The Pitt POV on Head Coaches’ Salaries

We have discussed extensively on the this site  about Pat Narduzzi’s tenure so far and what might happen if any of the bigger, richer schools come knocking on his door.  I have been consistent in saying that I highly doubt Pitt would match any $3.5 to $5.0M dollar per year offers he may get.

Why do I believe that?  Because Pitt does not pay the higher salary rates to head coaches in any sport – we just don’t and that fact has been bolstered by the revealing of Narduzzi’s 2016 salary through IRS documents as reported by the Post-Gazette.

“Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi made $1.83 million in total compensation in 2016, according to federal tax documents released by the university Friday.

Narduzzi’s inclusion on Pitt’s IRS Form 990 was his first since being hired by the school in December 2014. The university’s most recent form covers a time period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

Of Narduzzi’s total salary, $1.31 million came from base compensation, with an additional $450,000 coming from bonus and incentive compensation. His salary is slightly higher than that of former coach Paul Chryst in his final year at the school, a span in which he earned $1.7 million from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015″.

We know that back in 2015 Narduzzi was given a re-written contract with an extension until 2021 and a pay raise. I can assure you that it wasn’t a big raise but it bumped him up a bit. An extension was done basically to raise the buy-out clause money which is what a competing school would have to compensate Pitt for if they hire Narduzzi away from the university.

Anyone ever wonder why Pitt never hires new head coaches who haven’t been HC’s at even middling to bigger schools?  Simple – it is because we won’t pay the buy-out money to do so.  Getting Walt Harris from the QB coach position at OSU didn’t have a buy-out, it cost us just salary for Wannstedt as he was not a college HC and then getting Coordinators Chryst and Narduzzi avoided any buy-out costs also.

So – Narduzzi would sit at #60 out of the 119 college football coaches listed for the 2016 year.  Actually we maybe even lower given that schools like Baylor, USC and Miami don’t let their salaries be public either.

Get that? Number 60 is the 50th percentile of all listed HCs and is perfectly indicative of Pitt’s approach to football in general.  We say we want big success badly until it costs real money and then we are willing to let the HCs go and in turn keep hiring lesser known and lesser cost personnel.

And that is exactly what we will see happen if Narduzzi does well enough to have any of the wealthier perennial Top 25 schools come calling.

Here is a listing of the latest in salaries for the Top 25 highest paid head coaches – you need to look at the column headed “Total Pay” for the comparison to Narduzzi’s 2016 $1.83M total compensation.

Top 25.png

See it anywhere in that listing above?  No. If you want to cry in your beer look at what the big schools pay the assistant coaches on the football staff.  Do we really believe that Pitt made a serious offer to OC Matt Canada after seeing this.  Well, we didn’t because we knew LSU was going to give him almost double what we could offer.

Look who sits at #1 in asst. Coaches’ pay – LSU.

asst pay

I’d be shocked if we even paid the $2M total listed for where we are rankedat around #60. Take a look at this chart of the lower ranked HC salaries below.  In it you see that Narduzzi’s salary would fit in around 60th and now look at the schools surrounding that number.

(The fact that he isn’t actually listed is because Pitt does not make salaries and compensation numbers public – the IRS document in the article is cover under the FOIA act so Pitt isn’t on the actual list.)

Folks – that is exactly where we are and where Pitt is completely content to be year after year after year.  Oh – it’s great if we pop into the Top 25 every so often and Pitt considers that fantastic results for the low prices we pay. 

50.png

If any Pitt fan thinks that Pat Narduzzi is so valuable to the university that they will match any BIG money salary offers you are mistaken.  The University of Washington is 25th in the list at $3.6 and that would be doubling Narduzzi’s 2016 salary which I guarantee you we didn’t and won’t do. 

The hard truth is that if Narduzzi does very well this year; wins a bowl game and gets into the Top 20 or so, someone will come gunning for him – and they will be offering at least $3.5M but it will probably be in the $3.5-$5M range.

We well could have seen that happen after last season if we had won that Pinstripe bowl, been 9-4 and ranked as high as #15th… and he’d probably be gone by now.

All that said – loyalty is a lovely thing.  I had that big time in my profession for 33 years and it was a huge factor in my staying past the 20 year retirement eligibility date.  But if someone offered to pay two or three times my total compensation package I’d have to have thought long and hard. 

Even then we are only talking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. (Actually I did turn down a wonderful bigger offer because I didn’t want to  move to California – but it was nowhere near the million dollar mark.)

Believe me, unless you are crazy Joe Paterno who (wink, wink – nod, nod) supposedly turned down pay raises for 30 years, every HC in his right mind is going to jump at an annual pay increase of multiple millions of dollars and let loyalty be damned – and don’t think they won’t.  That is serious F-U money and provides for multiple generations of family member’s well-being. 

We can hope against hope that something has drastically changed in this area however our track record clearly states that we are a stepping-stone program. We hire and get used by coaches who have their eyes set on bigger and better opportunities and that is the way of the world in both sports and in business.

I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Things are going to be very interesting for this next season in many different ways – and this is one issue that may end up being the big topic of interest when the dust settles on 2017.

 

92 thoughts on “The Pitt POV on Head Coaches’ Salaries

  1. Here we are in 2017 … and our head coaching salary still doesn’t match what we paid for our HC 6 years ago. And to think that the AD who implemented that would be rewarded handsomely a couple years after.

    I had stated many times in the past that the problem with this program is that Pitt doesn’t know what it wants to be. As we learned, a hundred years ago, football was the No. 1 priority and that mentality prevailed through the 30s. And by the 60s, Pitt was a low priority with very stringent requirements for its athletes. Then the resurgence in the mid 70s, the decline in the 80s and the bottom drops out in mid 90s when there is actual talk about Pitt FB going to D3. Then the rise under SP1 and later the decline under SP2.

    One would think that with revenue received from being an ACC member, Pitt would re-prioritize FB but I am not convinced. Maybe the Admin, with reason, realizes the limitations of the program and no matter what, there will always be yellow seats and 2 and 3 star recruits.

    But to us fans …. it’s the process, not the ending.

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  2. I almost believe that some Pitt fans are so proud that the school won’t pay its coaches and are content to see them leave for greener pastures. Then those same fans are happy when there is another rebuild going on under a different coach. Then those same fans who are happy Pitt isn’t paying its coach, lost the coach and look forward to another rebuild are complaining about another five-loss season.

    I’ll keep saying it: Pitt shouldn’t be cashing ACC checks if it’s not serious about winning. That or it never should have fired Wannstedt and been happy with his loyalty at low wage. The mediocrity of the program should come as no shock to anyone.

    Sad. I watched that Football Life: 2006 Rose Bowl last night and Pitt will never ever come close to fielding those types of teams that Texas and USC had on the field. Not many schools will, but I’m not worried about other teams, just Pitt. The Panthers one day could have some really good players in the starting lineup and some decent depth, but being crazy good for just one season will never happen in Oakland.

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  3. If Pitt wants to become elite, it will need to pay far more for coaching and assistants. But Pitt doesnt know what it wants to be. It does have an identity problem. It doesnt want to be mediocre anymore but doesnt have the resources or commitment to be elite. Its between a rock and a hard place. If it does want to challenge for championships and place a priority on sports, it will need to raise vast sums of money and Pitt doesnt have the boosters or enough wealthy alumni and fans to care. Pitt would have to radically change its culture and that only happens over many years. At least Pitt appears to be getting a good bang for the buck.

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  4. It is easy to just look at the salary and bitch. Factor in the revenue the football team brings in from merchandise and attendance. Compare that to the other schools. Pitt is probably 60th in revenue generated from football. Pitt fans or lack of fan support are as much to blame as the university.

    Should we be 60th, hell no! I would expect at least in the 30s for what Narduzzi has produced so far.

    Off topic…Pitt needs to stop buying up land in Oakland for just hospitals. Mow down some of that craphole and build some more student facilities. Up the on campus housing and enrollment.

    Not – had to edit this post for swearing. Takes time out of my day to do that.

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  5. Notice the only team in the top 25 from the ACC was Clemson, the current national champion.

    So according to Reed’s article, it was probably a good thing Pitt lost the Pinstripe bowl or they might have lost Narduzzi and would be looking for a new head coach already.

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    1. The ACC had five teams in the final AP Top 25 unless I’m completely missing something.

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  6. The only reason I think PN would stay past, say 5 years, is that he does seem to be choosy and not a bumblebee-flitting type. He chose Pitt carefully as his first gig. Certainly tOSU would be a slam dunk, and maybe ND. Who knows. I can’t see him to heading off to some random SEC school though or some B1G backwater just for the money (unless Pitt really is shockingly cheap). He could be getting sick of Pitt as fourth-fiddle in Pgh though.

    If he breaches the 8-win ceiling here, he’ll really be valuable. If he stumbles over the next few years, that’ll be the interesting scenario. Maybe he’ll redouble his efforts, maybe he’ll just decide “Well you can’t win at Pitt” and bolt anyway. Sparty would probably take him no matter what.

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  7. Interesting that the only three ACC schools in the top 26 are the two winners FL ST and Clemson and of course Louisville, a school that values athletics over academics. So it does show why the ACC is an also ran overall, but has two schools with NC’s.

    I also don’t think there is any need to overpay for a coach. I do think when Narduzzi gets to 10 wins, they will have to pay him the going rate or he is gone.

    The bottom line is that you have to pay to play with the big boys. Something that Pitt has not been willing to do.

    Unless there is a change in the culture where the fans are willing to support the team and demand it, the beat goes on.

    There is a marked difference between the football culture at Pitt and all of those schools in the top twenty five. They mostly have rabid fanbases and a culture of winning.

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  8. That’s what is even more comical about Pitt. If it has a coach that works for scraps and is an eight-win coach, the school would get rid of him because the school wants more and thinks it can get more by paying another guy who has different coaching ideas crap. It’s really quite comical the thought process of the administration.

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  9. Didn’t Pitt make Jamie Dixon one of the highest paid college basketball coaches? I get that part of the reason for that was several well-played threats to leave to other schools, forcing Pitt to match the offers, but still, it showed a willingness to spend. Why wouldn’t Pitt do the same with Narduzzi? Is it because football coaches make more than b-ball coaches? Or is it Pitt’s aspirations to place academics above football in a pseudo-ivy league manner?

    Another thing — although I know Dixon made a lot, was it at the expense of assistant college salaries? I don’t know, but maybe that explains why he lost some good assistants and failed to find equal replacements.

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  10. I tend to stay away from these types of topics out of ignorance. I simply let money up to people who know what they are talking about, you guys.

    The only fly and I like to always bring this up because we really don’t know the real and truthful answer. Was the $1,000,000,000 offer to Canada sincere? I think it was so that means that we really don’t know how PITT will react when other suitors come a knockin.

    Me, as a more positive guy, which btw isn’t a hard thing to do sometimes around many of you negative nancies, tend to believe surprises are in the future concerning stepping up to the plate and paying the man. imo ….ike

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  11. So many of the bloggers here are demanding that Pitt win a minimum of 8-10 games or Narduzzi is a failure and over-hyped. What this article shows is that the Pitt Administration is a failure and they continue to double down in that arena. You don’t get an “A” program with “C” talent (both in coaching and players). I am not saying that Narduzzi is “C” talent, quite the opposite. I think he is an “A-” talent being forced to use “C-” resources. Just look at our Defensive Coordinator positions for the last (insert number here) years. Then, look at the OC positions. Can’t keep the good ones. Look, if Canada was increased to $1M during the season, he most likely doesn’t look at LSU. After taxes and relocation and a bunch of other things, the move isn’t as appealing. Double and triple a salary and everyone jumps.

    Narduzzi needs bumped to $2.3M right now, not after the season. At that point, he doesn’t leave for a $3M gig. It would have to be big money from a top tier program and not the next tier.

    My main point is don’t expect a top 25 team when you pay your coach top 65 money and handicap assistants too. It just doesn’t work that way in business or life. The expectations of people here are somewhat exaggerated as I have typed for a long time. Money should bring it all into focus for everyone. You get what you pay for. Don’t like it, change the BOT system.

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    1. Again Huff, I had been making that point for years now … back on Blather.

      Note that when Wanny (who was making > $1M) was fired, SP went to Sumlin and Graham and was laughed at since his offer was about $1.4M. He then found someone in his price range, Haywood who had all of 2 years HC experience at a MAC school.

      But what we Pitt fans should still be up in arms about is the hiring of Matt House as DC which is unforgivable, Now, I’m not sure if it was HCPC’s doing or ADSP’s doing but what is obvious is that the salary disbursements of the coaching staff was so slanted towards the offense, it was remarkable. In 2013, the only defensive coach with more than 2 years D1 experience was a guy they brought out of retirement. The DL coach had 2 years, the LB coach had 1 year and the CB coach was a GA.

      and this isn’t Monday Morning QBing .. we bitched long and hard about this and the subsequent recruiting back then. Now Reed can criticize Conklin all he wants but I beg everyone to go back to the 2013 and 2014 classes and see how biased they were towards the offense. And our current DC gets rapped for the porous defense vs a series of really good QBs and WRs. Once again .. I don’t see Saban or Myer recruiting and coach up 2-stars who only other offers were from the MAC

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  12. Ike – You work for me at Panther Landscaping as a installer and you make $20 an hour and you are friends with all the people in town and know lots of people. You are kicking ass and you tell me you are going to talk to Tiger Landscaping for a new job because they are interested in you . I wait and tell you how much you mean to me and the company and I tell you I’m “working on a raise” for you. I’ve been telling you this for 5 weeks. No BS. You come back and tell me Tiger Landscaping is going to pay you $80 per hour. I say well we really want you and we got you $40 an hour please stay. This after the fact that you took the job and said yes before even coming back to Panther Landscaping. So I made a bogus offer to save face and actually appear publicly like we actually give 2 farts. Comedy Hour at Pitt. Now throw in Compliance Heather and really get ready for the laughs. Great Wrestling hire by the way. Not.

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  13. Huff good post. You are aware LSU moves them and pays closing costs on both houses and gave him 1.8M. Pitt’s 1M was once they knew he already took LSU. Total look we care about you and save face move. Bush League.

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  14. Please take note of that #14 spot on the salary list.

    I’ll bet a dinner for 20 that if Dantonio leaves or gets fired Narduzzi will take that $4.3M so fast our heads will spin.

    That is over 2.3x what he’s getting now.

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  15. If we lose HCPN because of money then the administration should drop FB to division II. We could rent Carnegie Mellon field.

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  16. I’ve always been partial towards CMU’s stadium … it had the old-time Ivy League feel, and I bet the sight lines are really good

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  17. There is a huge parking structure behind it now – but I’d walk 4 blocks to the stadium and watch Carnegie Tech play ball on the Saturdays Pitt had away games.

    Here is how it looks now. Still pretty nice.

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    1. Reed, that stadium fits Pitt perfectly for the crowds we draw outside of homes games with PSU, WVU and ND. They could probably rent the place for 1/15 of what they are paying at Heinz. :-)—-I’ve got another idea, how about if we get together with CMU and build a joint stadium at that very site. We can always suggest that CMU use their “foundation” money to build it. Then we can claim we have an “almost on campus” stadium.

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  18. Enjoy what you have now he is our head coach and we’ll win. No use worrying about what’s around the corner step back and enjoy today. Life is short H2P BEAT PENN STATE

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  19. So Upitt, you’re offering me a job for how much? Let’s split the difference at $60.00 per hour and I stay because I have just settle down and I have kids in school, my wife has made good friends.

    I’m not saying PITT will come up with the full amount but I do believe the offer was true and they will make up at least $20 dollar’s an hour. Think a little bit more positive my landscaping friend. ike.. please keep the faith.

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    1. Ike – Canada was divorced and is loving Baton Rouge and his money per his twitter page. He earned it. Sad some other schools had to reward him.

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    1. It’s Noah Palmer. Good size and tape. He has room to add weight and be a 260-pound end. At a school with continuity he can redshirt and ease his way into the lineup, so we’ll see how his career unfolds at Pitt.

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      1. Pitt almost always wins the recruiting battle for the player without any other power 5 offers.

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      2. afraid he’s not a big time recruit but someone they see a lot of potential after he puts on some weight

        from PghSprtsNow: Palmer chose the Panthers over scholarship offers from Pitt, Akron, Army, Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Kent State, Miami (OH), Robert Morris and Toledo.

        They now have 3 2018 commits — all are 2 star, at best but all with potential

        on the plus side, Maurice French and James Conner were 2-stars prior to their senior years .. but we have to continue to live with the fact that Pitt is not a school where the the 4-stars will immediately flock to

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        1. Palmer’s film has yet to be reviewed by Rivals.com. I bet he’s bumped to a three star after his senior season. His film sure looks good. If it helps Pitt land Danielson it’s worth it getting Palmer even in a year when Narduzzi is tight on scholarships.

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  20. Sad. The $ escalation will leave many on the outside looking in. Long term, no way PITT can remain competitive. The bigger schools will always have more resources. Larger alumni base (more chance of big $ donations), larger fan base means the $ will continue to pour in.
    It is shocking just how cheap PITT is. Maybe they have seen the hand writing on the wall and decided not to throw good money after bad, and just accept mediocrity as a goal.

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  21. Problem is that the Administration doesn’t understand how donations increase when you are truly competitive because the AD swamp hasn’t seen a winning team in so long they don’t know how to act. Kids yearn for “belonging”. The best way to help them belong is to give them something to belong too and that is an environment of winning and an on campus stadium. I love CMU stadium. Nippertesque! It would be great to partner with them to bring it to a 45k stadium. It wouldn’t cost more than what Kentucky just plunked down for their renovation and it would turn into supply and demand for non-student tickets.

    OSU reserves 30k tickets for students. Wonder why those kids give so much back once they leave? They feel that they belong and are a part of their school, not a part of the Rooney empire.

    @Upitt – thanks for the shout out. Yes, I understand they paid for all the fringes too. It makes me angry when an administration goes cheap when they should pay and then pay too much (Stallings) when they should go cheaper. If we bump Narduzzi to 2.3M now, he probably doesn’t leave for a $3M offer, but agree that he bolts for a $4M deal Reed. At that point, you can say we tried our best and the fans won’t be angry because we did what we could.

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  22. Maybe if HCPN excels we can sell the new bubble and use the proceeds for his raise.
    Or simply just give him the bubble.
    If we are that desperate and cannot pay competitive salaries, I say drop some non-revenue producing sports.

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  23. couple things:

    Upitt, Canada is just not a great example at all. LSU paid the full $80.00 an hour rate that PITT just couldn’t and wouldn’t match but there was way more than money with him. Money, prestige and location is what PITT couldn’t match.

    Palmer is a decent pick-up for down the road. Like to know his forty. Looks more like a linebacker or free safety.

    Love CMU stadium. There are some buildings that need torn down but you could squeeze a 45,000 seater in there?? Why would CMU want to do that?

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  24. Still missing the point. Pitt’s football revenue is pennies compared to the top 25 schools.

    Penn State probably makes enough off of concessions to pay Franklin. Their donations are off the charts. Can’t pay the money if the money isn’t coming in.

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  25. Rocket – Money, Identity, Passion, Belonging NEVER comes while playing in the Turdbox away from campus. If I’m Pitt I want those dollars, hotels, parking, food, booze, merchandise spent in Oakland not North Shore. Belonging and Pride isn’t create in the Steelers stadium and not stepping foot on campus. Hell buy 2500 acre farm in Washington county and move the school and actually act like a college not a Hospital feeder / Slum Lord.

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  26. WBB – That poor DB recruiting argument holds absolutely no water.

    Please tell me again how we went from 54th nationally in pass defense (214 ypg) in 2015 with Pitts, Whitehead, Webb and Maddox…

    And then dropped to next to last at 127th nationally giving up 333 yards per game with only one single player change in that def. backfield.

    Whitehead, Maddox, Webb and Lewis started – Lewis instead of Pitts.

    We had the same LBs and almost the same DL with the exception of Render and Mosley-Smith where we went down in sacks – but basically the same defense, the same DC and the same HC and we completely sucked.

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  27. I cringe every time I see a newspaper article about coaches’ salaries at Pitt. You know the higher-ups just dread the image of the FB Coach making more than the Chancellor – at our elite, world-class university.

    Reed’s article is painful but true. I only expect Coach Duzz to be here 2 more seasons. Will be a sad, sad day when he leaves…

    Go Pitt.

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  28. for the umpteeth thousand time ….

    1) we played against 6 QBs and a at least 9 WRs who will play in the NFL. (By the way, your buddy Paul Chryst had the 7th ranked pass defense this past year yet gave up a couple points less than we did vs PSU – SO DON’T TELL ME SCHEDULE DOESN’T MATTER) I’ll guarantee if we played in the Big 10 west, our defense would have been muh better

    2) the only 3/4-star recruits WITH SPEED we had at LB and DB were Whitehead and Maddox .. and they missed a total of 7 games between them.

    3) we had a quick striking offense, Despite scoring > 40 ppg, we barely dominated TOP which really helps a defense. Top rated defense thru history (college and pro) had time-consuming offense working for them.

    4) a coach can put players into position but can’t make the plays for them. My lasting memory this past season is our DBs being right there to make the plays but not doing it. And that always goes for the run defense .. how many times did Northwestern run the ball on 3rd and long, and our LBs or DBs couldn’t make the tackle?

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      1. read my last sentence above. They made a handful of 1st downs on 3rdand long, when our LBs couldn’t get to the perimeter or just missed on tackles. On the final 2 TDs, Briggs had a clear shot and completely whiffed on a 40 yard TD run late in the 3rd quarter, and on the final TD, the senior Caprero didn’t pick up the TE and left him wide open. Both of these guys were typical Pitt defenders — 2-star tortoises.

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  29. wwb and Reed. PITT slipped for many many reasons but wwb’s theory is correct.

    Conner ran for 1600 yards a few years ago and PITT played ball control in Peterman’s first year.

    No denying PITT played quality skilled players last year. Awesome competition.

    The defense had to come straight back on the field after a super quick TD by PITT’s offense all the time.

    I watched the games very close and witnessed many hike and heave’s that just simply were not broken up through poor technique or poor luck even though the coverage was there…. and poor refereeing didn’t help at times.

    PITT’s D_Backs didn’t play nearly as poor as the numbers indicated and PITT’s QB pressure wasn’t as bad as most think. No time to get to the QB. Ball was gone while the QB were bird watching and that’s on the coaches tight there

    We All We Got
    We All We Need
    H2P! …. …………….ike

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    1. Ike, how about watching that Syracuse tape again and then tell me about that non NFL caliber QB that put up numbers like he had first round draft potential. He might never see the field again if he stays at Syracuse.

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  30. Pitt is cheap so what’s new?

    Narduzzi will be gone shortly and we will hire another OC, DC, or maybe a mid major up and comer like Mike H. insanity just pure insanity.

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  31. Our time of possession was 30:53 to 29:07 – we were on the field on offense more than on defense so that doesn’t make sense Ike(a). In 2015 our TOP was 31:43 to 28.17.

    In 2015 we had 852 plays at 7.2 ypp clip… in 2016 we had 866 yet the ypp dropped to 6.7.

    I don’t know why everyone seems to think we had some sort of a quick strike offense when just the opposite was true.

    Our defense was not on the field any more than our offense was really. Yet our points per game allowed went from 26.1 to an astronomical 35.2 ppg in ’16.

    Bitch about the players all you want but it was so bad, so soon and so obvious wholesale changes should have been made and weren’t. Not one say kids have to redshirt – if there were better athletes on the bench (with those all-important Power Five offers!!!) then they should have played.

    The staff relied on the offense and they lucked out – they absolutely will not have that luxury this coming season…

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  32. Pitt will always go the cheap way. They are BS artists. They spin the story that Pitt’s goal is to win the ACC and compete for national championships, but how do they spend their money and how much money is spent. Follow the money.

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  33. I have a theory. Conklin couldn’t coach at Baldwin. No excuses except he is terrible. Jordano, Stallings, Conklin, Womans BB, Soccer, etc. Long list of bums.

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  34. Reed one question I’ve meaning to ask you. You didn’t see the D-Backs in position to make many plays last year? You don’t in your heart think that the D-Backs were in the right place schematically many times and for whatever reason didn’t finish the play?

    BTW, TOP is an antiquated stat. That went out with the 70 Steelers. One long possession and every thing is askew. See, the point about the quick scores are not necessarily TOP problems, but they happened all of last year. Constantly. No? Then when PITT did rack up the points, what does the opposition need to do? Maybe score more points?

    There’s a middle ground with this, but you always want to blame the coaches. There’s no wiggle room here either. It’s known around the POV your feelings on…. you know. The C word….. ike

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  35. From last thread:
    Huff under PA law if the blood is drawn within 2 hours it doesn’t matter what it was at the moment you were behind the wheel. You drank it and got behind the wheel. When I started we were required to relate back to the time of driving which forced the defendants to make statements about how much they drank in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Do you think his BAC was less when he went on this drunken rampage through the streets of Oakland? On my best guess this guy, assuming it was only alcohol and not combined with weed is that he was over .14, probably well over.
    Folks there were two people in the car he struck. What if your relatives were struck and he fled? Oh no big deal you would say, he plays for my team. Yeah. This was not an ordinary DUI. He fled the scene of a crime like a spoiled coward. He put his car through a plate glass window.. . This is grotesque misconduct not seen in more than 1 or 2 percent of all DUI arrests. Take your fan blinders off. Read the report and visualize what this looked like to those who were there. I have nothing against him personally and i don’t seek the max on everyone I prosecute. I deal with each case on the facts of that case which is my ethical responsibility. In fact he is innocent until proven guilty. But this coward has a big drinking problem and excusing his conduct because of how DUIs were treated in the 60’s and 70’s or because he is a football player is no better than Ped State did with Sandusky or trying to cover up the frat homicide. It does not do him good and that is where our concern should lie. Oh yeah and to his four victims that night.

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  36. This is an Off Topic question and a general scenario I’m throwing out there.

    Here’s a question rkb and I’m not trying to be be a smart ass in anyway. Suppose an alleged drunk driver was in an accident and made it back to a bar, order a bottle of whiskey and began chugging it?

    i sat in a courtroom for a case like this one and it caused many problems. I’m wondering if the laws have changed? Thanks.

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  37. Listen don’t get me wrong .. Conklin was possibly less qualified than House but at least he had 1 year DC experience when he came here. Conklin was brought here primarily to recruit and Narduzzi made that clear when he hired him.

    But the fact remains that as Reed pointed out @ 3:11 above, Conklin seemingly did a good job in 2015 … so why couldn’t he do it in 2016? And I provided the answers. I doubt very much that he got addicted on dumb pills this past season

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    1. and BTW, the 2 NFL quality QBs Pitt faced in 2015 (Kizer and Kaaya) pretty much had their way with us until they slowed things down after the large leads they built up. This is why Ilisted the schedule as No. 1 above

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  38. He shoulda asked for a MRI. That would have been a two hour wait on its own…..

    LOL @ upitt – our coaches would stink at Baldwin High School. At least they would feel comfortable coaching there with 2 star talent.

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  39. Ohh, and Bookser was All Academic ACC in 2016. Not sure how much of a problem drinker he is with that academic record. His twitter is interesting. Seems Narduzzi is fond of him. So is he a bad apple or just had a bad night?

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  40. Me? I’m done with Booker talk, we don’t have a clue what cause or what happened with the MOTHER’S DAY incident!

    I post this next comment while chuckling a bit to myself. We all go round and round with the stat’s argument. I’m a hater of them and some rely heavily on them. That’s ok by me. While statistics are actually facts, as they have already happened, they really do not predict the future as much as tell us all what has already happened. Especially in a fluid sport like football.

    I was schooled on the eye test (another matter altogether) earlier this year, which btw, I rely heavily on instead of misguided numbers used to make ones case. Yet eye test alone doesn’t tell the whole story either.

    Case in point: A QB drops back and throws a 95 yards touchdown pass. QB stats, 1-1 for 95 yards. The player who caught the pass for the TD? He’s now averaging 95 yards per catch. Do we know what happened on that play? Hell no, not unless we saw it with our own eyes.

    I know this comment will really piss off a good friend of mine but I take stats as a criteria combined with many other factors. Football is not best suited for statistics to tell the whole story….. just imo… ike

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  41. Lost lost 6 in a row in ACC good thing we had tough mac Youngstown state oh did we beat them another loser last out of 16 teams in ACC both divisions yet no worries their was contract renewed and who will do anything. Terrible outcome of season in ACC. Cupcakes to get us only about a6 behind .500 Upitt it’ll get better in years haha H2P

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  42. Upit i’m betting lost.
    Huff – the other way a defendant commits a DUI is if the defendant ‘was in operation or control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance to the degree it renders him incapable of safe driving.’ BAC is irrelevant. Anyone care to defend Bookser on that?
    In court today I observed a defendant be sentenced for driving under the influence of alcohol and weed. He rear ended a vehicle and got over 5 years. How you ask for rear ending another vehicle? A 25 year old Phd Pitt student who was studying Russian and Eastern European studies was cut in half by the defendant when she was between the car in front of him and his bumper. Can you imagine a worse death? Sympathies came in world wide to her parents who cannot leave their own house they are so destroyed. Hey World Wide Buffoon who is going to give her a second chance?. As to those of you concerned about the irresponsible drunken coward and the NFL – he &)(&)(& that bed why should you give a rat’s but? We are responsible for our own actions. Second chances are a privilege we believe in, they are not a right. Let’s be concerned with the victims and not the Football star. I don’t care if the Drunken
    coward ever plays again. All that matters are his victims and his coming to grips with his massive problem.
    Anyone wanna bet that if Nard read the officer’s report posted here,it was the first time he heard the alleged facts. No way the coward told him. Well World Wide Buffoon any thoughts on how the cut in half woman and her family get a second chance.

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  43. Hire a bum and this is what you get. Give WVU credit. They hired Mazey and paid the man. He has them very competitive and BIG12 is solid in baseball. Baseball is an embarrassment.

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  44. Not just baseball upitt. Can anyone tell me the last time Pitt won a conference championship in any sport? I can’t remember but i think it was mens bball 10 years ago? Alumni cannot feel connected unless you give them something to connect with. That includes the experience on campus, sorry.

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  45. A. I’m really stunned at how poorly Pitt pays FB coaches. I thought we kicked it up a notch to get Narduzzi, but we look like real cheapskates. I’m embarrassed.

    B. As a full professor with over 30 years experience here in Cali, with university awards, national awards, and grants that pay the university (off the top) more than my annual salary and employ more than half a dozen students a year, and provide professional support to a couple hundred teachers, I’ve never made more than 100K base salary, even when I was department chair. Once I made a little more from extra summer work. (And don’t give me that you have summers off crap! When do you think we publish so we won’t perish?) I love what I do, but it’s hard to swallow coaching salaries.

    C. It’s always a hoot to see what POVers say about this or that player–who will or won’t be good. Fun to speculate, but even those of you who really know what you’re talking about don’t do much better with your performance predictions than those of us who pretend we know something. Who knows if those 2018 recruits will ever see a D1 field? Who knows if they’ll be in the NFL in 2021?

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  46. Been busy with work lately and haven’t been posting much, but I’m still following all the posts, and I gotta say….my fellow POVers, You are entertaining the $hit out of me! Love it!

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  47. College FB provides the most revenue by far for most schools, including Pitt.

    If Bookser was a reserve with little chance of contributing, chances are that he would be released from the team. But he is a valuable asset, and we play arguably the 2 best teams on our schedule in weeks 2 and 3. Thus, it will be interesting to see what will occur.

    If we were an SEC or B12 team, he would likely be suspended for YSU only. But I would expect he will receive a penalty more commensurate with his crime. Selfishly, I would hope for just a one game suspension but I really think it should be at least 3 games.

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    1. One game if he follows through with the Narduzzi rehab program. That should be enough to change his behavior going forward. It’s up to Booker after that to get it right.

      A star Florida Gator WR was just busted on a marijuana charge (multiple violations to his credit) and the word is there will be internal discipline this summer with no suspension from games.

      There are ways to teach and discipline without hurting the team. Pitt needs to get more “creative” in this area if they aren’t willing to spend money to better the programs.

      Just my opinion…

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  48. Upitt

    I agree about the stadium. I agree many of the Pitt coaches suck, especially baseball. Let’s not forget the grassless baseball stadium, LOL.

    If they are satisifed with Narduzzi, then they need to pay him, have an enormous buyout so he can’t be stolen and make an announcement for new football facilities to bring in better revenue. Invest to make more money in the future.

    My God, for once, I would love Pitt to come out and say, our 15 years plan is this…

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  49. By the way, I watching college baseball the other day. Louisville has the same all turf field as Pitt, which shocked me because they dump money into sports.

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  50. Rocket – Yes but also have a stadium not a slapdick bleachers and no identity to their park.

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  51. Pitt even having baseball, softball and soccer stadiums was a good first step. The can be dolled up when they can actually compete.
    They are building a LAX facility. I hope to God they invest and have a scholarship lacrosse team. They are in the best lacrosse conference in the country.
    To go along with your college experience theme….buy up more of the Oakland crap hole for campus facilities, not another medical building.

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  52. BTW, I really appreciate the stats Reed posts on the POV. They are a great research tool. I wanted to make that clear.

    My take on the new PITT recruit Noah Palmer. Only a 2 star by most accounts, he could be a sleeper for the future. @ 6’4″ 225lbs he’s a skinny young fellow right now.

    What’s the upside? As they say, he’s got the frame and comes from a high school with a good coach. Former PITT player Bill Cherpack. Watched some tape and he is quick. He runs a direct route to the ball carrier and gets there super fast. I think his football instincts are high up there as well.

    PITT has a choice to make here, are they going to want to put lbs on this kid and bulk him up just because he played DE in high school or do they strengthen him up and keep him on the leaner side to play L-Backer or even a hybrid D-Back?

    I think he’s more of a 3 star type and will help PITT in a few years. A good pickup considering PITT wants his teammate badly. Devin Danielson

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  53. I agree but that Peterson Sports Complex is worst in ACC. Yet again went cheap. Look at Louisville’s Stadium, Clemson, FSU, UVA, etc.

    They will bever compete in baseball in ACC.

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  54. Since the time of not matching A&M’s offer to Jackie Football has been run on a budget. You get what you pay for.

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  55. Wanny deserves a star from the football goods because he had us competitive and he was somewhere around 700,000 to 800,000K if I remember correctly.

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  56. Once again … you guys are not taking into account the space restrictions in Oakland. This is a real problem whether you want to acknowledge it or not. Further, just common sense should tell everyone that the non-revenue sports should have limited funding in the big picture of things.

    We do pretty well in swimming, diving and wrestling .. indoor sports where there is a pool of local athletes to recruit from. On the other hand, baseball has a much higher priority in southern states where it is played through much of the calendar year.

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  57. Who cares about swimming and diving forgot sake and let’s be honest who cares about wrestling! The fact of the matter is we hired a never been head coach on the cheap in wrestling. Move the damn campus by 3000 acres in Washington County and start a new College. Oaklands a cesspool

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  58. Oakland can stay as a medical campus only hell we’re already playing off-campus anyway might as will go another 25 minutes down the road

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  59. I can personally attest from one on one conversations I have had that Pitt has no plans, nor will they, to build a stadium anywhere in Oakland. One reason alone is that the land is the most valuable in the city less Downtown.

    Put it elsewhere and make it nice and BUY the land the stadium sits under and … Ta Da! It is on-campus.

    Should have been the Hazelwood site when it was available.

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  60. I can blame PITT for lots and lots of mistakes made over the years but one I can’t blame PITT for is Jackie leaving. Don’t look at the salary he left for in today’s terms looks at for what it was. The highest monetary contract ever offered in college football up until that time. Probably compared to what Urban gets. btw, Sherrill is my all time favorite PITT head football coach. Loved the way he did things.

    PITT Stadium on the other hand, was the worst decision made in modern day PITT football history imo. It hadn’t been taken care of and needed big bucks to bring into this era but it had the bones to be transformed into an iconic building for the ages. Imagine walking into a modern PITT Stadium on Sept 2 in the fall. Wow! thanks again steve and I know he didn’t make the decision but he sure as hell heavily influenced it.

    btw, many may know that the underbelly of PITT Stadium had never been dug out, leaving all kinds of possibilities available. It would have taken millions but the building was historic and beautiful in my eyes. ike.

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  61. Wait for the Populous study on feasibility. It will be presented to the BOT and Heather this summer. Public disclosure by late Fall.

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  62. My post above about limited space in Oakland was not about an OCS … it was how all the field of the Peterson Sports Complex are kind of compacted into a limited space IMO. They would be a lot more attractive if spced out.

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  63. Reed

    Your are correct. They should have grabbed the Hazelwood property when it was a contaminated and empty for low dollars. Then slowly bought a path of houses heading that way to expand the campus.

    Much more important to build and renovate the 50 medical buildings in Oakland.

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  64. Here’s a question guys. When Kennametal backed out of building their main work campus down there what happened to that land? The Kennametal building near Latrobe by the airport is very large and sprawling, I figure they must have reserved a large parcel of land to build at Hazlewood and will not be using it/

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  65. Correct about Pitt not really supporting FB. I thought when the new chancellor came in that had changed but I guess not.Pitt should up Narduzzies salary to at least 3k and get him what ever he needs in assts. since we cant seem to get an OCS and can’t seem to fill the big box on the North Side. Maybe we need some new board members because they sure do seem to spend the BIG $$$$$ for buildings for anything medical related. Just take a virtual tour and look at all the new University construction and aquisition all over Oakland.A note that several more thousand parking spaces will disappear on the North Side with another new real estate development. That situation gets worse each year..No serious thinking about long term goals!

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