We will be squaring off against the Syracuse Orangemen this Saturday in Pitt’s annual homecoming game.  What exactly is “homecoming”?  Well, this explains the origin:

 Officially sanctioned by the NCAA, Jeopardy! and Trivial Pursuit as the originator of homecoming, the University of Missouri is proud of their long-standing homecoming tradition. It was there in 1911 where Mizzou’s Athletic Director Chester Brewer asked alumni of the school to help inaugurate the new location of their football field by “coming home” to attend the annual game against the University of Kansas.

Why am I talking about that?  Because I’m trying to prolong having to talk about what I’m pretty damn sure is going to be our fifth loss of the season.

But that’s what this article is about so let’s get to it.  What has SYR done so far? Well, they are standing at 4-1 on the year and 4th in the Atlantic conference

Atlantic Conf

syr skedSYR did have two rent-a wins on their schedule and they won those games handedly then moved onto Florida State where they won by 23 points then played UCONN which they won by 30.

The only loss so far was to the #3 team in the nation Clemson in Death Valley last week when SYR took them right down to the wire as Clemson scored a TD with 0:47 left to win.  That was against the #4 defense in the country Pitt fans.

SYR isn’t unstoppable obviously, but the have the tools to give Pitt real nightmares starting with their Senior QB Eric Dungy.  As you can see he’s dangerous with his arm and his legs (Where have we heard this before? Oh, right – UCF’s Milton!).  He’s going to get yardage and in big chunks.

Here are their passing and rushing key stats on the year to date:

SYR players.PNG

Their offensive showing has propelled SYR to a #14 ranking in Total Offense nationally. We on the other hand hover at #111.

Here are SYR’s  national rankings…

SYR 3

For comparison here is how Pitt stands among other D1 teams nationally:

pitt2

Wow – big difference in those rankings.  Personally I think Dungey is going to pass all over  the Pitt defense to the tune of 300+ yards and 4 TDs.  And we’ll lose.  Why, because our offense sucks even worse than it appears at first glance.  Here’s a for-instance:

Against all comers we are 22.4… SYR is scoring 44.2 ppg.

But in Pitt’s four games against FBS opponents, and taking away the two special teams returns for TDs, our offense has scored just a bit over two TDs per game.  That is only 16.5 ppg produced by the Offense we throw out onto the field against FBS teams.

I say again: 16.5 ppg.  That isn’t going to cut it against a high scoring team like SYR.

Here is our two-deep for the game.

SYR 2-Deep 18

This is why Narduzzi keep the practices closed. The O and the D can’t keep out of each others’ way.

1538568295829268034466

 

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.

180 thoughts on “Know The Enemy; Syracuse 2018”

    1. I remember you touting how strong the Qi looked throwing to the sidelines when you were allowed to observe practice. What happened to him?

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  2. http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/

    not sure how accurate these figures are and i’m sure schools accounting practices report things differently (including some things and leaving others out regarding compensation). All subject to interpretation. But, lets just assume that generally the reporting is close enough. This article shows a good high level view and provides a basis for comparison even if somewhat flawed.

    Narduzzi is compensated in the top 50 of all coaches
    Do we have a top 50 program?

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  3. more telling:
    Chryst was paid $1.5M
    Wanny was paid $1M in his last year

    Pitt got a very good return on investment from those 2 coaches

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    1. And had weak budgets and no jet and cheap assistants. Narduzzi is failing miserably Apples to Apples.

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  5. Syracuse are no longer the “Orangemen”. They have been the Syracuse ORANGE since 2004.

    No reason to wait for Friday’s prediction spread..

    Pitt gets SQUEEZED by the orange, 44-20.

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  6. Yes – you cant have the word ‘man’ in your nickname since there are women who play sports at school as well. A bit PC but I do love my Pitt volleyball women. The only winners at the school right now.

    Good thing for us – a Panther can be either sex although I think Roc our mascot is actually a male…never did look between the legs to know for sure.

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  7. USA today put out the 2018 coaches salaries. Narduzzi is listed a hair over 3M, not 3.5 as many on here keep posting.

    I have to wonder which Syr offensive player will have “their” career day this weekend. This happens to Narduzzi a lot.

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    1. Pitt only published base salary. I’m pretty sure Narduzzi has other extra compensation via bonus and incentives (typically 20% of base). Thats why I noted to not take these figures literally. Look at the relativeness.

      Bottom line – hes the highest paid Pitt employee. He’s very well compensated. He’s generating a very poor return as CEO of the football program. What other school pays their coach good money for 25k fans in attendance? Many AAC schools draw that number and pay their coaches under $2M.

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      1. Tex, this provides his total compensation for 2018. For coaches that get bonus money, they provide this as well.

        If you believe he’s making 3.5 can you or anyone else show this?

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        1. each school reports differently
          Impossible to know the exact figure but rest assured he’s getting certain incentives and bonus money
          what the report picks up is only his base as reported in the financial disclosure that Pitt publishes

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  8. Jay..they will always be the Orangeman to many of us old guys..the men in the ugly orange unis= the Syracuse Orangemen..oh the memories…Archibald Stadium, Ben Schwartzwalder, Jimmy Brown, Ernie Davis,Floyd Little, Larry Csonka…who ever thought that Orangemen was a derogatory name for Indian short for indigenous people..damn political correctness…

    I took the Orangeman and the 4.5. I sat on the sidelines cheering on our boys last week resisting the temptation to wager..”game on”this week. What say U..UPitt?

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    2. Orangemen by 20+

      Plus it will be evident team is check out on this clown Narduzzi. Watch for in fighting and him screaming.

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  9. I’m no “young man”, either. Just pointing out that the teams used to be called “Orangemen” & “Orangewomen” until 2004. Now, they are not.

    And, if you want to be “old school”, I think they used to be punk & green!

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  11. Jay you getting soft. Haha

    Need a Duke hoops jersey signed and framed. Coach K would be preferred or a stud player. Gift for a friend. Let me know how $. Text me.

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  12. Ive been told his total compensation annually is approx. $3.5M.

    That makes sense if his base is around $3M.

    Something is wrong with Vegas if they are giving Pitt only 3.5 points.

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  14. In 2 short years, Heather has helped make Pitt football like Eastern Michigan
    This year Pitt is ranked #91 and Eastern Michigan #98 per RPI
    We both have identical 2-3 records
    We both are averaging 50% of capacity in attendance (excluding the Penn State game)
    Was that the plan?

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      1. Fantas are the marketing plan
        Under Barnes, Pitt had 8 wins per season and attendance around 70% capacity
        Somehow Pitt is on track for 5 win seasons and under 50% of actual butts in seats
        If it wasnt for the Penn State game and forcing the Nitters to buy season packages, this program would be losing Millions
        Coincidence?
        I think not
        Narduzzi had little incentive after Heather extended him. He wasnt worth it and he’s not hungry
        Heather also leaves him alone…bad idea given the results
        Pitt has become Eastern Michigan but at least we’re not Butgers…yet

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  15. Looks like there will be a few POVers cashing in their winning bets this week having to give only 3 1/2 points to Pitt this weekend.

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    1. I watched a few minutes of Dino’s press conference for this week. He handles himself well. His honesty was refreshing about why he was thinking about calling a timeout or not late in the Clemson game.

      To bad this game wasn’t played until November, he has yet to win a November ACC game in his first two years. He’s around 4-12 in ACC games, so Pitt beating them at home would not be a huge upset.

      This year, he has been getting good OL & DL play.

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  16. I will NEVER bet money against Pitt– because I would NEVER root against Pitt..

    However, I have no issue picking against Pitt.. because we’re lousy.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. HCPN earns…and yes I mean EARNS…$3.5M, because we’re going to win the Coastal…and perhaps the entire ACC.
    Maybe even the National Championship.
    He just needs more time, more transfers, more closed practices, more jets, more hotel rooms for summer camps, more coaches – who actually weren’t even coaching when he hired them, better facilities, and an equipment manager that does windows and dishes.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Pretty cool artwork Reed, good stuff. I agree with your sentiment about the offense; as I said earlier, I think that’s the biggest problem right now, even moreso that the D, as a whole, and that’s saying something. By the way, I’m not “defending our defense” when I say this, but poor offenses hurt a team’s defensive stats for obvious reasons, and that’s not even counting the psychological aspect of having a crappy offense, which can be huge.

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  19. I think the first Fanta promotion did happen under the Barnes regime? I think Heather was on vacation at the time? btw again and again. Narduzzi is “NOT MY BOY” Some people cannot comprehend reading. bj

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  20. From the cuse paper, long snapper out for the yr. With new oc offence not as potent as last couple yrs.

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  21. Pretty spot on Gasman. You forgot to mention we would beat UNC if only they didn’t steal Pat’s signals.
    Since the Ox thing went down, things haven’t exactly went his way. When you have a coach in his 4th year and he’s talking about “it takes time” you know things are not going well. He’s not confident about the rest of season.

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  22. If Narduzzi is making 3.5 per year, then we can presume all other head coaches are making 18% more than their listed saleries as well.

    Except Brian Kelly. Obviously Notre dame is paying him less than his 2.1 million dollar salary.

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  23. Our last game this year is November 24th against Miami. It will probably be a noon kickoff due to general lack of interest in the game.

    The early signing period start date this year is December 19th. That gives Pitt a very short window for any hope of improving this year’s class. It will probably take a week for Pitt administration to fire Narduzzi and his staff. They then will hire a consultant to lead the hiring process. That alone will eat up the rest of the time until December 19th.

    They need to start looking at the options for a new coach well before the end of the season. Hopefully after the loss to Virginia Tech they will have made up their minds and can start to generate a list of potential candidates, all head coaches with established staffs. They can then act in the week after Miami to then both fire Narduzzi and company; and interview and start vetting potential head coaches.

    If they can announce a hire around December 7-10, the new staff can then swing the recruits they had at their previous school to Pitt. Franklin brought McSorley among others with him from Vandy. I would assume wherever the new coaching staff is from, it will be a less desirable school than Pitt for the better recruits. Of course we will have to suffer the loss of all the defensive gems that Narduzzi was going to add this year.

    As for the Syracuse game, it will be a bad as we all suspect it will be. Enjoy the fellowship of homecoming and all that the ‘Burgh has to offer.

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  24. Tomlin was the one who pointed out the signal thievery courtesy of a couple players on the Steelers roster. Can we get the facts straight? I doubt it.

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    1. Narduzzi alluded to signals being stolen in his Monday press conference, BEFORE he spoke about the Tomlin phone call.

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  25. Forgot one thing. Reed since you are tight with those in the know at Pitt, please forward my hiring plan to the movers and shakers.

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  26. I hate Narduzzi, he is a narcissistic, egotistical, hairy armed pompous buffoon SOB. Is that good enough for the second best post of the day Reed? 🙂

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  27. Syracuse will manhandle Pitt through 3 quarters and put the breaks on in the 4th so as not to appear Franklin-like. We will not see improvement in this game over the disaster at UCF because the Duzz has lost this team. His defensive scheme is terrible and doesn’t give his players a chance to win and they know it. Syracuse is good. Syracuse 40, Pitt 10.

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    1. Reed, didn’t you hear Pat, he said the program is heading in the right direction….

      If he said it, it must be true. Just like Pitt is playing in the ACC championship game this year.

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      1. Heather also said the program was headed in the right direction when she extended him. I guess at Pitt ‘Down’ is the new ‘UP’

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Reed, what do you mean by “an almost total embarrassment????” You are very kind Commander.

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  30. The thing that jumps out most to me in that FPI index is that our REMAINING strength of schedule rank is 3. So that doesn’t even factor in that we already played played the 11th and 12th ranked teams in the country!

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  31. I can already here the press conference: Syracuse is an outstanding team with some nfl players. We played our butts off – can’t question the effort. A couple of plays here and there and we were right there with them. blah blah blah……. waiting for a reporter to ask if PN no longer considers Pitt an outstanding team since every other team is.

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  32. I’m not weeping over another meaningless conjured and manipulated statistic. Maybe I’m a little teary eyed how KP and PITT’s defense have been playing but I wear dark sunglasses so no one can tell. << This is half true. ( prescription sunglasses)

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      1. You didn’t write the article Reed or did you?. Too many variables for me to take overly serious but raises good questions. Next week the ratings could change dramatically? Just like the POV could if PITT somehow unexpectedly wins this weeks game. If PITT and hairy arms Narduzzi loses and/or loses badly I’ll come down on him. Can’t wait to to see what happens.

        We will down on the North shore on Friday night if anyone is in the area.

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  33. I am almost certain Pitt will loose on Saturday.
    I hope they win.
    If I am correct and they loose I would fire Nard Dog on Sunday morning.
    I would officially start the coaching search on Monday and have my guy signed after last regular season game.
    Kiffin would be my first choice.

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  34. We have pretty much owned Syracuse for a while now, last year the table turned and Syracuse will own us for a while. It has been a series of streaks.

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    1. once you lose 3 ACC games, the trigger should be pulled. Patridge can act as the interim coach.

      You signal to the coaching world that you have an opening before other openings ‘open’ at year’s end. You are able to get a jump on vetting and searching for suitable and interested candidates.

      Thats the purpose. Why keep a coach around whos dead man walking?

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  36. Right gc, it’s a total waste of your fingertips and time to type and wish Narduzzi would be fired mid-season. Does that mean I love Narduzzi and he’s my boy? or is it more like reality?

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  43. I have said something about Pitt and Narduzzi having ONE BIG Upset in them this year.

    Not saying Pitt can’t win Saturday, but would beating ‘Cuse really be all that BIG?

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  44. Reed: I’ll try and write something for the POV next week but there are hundred of others that could do a better job than me. Check the help you get in writing articles. None of the negative cowards….

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  45. Pitts FPI rankings:
    2013: 54
    2014: 45
    2015: 45 (Narduzzi’s 1st year)
    2016: 25
    2017: 57
    2018: 79
    2019: probably in the 90’s

    I dont know of any other coach that was retained behind his 1st 5 years with a trend like this
    But why wait until year 5?

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  46. 2 Team Stats say it all about this team.

    Total Defense No. 102 (and this even skewed since Albany is weighted more heavily at this time of the season )

    Total Offense No. 111 (see above)

    I’m shocked we didn’t make the CBS Sports Bottom 25, because the Tarholes are back on it, after
    getting off it, for a week by beating…..guess who ?

    https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/bottom-25-college-football-rankings-ucla-looks-to-be-down-for-the-count-this-season/

    We can’t even get bad pub

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  47. Of our last 7 wins, 3 are against these teams. (ie. Rent-A-Wins)

    Albany – Bad D2 team
    Youngstown State – an Avg D2 team (had to win in OT)
    Minute Rice – one of the worst D1 teams

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  48. If we’re getting killed at halftime, it might be Boy George Time, sitting at No 118 in Passing Offense.
    god help us !

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  50. The Pitt/Syracuse series swings heavily from one side to the other.

    Pitt has won 13 of the last 16 meetings since 2002.
    Prior to that Syracuse won 11 years in a row.
    And a little prior to that Pitt won 11 years in a row during our last relevant period.

    I really hope this isn’t the start, along with last year’s loss of another swing back to the Orangeboobs

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  53. One thing I just noticed is that QB George now holds the #3 QB slot and isn’t sharing it as an “or” with Patti this week.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play in place of Town if Pickett gets hurt.

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  56. Loved the bonfire video Reed…thanks. Brought back memories.
    Now I’m fired up for the game Saturday…haha.

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  57. Every time I see this Know Your Enemy post come up it reminds me of the old comic strip Pogo.

    Pogo says to his friend “We have met the enemy and he is us!”

    Poor coaching, weak recruiting, limited talent, tepid fan support, disinterested administration…yep, it’s us.

    One of the best comic strips ever.

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  58. If anyone was at the alumni pregame event on Saturday, you would have heard Heather profess her love for her coach. He’s not going anywhere.

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    3. I was and I didn’t hear her say anything that would cause me to believe he was ring fenced. He needs to perform to retain his +$3 million / year. If he doesn’t he needs to go. If Heather doesn’t perform and won’t do her job, then she needs to go and first.

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  60. Light those pallets in a dumpster and you have the football program… and yet, I’ll still keep watching. 😦

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  61. “Sorry, this comment could not be posted.”

    The above message after totally normal attempted post.??????

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  62. With the direction this program is heading in, I smirked rather than smiled.:(

    Hope the kids at least have some fun before the game and after because during is going to be garbage for anyone attending, IMO. 4 hour drive for a nooner is still in question as I would need to bribe any family member to join me to use any of the other 3 SEASON TICKETS I got for the first time this year.

    Does that hint help you out of your delusion HCPN as to the direction of your team?

    Still wondering? let me be clear ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓ , not ↑↑↑↑↑↑

    Hopeful for Capel and hoops season.

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  64. Nikki Saban not pleased with students not showing up for game. At SEC powerhouse Alabama. How could this happen?? What outrage he spews!!

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  65. Going to, I’m almost sure, get stents put in today. If that happens I’m sure the back surgery on Monday gets cancelled. Narduzzi is literally killing me.

    Prediction thread will post early Friday and I”ll be home to do a game thread.

    Thanks for all the good wishes.

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  67. Reed, worry about yourself not us.. You’re lucky they found a problem you didn’t know you had. The good news is you will feel better, maybe even run a 5 yard dash? Great Luck…

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  68. You’ll do fine Reed. They’ll even give you some Xanax to take home to help with the Duzz situation!

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  69. All the best, Reed. Glad they caught the problem early. Just stay off the smokes in the future. You will probably be able to pass ike now in that 5 yard dash!

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    1. Both Dan72 and I will personally knock the cigarette out of your fingers if you start again, we are close enough.

      I am perfectly ok with PN being gone if he really doesn’t know which direction the program is going. Nobody that stupid should be in charge of anything.

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    1. I’m wondering if we can keep SYR’s score to below 40.

      They allow 163 yards on the ground so maybe we can control the clock.

      But they have a very good passing game. I think it will be a big win for the Orange but Pitt does suprise us once a year

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  75. This will be the game and the week we see what this team is made up of. Cuse is good but Narduzzi should have this team ready to hang with them at home. I expect he will but if he doesn’t and they do not play a tight game?.. Changes will have to come.

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  76. I usually love your optimism Ike, but you’ve lost me on this. I think the team has had opportunities to show what they’re made of, and it’s not good. I hope I’m wrong.

    H2P

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  77. Well the thing is 94, I had PITT winning 7 and hedged that a bit say possibly 6 games this year but I had them right at 2-3 by now. Kind of the way I say it but a little bass ackward. Yet if PITT can’t compete with the Syracuse’s and Duke’s of the world then we need to change up lots of things. Again, Narduzzi is not going anywhere after this year. But someone should if they don’t win at least 6 games. Next? Narduzzi and his idiotic dumbo jumbo talk hits the pavement. .

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  80. I will bet you there is a nice and clear but off point for Pitt’s wins and losses based on the season QB ranking of our opponents. Over a certain number, we probably don’t have a single win under Narduzzi.

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  81. Mrs. JoeKnew at Pitt today for all day meeting with muckity mucks. Calls at break and says Gallagher is there and do I have any questions for him. I grim to myself and tell her to ask how is his front porch. She pauses and says thanks, but no, as it’s probably one of my smart…. questions. Mrs. JoeKnew, my better 3/4 is both smart and perceptive, unlike me.

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  82. Reed — stents sound good. Way better than the barbaric open-heart surgery I had… (though I’m still ticking seven years later. 👍)

    Best wishes that all goes well.

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  83. Reed, I read somewhere that a good shot of whiskey right before an operation such as this will open up the vessels. Sounds like a good option to me. Or maybe I just dreamt it! 🙂 To avoid stress, take a day off from Pitt football and don’t read ike’s posts!

    Liked by 1 person

  87. Stay away from your TV this weekend. I’m sure all will go well and your heart will be able to take more Pitt heartbreak. I think we might all need transplants by years end.

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  88. I plucked this up off Google and it’s a PSN link with Kenny Pickett explaining what it takes to be a winner and not a quitter. If you don’t want to watch it because you have given up…. and least listen in around the 3:50 mark. The young man is a winner!

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    1. Two years from now he’ll be doing a video on know to beat depression on only 3 prescription drugs and deep breathing exercises 😉

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  89. OT: I was impressed with Heather today at the opening ceremony for the Pitt Studio. I do believe we have an AD that will move Pitt athletics forward and upward over the coming years. Let’s hope she can do so with our football program sooner rather than later.

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  90. Good luck Reed! A friend of mine had triple bypass a little over a month ago (the procedure too around 2 hours) and is doing great! Modern medicine is amazing!

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  91. OT: Maddox playing Safety for the Eagles this past weekend after their starter McLoud tore his MCL. Never played safety before and perhaps a Whitehead Maddox combo last season may have been a better answer for Pitt in the defensive backfield.

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  94. Great news Reed! but boo you won’t make to anymore games this year but Yeah, you’ll be around for next year. I’ll call Pat and let him know the good news…. 🙂

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    1. What the heck do you expect her to say at this juncture? Let’s learn our lesson from everybody was jumping up and down over her not having what it takes to fire Stallings, then complaining she was on vacation in the midst of the coaching search. Remember that? How long ago was that?

      Liked by 2 people

      2. I expect her to express some disappointment in performance thus far
        And she didnt hire or extend KS
        Gallagher hired Duzz and she extended him
        Totally different circumstances
        Lets hope she doesnt take a vacation once Pitt loses 3 ACC games and are out of division contention
        Because she needs to begin looking for a new coach at that point

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          1. If you think over-paying a coach for performance is ok, fine
            if you think Heather needed to extend Narduzzi with 2 years still on his contract, fine
            if you think Pitt is moving in the right direction, fine
            if you think 45k empty seats on homecoming is good, fine
            if you want to keep Narduzzi for another year where he’ll win no more than 5 games, fine
            if you want to have a new coach try digging out of an even bigger hole, fine
            if you want the program to lose millions, fine

            Just throw my trash into the Pitt dumpster fire then

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  96. I admit to not being sure about this but I believe there is subtle message suggesting PITT will be moving to a darker blue and a lighter gold colored uniform next year?

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  99. TX, what do you expect her to say? She’s not going to “say” much. Hopefully what she will do, is act.

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  100. This is Pitt’s new video room. I like the Pitt script. Remember Pitt spent $12M for this network. I think it will be a great investment unlike Duzz. Or shall I say Snooze.

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  101. Think Heater is leaving lots of wiggle room saying we are only 5 games in, no need to panic. Sort of like falling off that 12 story building and passing the 5th floor saying, so far so good.
    Reed, after heart attack in 1999 quitting smoking was easiest decision I ever made. Smoke and die, don’t smoke and live.

    Liked by 2 people

  104. Hey Jackagian, I’m guessing you’ll never read KP on a blog where he’s willing to give up on his team. I mean everything from checkers, fandom or anything in between. It’s called fortitude. I get your sarcasm btw so..

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  106. Golf outing tomorrow…looking forward to seeing yinz Saturday morning at the tailgate…
    Expecting a win over the Orangemen. No pc here.
    Reed, my mom quit smoking and drinking beer cold Turkey the same day when she was diagnosed with emphysema.

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    1. Lastrow,
      I’m glad your mom is well! Did you say she stopped smoking her turkey and instead ate it cold with a beer???

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    2. Everyday is Saturday in your world, buddy.

      Will miss the game this week – big business trip Sunday ( remember work?)
      See you at the Duke game….bring us a winner Sat.

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  108. Reed, do not get excited. I recommend that you tape the Cuse game and then watch it in fast forward. Then you will not get a chance to get excited and the game will be over before you know it.

    If you see something you want to look at again, pick only the Pitt happy scenes.

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  109. Reed, Good Luck with your surgery. Get lots of good drugs you will need them before this season is over.

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  110. Unsure what Pitt Studios and its $12M price bring to the table.
    Football and basketball are already televised.
    And I’m not going to watch anything else…only so many hours in my life.
    Couldn’t that $12M be better spent….?
    Now, if only I knew how.

    Good news on the coronaries, Reed.

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    1. The studios bring more revenue as a part of the ACC Network. Gotta have programming to fill the channel. Every ACC has to install one.

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    2. The $12M set-up costs will pay for itself in a 2 year timeframe. Thats a real good return on investment.

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    1. the extra ACC money received from this network will help pay for Narduzzi’s buyout
      Its estimated between $5 and $7 Million in incremental revenues

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  115. You’re right goalie. UNC was the first test but this game will be the straw that makes or breaks the back of Narduzzi, PITT and this season.

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  117. You guys are funny. Tx P is right.

    My concern is that our AD does not have football and basketball prowess. It already showed with the basketball Hurley whiff, thankfully.

    This next point needs to be emphasized. Gallagher hired Narduzzi. The AD hired Narduzzi for an additional 5 years on her own, through the extension. Narduzzi is now her hire because she didn’t have to extend him. He was not a hot commodity. There was no advantage to extending him other than the quid pro quo for him getting her hired and tripling her salary.

    In my performance metric, Narduzzi did not meet expectation in W’s, Coastal Championships, ACC Championships, Bowl Performance, Top25 Recruiting, Community Relations. Those are all Does Not Meet. He may have exceeded expectations on graduation rate and met expectations on team GPA and arrests.

    Overall, the quantitative analysis suggests a below average performance and she rehired him. That is on the AD. Excuses get you fired where I came from. She just wasn’t prepared for this, sorry.

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  118. in the coaching world, you renew or extend the contract 1 year prior to the last year
    you generally dont wait until the last year unless you have true concerns
    so this is the year that heather should have made the call
    she jumped the gun 1 year too early
    now shes stuck with a buyout if she fires him
    but i’m not even sure she wouldnt have extended him anyway after this year given the nice things she’s said about him
    i hope in private, she’s not saying nice things

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  119. I don’t know Ms. Like and I’m not privy to her decision-making, or Gallagher’s.

    But… I couldn’t read too much into her recent show of “support” for Narduzzi.

    It is very common in sports to see the dreaded mid-season “vote of confidence” precede a firing.

    In-season firings are virtually unheard of in college football– although a blowout loss Saturday would validate one.

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  120. Pittman 4ever, LOL.
    My mom quit smoking and drinking about 30 years ago and led a healthy life that included daily walks.
    Sadly cancer nailed her in 2006.
    Looking forward to the sunshine you will bring Saturday Ike.

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