you are at Pitt tomorrow, try to get an interview with Heather – ask her what her impression is of Pitt BB coach Kevin Stallings. Also ask why KS missed her press conference? One last question for Heather – did KS drop the “F” bomb in her presence yet?

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  32. Note to AD Heather Lyke – Kevin Stallings is a has been coach who wants “to change the culture at Pitt”, i.e. from a winning tradition to a losing one. The words in the quote are HCKS’ at seasons end.

    Worst record and demeanor by the men’s HC on the BB court in the past 20 years at Pitt.

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  33. Just had a chance to listen to round-table discussion. Excellent job by all.

    On the defensive impact guys, we certainly need Wirginis to be healthy and be a hammer. With the talent we have at DT – which is the best collection of DTs we’ve had in 30 years (aside from AD playing both spots at the same time), Wirginis should be able to fly to the ball carrier.

    Next we need an outside LB who can cover Barkley on the wheel pattern – no easy task (and shame on the coaching staff for putting Caprara in a spot where he had to try to do that against PSU last season – easy pickin’s for PSU…)

    Go Pitt.

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