Preview 2018: Pitt Panthers. Play Like THAT Every Week
https://bwi.rivals.com/commitments/football/2019
Michaelangelo Monteleone
Michaelangelo holds a degree in Travel Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He was a former staff writer for InPittsburgh Newsweekly, and currently resides near Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a Pitt fan since 1997 after he witnessed Pitt upset #22 Miami on Thursday night at Pitt Stadium.
pittpov.com 
Reed I listened to ur podcast and definitely didn’t take ur town article as harsh on the kid. It was excellent and I came away feeling the kid had talent but mentally lost his way. Felt bad for him actually and encouraged that he at least seems like a good kid and teammate. Not expecting much from him on the field though
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On the other hand, you are just brutal on Narduzzi. You say you get annoyed by the “ra-ra” positive fans for Pitt. But u are the exact opposite. There just doesn’t seem to be any middle ground for u or the overly positive fans.
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PittMan2003…I try to be level headed but my love of Pitt probably places me on the optimistic side. I enjoy Reed’s blog and his insight. I also agree that he has a serious dislike of Duzz. May be a personal interaction. I don’t know. But to me, while last year was a letdown, he has been a transplant that has become a loyal Pitt man. This is not an easy job. Sorry Reed, calls em’ likes I sees em…you can deny it all you want, but you don’t like Narduzzi, you just don’t
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30 years of ineptitude.It is mind boggling that anyone could be criticized for being not optimistic.
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No – it’s not a personal interaction or anything else. Not everyone has to “like” the HC of their favorite team. I just think he’s not a very good HC and has made some big mistake that were easily not made. His recruiting, or lack of it, is going to really hurt this program.
Honestly, I don’t think he’s done much on his own at Pitt so far and won the first two years on the strengths of Chryst’s players. When he puts together a actually good recruiting class and when his own players show they can win 8+ games then my opinion will change.
Until then I give him a “C” grade at best…maybe even a “C-” But I’m the only guy in all of the Pitt media that says these things out loud – which is funny because I know for a fact some others feel exactly the same as I do.
And someone is going to show me how Narduzzi is a “Loyal Pitt Man” outside the duties he is contracted for before I believe he treats his being Pitt’s HC as anything more than a job.
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The only loyal coach was Wanny and Pitt showed him what they think of loyalty
I hope SP has a near death experience choking on a cob of corn. Steve walks up to the Pearly gates thinking to see Saint Peter but instead sees a man with a stache. That man directs him to another gate where a man with big glasses, black shoes and stained paints welcomes him.
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I would Star this comment a thousand times if allowed.
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Exactly the type of post why i dont come on here anymore. Reed just has a blind dislike and gives blanket statements on Narduzzi.
Im not exactly a “ra ra” guy. I think hes been slightly above average overall so far. But to say his recruiting is going to hurt the program is ridiculous. You say he won with Chryst’s players but Narduzzi has consistently out recruited (admittedly not by much) Potato Paul.
From Rivals:
PN
2018- 36 overall avg 3.05
2017- 38 overall avg 3.04
2016- 29 overall avg 3.08
PC
2014-44 overall avg 3
2013 35 overall avg 2.81
2012 47 overall avg 3.1
Narduzzi also has to deal with an elite version of PSU that Paul didnt have to deal with, Narduzzi also has to deal with ND nosing around which they hadn’t in the past.
PITT was one of the 5 youngest teams in D1 last year, while they were mostly Narduzzi’s players they were way too young. These next two years on the field will really be where we learn who Narduzzi is.
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Kman-that is why I don’t understand why one would hammer Narduzzi. We have been horrible for a long time and it’s obviously not easy to win at pitt. Narduzzi is far from nick saban but he doesn’t deserve all the vitriol he gets.
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I am not knocking Narduzzi, but I am sure as hell not knocking Reed for pointing out real concerns.
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Kman…two 8-5’s and yes last year sucked but ended knocking off #2. This guy has been loyal and truly has made Pittsburgh home and has become a Pitt man. Our fan base should get behind him and our team. I was born in ‘76. So I have basically seen Pitt football stink, yet I stay optimistic…
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Pap – He has been here 3 years and lost to some dogs. Loyal???
You like him because he is a yinzer and screams. Reed is right. He uses twitter and makes an ass of himself. Coaching stinks and recruiting stinks more.
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I’d grade him a C+ at this point
He has a chance to get a solid B with 9 wins this year or a C- with 5 wins
He’s the perfect mediocre coach for Pitt much like Chryst
He provides stability, his players stay out of trouble, players get good grades, he doesnt cheat
Pitt is fine with 6-7 win seasons and a minor bowel game
Pitt expects its fans and alumni to accept it
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Thanks for my Sunday Morning Podcast fix Reed. Another great job.
I’ll never be made to understand what 30, 40 or 50 years ago has to do with this upcoming football season about to be upon us. There has been so many twists and changes within the PITT administration top to bottom over that period of time I just can’t see the relevance. I do understand that PITT has their own set of vision, emphasis and values they put upon their collegiate sports programs there and winning at all cost is not one of them.
Yet being pessimistic looking forward just because PITT hasn’t won a national championship since 1976 rings to me more like a problem for the fan than it does the football team? PITT football has not stunk for the past 30 years. They just haven’t! PITT stepping on their own toes a time or two does though. This just in, I haven’t always been a positive thinking PITT football fan during the “the steve” years and yes I was very vocal about it. and then, I heard from a few sources that when the changes in the administration the past few years took place, there may be a changing of attitudes in the importance for the revenue sports teams at the university. Everything I’ve been able to see, hear and get the feel for, tells me that the slow change is very much in place to put winning teams on the football field.
Reed does not Narduzzi and it’s plain as the mustache on his upper lip.
In Reeds defense though, he understands that his buddy Pat needs to stay in place for at least another year or longer.
Narduzzi is arrogant, no argument there. My favorite sports star ever, Roberto, has been said to have had a giant ego and a take no quarter attitude and personality. From what I know about the man that seems to be true. Does that come with competing? I certainly can’t hold that against someone trying to compete and win doing it. Seems like a good trait to me.
Roberto > Narduzzi. Don’t get me wrong there but I’m willing to see if gorilla arms can pave his own highway to the stars.
The panic about recruiting is nothing more than panic. How many times does it have to be re-mentioned the teams PITT beat the past few years? 2 and 3 stars beating 4 and 5 stars.
Yes I made up the word re-mentioned.
Reed, cart is on me even if I have to steal one but we may have to be and stay on the move that day. Groat will track us down.
I’m bringing one golf ball and borrowing a driver just to win Upitt’s signed jersey. Judging from my last golf outing a few years ago the shortest drive shouldn’t be a problem for me. (park your cars from the first tee as far away as possible).
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Ike – I hope you’re correct about the positive changes in the admin. folks, because if they don’t care, why should we? – Hobie – PS. Agree, the Great One was the best baseball player I’ve ever seen in a Pirate uniform. I’m not sure he would have been a great manager, however. I hope Narduzzi is learning to be one.
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Tx panther-i give him a B. Given Pitt’s recent history and limitations I give him some leeway. Last season and the 2017 recruiting class were big negatives for him (given the talent in the wpial that year).
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I respect that. But you’re grading on a curve and Nard Dog gets the benefit. I’ll compromise and go with a B- grade. I dont think hes a C or C- right now, but I do wonder how high his ceiling is. He’s a coach that is really only as good as his assistants.
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Yeah I don’t see him being a top coach. But the tough thing about pitt, is if we had a top coach they would be gone. It is a tough place to coach and it has been a stepping stone so I am willing to give Narduzzi some time.
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“Reed does not like Narduzzi and it’s plain as the mustache on his upper lip.”
I am proof reading handicapped. Sorry, been going through the toughest of times.
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@Ike – we do see things differently with respect to 2 &3 stars beating a team stocked with 4 & 5 stars last year and the year before. It is true that everything can align one week where our 2and3’s can beat 4and5’s. The difference then becomes can they do it consistently and the answer for the last 36 years is NO.
We get close and that’s it. The interesting analysis is how well does everyone think we would have done had Pitt had an Administration that understood today’s students and the importance of belonging to something great! Yes, are there signs that perhaps things are changing because Gallagher sees it and is embarrassed when he speaks to AU Presidents and Chancellors. Our sports teams have been a laughingstock for many years.
Presidents don’t argue about who had the better invention when they get together. They argue about sports! Those are short conversations if you are the Pitt Chancellor and embarrasing at the least.
As far as Narduzzi goes, I give him a C+ and here is why. The Administration has been a joke. We paid him and his assistants in the bottom 14 of the ACC yet all the fans want him to win championships. When you treat your employees like “F’s” , typically you get an F result. With Pitt our Administration has been a solid F and his recruiting actually is right in the top half. His winning has been better than half the teams in the P5. He is outperforming based on what the Administration pays and supports.
Imagine if we really had a top notch Administration!!
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^^ Huff, my rebuttal would be that if PITT manages to maintain some stability, the short comings of PITT football has a better chance to become more consistent in beating the teams they could have or should or have beaten the past few years….. . and we do agree that Chancellor Gallagher see’s this as an opportunity for The University of Pittsburgh as a whole. For what many PITT fans see and perceive as a failure the past year, I can see PITT losing many of those games by a gnats eyelash and happenstance. ……….. ike
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I give PN a solid B. I think his recruiting is a B. Everything Reed says is fairly accurate but I think he is wrong on how he perceives PN’s recruiting record. I give him praise for looking hard for recruits outside of PA. He gets an A for running a clean program because that is what I value. He gets a C- for his assistants and that’s through last year. He gets a C- for game day coaching.
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I certainly disagree that Reed hates Narduzzi. He doesn’t like his secret practices and he is critical of his recruiting. I share his opinion, but don’t dislike Narduzzi and hope he does better. It is just critical analysis and opinion.
Do you have to be a Narduzzi apologist, to be considered someone that likes the guy?
Instead of telling people how they think. Let’s have a poll on what you actually think about Narduzzi.
Options:
Love him, coach for life
Like him, Should win 9-10 games in the near future
Uncertain, future could go either way
Dislike him, pretty sure he will fail and be gone in the next few years
Hate him, Fire him now
I would say I am a 3 but hoping for the best.
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I did number those options 1-5 top to bottom. Not sure why it didn’t translate.
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I am a 3.
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optimist 2
realist 3
pessimist 4
your 1 and 5’s are less than 10% combined. Just stats my man
Pareto was on to somethin
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A 3 for me too.
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We don’t know if we run a clean program. What we know is we are not under investigation publicly.
We can’t grade a coach on recruiting if we do not know what type of support he receives from the administration for coaching and recruiting. That’s the part that is funny to me. Some complain about the recruiting but have no idea if our HC has close to the budget his competitors have. We know he is paid low in P5 standards and he out recruits his pay grade if you look at his recruiting rankings but even those are subjective due to size of classes etc. But we don’t know complete budget.
Conversely, we don’t know if his budget is top 20 for recruiting and he is bringing in 35 ranked classes. Yet we complain….or we don’t. That is why I always say I am fine with his recruiting because I don’t know.
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To big a difference between should win 9-10 games and uncertain. Kind of thinking he could win 8 games a year and contend for a NCAA championship if all things come together after a few more years but certainly not married to the guy.
I’ll take # 3 1/2
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If I thought he could contend for a NC in a few years, I would be in the love him category.
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Sorry, really meant to say ACC championship.
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Give him a “3”…. I would think a “4 “would coincide with a top 25 ranked team.. that has been awhile….
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Ike I was thinking 2.5 but if sticking to whole numbers a 3.
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Reed,
Just finished the podcast. Thank you for your sincerity and honesty! Well done once again. Fact is we know you want Pitt to do well but you clearly see some problems (i.e. offensive line, recruiting, etc.). Personally, I respect that you call them as you see them and fact is you normally “see them” quite accurately, wether we like it or not! Keep up the good work Commander and thanks again.
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I’m also between like him and uncertain…this year’s recruiting will be the first metric that could lean me either way. And of course the overall record and improvement this upcoming season.
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I am in Reed’s camp as far as PN is concerned. He is not a very good communicator, and I don’t see the charisma there to close on the top players. Again, when local kids from high schools with former Pitt players as head coaches go elsewhere, there is something wrong with the message and the closer. Nonetheless, I will give him a 3 so as not to be too negative. We tend to assume that Pitt is aiming for top 25 status with a low budget and inferior facilities. But maybe the performance on the field is just where the BoT wants it. Clean and average. So what would be the incentive for any change or movement to an OCS?
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the incentive would be if football re-alignment happens in 7 years when the major TV contracts expire.
In this new world order, the thought is that football would form 4 divisions of 10 teams. It would be those schools with the best brands. right now Pitt is not one of those top brands.
An OCS could help improve Pitt’s brand value. If the BoT doesnt find ways to increase the value of Pitt’s football program, Pitt will lose millions from cable and streaming rights.
Pitt has some catching up to do since the program has been neglected and poorly managed over the past 20 years.
https://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/college-football-expanded-playoffs-10-years-alabama-ohio-state-notre-dame-051616
This article says the top 24 schools with the biggest fan followings and brand names. But the final number is TBD.
Pitt ultimately is hurt because it is sandwiched between tOSU and Penn State. There are many ND fans in the market. Its not a state school so it has limited appeal. And is has a poor track record of winning or even a commitment to football.
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TX, I just don’t believe what Fox is talking about will happen. The NCAA is still run by many schools that like to see football at a competitive level, and won’t go for something as blatantly commercial as this. Besides, there are many channels, both local and national, that like to show college football. I wonder, if they add up all the many payments to hundreds of schools that are televising local games whether the Fox discussed revenue would be greater. And some people still think that academics should come first. Hopefully, sanity will prevail.
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Its a possibility. The NCAA is all about greed and it might be tough for the Presidents of schools to pass up this money as well. Streaming is changing the industry. Its more about content now. So I can see how the next phase of realignment is consolidation and not expansion. If a football league were to comprise the best football brands, I think you would then see players being paid and the end of the scholar/athlete model. These schools basically become the farm teams for the NFL.
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I think that ultimately, both large and small schools will decide that they like local control over things, and that there must still be excitement over Yale-Penn or Bowling Green-Ohio U. games in local markets in the future. That Saturday college game day experience must be preserved across the country, and I’m not sure that having a few big super conferences to pull players like Roethlesberger or Antonio Brown away from the lesser conferences is going to win out.
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I’m a 3.5 on that scale. Pat narduzzi has to show something this year… he has to get back to 8 or 7 wins before I believe he can do can do anything with his own players. The problem now is if we have another four or five win season and he’s on the hot seat either he gets fired or he gets one more year to prove himself.
If he can’t do it that third year then we’re screwed for whoever takes the job over from him because not only is the new HC going to inherit a .500 at team, he’s going to inherit a roster full of average at best college players.
I just don’t see Narduzzi building the program any better than his predecessors at this point. There isn’t anything to point to at this time that is substantially better than before from his own work.
Things are better because of the chancellor and the athletic director but I don’t see anything being bettered by the head coach, if anything I think the program has slipped backwards on some fronts especially with recruiting in the local area and recruiting overall.
I’m a bit surprised that anyone can think that his recruiting has been good… maybe average I could see, but good? I’m shocked people think that at all.
Re: recruiting. The budget for recruiting is the highest it has been relative to the past HCs. Over the last two years PN and staff have had donated private jet hours for recruiting hours so distance travel hasn’t been a problem for them; getting kids from far away has been though.
Wake Forrest has 9 recruits; VT has 6 (w/3 4*s), VA has 7, NCS has 8, even BC has 9… Duke has 6.
Here is Althlon’s predictions for the 2018 ACC standings… they do say one nice thing about Pitt that the defense should be better and it might be. But overall they’re calling for 6 and 6 and 4th in the coastal. Which as sucky as it sounds is an improvement.
https://athlonsports.com/college-football/acc-football-2018-predictions
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If Red 5-A is a rockin, don’t bother knockin, come on in. Hope I didn’t overstep my boundaries there Fran and Joe.
PITT’s biggest problem the past how many years was not allowing a head FOOTBALL coach to stick around long enough for whatever reasons. Dixon did stay and was very successful, you see what happened when he left? Give Narduzzi some time.
Again Reed, I called Champion Lakes and we are good to go on the carts just for bird dogging. Hope some others make their minds to just drive on up. Will miss Mark, Rich, Joe, Doc, Jim and the Big Bopper Bernie and others.
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Huff, Tx, Ed, Tom, jrn, 6, don’t want to leave anyone out.
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It is likely that Pitt can remain in the 7-8 win range as long as Pickett is on board and healthy. But by the time he leaves, it will be clear what direction the program is headed in. There needs to be a quality QB ready to take over, and another wave of good players recruited by Narduzzi to replace the current starters and back ups.
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The budget may be at its highest point and I am not sure of that but will go with it. Even with a high budget, you need to take a listen to these kids. When they commit, many of them say that they have been hearing from the coach since they were a freshman in high school. That is important. It does take some time.
I would like as many flurrrrida kids as possible. They come pre-wired for football speed.
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I don’t see what is gained by the constant criticism of coach Narduzzi. How is that helpful? Maybe someone can explain.
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nobody is saying we should can him. many of us knew to can KS before his hire. But with Narduzzi, he has this year and next to prove it. He can either be a brick or a snowflake. We’ll see.
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High school Florida players coming into the southside 6/15 by a small busload. Let’s wait and watch. I’ll be here to say, hey… I told you all so.
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FredFilopek-I agree. The relentless criticism of Narduzzi does no good. He is not perfect and he definitely has areas of improvement needed, but to constantly trash him is pointless.
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Reed, what is your definition of “good” recruiting? Just curious. I’d say, considering all the factors people have mentioned, that PN’s recruiting the past 3 years (with an average ranking in the top 35) is not too shabby. Not great, but better than average IMHO. Add in the big victories and no real bad losses, I see the program slowly heading in a positive direction.
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Tough to judge Narduzzi this season with that schedule. It may have broke bad with UCF being this good but the reality is the Knights are a good team and Pitt plays them.
Going 6-6 would suck but it just might end that way. Let’s just keep the coach for continuity sake and see what shakes out. The administration has destroyed the past 36 years, so how about trying a different philosophy.
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