The nationally ranked University of North Carolina Tarheels come to town for our first ACC tilt.  Will be a good measuring stick for our team.  Lets go Pitt!

 

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.

210 thoughts on “Pitt Basketball: Pitt vs UNC Open Thread”

  3. UNC travels well. Lots of blue.
    Still nice to see a full house.
    Zoo should maintain home field advantage.

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  18. I’m guessing all the recruits will be heading home at the half. Not one basket in the last 7+ minutes. How can they be shooting so bad at home? Are they nervous?

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  21. Pitt ain’t got any inside game. Pretty tough playing higher level opponents when you get almost zero points in the paint. Pitt will be lucky if they can get 3 ACC wins this year with this squad.

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  24. Nobody should be surprised.
    No big men and poor shooters, aren’t going to beat a deep Carolina team.

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  26. Couldn’t find the game in charlotte. Blacked out on espn3 and foxsportscarolina has bc and Virginia Tech game

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  27. Another in a long history of athletic disappointments for Pitt. So many breakdowns. I realize that we are not as talented as NC but this is a horrible effort

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  29. My guess — First 7 ACC games will be big losses for Pitt – schedule is brutal.

    Pitt coaches and players must learn and grow from those 7 games, then take that experience and win a few games in the final 11 ACC games.

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  30. PIttFan28 – It is on wbtv. My tv guide says St, John’s – Georgetown but actually showing PITT game.

    Just getting around to reading this thread. Not looking good. Outmanned.

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  34. Coach C has his work cut out for him and obviously it boils down to one word/// recruiting.
    Pitt will be outclassed by most of the ACC for the next 2 years. Carpal has inherited a team that is totally outclassed in a league with the “big boys”.
    I firmly believe that we will get better// much better, but we have a team mostly composed of shrimp playing against girraffes.

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  35. Playing against good teams exposes just how bad Wilson-Frame and Ellison are. Pitt can’t build an offense around driving to the hoop, and the guards get no help. This team can’t shoot threes and spends its time driving against weaker teams. The blocks will be high against taller teams.

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    1. Yes, when the FB team is mediocre and the BB just got blown out is a great time to bring up an OCS.

      I’ll bet we see Pitt win a National Championship in FB before we see an OCS in Oakland…somewhere else maybe, but it will never be in Oakland.

      Liked by 1 person

  42. Capel has his work cut out for him. He is paying the price for Gallagher’s awful decisions from the past. You’d think the staff would have signed one JuCo to help up front, and I don’t think one offer has been made to a kid on that level.

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  43. Hard to watch. But, our 3 best players are frosh and will learn from this. the truth is I think if UNC played players 6 through 10 they still would have won by 5 the way we played. Life in the ACC.

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  44. Definately don’t agree with getting a juco. He had to build a team from the ground up. I’m okay with letting that happen.
    Easier to get everyone on the same page mentally, give them the same training, and be better prepared for future success.
    Hoping he’s able to sign some athletic bigs in the not to distant future.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. When you have 13 scholarships you definitely try to find JuCo help if you can. This team needs help and has zero recruits committed for 2019. There is no guarantee Capel gets the bigs he is chasing and while we’re all crossing our fingers with Wahab and Cockburn, there is nothing wrong with bringing in a kid from the ranks people associate with for being stupid.

      Liked by 2 people

  45. There’s a good foundation with this PITT BB team but there are some missing pieces. Hello Captain Obvious, nice to see you again. Yet those 3 freshman are really exciting to watch. Cam Johnson, Parker Stewert and a couple of 4* big men could and would help. A LOT!!

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  46. Despite the big loss today, the talent is definitely better than the past 2 years. Glad Cam Johnson left which helped us to land Capel. Went to the game today and had a blast. Stopped at the Pitt apparel shop after the game and Bernie, I can see what you mean about the Gold in the new/retro color scheme being WVU-ish. I don’t like it either and isn’t what our colors were in the glory days.

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  47. It is still important to bring in some revenue by getting some people into the seats. They should at least want to be somewhat competitive this season to maintain some interest in the program while Capel builds. It doesn’t look like Wilson-Frame and Ellison are going to cut it in the ACC. So I agree that Capel should have brought in one Juco big to help out for 2 years while the incoming Freshmen learn the ropes.

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  48. I cannot get the game myself but Pitt getting routed should have been expected. We have three good freshman and most of the rest were Stallings. Yes they were good in the non-conference games but they are playing with the big boys now. It will take Capel another two years to get enough good recruits who can make the difference. There were no easy fixes for him when he came here but I believe he will right the ship. That is all we got so might as well deal with it.

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  49. A couple things are painfully obvious, Pitt really only has three guys that are ACC capable players and they are young and are forced to do more than they should, making them look bad fairly often. Unfortunately, two guys that can drive to the hoop are not enough, especially when the other team knows that is all you got. As was said Frame and Ellison are not ACC caliber and never will be. Most frustrating is Brown who has the weakest hands ever and no hops. He also has no fire in his game and seems to be going through the motions. Toney also had a poor game for him, but he has upside. Chukwuku was badly out manned today.

    When you are being manhandled underneath and you have no shots from outside you are not going to be able to compete in the ACC.

    It also really hurt this team to lose N’Dir who is a good defender, ball handler and can shoot a little better than the others. He would make a difference but not where they really need help.

    All that being said, they are much more fun to watch than last year, they hustle and play defense which was non-existent last year. Let’s hope Capel gets a few more capable guys this year.

    I know some are discouraged, but keep the faith, better times are coming, just not this year.

    Sad to see Cam Johnson in blue, but he did what was right for him to have a chance at the next level. I would never wish Stallings on anyone. How Pitt got saddled with that AD and Stallings rivals Haymaker for the worst decision ever, thankfully they didn’t last as long as Johnny II, but still too long.

    XMan and McGowens are going to really be something when they get some help.

    Liked by 3 people

  50. The biggest difference is that UNC was 10-24 in three point shots and we were 2-19
    Frame played like last year 2-10 shots 1-8 in three point shots, and then fouled out.

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        1. MM – I’m not new to the POV, took a sabbatical. The loss to UNC just got to me. Had to spend a lot of time with Ms. Whatzamatta to get my head on straight about Pitt football. She helped a lot. – Hobie

          Liked by 1 person

  55. Fran — after all the build-up, hope Scooter’s blood-pressure was okay today!

    We need patience, not patients!!

    Course, you guys made it thru going to games last season, so you’re battle-tested…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  56. Patience is going to be the key for this team going forward. We are only going to win 2-4 games in the ACC this year. We all discuss Narduzzi’s recruiting problems. Compared to Stallings, Narduzzi is a world beater. What a waste of two years and multi millions of dollars!! Cannot wait until Barnes gets fired. Barnes was Gallagher’s biggest mistake to-date. Hopefully he will not make another one of this magnitude!

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    1. Barnes was a basketball guy who was hired by Pat to raise funds. Ironic that a guy with basketball knowledge would leave Pitt in such a hot mess.

      Pat needed a guy that could increase Pitt’s donation rate so he could use the money to increase the football budget and to pay for improvement projects and new facilities (see 70 year old Fitzgerald and Trees). Victory Heights was being talked about back then. ACC I’m sure was applying pressure.

      Pitt has the second highest number of alumni in the ACC but has the lowest donation rate at 2.6%. I dont think this number has substantially changed under Lyke who is more known for her compliance background and not marketing or fundraising (she did land 1 $2M donation from a benefactor at EMU).

      I just hope Pitt can solve their revenue problem. With higher revenues, Pitt can have higher budgets and will be able to get back into the arms race. Pitt’s spend right now is enough to keep being mediocre. If they want to excel across most sports, they will need to spend the money on better assistants and facilities.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. The key is increasing alumni Participation. IMO Pitt does a very poor job of even trying to get us to give.

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        1. I get 4 or 5 snail mails every year from the UNC Alumni Association…have for 30+ years. They have tracked me down across 4 states and multiple addresses…I never tell them when I move.

          That is how you raise awareness and funds. (And not all of them are requesting $$$…some are for group rates on trips to far away countries and others for discounted Insurance.)

          My wife is a Pitt Grad (89) and I don’t think we have got any unsolicited mail from Pitt Alumni…evah.

          H2P

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  57. UNC too big and smart. Our road will be long and hard.

    4th year experienced players have a big advantage over freshmen.

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      1. UNC is maybe the 5th or 6th best team in the ACC this season – there is a long list of beat downs coming with this depleted roster.

        Could affect recruiting for sure. Should have snagged a big man by now.

        My interest has passed for that reason on this season.

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        1. Pitt should have snagged someone by now since I read Pitt has ample playing time to offer in the best conference. Losing that kid to Seton Hall was a bad blow as well. If Pitt misses out on both Cockburn and Wahab there would be no other way to spin it other than terrible.

          Then the narrative will shift to Capel needs more time to build relationships and 2020 will be the class where he strikes it big. In the meantime, Capel might have five scholarships to give and most would then have to go to grad transfers instead of fringe recruits who eat up a scholarship for four years.

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  58. I know some of us actually thought we had a descent chance of beating a top tier NC team loaded with 5*s. But
    we are way too young, inexperienced, and less talented at this point. This game was WAY TO HIGH of a PLATFORM for our players to handle and be expected to compete with a national power house right now. …….. BUT…..Capel is the right coach…….and in time…… he will create a team that can handle the pressure of a game like today. #H2P

    Liked by 2 people

      1. I know the stats say that UNC had only 1 more rebound but there were countless times when a rebound opportunity were batted outside to a UNC guard

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  59. This was the basketball equivalent of the Penn State game!

    Love Capel and see future hope for this Pitt team. NC may be a top 5 team if they play like this. I’ve coached many teams who’ve panicked like Pitt did today vs much better competition. I was mad at those losses and I’m still angry today. Really disappointed wIth Brown and Toney. Did not think they’d be that outmatched. Guards have to at least try to involve them in the offense. Brown has a couple of nice back to basket moves but was just too overwhelmed to use them.

    How a big man would not want to come to Pittis beyond me. Better days ahead.

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  60. Major, blood pressure stabilized and awaiting the next test against Louisville. My man is battle hardened and resilient.

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  61. MissingWlat coming in for the Va.Tech game. My daughter visiting for accepted students day. Please let me know who will be attending.

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  64. Hobie is back….waaaaaay too long gone.

    No word from Emel….emailed him last week…praying you are on one of your periodic hiatus’s….expected too hear from you when MM put up the graphic the compared recent QB out-put an our man CV was up there near the top…

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    1. BigB – I took a sabbatical. The football loss to UNC just got to me. Had to spend a lot of time with Ms. Whatzamatta to get my head on straight about Pitt football. She helped a lot. – Hobie

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  65. Lyke will really impress me when she eases up on the OOC. Playing WV and Tennessee in the same season is not smart. One tough OOC opponent per year gives the team a fighting chance especially when you get a tough crossover opponent like ND, Louisville, or FLST in most years. Even the Big Boys don’t attempt this.

    Penn St played App St, Kent St and Us this year.

    Guys that want a tough OOC are the same guys complaining about a 7-7 record. You can’t have it both ways.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I dont think anyone really wants a tough OOC. But its still no excuse to be blown out by PSU and CFU.

      Yes – scheduling 2 P-5 teams in one year is one too many. Heather needs to drop TN and replace that game with a MAC or AAC team. I do think Pitt is worried about home attendance numbers since even a small drop in revenue impacts a program like Pitt’s much more than others.

      But outside the Pedos, Hoopies and Domers, Heinz will not sell-out. Who in Pittsburgh really wants to see Tennessee? Does Pitt really think their fans will make the trip to Pittsburgh? Pitt would be foolish to expect any more than 45k at this game.

      Lyke will impress me if she can increase Pitt’s donation rate and raise the funds needed for Victory Heights. She’ll impress me more if she took the lead on bringing football back to campus.

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    2. Agree. A school like Pitt should be scheduling the non-conference so at worst it finishes 3-1. Nothing good comes from scheduling tough and finishing 1-3. No once cares that you’re playing tough teams and not hiding from challenges. In the end an L is an L. Fans who say they’d rather watch a good team at Heinz and see Pitt lose than watch Pitt beat a tomato can are liars.

      The administration has never been smart with its football program and if it had any smarts it would be doing everything possible to make it succeed.

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    3. Even Alabama plays a soft OOC. UGA also hosts at least two cupcakes per year

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  67. The way to pump up attendance is to offer sweet deals to our ACC opponents. Yesterday the Pete was pretty much full because of the many UNC fans in attendance. When Pitt gets good again, lets assume we do, you won’t need as many opposing fans.

    In Football, there will always be plenty of seats for the opposition. PSU, WV and ND are obvious. FL St brought big numbers as will Clemson when they come. UNC brought quite a few as well.

    Pitt should encourage our Coastal rivals and Syracuse by getting affordable packages together with airlines and hotels to encourage them to come. This should be easy to do since hotels, airlines and Pitt all need the business and have the capacity. The City’s travel bureau should be solidly behind this and add incentives.

    OKST did little for attendance, and I assume UCF and Tennessee will be the same. Unless there is some big TV incentive, why play these games?

    If you have to play P-5 much smarter to add tOSU or Maryland, they will fill the Stadium and maybe help recruiting. BUT, only one per year.

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    1. I agree but I bet Tennessee will travel. Things are different down here, even when your team is perennially 6-6 and 7-5, you still complain but you also still go to the games

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      1. Not sure how relevant but Tennessee fans bought a lot of seats in the Pete back when The Lady Vols basketball team played in the NCAA March Madness First Round games Pitt hosted. They traveled well…but wish they would have sst their damn butts down at the start of the game. (They stanbd until Tenn scores…that game it took 4 or 5 minutes if I recall.)

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    1. Idk but I’d be going after that Alabama OL hard if I was Narduzzi… guess he needs to go after an OC hard first. Good link gordo

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    2. I see the UConn tight end is off this list as he committed to Georgia Tech. I’d go after the Notre Dame QB, Windbush. I looked up some of these kids and they’ve done next to nothing so far in college.

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  69. The 8.5 point spread never made sense to me, especially with UNC’s ability to rebound and Pitt’s lack of height to match. UNC will be in the Final 4 discussion when this season is done. Nothing to be ashamed of in this one.

    I still think Pitt wins 5 ACC games.

    On a side note, when Capel came here, everyone was worried about him being Duke’s next coach. I’d be more worried about him being UNC’s next coach. Will be a few years … Roy just signed an extension … but that’s the school i’d be worried about poaching from us.

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    1. Good point…one thing for sure, when he starts recruiting and really doing well, he’ll be gone, and fast.

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    2. No worries. It would be like Pitt poaching a candidate from the Penn State or Hoopie coaching tree…ain’t gonna happen.

      Plus too many other suitor’s in waiting out there from Roy’s Tree.

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  70. We will never get to 10 FB wins unless we play 3 easy wins like the SEC teams do every year. They understand how the rankings, media and bowls play the game.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I like the way he hits but don’t see linebacker as a position of need.
      I think the O-line needs as much help as possible, especially a solid Tackle and Tight End.

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  72. I really think Pitt will struggle to get a victory in the ACC unless Frame or others have a great shooting day.

    When you have no size or power underneath and abysmal outside shooting hard if not impossible to overcome.

    Unfortunately nothing but crickets on recruiting from Capel and Narduzzi. Getting concerned.

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    1. I would hazard a guess & say no. Pre conference championship, most teams played only thirteen max. With the new CFP & conference championships, the max is 15 (only two teams per year). Non CFP selections the max is 14.

      Actually there is a path to playing 16. It would entail a team to play Hawai’i in Hawai’i. That would allow that team to schedule a 13’th regular season HOME game (to make up some of the cost in playing in Hawai’i). If they won their division & then conference championship & then selected to CFP & went to CFP championship game, viola 16 games.

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  74. So happy you’re back Hobie, you were missed. Speaking of missed… Emel, Upitt, Joeknew and many others have faded away or just plain disappeared. A little jealous that these guys have a life outside of the POV and PITT football but also concerned about their well being. Give us all a shout out, your family is worried about you all………

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    2. Ike – Thanks for the kind words. After hte loss to UNC in football, I retreated to HS football. Among the things my son does is play trumpet in the HS marching band. Consequently, my wife and I attend all the HS football games, home and away. The HS football team was really good this year, won their league, won their district, but lost first game in PA tournament. I was fun to root for a winning team. Ms Whatzamatta understood. – Hobie

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  75. I find this to be an interesting Dokish tweet:

    “Toledo OC Brian Wright checks all the boxes to be Pitt OC, which means he probably won’t be. He was even the OC under Charlie Partridge”.

    Granted Toledo doesn’t play the best of competition but it is their peers, and they averaged 40.3 ppg. They also had a balanced attack … > 2800 yds rushing and > 2900 yds passing.

    And guess what? They scored 24 vs the U (giving up 49). They were held to 15 by Northern Ill and 17 by Buffalo (the 2 MAC finalists) but scored a lot vs everyone else

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  76. Jury is in, Pitt doesn’t have a 4 or 5 that can compete in the ACC. Going to be tough watching Chibwuka (sp?) and Brown the rest of the year. Better outside shooting might help open up the middle, but penetrating guards are going to have little luck finishing with all the competing “Bigs” dominating the middle. Rebounding was atrocious.

    Pitt missing N’Dir big time. Ellison is not an ACC guard. Can’t shoot and can’t finish, my over/under for Pitt’s ACC record is 4 wins.

    Liked by 2 people

  77. Keeping on the article’s BB subject – this from PSN –

    “It’s been a rough 24 hours for Jeff Capel and Pitt.

    First, the Panthers lost their ACC opener to #15 North Carolina then they suffered potentially a bigger loss.

    Overnight, Pittsburgh Sports Now received word that Pitt is “out” for their top remaining 2019 recruiting target.

    A source tells me that Oak Hill Academy center Kofi Cockburn has eliminated Pitt as one of his finalists. This is a major—and somewhat surprising—development because some people viewed Pitt as a dark horse contender for this elite talent.”

    Also, Pitt and Capel lost out to Dayton for Florida transfer Chase Johnson.

    Back to FB.

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  78. I don’ get it. How can Pitt lose out to Dayton for a recruit. I’d say that Pitt is reaching too high for top level recruits, but to lose out to Dayton is a real shocker. I’d like to hear their reasons for choosing these other colleges.

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  80. Orlando Antigua was his main recruiter for Illinois and on him every day! He was trained under Calipari.

    I mentioned this when Capel was hired and every month thereafter when it comes to basketball recruiting. Is our AD going to let the Head Coach play the recruiting game? I said this before and will say it again. You have to be able to play the game because when the chance comes to execute you need to know if you can or can’t.

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    1. Wish Avonte would have held on for that interception.

      I’m a big Avonte fan, but any Pitt DB seems to brings out the best in Trubisky…

      Eagles, and Avonte, advance. Foles is a great story…

      Go Pitt.

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    2. One double move was not his responsibility. They were in Cover 2 which made the deeper outside route the responsibility of the Safety who was late coming over.

      However, Maddox did give up plenty other times when it was totally his responsibility like the TD in the Red Zone.

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      1. He consistently got beat by the double move in the second half. He needs to figure out how to avoid that

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        1. QB’s know he likes to jump routes. He almost had 2 in the game before they figured out to pump fake him.

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  83. Lol – They lost to Dayton for a grad-transfer. Capel has shown, this season, that his priority is younger players. Can’t blame the kid. If Capel brings in anyone else at the same position, you have to assume that the younger player will get the attention. Losing the Center to Illinois is annoying but that Illinois’ coach can sell offense. Very good offensive coach. Points scored gets you to the NBA. And Antigua can sell getting players to the NBA just as easily as Capel can … as someone mentioned … he has Calapari and Kentucky recruiting in his DNA.

    Capel will have a better run at the 2020 class. Pitt is a hard sell right now. For elite players it’s not about playing time, it’s about getting to the NBA. It’s hard to get exposure on a team not tourney bound.

    Be patient. Capel is the right guy for this.

    Liked by 1 person

  84. The loss to the Tarheels was tough and hurt…but perhaps as the season goes on it will gain some perspective.

    I don’t believe Pitt is as bad as they looked against a Final Four caliber team.

    The 3 frosh had NO IDEA what playing at that at level really is like. They were nervous and overawed.

    As the senior leader, Wilson-Frame tried to take the team on his back early and calm them down a bit, but we all see how that worked out. He has the knowledge, experience and desire but not the talent.

    That was one of the best zone D efforts I’ve seen a Roy William’s team play. Yes, they knew Pitt only has a few players who can bust the zone and drive against it, but it was still awesome to watch.

    White picked his game up a notch. We had no answer for Cam. Luke and Brooks dominated inside. $ players who will most likely see minutes at the next level.

    X-man had a decent game ans showed he could complete. Trey took two steps back and was out of control a lot. The rest of the guys couldn’t hit a shot.

    On D Pitt played ok – there were flashes of the future there.

    I think that Capel’s men can still win 4-5 games in the ACC – I think they will fare better against the mere mortal teams like ND, BC and Wake Forest. I look at their earlier effort against Iowa as offering hope.

    H2P

    Liked by 1 person

  85. To put this team in perspective, Cam Johnson left the program 18 months ago and there’s not one player, or coach, remaining from the team he left. Pitt is not an easy or quick fix and it’s not an easy or quick sell. Be patient. That’s the only thing that you can do.

    Liked by 1 person

  88. Still think ACC wins won’t happen unless the stars align.
    Just too many weaknesses and not nearly enough firepower. N’Dir definitely needed.

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  93. Ike and Tossing, some of those ‘missing’ posters you mentioned, and others, have emailed me about not commenting on the POV any longer.

    But I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some of them again come Spring Practices.

    Liked by 1 person

  94. according to PG headline today. best local prospect 4* MJ Devonshire has it narrowed down to Pitt and Ohio St. I assume Holgerson’s leaving eliminated WVU Based on how Pitt has done recently on big recruits lately in both BB and FB, we will once again be bridesmaids.

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  96. I’ve kind of settled in to 3 different candidates for the OC job. No order

    Larry Fedora. This would be a very big get for PITT and should ignite plenty of enthusiasm from PITT fans. He most likely will cost a pretty penny but those pretty pennies will show the PITT fan base that they are very serious about their football program.
    Luke Getsy. Currently the OC at Mississippi State under Moorehead. Word is he’s not the one calling the plays though. Local young man would likely be interested in returning home to Pittsburgh. Still young but he’s been around at least a half a block by now.
    David Yost. Currently Utah State OC. A young and promising coach that has run a prolific offense for a few years now. I’m guessing this young man will try and build his resume and could be persuade to come to a P-5 school.

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  97. I’ve kind of settled in to 3 different candidates for the OC job. No order

    )1Larry Fedora. This would be a very big get for PITT and should ignite plenty of enthusiasm from PITT fans. He most likely will cost a pretty penny but those pretty pennies will show the PITT fan base that they are very serious about their football program.

    )2Luke Getsy. Currently the OC at Mississippi State under Moorehead. Word is he’s not the one calling the plays though. Local young man would likely be interested in returning home to Pittsburgh. Still young but he’s been around at least a half a block by now.

    )3David Yost. Currently Utah State OC. A young and promising coach that has run a prolific offense for a few years now. I’m guessing this young man will try and build his resume and could be persuade to come to a P-5 school.

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    2. I like 1 and 3, ike. Getsy might be too much of a learning-on-the-job Guy…

      We need “instant offense!” 🎅

      Go Pitt!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. He’s a slam dunk winner Fran………. Plus he knows what he’s talking about which helps.. How do they get him to Pittsburgh? $$$$$

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  103. Doke mentions nothing new
    Basically, what is holding Pitt back from getting over the mediocre hump

    Tough OOC
    Coaching
    Recruiting
    Budget

    Dont schedule more than 1 P-5 team each year
    Coaching needs to step up
    Recruiting is mediocre to ‘o.k.’, but there are schools that recruit worse with better results (could that be a function of coaching?)
    Budget – Pitt aint cheap but they arent breaking the bank either

    I would also add a lack of consistent branding, a lack of identity, and a off campus stadium as impediments.

    No reason why Pitt cant compete for division titles each year and be ranked come years end.

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  106. Hafley to OSU. Their HC didn’t wait for the coaches convention to make a hire. I remember Hafley when he was at Pitt. If i recall correctly and as wwb points out, he was a New Jersey recruiting legend. He who hesitates is lost. Not saying that he was on Narduzzi’s list for any vacancy, but there is a key learning here. That is, if you take the game of running a football program seriously, you move on an opportunity when it is presented and you don’t wait an extra week for a convention when your guy is available today. Again, not saying that Hafley was on Narduzzi list for anything.

    This makes me think that Narduzzi didn’t have a go to guy ready and is waiting for the convention. How do you know you made the right decision in firing the old OC? Because you have a better replacement in hand and don’t have to wait to execute that plan. That is what you learned from OSU today.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Huff — makes great sense and sounds really great to have a replacement “in hand” before you can a coach, but I wonder how practical that is.

      Candidates in demand are going to have different teams contacting them – so what do you do, give them an ultimatum? You contact them and tell them you need an answer the next day?

      And it’s not like Pitt, with all the success we’ve had, is a destination school for a coach… Hot Coach: “Can’t talk to you OSU, I’m just waitin’ for that call from Pitt!”

      I’m just skeptical about having a deal done before a firing occurs…

      Go Pitt.

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    2. Pitt always waits until every good candidate is hired away. Their way of saving money I guess….

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  107. Hafley was in the pro’s with the niners. He’s taking a DC spot with OSU. What exactly were we going to hire to be? He’s not leaving the niners to become a CB coach for Pitt.

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  108. Halfey coached defensive backs while at PITT and was an ace recruiter on the east coast. Recruited Dion Lewis and Ray Graham along with many others.. But he is not an offensive coordinator or wide receiver coach by any means. Yet, I would have tried to fit him in somewhere at PITT. I talked to his father at a game way back when and his dad told me he loved it at PITT.

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    1. They all love it when they are here. They certainly wouldn’t tell the truth while employed for fear that the stranger may know somebody, etc.

      Going off of what you stated above Ike, something just came to me. I think that many a GA or assistant coach that was exposed to Steve Pederson quickly didn’t like their employer. That could be one of the reasons we get stuck with re-treads.

      I like going after an old head coach and have said so for years, so long as he can recruit. The issue is whether the current head coach is confident enough to do that. Ours struggles. Saban has some. Meyer had some. I also like going after a qb coach in the nfl….

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  112. I thought someone would have posted “Dude look like a lady” by now.
    Visiting arenas played that when Yagr had the mullet.

    Liked by 1 person

  113. Major Applewhite reported to be hired as OC at Miami. That may free up Fedora if he’s interested

    Hey, at least Pickett didn’t throw a pick six vs Clemson … did he?

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  117. Heather needs to hire BIG for an OC…Watson left a dumpster fire and a superhero is needed to put it out….. get us a Biggie Heather… somehow I trust you to “ make da call!!!”

    Liked by 1 person

  118. I’d like to see Pitt break some ground by having a Defense Head Coach = Narduzzi; and an Offense Head Coach = Fedora, say.

    We’re always weak on (at least) one side of the ball. Let’s try something different…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  124. Also, Clemson just scored 31 on the vaunted Alabama defense in the 1st half. “Only” scored 28 on the stingy Pitt defense in the first half.

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  125. Tua has a weakness. His deal is reading the Defense before the snap and knowing where to go with the ball. That’s fine unless things break down. That’s where his weakness shows.

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  131. Sorry to change the subject, but does anyone know if all the dates for Pitt FB games in 2019 are set, with times to be determined, or are game dates still to be determined.

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  132. Mark, dates for non con games are set but no times yet.
    fbschedule.com
    Or just Google Pitt fb schedule 2019

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  145. Great WRs as well. Looking at the players these two teams put on the field, the gap between them and Pitt is huge.

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  146. Only caught the 1st half… Clemson took care of business and brought home the bacon for th ACC$$$$$

    We need parity… we need higher draft picks… oops- forgot there for a moment… it’s college ball ( for most of us)

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  147. Clemson DL, playing without one of its best players, pretty much handled the Bama OL, which is stacked with future NFLers.

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  148. I only turned it on after Clemson went up 21-16, but some of my thoughts are:

    The 3 yards and a cloud of dust, time of possession controlling, run based offense simply doesn’t work against elite teams. Bama needed to abandon the run but refused (Did they watch the Pitt tape?).

    The fake FG was even worse than Pitt’s fake punt/jersey against ND. At least maybe if Ollison didn’t fall Pitt could have converted, and Jeff George had enough time to potentially make something happen. Instead, Bama thinks their kicker can be George Aston and lead block for an off tackle run against Clemson’s base defense with that D line … are you kidding me?

    I didn’t see Tua start the game 12 for 14, but he was unimpressive during the part of the game I saw. I have serious concerns about Pickett like a lot of you, but when you are constantly getting sacked or have guys right in your face like Clemson could do to both Bama and Pitt, it’s hard. Lawrence also got pressured, but I don’t think it was ever a guy right in front of his face — it was mostly guys coming from the edge … he had a pocket, albeit a collapsing pocket on many plays. Borbley needs to coach up the guys to give our QBs a pocket like that.

    You never see elite QBs try to run bigger, stronger defenders over. I get that Tebow did this and he is probably Pickett’s hero, but it’s not smart. Pickett does it way too much. Quite frankly, if Dungey doesn’t get hit as hard as he does by our defense, I think we would have lost the Syracuse game.

    Pitt managed to score 10 1st half points against Clemson and didn’t score again. Bama only got 16. Granted, Bama moved the ball way more in the 2nd half and had a more balanced offense, but still, the end result wasn’t all that much different.

    Liked by 2 people

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