in Pitt Football 191 Words

You’re the First to Know…

I just now received a call from Tyler Boyd’s press agent specifically requesting that The Pitt POV run a piece about a free one-day Football Camp our alumni Tyler Boyd is hosting for under privileged youth in the Pittsburgh-Clariton area.

That will be on July 15th – the full press release will be published as soon as I get it in email.

So here is an early heads-up on what is a very generous gesture and sure to be great day for the local youths who most probably could use a jolt of fun and hobnobbing with an NFL player and his NFL friends.

The carrot dangled to the POV is that I’ll get a nice block of time for an one-on-one interview with young Mr. Boyd.  I’ll try not to hit him up for a loan no matter how deep his pockets are.  The camp will be on a Saturday so let’s make a POV dinner somewhere out of it… eh?

So – a round of applause for a Pitt man giving back some of what he has to kids in the position he found himself growing up in.

 

88 thoughts on “You’re the First to Know…”

  1. It’s a testament to you that he has the trust in your integrity and competence to tell you first and give you the responsibility to send out the word. As for Tyler, he has always seemed to be aware of where he came from and the fact that his unique talent offered him a way out not available to most. It is in the tradition of Larry Fitzgerald and other compassionate pros.

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  2. Impressive that the POV headmaster received a call. I guess we will find out how we can help in the full press release? Check your text messages Mr Reed.

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  3. I suggest that you do NOT solicit UPitt’s assistance in composing the article

    And yes … heartiest congrats!

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  4. Just like a home grown Pittsburgh man to come home and give back to his community Clairton. Stories like this makes me proud to be from this region of the country… like no other…

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  7. Love it when the great ones give back to the local youth! Well done Tyler- and congrats Reed!

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  8. Nice also maybe get him to personally autograph a Pitt jersey you can auction off and donate the proceeds.

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  10. Awesome thing to do and kudos to him. I will hold my Jon Ross comments for another day.

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  11. Oh wow you get “An Exclusive” too!?

    Some questions I would love to know from Tyler Boyd:

    1) Recruiting-Wise: Was he always going to come to Pitt, and back in his recruitment did he ever consider going somewhere else?

    —- Just something I’ve wondered, he was offered by Every-Body and was a National Top Recruit — yet from my perspective he seemed like he has all-in with his hometown squad no matter what. He came in Pitt’s first ACC-foray too perfect timing.

    2) *What does he think of Pitt’s current crop of receivers? And especially, how much has Jester Weah grown since they last played together? (He was also Weah’s teammate for 3 seasons — they came-in together the same year) — and what does he think is in-store from Weah and the receivers this year?

    2A) — Is he excited about his fellow Clairton grad Aaron Mathews and what does he expect from him?

    Last curious-question: Does he honestly think Pitt Football will rise to the highest levels of College Football? Say, does he believe Pitt can rise to a top-program and compete for ACC Championships consistently and then even rise to a Playoff level team? I’m sure he’ll say, “Of Course!” but it’s fun to hear top-Panthers discuss the future of the program to me….

    Regardless, Can you get a nice, “Hail To Pitt!! from Tyler Boyd at the end??? An Angel get’s it’s wings each time a Great Panther says it lol.

    🙂 Man @Reed, You’re really buildin’ somethin’ here.

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    1. If memory serves, Pitt likely got JP Holtz, Dorian Johnson and Tyler Boyd because of the PSU sanctions (and possibly more.) For sure … Holts and Johnson .. who had both committed to PSU then rescinded.

      Boyd never committed but I remember reading that he would have gone to PSU if not for the sanctions. Ironically, one of the main reasons he allegedly came to Pitt was a PSU alum, Bobby Engram, who was Pitt WR Coach at the time of his recruitment.

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  13. Gas – I thought the same thing.

    I will keep my comments on him to myself. Instead I will just say he is doing a great thing.

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  14. Good point DK, Reed has really built something here that’s only going to get bigger. With all the wonderful people who are a part of the POV maybe we can all accomplish things, something good and worthwhile. I’m proud to be a part of it all. ….. ike

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  15. Tyler Boyd, well played!

    At some point, he may want to be a possession receiver for a local team. It makes sense to grow the next generation of Pitt potentials! Could Pitt support the camp in any way without running afowl of the ncaa? Almost like a Pitt Skills Camp, starring Tyler Boyd. It’s a great thing for all involved.

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    1. I’m sure one of the attractions, along with genuine generosity, is taking a tax write off for providing the camp.

      Getting Pitt involved as a sponsor might queer that.

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  16. Way to support your school, city and community. I commend the young man.

    Dont forget where you came from and how you got there. Life is a journey.

    Its good to give back.

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  17. But when Iron Mike calls you directly to get the ‘word’ out, thats when you know you’ve made the big leagues. But what would be the ‘word’?

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  19. Wasn’t thinkin as a sponsor. Was thinking as sending more players to volunteer for outreach opportunities to youth’s (or as joe pesci says, yutes or Yew the ziz). The kids would never forget and perhaps create a lean towards Pitt in years to come.

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  20. I remember when it was discussed whether Boyd or Foster was better. Boyd’s performance in the big 33 game sure told me Boyd was the real catch.

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    1. I remember that the only question about Boyd back then was because he participated at the lowest level in PA football. But the PA coach after a couple of practices said that it was nonsense, Tyler can compete and excel at any level. Then a couple days later, Tyler backed up that statement, and pretty much dominated

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  21. It’s not often enough that you get a “win/win situation.
    Kudos to Tyler Boyd’s people for realizing Reed’s (and our) POV is a highly legitimate source for Pitt football.
    Congrats Commander Reed!
    PS Who else did the Boyd people reach out to for this event?

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  22. Its great that Reed got the call, but really, I don’t think that having a press agent do the set up and committing one day to his home town qualifies Boyd for sainthood. It’s nice he is doing it but taking a day off from the pool during the long summer to visit the family and get a tax write off isn’t the same as other players who routinely commit their time to Children’s Hospital or local food banks. Some of these players labor in the shadows without requiring all the fanfare of a press release. I hate to sound like UPitt on this, but I’m slightly underwhelmed.

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  23. Great to see Tyler give back to his home town, a very tight knit community.

    Also great to see Reed get recognized for his efforts to support Pitt Football.

    That was a most amazing performance in the Big 33. Doubtful it will ever get surpassed, much like some of his records at Pitt, with three different QB’s

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  24. I believe a humble man with any sort of wealth or status should give back to his community that stood by him in their younger days. This is what Mr Boyd is doing, we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth so to speak. Often times many of these athletes do much of their charity work without the fanfare involved. So we don’t know of other things he may have already done or will do in the future. After-all, would we have known what sort of involvement Tyler was contributing if it wasn’t for Reed and the POV? I highly doubt that… ike

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  25. Just a comparison of two very talented HS receivers who made different decisions on their college choices, Tyler Boyd & Robert Foster.

    Would fortunes have been reversed if Tyler had taken a scholarship at a Big Time School & Foster had decided to stay home & play his college ball as a Panther? No on can say, life’s situations have so many variables, some luck and fate is thrown in too just for good measure. But the point is that individual decisions were made by these two young men,decisions that probably had the largest influence on where they are today in their respective lives.

    Say what you will about Pitt and their athletic programs but don’t debate the point with me that a talented athlete is disadvantaged in some way by committing to play his sport at the University of Pittsburgh rather than at some other “elite” college program, cause that just ain’t the way it is.

    Always been a TB fan, a hometown hero IMO, glad to see this Pitt Man giving back to the community from which he came. And as always, Hail to Pitt!

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    1. Foster backed up All-American Amari Cooper his first two years (one a redshirt) then, as a RsSo won a starting position on a team that went on to win the national title. Of course, he received a serious injury and missed the final 10 games .. and has played sparingly since. A tough break but goes to show you how the top programs keep refueling with top recruits.

      Foster’s situation allegedly influenced Whitehead’s decision to come to Pitt. Whitehead was 2 years behind Foster at Central Valley HS, ad was considered the the #1 prospect in PA with plenty of attractive offers.

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    1. ^^ I said that personally I think Pitt Football should & will be very similar to Stanford Football, except with that North-East / Mid-Atlantic flair.

      Stanford back in the Walt Harris days a decade ago was recruiting 15 2 star guys a class. Stanford Football had been a joke for the longest time.

      Obviously, Jim Harbaugh came and Blew-Up their program, all on the shoulders of one young son of an ex-WVU Mountaineer QB Oliver Luck.

      Now, under David Shaw the proud Stanford Alum, they are bringing in high-Academic 5 and 4 star players!

      Maybe Narduzzi builds Pitt up into a Power Program —- Before as I’ve said he will do, leaves for the NFL —- quite probably even the NY Jets after this 10-3 season 😉 — and a young-Stud Teryl Austin takes the Crown and leads Pitt into Powerhouse status?

      But @Reed Pitt’s best recruiting the last 30 years was Wannstedt, right? A bunch of crazy-overrated 4 stars who never contribute or play to bloat-up the recruiting rankings (besides McCoy and Jon Baldwin), with 2 and low 3 star guys who end up comprising the entire starting roster…..

      Nard-Dawg is building it-up nicely for this Program and where it’s been.

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      1. LOL & have you ever been to Palo Alto and the Stanford Campus??

        ALL THE MONEY “techincally” lol—- but they don’t pay their coaches much, their have a dinky little rectangle bleacher stadium on-campus and NO ONE SHOWS UP even though it’s mayyybe 50,000 capacity.

        If Stanford can reach their current status, Pitt CAN and SHOULD become a Playoff Contending Program.

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        1. I really would be surprised to see Narduzzi leave so soon. I see him as a ten year coach at Pitt just because of the kind of man/coach that he is, old school, blue collar, local product. Until the Pitt administration pisses his m off for some reason, I think he stays as a long termer. Hope sofor the sake of stability for Pitt Football.

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  27. I’m supposed to get an email today about that football camp of Tyler Boyd’s for July 15. If it doesn’t come today then I’m going to start wondering about that phone call because no one else has advertised this at all yet.

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  29. @ Dark – Seriously big fella? You can’t compare Pitt to Stanford, sorry. Stanford is recognized as a preeminent academic institution. Pitt can strive for the academic reputation of Stanford, but just won’t get there. Pitt doesn’t enjoy that reputation. Let’s not go to USNews and World Report for Rankings comparison because we all know that those are surveys being answered by the institution, so there is room for a lot of manipulation.

    Let’s no kid ourselves. From a football perspective, since 2000, Stanford is 123-99. Pitt is 123-106. We are Stanford football wise or so the record indicates. Hard to compare opponents, but the actual recored is there for anyone to see. The W-L record is not manipulated by the university. If your point is that Pitt can have the recent success that Stanford has enjoyed, that is fine. Stanford has had a good run of star QB’s. Had Luck gone to Pitt for 4 years as he did Stanford, our record would be much better too.

    @wwb – Good statistic. Our ranking in 16 I think was due in part because of the high numbers of recruits, versus the quality. The quality was good, but not great if I recall off the top of my head. I think we are getting more quality players this year based on offers and high stars. If we only get 18 max, we shouldn’t expect a top 25. It will be mid-thirties, due to the numbers. This is another reason that it bothers me when folks say he Narduzzi isn’t recruiting great. He is improving but there are so many variables in rankings that it is too difficult to accurately assess….unless you are getting all 4 and 5 stars like alabama and osu. If they miss on a 5 star, they replace them with a 5 star. When we miss on a 5 star, it just hurts because we don’t get that many.

    Reed, sorry if that was a hoax. I hope not!

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  30. Upitt – I’m loving the self-control. Thank you for keeping your opinions to yourself on this one.

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  31. Upitt has his priorities in the right line. I’m happy for the guy!

    Reed, hang in there, the story is too elaborate to be a ruse. The phone call will be coming.

    This subjective recruiting topic is off the chains anymore. I couldn’t disagree more with anyone who thinks Narduzzi is not doing a great job. Heck, here he is gabbing the quality WPIAL kids this year and I hear the sighs. C’mon men, let’s get with it, it’s how you build a program the right way.

    It took steve a few years to ruin PITT football tradition, moral and drive away alumni, donors and the younger ans some older fans. It will take a few years to repair the damage that idiot did to PITT football. Narduzzi is the right man for that daunting task… ike

    We All We Got
    We All We Need……. Get with PITT!
    H2P!

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  32. Ike @ 9:19
    + 10 buddy

    The legend lives on!!! (LOL)

    Just hope our potentate hasn’t got the POV flagpole out of the box yet. :>)

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  34. Quite the honor Reed and what you have accomplished here at the beeeuutiiful downtown POV!! < A city unto itself! Congratulations.. ike

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  35. Ike, Reed totally discounts this but Narduzzi’s real skill so far in putting up two initial 8-5 seasons right off the bat as a newbie HC is bringing in key transfers and moving guys around to fit the need of the team. Even walk-ons are in his mix.

    In the past guys like Mark Scarpinato & Nate Peterman come immediately to mind. Others are George Aston & O. Idowu, walk-on contributors for sure. Then guys like Brian O’Neill to the OL, Elijah Zeise from WR to LB have been plugged in to the position of need to shore up a thin roster at those positions.

    And Coach Duzz isn’t done yet. He has injured transfers like Chris Clark & Dewanye Hendrix “hopefully” finally ready to make the impact anticipated at their respective positions.

    More of the same to come with this year’s JC pickup, Kamonte Carter. Nothing would make me happier than seeing Carter clogging up the middle all game long against our second opponent of the season,,,,,,payback.

    Guys like Kaezon Pugh & Maurice Ffrench are now being primed for different positions than where they played in the past as well.

    Narduzzi is getting the job done by utilizing all hands on deck. Once there are even more talented troops available, it only gets better. It’s all important,,,,, not just the HS recruiting.

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    1. And I haven’t given up on Allen Edwards yet either, the lowly 2 Star Dean College transfer that I think holds down one of the starting DE spots this season.

      Show em you’re the guy Edwards. This is your time.

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        1. I did forget about Lopes, but Browne, isn’t he the proverbial 800 pound gorilla in the room?

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  36. Great breakdown Doc. All I keep hearing is I like Narduzzi but…. It’s the butts I don’t get. His game day coaching to me has been a little off but he’s new at head coaching a football team and I keep saying the most improved part of this upcoming season will be the coaching.. With Partidge on board now and another year under this coaching staff’s belt I fully expect to see an even crisper PITT team out on the field this year.

    This coming year and it will be the last for me in saying, I will look at how things play out, how the team looks while playing, (not warming up), effort and how the team is coached. Wins will be the bonus. That said I still think 8 regular season wins is a real possibility.

    Next year will be the year I’ll get tougher on Narduzzi. ……… and I’m not saying they can stink this year.. not at all. Youth and X factors (Browne, Hendrix) this year makes it difficult to project. I do hope PITT gets a younger QB some quality playing time for the future.. ike

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  37. Lopes is my man…

    Still believing PITT can beat Oakie State at home and will… You gotta believe.. right?

    You have to stand for something or you will fall for anything. . ike

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    1. After last season I fully believe that we can beat anybody on our schedule, but that last game last s a son also proved that we can lose to anybody on our schedule too.

      And that is why they play the games.

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  38. Guys – I have an article in draft about the recruiting vs transfer issue. We are not that far apart in opinions in some ways… But Dr. Tom, I certainly do ‘give credit’ to Pat Narduzzi for every player he has on the roster – since Dec 2015 every Pitt player has come to Pitt in large part because he is here.

    But there truly is a huge difference between getting highly ranked HS SRs to commit and sign an LOI than it is getting a transfer to come aboard. In this industry when you use the word “recruiting” it means getting the HS players to enroll in your school.

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  39. The I like Narduzzi BUT, narrative can be misleading at times…… but to me… (ike) it seems like you (Reed) give more credit to the players sometimes than you do the coaches. Peterman this and Peterman that, how about HCPN hiring Canada to pave the path for Nate to the NFL? Let alone the fact that Nate followed Phat’s Chaney to PITT from Tennessee? …all Pat…

    Truth be told good friend, I think you’re tough on our new coach. Hey, we all want to win a national championship and we all know how hard that will be and (hate to say it) MAYBE impossible.

    I just get the feeling that we forget that Narduzzi has only been here 2 years. Look at what he has done so far. The expectations on this coach are way higher on any coach since back in the day.

    You can mark this down, in a year or two Narduzzi will be getting a ride off the field by his players for a great PITT win… Get on the bus Gus…. ike

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  40. ike, Reed still harbors resentment of Narduzzi because of his policy of closed practices and such. He also is very much in PC’s corner …. and with good reason, PC is really a good person who provided stability. And to PC’s credit, much of Pitt’s success this past season was due to PC’s offensive recruits. However, Reed blames the current staff for the defensive failures of this past season, and continues to ignore the lack of quality defensive recruits brought in under PC’s realm.

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  42. Reed,
    In light of above, maybe writing an article on how us POVers feel about Duzz would be a good future article option. What say ye?

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  43. As to closed practices I am upset about this because it limits interest in the program and selfishly my ability to know about the progress of players and the team. I don’t care for spoon fed propoganda, I prefer to think on my own. It does not, however, affect my opinion one way or another about HCPN. This is a tired old saw directed at Reed with nothing to back it up in fact or reality, PC does deserve credit for righting the ship discipline wise, recruiting offensive talent and his exit interview with the Chancellor ridding us forever of that Nebraskan. PC obviously did not recruit or hire well on the defensive side of the ball. i couldn’t tell you if practices were open or not though I suspect they were. I for one will not exalt the Emperors new clothes without taking a look at them and judging them. .

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  44. Concerning closed practices,
    Personally, last year when we opened with an inferior Villanova team and then 7 short days later we were playing our interstate much hated, despised, child molesting, dairy farming, scum bag long time arch rivals Penn State – I thought Duzz was brilliant to show NOTHING in the opener and then to not allow spies to watch our practices during the week before the huge rivalry game by having closed practices!
    In my humble opinion, I doubt we win that PSU game last year if spies had watched our game prep all week. Heck, you could clearly see the longer that game went on the more PSU could figure out what we were doing. Without that big lead at first I fear we lose that game, which would of been TERRIBLE! Instead we’ve had a full year to jam it down our Paterno Lovers throats.
    So if closed practices give us victories like that one, it’s just fine for Pittman4ever! #H2P

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  45. Heather … if you read the POV and are paying attention.. our brand is the unis Dorsett, Green, May. Grimm, Fralic, Cavanaugh and many other great players donned during the ” Glory Years” and always will be…pretty simple…time to make the change.. completely… Mustard and royal.. get rid of Stevie Big Beige and all remnants of Peterman …get’r righr.. Get’R
    Done!!!

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  46. Looking forward to 2017… 8 wins this year then watch out… the Beast of the East is Back….
    For all of you heading to the Georgia Tech game..we will have a “Ghost” Batchelors Party for UPitt on Friday evening, the eve of his wedding in Hotlanta… we need to something special on Saturday, game day, as he exchanges nuptuals.. we need ideas POVerts… his bride is a looker and so is her mom( Mark sent me pics of mother and daughter)

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  48. Ok, I’ll stick my face into the middle of the ring on this:
    I say no hockey at Pitt.
    If we are struggling financially to attract top talent (Heather), afraid we will lose coaches to higher paying jobs (offensive coordinators and possibly a head coach), unable to pay up-and-coming talented USC coaches and instead make due with retreads, then y are we delving into a relatively high-cost sport without any possible financial gain AND where there is no on-campus facility to watch them play?

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  50. Gasman – Haha. I should of. Bernie and I are tight and message a lot.

    What is a dark and stormy?Sounds like sex in Tower B during a thunderstorm and no power.

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    1. UPitt, Dark and Stormy is a popular drink especially in and from Bermuda. Basically rum and Ginger beer.

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  52. Wait a second here. Your wife to be is from Canada? I thought she was eastern European, I guess I was mistaken. eh?

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  53. Suggestion – BigB has a magnetic personality. It only makes sense that the photo of bride and mom (especially mom) is turned into magnets for all of us! Just trying to be helpful to the good people of the POV. UPitt is accommodating that way…..i think!

    Wish you well Mark, as always. When is the date? Did you do a gift registry at Rockports?

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  55. PittPT,
    I’m certainly no expert on ghost parties but I think because Upitt is getting married on the same day as the GT game he will not be in Atlanta, but in the Burg getting married. So BigB has come up with the idea to have a bachelor party in Atlanta honoring Upitt and his wedding in Pittsburgh.
    Hence, while Upitt will be MIA, the Povites will have a bachelor party in his absence as if he was a “ghost.”

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  56. PittPT… UPitts “ghost” is there-physically he’ll be in Pittsburgh .. getting back to. the pic of the bride and her mom…. if I was single and the mom available-UPitt would be my son/ in-law!!!

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  57. Enough of the closed practices issue. That has nothing to do at all with how I view Pat narduzzi and his coaching staff as it pertains to Pitt football. I’m not one to hold a grudge when something has been shown to have a positive side also.

    I understand it’s coaches perogative and that’s that. If you notice I personally haven’t written a word about that issue since the end of last season.

    Now that said I would prefer they had open practices as does, by the way, almost everyone I talk to in the Pitt athletic administration. They would prefer they had open practices especially the public affairs Department because this is what we have to do when we’re a middling program and trying to attract more fans and more support and more alumni donations.

    But narduzzi’s job is to win football games so that’s what he’s doing and that’s good.

    I am not as against Pat narduzzi as you say I am. I just don’t feel that the internet needs another blog that is nothing but cheerleading in, as rkb says, spoon-fed propaganda.

    If that’s what you wanted you would be somewhere else and you wouldn’t be on this blog. So I try to take a closer look at things and try to speak my mind and my opinions in a way that I get points across both good AND not so good

    You make it sound like I slam Narduzzi every chance I get. That is selective reading on your part.

    I give this coaching staff a lot of credit for doing what it’s done and getting 8 wins each season… at Pitt that’s not an easy thing to do and I totally recognize that. On the other hand I also recognize that the fact that he hasn’t won bowl games to take them up to 9 wins instead of 8 and thus influencing better rankings recruiting and fan support so it is a problem in my eyes.

    The dividing line between 8 and 9 wins in college football and at Pitt particularly is a very wide one. As we saw in bold letters last year a 9th win would have been the difference between being ranked round number 15 as opposed to where we ended up between 35 and 40.

    If this goes on for a third-year I think that there is going to have to be some real concern at whether this program is in a holding pattern or whether it’s actually getting better or not. This will be the year we see if Narduzzi’s recruits are as good as all you fans think they are.

    Pitt certainly needs to keep Pat Narduzzi for as long as we can, I think every Pitt fan believes that. But everyone also wants to see a program that’s growing year by year and everything is not ‘just fine’ if we keep staying at 8 wins. That’s not what everyone feels the goal is.

    I think everyone wants to be one win better than the year before and getting us to championship play then the p!shorts.

    Three years into a head coach’s tenure is certainly time for the recruits that he has gotten on board to start to show whether they are indeed players who are going to contribute to the better play overall of the team and drive us to win more games. The only unit on the field that I believe needs to be populated with upperclassmen is the offensive line. Other than that players’ talent should win out and if it doesn’t then I have a real concern again with the level of players he’s bringing in.

    And to remind everybody I do not believe this is a bad recruiting class or that his recruiting has been poor… I have never said that and I’ve never felt that. But I have said and I have felt itthat his recruiting should be better than it has been given the great rep and energy he brought and he has combined what he has done in the last 2 years on the field… And I strongly believe if we were coming off 8 then 9 win seasons we’d be seeing more highly ranked recruits.

    An article on that subject will be up by lunch today…

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    1. Reed, note that I’m not implying that you detest Narduzzi or are anti- .. just that you seem to readily point out the negatives, while you accentuate the positives for PC. That is certainly my impression.

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  58. Reed.. it is going to take time to undo 35 years of mediocrity including the disaster of Steve Pedersons last 4 years. Stability and credibility were crushed on a national level during that period. Getting Chryst was a good start. Beating Penn State and Clemson opened eyes nationally. 9 wins would have been great last year but it shoulda coulda woulda didn’t happen.
    You write thought provoking articles and I see you as being fair and balanced in your assessment of Duzz.
    My biggest concern is he leaves prematurely and there goes the stability again.

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  59. If Duzz leaves, it will be because of things we don’t know about. Contract issues, staffing, pay for assistants or a dispute over program control. If recruiting levels out where he is consistently finishing in the 30s ranking, Duzz may want to increase the budget or make some changes to get to the top tier. If Heather doesn’t start to fill the seats, there could be a cap on money for recruiting that pushes him away. And Pitt has never paid coaches in line with the big boys, so Pitt could continue to be a stepping point for new coaches to learn and move on. Let’s face it, college sports is all about the money.

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  60. Reed – This is the first year Duzz is playing with a majority of his players and he still doesn’t have “his” QB in place yet. That will come next year.

    I’ve said this over and over. This isn’t the NFL where the coaches adapt to the players that the GM brings in. In college, the players have to adapt to the head coach. The coach is also the GM so he brings in his players. Narduzzi is also a system coach. The system trumps everything short term. Getting his system up and running, even when it’s as bad as it was last year, is more important for the long term health of the program than short term success. Football is repetitive. The kids that are next in line have now been in the system, without deviances, for 2-3 years now. That’s a good thing.

    Yes, Narduzzi wants to win games now. No, he won’t sacrifice a season for long term stability. That’s why there were so few adjustments on defense last season. Not because he’s stubborn. It’s because he has a plan. He’s building a program that can sustain success. Not one that peaks every 4 years. It takes years to overhaul a culture and that is what Narduzzi is doing. They practice a certain way. They play a certain way.

    Tom Herman went into Houston and killed it. He also went into a program more suited to his strengths. He also wanted short term success because his ultimate goal was getting out of dodge. This is what excites me about Narduzzi. The fact he is taking a long term approach to Pitt’s rebuild tells me he really is in this for the long haul.

    Look at the coaches who’ve turned around programs like Pitt. MSU, TCU, Baylor, Washington, VT, etc. … all these programs didn’t start winning overnight. It all took time. Pitt is not a blue blood. In fact, overnight success would feed into a lot of the fears that Pitt fans have with the possibility of Narduzzi eventually leaving. It would also set up Narduzzi for failure as expectations can rise too quickly.

    The longer he stays and the more sustained success he has, the less likely he leaves. If you build something, it’s different. And everything Narduzzi says shows a long term commitment.

    Ultimately, Pitt will have to step up. If Narduzzi leaves, it will squarely be on Pitt’s shoulders.

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  61. If you are not proud to be from the region then you ain’t a Yinzer!

    Very Nice of Tyler. Awesome that they thought of the POV.

    H2P

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  62. I really believe that what is keeping Narduzzi from getting the 4 star guys is a half empty Heinz Field.

    Other schools are using this as a hammer saying their school has 100,000 crazy fans and you want to play for them at a big time football program. Star players want the feeling of going into a packed stadium with loads of energy. Heather needs to canvas that upper deck to at least fill the lower bowl so it looks better on TV. Moving the TV cameras to the other side to project the home crowd and student section would also help the optics.

    Even Narduzzi has mentioned how important fan support is to the future of Pitt Football. Winning bowl games would also reward the loyal fans that go to them, and make more want to go to the next one.

    Narduzzi id definitely on the right track and beating PSU and Clemson were huge steps for the program.
    I fear that losing Canada may be a bigger loss than some project. Hopefully the new guy can pick up where he left off, but so Canada was Narduzzi’s best hire by far. He gave us a championship level offense, like we haven’t seen since our golden years.

    So far Narduzzi’s defensive genius has been sorely lacking. How much longer can we blame it on a dearth of talent? Maybe one more year? We definitely need to see improvement this year.

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    1. There is no doubt in my mind that you are correct with your first sentence above. In fact, Donovan Jeter pretty much confirmed it in his case with a tweet he put out last fall. Just think about a recruit that comes to Heinz, then goes to a game at Happy Valley, Buckeye Stadium, Notre Dame Stadium, etc. You can’t tell me that the gameday experience doesn’t work against Pitt big time.

      And don’t think for one minute that the rival recruiters aren’t emphasizing this out to the recruits.

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  63. When I look at the PITT football program what do I see? :

    I see a football program moving in a direction and that direction is on a slight uphill turn. The ptogram was in complete shambles after Wanny was wrongly dismissed. Goofy choices in coach hiring’s the whole 9 yards.

    Chyrist did steady the ship a good bit and he helped begin build a solid foundation before he took off. (glad he did)

    To me, Narduzzi has been and done everything as advertised. Could he recruit a little better, yes. Last year’s (2016) WPIAL high school class was one of the best in a long while and Narduzzi didn’t pluck many from that class (Hamlin). Those were weird circumstances where some kids went to play for their childhood dream schools. Kind of like Jurkovic did this year. So I do give him a slight pass.

    This year HCPN is cleaning up on a supposedly underwhelming sr high school class but these guys are not chopped liver. It seems to me that the WPIAL players this year are not getting the notoriety as they should. Scouts like the kids from the warm weather belts. So do I but you need big tough kids to play Narduzzi’s style

    I know Narduzzi goes after 4 and 5 star players and he hasn’t been able to grab many so far but these 3 stars that worry some people are much better than Paul’s 3 star classes. imo much better.

    BTW, I’m confused as to what we are looking at when judging recruiting classes? I thought we talked about how stars are too subjective to take real serious? Then we looked into offers and how they are really misleading? So I’ve decided to start my own personalized high school football player rating system.

    To me as of today PITT has 6, 4 star players Danielson, Alaimo, Zubovic Morgan, Tallendier and Kradel. There look how well Narduzzi is doing now. another BTW, almost all of these 6 will or should be 4 star players by the end of their seasons.

    I feel the need to repeat myself here and say again that I just get the feeling that too much was and is expected out of HCPN so soon. He’s coached the team two season and has won 8 games both years. Yet some are just not satisfied. It’s those two dam bowl games losses causing all this rumpus and I just don’t get it. We have to move on and away from those two games and concentrate on what is really going on down at the south-side. Slow and steady improvement.

    I will always be looking out the front windshield as I’ve never fully trusted a rear-view mirror in the first place. I go by the old saying “don’t look back, you can never look back” it’s bad business.

    Here’s another one. “if you go looking for trouble you will surely find it” At the end of the season only one team cannot find trouble if they go looking… The National Champions..

    I couldn’t be more encouraged with the PITT football program right now. If Narduzzi can win 8 games again this year with his rs sophomores and transfer he’s a miracle worker… ike

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  65. GC had the answer on the recruiting shortfall with our half empty Heinz Field on football Saturday. It’s very hard to compete with PSU, OSU and ND on that front.

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  66. Everyone must of eaten their Wheaties this morning!
    The words are bouncing off my screen. Povites are very impressive creatures!

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  67. Nailed it, ike. The recruiting is coming along, but winning the bowl games is still important. The off season is part about the future, but also for the fans to feel good about, or stew over, the bowl results. A coach’s winning percentage is also impacted by the bowl results. Remember how the commentators constantly talked about Dixon’s winning percentage over his years at Pitt, that is until he crapped the bed in his last year.

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