After three years we have compiled a 21 & 17 record under Pat Narduzzi as the head coach at Pitt.  On the day he was hired I think we Pitt fans would say that if we were told that he’d have that record we’d have been a bit disappointed.

Our previous HC, Paul Chryst, was 19 & 19 in his three years at Pitt but when Narduzzi was hired the Pitt administration proclaimed that it was a new beginning! for the football program and that it would have much more support, mainly financially, from the new Chancellor Pat Gallagher and from the then new AD Scott Barnes.

Or so we were told. I have wondered if this was the case or not especially given the low salary we paid Narduzzi at the signing – $1.8M base contract which was 62nd among 129 FBS head coaches in 2016.

Regardless of the support, or the lack of it, Pat Narduzzi hit the ground running by ripping off two eight win seasons in a row by going 8-5 each year with one of those losses being the bowl game at the end of the season.  When you haven’t had a double-digit winning season since 2009 and for about 30 years before that eight wins looked pretty damned good.

Among those 16 wins was a great 2015 match against Penn State, at home, that we had after a 16 year hiatus of playing those rivals of ours. Perhaps topping that was an unexpected and wonderful upset of then #2 (and eventually the National Champions) Clemson down in Death Valley in 2016. Both were ‘signature wins’ and both very much appreciated by the fans.

Fast forward to this last season where things went south with seven losses stacked up against only five wins. Fans had a feeling we’d slip a bit from 2016 mainly because we lost both QB Nate Peterman who had one of the best years a Pitt QB ever had, along with the declaration by RB James Conner –  a heart and soul leader of the team.

But I don’t think many fans felt we’d limp along to only five wins. Prior to the season I predicted either seven wins or possibly six… “But no less than a .500 season” Well, I was wrong about that.

Continue reading “Whose Players Were They Way Back Then?” →

After a full two seasons of commenting on Pitt football via the Pitt POV blog you readers can tell that I am very frustrated by what has been happening with some readers and  the comments they post.

What started out as a convivial gathering of Pitt fans with similar interests has disintegrated into backbiting, sniping and just plain mean actions by certain commenters. Let me take a minute and remind each of you what the intent and purpose of this blog is.

First and foremost it is a gathering place of like minded readers who share a strong interest in Pitt football. That is the baseline for the POV and always has been.

Secondly we all have a responsibility on here to treat others as we would like to be treated – it is exactly that simple.  If you can’t do that one thing you’ll not be posting on here as I am changing my own rule and will begin to ban commenters who are purposefully being disruptive. I don’t mean ‘timeouts‘ either – I’m not a babysitter.  You comment on here at my leisure and I will stop that as I see fit.

Believe me when I say this is the last thing I want to do and have worked very hard to avoid it as I feel we all have voices and opinions that are worth sharing – but I will no longer tolerate the bullshit some bring on here.

Third is this: I love writing about Pitt football and truly enjoy this blog. I think that comes through on here. But here is the bottom line. You can disagree all you want with my thoughts, opinions and information I pass along about Pitt football and I expect you to do so. But don’t ever get personal with me and think you know me better than I know myself.

Do not play junior psychologist with me – I have had way better headshrinkers than you inside my skull and I don’t need you to try to tell me about myself – because the truth is very few people on here know me personally at all.  Do that once and you’re out.

Again, feel free disagree with what I write or say to your heart’s content, I enjoy that; get personally insulting to me (or toward other readers) and you’re gone.

I’m not going to jerk around with this any longer – for every commenter who makes an ass out of themselves we have many hundreds more who just want to read the articles and discuss Pitt football. Do not screw it up for everyone else.

This blog is about having fun talking about something we all love – don’t doubt I’ll do what is necessary to keep it that way in the future.

So, everyone starts with a clean slate as soon as this is posted.  Let’s remember why the Pitt POV was started in the first place and act accordingly.

Thank you,

Reed

Submitted by Mark Kerestan (PittPT)

    Well there is a lot of college football action going on right now but unfortunately Pitt isn’t a part of it due to their bowl ineligibility. The final recruiting push will be heating up in January, but let’s talk about the players currently on the roster for a moment.

Which players  on the roster, who hasn’t been a major contributor to this point, do you expect to step up and become a significant factor for the Panthers in 2018? Let’s pick one player each on offense and defense.

    I’ll kick things off.  Maybe it’s a no brainer but I’ll pick rsFR Paris Ford on defense.  I know he is probably the highest rated Panther recruit still on the roster, but after a delay in getting to participate in practices, he hasn’t made a big splash to this point.  Here’s hoping that non-football issues don’t derail his full participation before the season starts, and he can make an impact like Jordan Whitehead’s freshman season.

    On offense, I expect receiver JR Aaron Mathews to step up this year.  Hopefully his development was blocked by having to play behind WRs J. Weah, Dontez Ford, and Q. Henderson and this year he emerges as a late bloomer similar to Jester Weah’s improvement over the past two years.  I feel that Mathews has the physical tools and has shown glimpses of excellence, but then disappears for extended periods of time. With the above players gone it should be Mathews’ time to shine.

Here are his career stats to date.

    So, that’s who I have. How about you? Who do you see stepping up big time for the Panthers in 2018?