in Pitt Football 1,639 Words

A New Writer’s Eyes On Pitt Basketball

I received an email yesterday from a recent Pitt grad, Jackson Memmolo, who wants to get into sports writing and was looking for a writing position. While I explained that the POV is strictly an amateur venture I also offered to get his name out to the public. This is his submittal and it is a very well done piece of work.

Here is a look back on the 2020 season that was, in many ways, disappointing and now has Pitt fans questioning the future of Jeff Capel, Heather Lyke, and the future of the program. The Panthers finished the shortened and tumultuous season with a paltry 10-16 overall record, going 6-10 in ACC play. Behind the outcomes of the games played, the real narrative of last season was concerned with transfers and a loss of identity. 

Transfers, a lot of them

Whether you want to chalk up the transfers of Trey McGowens, Xavier Johnson, and Au’Diese Toney to greed, locker room problems, or simply pursuit of better basketball opportunities, the fact of the matter is, Pitt lost a huge amount of on-court production.

Johnson, who transferred to Indiana to play under Mike Johnson in his first year as IU’s head coach, scored over 1,000 points in his three-year Pitt career. The Panthers further watched as promising two-way wing Au’Diese Toney left to join the Arkansas Razorbacks and Eric Mussleman. While neither player was perfect, Johnson and Toney’s departures were more than unfortunate for Jeff Capel and the Pitt staff.

The two, along with McGowens (who transferred before the 2020 season to Nebraska), represented a potential resurgence of the program under Capel. The trio stood as the cornerstones of Capel’s first recruiting class in 2018, and looked to provide stability while the staff tried to get their roots down in the recruiting world.  

It was reported fighting in the locker room during the 2020 season between Johnson, Toney, and Pitt’s newly minted NBA player Justin Champagnie that led to the transfers of both Johnson and Toney, and Champagnie’s decision to enter the NBA draft. What is left is scorched earth.

As Pitt and Capel desperately try to piecemeal together a 2022 recruiting class, the roster outlook for this season is barren. Returning guards William Jeffress (a four-star recruit from Erie), Sophomore Femi Odukale, and Delaware transfer Ithiel Horton look to shoulder the load that Johnson, Toney and Champagnie left in Oakland.

But even with the promise shown by the three in the previous season, the forecast seems to include another losing season along with a rocky ACC conference finish toward the bottom of the standings. 

Capel, all Coach K?

After attending Pitt for the past four years, I have learned that there is a tendency for fans to dwell on the success of previous years and teams. Conditioned to expect success after the years of Dixon and Howland, who both posted career winning percentages over .690 at the program, the Pitt faithful is (understandably) warming up the seat beneath Jeff Capel.

When Capel was hired, few expected a quick turnaround, as previous coach Kevin Stallings left the program in the most embarrassing and desolate places, the basement of the ACC with little to no prospect of improvement. However, the past year of Capel’s tenure as the Pitt head coach feels like one step forward and two (maybe even three) steps backward.

Many Panther fans had dreams of hiring UConn’s Danny Hurley, or former Pitt star Sean Miller, following the wave of shake ups that occurred in the 2018 offseason. But Heather Lyke and the administration patterned for Coach K understudy Jeff Capel. Billed as a savant recruiter and a college basketball veteran, the hire wasn’t entirely a failure. Hurley and Miller were surely pipe-dreams for Pitt fans, and in the current state of Pitt in the ACC, we may never see such a slam-dunk hire.

The reality is, Pitt isn’t a coveted job. The program has sputtered and stalled since joining the ACC in 2011, and the issues surrounding Pitt Athletics aren’t solely on the basketball team’s shoulders. 

The Reality on Cardiac Hill

Look around the sport of college basketball. For a program to succeed, they have seemingly two avenues to build that success. They can recruit the best players (think Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton) or they can build a system on the court that produces success that future players want to be a part of (think Villanova’s Jay Wright or UVA’s Tony Bennett). In the ACC, the former is reigning king at the moment. Florida State, Duke, Louisville, and Miami all welcome in top 25 2021 recruiting classes, while Pitt sits at the 105th ranked class nationally, last in the ACC.

While Capel was lauded as a recruiter at Duke, Panther fans are right to question his ability to recruit without the famed Duke brand. Having brought in numerous four-star recruits to the program, Capel’s problem has been developing his players. With the powder keg that exploded last season, there were other failures of Capel’s that were hidden amongst the exodus. Many might remember Gerald Drumgoole, a four-star recruit from La Lumiere, one of the top highschool programs in the country. Drumgoole played underwhelmingly for Pitt, and transferred amidst the chaos of last season to Albany.

The reality for Pitt, is that the long trek up the recruiting boards starts with either more money being allocated to the program to pay players to attend, or to build a successful system. With middling success on both the recruiting trail and in the standings, Capel’s Pitt teams haven’t shown a commitment to either formula to revive Pitt. And under current AD Heather Lyke, it seems less likely that Pitt builds up a recruiting profile through funneling money to recruits. This leaves a bleak outlook for the future.

Objective: Get out of the basement

Pitt’s outlook for the future isn’t clear at the inception of this season. The identity of Capel’s program left out the door behind McGowens, Johnson, Toney, and Champagnie. Stuck in the proverbial mud recruiting-wise, Pitt needs to build an identity.

The problem in the past three years of Capel’s tenure has been the ACC. Treading water in the conference is remarkably hard. Despite the national media’s calls of the ACC not being the top conference in college basketball, upward mobility is difficult to come by. Schedules include some of the sport’s toughest teams, from Duke to UNC, all the way down to feisty middle-of-the-pack programs like NC State and Miami.

For many coaches in Capel’s situation, the major problem is the inability to bring in top recruits while the program remains in disarray, getting slapped around by the big bullies on the playground week in and week out. And further, when recruits do choose Pitt, the program must do everything in their power to maintain them at the school. In the era of college basketball we are in today, recruiting doesn’t stop after enrollment. The Transfer Portal is filling up every offseason, with rules allowing for a higher chance of eligibility the very next season for players.

The results of the 2020 season are all too stark of a reminder that all the progress accrued in the past year can be wiped off the face of the planet by transfers. A successful season for Pitt may not include a winning record. The goal should be simple: Get out of the basement of the ACC. The bottom tier of teams in the conference: Boston College, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, and Clemson all show the same signs of Pitt’s failures. Poor recruiting, poor coaching and a lack of hype around the programs.

For Pitt to show promise and build their profile in the ACC, the Panthers must elevate to the tier in the middle. Finishing amongst the NC States, Miamis, and Louisvilles of the conference should be the inevitable goal for Pitt. The basketball acumen was proved by Howland and Dixon.

Pitt basketball can succeed and garner fan support, despite the many crusty old calls of Pittsburgh being a “Football City”. The next step up for the program is to get out of the same sentence as Boston College and the rest of the doormats of the conference. That is how we will eventually get recruits. That is how the program builds an identity in the ACC.  

I’m just not sure

Looking now toward the season before us, I’m not sure that Pitt can rebuild to their previous level of success. I’m also not sure Jeff Capel is the answer to the problem in Oakland. I’m not even sure that they will win an ACC contest this year. The one thing I am sure of is this: Pitt needs to build an identity.

They need to either commit to recruiting well or building a good system on the court. Under Capel, the recruiting avenue seems viable, but he needs a big-time recruit to solidify both his job and the direction the program is going in. As Pitt fans, our eyes should be on the recruiting boards more than the on-court product this year.

So far in the 2022 class, Capel has a strong start with four-star guard Judah Mintz, a top 60 player nationally, announcing his commitment to Pitt along with two more hopeful commitments from local 2022 targets in Fray Nguimbi and Mason Manning. Success on the recruiting trail will do well to quell the calls for a new coach, and provide optimism going forward. I’m hopeful for the future and look forward to interacting with as many Pitt fans as possible going forward, however brutal this season may be.

Hail to Pitt.

Editor’s Note; This is a one-off look at Pitt BB posted as a possible jump start for a young writer. POV’ers who want to write about Pitt BB please still do so. You’re the guys who will keep us BB informed over the season.

99 thoughts on “A New Writer’s Eyes On Pitt Basketball”

  2. Thank you, Jackson, for your contribution. It is good to have an aspiring sports writer to help POV through some difficult times for the founder, Reed.

    I won’t criticize as this was your first effort and understandably a lot of Pitt doubt comes through from a recent graduate. We, old Timers, are well used to abuse by Pitt football and basketball expectations. Shades of Lucy and Charlie Brown dance through our brains every season. At least there is a consistency there.

    I would suggest that Capel and his coaches are doing almost everything possible to build a “family format” for Pitt basketball. It isn’t easy as Pittsburgh is not a natural “basketball town” except when Howland and Dixon had the Panthers going to the NCAA’s and being nationally ranked.

    While some may disagree heartily, my belief is that Gallagher, the BOT, and AD Lyke have tried to reform Pitt’s approach to the Pitt athletic department to provide long term continuity and success. It is never easy.

    Definitely I do not think that either Hurley or Miller were the answers to Pitt’s coaching issues.

    Good luck on your endeavors.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thank you for the comment! I’m the writer of the article and it is really valuable to hear from some Pitt fans who have been supporting the program for a long time. I am from the Northeast, more specifically Rhode Island. I attended Pitt from 2017 to 2021, where I graduated this past May. It was the Dixon teams annually making the NCAA Tournament that made me consider Pitt originally, I wanted to be a part of the Zoo and the toughminded attitude of the program. I appreciate the kind words and am looking forward to interacting with all of you and getting your input on the future of the program!

      Best,

      JM

      Liked by 9 people

  3. I agree with you, Reed. This is a good piece. The author has a nice writing style and has done a commendable job of researching his subject.

    I will admit to cringing a bit when I read someone advocating the need to establish an “identity”. It reminds me of so many concepts that have come and gone in the business world. Similar to “value-added proposition”, “synergy”, establishing “a corporate culture”, etc. Pleeaasse! But then, I don’t have a better solution, so ….

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Writer of the post here. Thanks for the kind words and the input! Just to flesh out the stance I took in the post. I grew up in New England and attended Pitt from 2017 to 2021, so my time being a die-hard fan took place through the end of Stallings and the entirety of Capel. It feels like the days of the Big East grit-and-grind Pitt teams are behind us as a fanbase. I’m intrigued by the future of Pitt in the ACC, and as I mentioned in the post, consistency in the conference is incredibly hard to come by (aside from the Blue Bloods). Looking forward to the season and interacting with you all.

      Best,

      JM

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Depending on your definition of “identity”, one might argue that every team already has an identity. They just might not like their identity.

      Thank you for the article, Jackson! Hope to see more of your input on the POV.

      Like

  4. Thanks for the good post, Jackson. Enjoyed it!

    Hoping that PItt will pleasantly surprise us this year with a few more than the 4 ACC wins projected by Coach Dan. I have no basis for that hope though!

    Like

  5. What’s the difference between Pitt basketball and Pitt football? BB had the Howland/Dixon era while FB had the Majors/Sherill era. BB had a few good years under Ridl and Evans; FB had the same under Harris/Wanny

    The rest of the time, both programs were above average at best. And in the past decade, the ADs made unforgivable hires in each program.

    Of course, this doesn’t mean Pitt BB fans shouldnt expect returning to the NCAAs and FB fans shouldn’t hope for a 10 win season. But it certainly isn’t a sure thing either .. by any means

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  6. By the way Jackson, I didn’t mean to undermine your article which was well researched and written out. Keep at it

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for the support! I love hearing from other Pitt fans despite the apparent peril the program is in currently. Nice to know there are people out there supporting and consuming Pitt Basketball content. I like your comment on the parallels between the Football and Basketball programs at Pitt. I’m not from Pittsburgh, so I need to brush up on the history for sure. Definitely something I will be exploring in the future. Great points and thank you for the interaction!

      Best,

      JM

      Like

  8. JM, you wrote a great piece and are a breath of fresh air to this site concerning Pitt basketball. As you follow the POV, you will get a feel for us old timers who have followed Pitt athletics for decades. I personally appreciate a fresh look at Pitt’s BB problems, but there is no miracle on the horizon that will suddenly turn things around.

    Capel basically lost 3 years with the debacle caused by the recent player departures. But most likely, the key for Pitt will be his ability to continue to recruit good players over time. Your approach makes sense, however, that Pitt needs to first get out of the cellar, and then to move up to the middle tier where they can beat most of the middle of the road teams and occasionally get an upset.

    Again, welcome to the POV, and as Reed says, no need to respond to every comment.

    Liked by 2 people

  9. JM welcome to The POV…. a well-written article with good intentions. Pitt basketball is not quite a dumpster fire like the Stallings era, however, it is treading water at the low end of the pool. Coach C has simply not been able to recruit solid talent and for some reason, the discipline needed to establish a positive locker room seems non-existant.

    We seem to be chasing guard after guard and have been unable to attract the tall trees needed to control the boards. 2021 will most likely be a terrible season…. I HOPE I AM WRONG!

    Like

  10. jpm…good article..I was hoping Capel would be the answer to our woes but he needs a couple of more years after last year’s debacle. Going to be an uphill climb in today’s market…just would like us to be more competitive….PITT runs a clean program and something we can all be proud of…

    Jump in here again…would love to get your take on FB as well…Thanks!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Very good article and boils down to one sentence “the problem in Capels tenure boils down to the ACC”

    Capel is a very good coach. If he has equal or better ACC TALENT than his competition, he will win quite a few games! But, he doesn’t. As I talked with scouts and high school coaches about our recruits the common comment was “great kid,
    good player …. but I don’t know if he can compete in the ACC!”

    I guess we might get lucky with a few, Femi and Hugley can definitely compete in the ACC but with guards and wings overmatched, how are they going to get the ball?

    Comments post (secret scrimmage) vs Maryland where they were down 28 points second half before Maryland ( who I think is a top 10team) cleared the bench, were none too kind to Pitt.

    In the old Big East, you could be rough and tough, run a system and succeed! Not so in the ACC which is a finesse and shooting (scoring) league.

    I have Pitt being” in”about 6 ACC games this year and maybe winning two! Maybe. WVA will be a good preview.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY REED!

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thanks Dan – hope next season we can watch a few games together again. Also, please do keep writing your BB pieces – they are really insightful from a coaches’ POV.

      Folks – my son is in his second round of Chemo this week. A PET scan found three more nodules last week but he is very strong and optimistic. Thanks for all the good wishes!

      Now – back to Pitt athletics…

      Liked by 12 people

  12. Good work and welcome, Jackson!

    Couple nitpicks:

    -While still hopeful, I’m guessing Jeffress will need more time to get to where we need him. He’s still pretty young. I’m just not expecting much this season.

    -I suspect Pitt BB is a coveted job, just not for the 20 or so top coaches out there. But I get your point.

    I think we’ve gotten to this situation because Coach Capel swung for the fences in that first year of recruiting, perhaps taking raw talent and potential over team-player factors. Coach certainly is emphasizing the team-concept now. Hoping that leads to improvement and that team “identity”…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. For whatever reason, Pitt’s BB recruiting has slowed down. I suspect Capel is going to take only top 150 recruits out of high school and backfill with the transfer portal so as not to commit a 4 yr scholarship to a good but not top player.

    This strategy makes sense to avoid past mistakes. Also, a single 5 star player might not be best right now to build a program if he plays one yr and leaves for the NBA.

    Like

  15. New to Pitt sports here. Crazy to think how Dixon left for his “dream job” and has accomplished nothing significant at TCU, then Stallings, who was a nice hire in theory, turned out to be a disaster. Hopefully Capel can sell some decent players on the chance to take on a major role immediately

    Like

    1. Coach C. seems to be a decent talent evaluator, IMHO, and seems to get us in a lot of top-fives for highly-ranked players, it’s closing the deal where the problems have been…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

  17. I’m not sure he is a very good coach either. About 50% of the people that post to the POV could probably recruit successfully at Duke as long as Coach K sticks around as HC. Putting that on a resume will certainly get you an interview for most coaching jobs. But it would not be on the top of my list for hiring the next guy.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. In basketball, nice coaches seem to get you to the final 5 but other factors seem more important to close the deal. Reed, I think Pitt could get to the final 4 with players Capel has missed on. Dixon’s fade and Stalling’s collapse have tarnished Pitt’s basketball image, and building back from last place in the ACC will take time.

    Liked by 4 people

  19. Jackson,

    Good article and a very interesting read. Bottom line is this season is going to be very tough. Can you explore why Capel has so many locker room issues going back to his time at Oklahoma? No matter what Capel is able to accomplish this season, will these perennial problems reappear and set the program back even further?

    Does Capel need to get rid of family members and hire better assistant coaches? You mentioned Lyke is not going to pay players/break NCAA rules, but is she giving Capel the funds he needs to run a winning program?

    Thanks again,

    Liked by 1 person

  20. I want to make a football comment which is also pertinent to basketball. It has to do with trash talking. There is one way to stop it and it was JoePas rule as well as mine when I coached! DON’T DO IT! Answer trash talking with silence and inspired play!

    If you DO trash talk or return any Disses, you will be sitting right next to me on the bench! Do it twice and you’re off the team!

    Do not for the life of me understand why Duzz tolerates this for one second. I know Capel doesn’t!

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thank you! Frankly I am fed up with the showboating and disrespect seen in the NFL and now pervasive in college football. College players should not be mimicking WWE phoney macho crap. Enough said for both FB and BB.

      Liked by 1 person

  21. Man, isn’t it enough I have to deal with Pitt football last week, now you want me to even think about this mess of a bball team? Malox please.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. I will say that now that we have BB gurus on here and some great before and after BB game articles I’m much more interested in the BB program than I was before.

    BTW – that photo of Tom Richards with the rest of the 1974 Pitt BB team that was posted on here the other day really brought back memories. ’74 was my freshman year and I played pick-up ball with all those guys at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse two or three times a week…held my own sometimes (sometimes, mostly watched people dunk over me a lot!)

    Liked by 3 people

  24. Jackson, great article. Thanks for reaching out to Reed, keep the articles coming.

    I totally agree with you, what is the identity of a Capel coached team? Fast break, press on D, tough on the boards? I got nothing.

    I bet you all can name the identity of a Huggins team. Pressing defense. Tony Bennet, slow offense. Roy Williams, fast paced. Boeheim, 2-3 zone.

    I actually read a great article about how Huggins adjusted after leaving the Big East. He missed the tournament two years in a row and woke up. Adopted his full court press but he does adjust if he doesn’t have the players to pull it off.

    Capel needs to keep bringing the top 150 recruits, fill holes with the portal and figure out what identity he wants his teams to have. The transfers set him way back.

    Reed, continued prayers for your son🙏

    Like

  25. In the ACC you need top 50 players. Recruiting has to have at least one top 50 player each class. Anything else is moot. Final 4 teams have at least 2 top 50 recruits and 2 top 100 recruits starting. None of the players that left the program were top 50 recruits nor did they grow into top 50 players. They weren’t top 100 players either. Not a big loss. Capel’s approach is correct. Swing big and settle at the end of the recruiting period. Building a team of 5th year seniors like Jamie Dixon is not an approach you can take in the ACC. Talent will eventually beat experience every time. There’s a reason you don’t see many “veteran” teams playing for national championships. They may have great regular seasons but they lose against better competition in the tourney … The ACC is like that for the entire slate. UVA’s team is full of top 50 players so I don’t want to hear them brought up. ND is borderline but how much have they really won? Individual season don’t really matter much without the top 50 talent. This season is already a wash for me. I don’t really care about development because it doesn’t really matter. They all will be replaced as soon as someone better comes in. The ACC is about individual seasons not maturing rosters. If Pitt were to replace Capel, they are going to have to hire someone similar. It’s all about recruiting at an elite level and Capel is at a school that won’t let him cheat … see LSU. Personally, I don’t have an issue with Capel or his coaching. This is just how college basketball has evolved. Like it or not, it’s the reality of the sport right now. A team developing and improving over the course of a season is a waste of time with the way the sport has changed. It’s all about next season’s recruits or transfers.

    Liked by 3 people

  27. Tossing, what you said is sad but true. The question is how do you bring a team back from the dead? And do you recruit differently to build a team vs sustaining a program?

    Like

    1. VoR – Don’t get me wrong, you need a core and they don’t have to be elite. They can be the identity and culture setters. The players that left were the opposite. They had reputations of being selfish while lacking leadership. You need that one big class to jump start the program but as we’ve seen with Pitt losing a couple big recruits, the biggest being the kid to LSU, Capel does not have the cheat “green light”. I’m fine with that but it’s going to take longer to get “the” class.

      Liked by 2 people

  28. Well, matters just got worse, if that’s even possible for our BB team. Sibande out for season…

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  29. Didn’t expect this but Pitt is ranked 25th on the CFP committee rankings. 6 Big 10 teams are listed but PSU isn’t one of them

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

    1. We lose to Citadel next week? Go .500 in the non-conference games? Match Stallings 0-18 ACC performance?

      Like

  31. Gallagher has done the equivalent to basketball to what Posvar did to football in the early 80s.

    It’s very difficult to drive a successful program into the ground but Patrick has done it. It’s as though Pitt’s run under Ben/Jamie never happened.

    I was one who thought Capel should get five years, but rethinking with another losing season on the horizon. Pitt would lose Mintz, but so what. A coach is more important, and I like Capel. He has shown no urgency and and hired a terrible staff that he never makes changes to.

    When football season ends, it is going to be real easy to pause my Hulu since hoops will be an afterthought. What a shame. And all those empty seats at the Pete.

    Like

    2. Gallagher? Don’t you mean Scott Barnes? And wasn’t Scott Barnes supposed to be a basketball guy?

      Somehow this man has gotten me, a Pittsburgh guy, to root against Oregon State. How weird is that?

      Go Pitt.

      Like

      1. I go to the highest person, which is Patrick.

        He knew Barnes was already looking to get out soon into his Pitt tenure. It was Gallagher who didn’t like Dixon and made Jamie think about leaving. Barnes made a horrific hire, but the chancellor signed off on it. Dixon and Barnes actually had a good working relationship.

        Like

  32. I knew it was an ACL the moment it was described. Losing Sibande, maybe Pitt’s possible leading scorer, is beyond a disaster! Going to be a long year and a lot of early bedtimes for us aged Alums!

    I’m so sorry for Capel! A good coach and a good guy. He deserved better and trust me, his horrid staff will not matter.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. If Burton can come back it might ease some of the worry about this team. It’s only a 40-minute game, so Femi, Burton and Jeffress could be the main three guys on the perimeter logging the minutes with Santos, Horton and Ezeakudo as the backups.

        Like

  33. Its almost comical what has gone on with Pitt BB over the last decade. From 26 & 10 and third round of the tournament…to 8 & 24 and zero ACC wins…to now. Its like a curse or something. Granted we weren’t ever Duke or NC but under Dixon we were at least respected as program.

    Like

    1. way more than respected, feared by many/most, ask HT

      the fact that PSU has passed this program and WVU legitimately could laugh at Pitt BB should be reason to eviscerate all responsible as they’ve done to it

      Like

      1. While I agree to a point, Jamie left because he knew he couldn’t compete in the ACC with his recruiting and style of play. This was always going to be a challenge, The move to the ACC was to save football.
        Basketball became an afterthought.
        If Capel can’t recruit to Pitt, I’m not sure who can?

        Liked by 1 person

        1. You give Capel far too much credit. It’s one thing to recruit star players, and quite another to keep them happy and on the team. Capel’s tenure will end soon. We are looking at a Stallings-like season and although Lyke prefers being invisible, unsettled crowds and dwindling crowds will force her hand.

          Some of the comments on this board are comical. “I like Capel…” WTF does that mean? Is he your friend? Do you speak to him?

          Capel is well-paid to run a winning basketball program. Waiting for him to turn things around is ludicrous. It ain’t happening.

          Let’s sum up: Capel can recruit but can’t keep players. Capel runs teams full of dissention. Capel hired his extended family at Pitt’s expense.

          The sooner the Capel show is over, the better for Pitt basketball.

          Like

          1. No credit but the way he’s trying to build the program is the right way. Maybe he’s not the right coach to do it but his vision is correct. You have to swing big in the ACC unless you are okay being average. Forget average. All or nothing is a much better way to do it. If you look at how he lost a couple kids, especially the one to LSU, it’s obvious Capel doesn’t have a green light to cross certain lines. LSU and other schools do. The team not playing well or not developing doesn’t matter. As I said in a previous post, it’s all about next year’s recruits at this point. The ACC is not the old Big East. Talent beats tenure. You have to have top 50 players to compete at the top of the conference.

            Liked by 1 person

    1. Capel’s success has been getting kids to leave high school early, he needs to find one or two to join Judah Mintz next year.

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  37. Did anyone notice the CFP rankings yesterday? My heart goes out to undefeated Cincy, Oklahoma, and Wake Forest who are behind several one loss teams. They got jobbed just like we did on that safety call. Seems like this poll was a bit of a popularity contest.

    Additionally, I saw on ESPN’s scroll last night that Pitt is a 20.5 pt fav against Duke and the computers believe we have a 94% chance of winning. I don’t know jack about Duke football but let’s hope our guys didn’t see that and are preparing hard. No need for a Western Michigan Part II.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Agree, let’s not make this Duke’s one big game this year.
      I would actually be more worried if we didn’t lose the last game.
      Hopefully they take it out on Duke and aren’t looking ahead to UNC.

      Like

  38. I have a comment waiting moderation and can’t figure out why. No bad words. Are there others things that block posts?

    Like

    1. I reviewed post and approved. See comments above at 11/2 5:18 PM.

      Did you make comment twice? You posted a reply to your comment 5 minutes later.

      Thanks for commenting that something is in moderation. I personally only check when someone says something.

      There are 2 more in moderation. Both are 4 or 5 days old. One used a bad word – S@# $. The other – I have no idea why. Both were commenters were not regulars. Sorry that they had a bad experience.

      Liked by 1 person

  39. Did anybody else notice what school was missing from the first CFP poll?

    Hint: begins with P, ends with SUX.

    3 loss Miss St. in. 3 loss Wisconsin in. Hmmm.

    Liked by 1 person

  40. So the Duke game should be a great opportunity to work on the running game. Get some balance back in the offense. This team still needs to get better every game.

    Two ways to win, defense keeps points off the board, offense puts points on the board.

    I would say that improvement can come from both, but the offense has the most potential to get better and will be needed if Pitt has any chance of winning out. Getting stalled out in the redzone four times last week was not good enough for an offense that throws for over 500 yards. The objective is to outscore the opponent. The running game is required for redzone success. Izzy and Hammond can get the job done.
    Yes KP is the ultimate weapon, but having the ability to rush the football will only make him that much better.

    The defense is what it is, good QB’s, wide receivers and running backs are going to score on them, but Pitt has the best offense in the ACC and the potential to be even better. It will have to overcome the failures of the D like the effort vs. WMU and Miami to win out.

    UNC, VA and Syracuse will be able to score a bunch on Pitt, Pitt need to score more than them .

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I see it the same way, GC. I thought every game would be a shootout. Didn’t expect Pitt to dominate TOP like it did in the 4th Q against VT, Clemson…

      Unfortunately, it’s like any defensive stops by Pitt are a bonus…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

    2. Maybe the problem there is that we did throw for 500+ yards and got enamored with the pass in every situation. We attempted passes 56 times to 23 runs. Red zone – in settling for those two FGs I counted six pass attempts with only two runs.

      Again, three straight pass incomplete attempts from the Miami 5 is just stating the obvious to the Miami defense.

      Whipple should keep the old phrase “When you attempt a pass three things can happen with two of them bad.” in mind. Granted INTs weren’t a problem this season…until they were last game.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Of those 23 runs, 9 were by KP, mostly scrambles when he was flushed, so really pass plays that failed.
        This is Whipple ball, it has been pretty successful, but doesn’t help the defense. It is fine when the defense plays reasonably well. When we go against accurate QB’s the shootout mentality has failed twice. The concern is we are going to face at least two more really good ones.

        Like

      2. Agree. Pitt’s offense is better when balanced. I can see throwing when behind but once you catch up, have balance.

        Like

  44. LB Wendell Davis just entered the portal. He started 3 games at MLB this year. He didn’t start on Sat but played the 2nd and 3rd series; the 3rd series is when the U RB scored on a 40 yarder thru the interior. He did not play after that

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Like

    1. Wow. Davis was definitely a future starter.

      Pitt basketball losing a player for the season is very bad news. Capel can’t catch a break.

      Hammond needs way more carries.

      Like

  45. I really don’t like that at all. He is a very good player and this shows how hard it is to be a coach these days.

    I may be going down the rabbit hole here but I am very concerned if Pitt doesn’t give Hammond more carries in the next five games, he may be poached by a team telling him he will never be a star at Pitt while Whipple is coach. After his performance against Clemson to only give one short series and 1 carry is a travesty.

    He could have helped win that game in the red zone and next year he will be a star when Kenny is gone as long as he stays. He should be getting at least a third of the playing time right now.

    When your defense can’t keep the other team from scoring, another strategy is to keep that defense off the field. You can do that with long time consuming drives. Hammond showed he could do it vs. the best defense we have or will play.

    Our two losses came with KP throwing six touchdowns in one, and 500+ yards passing in the other, what is wrong with that picture?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. The other teams scoring more points than PITT. It’s not like PITT didn’t put points on the board themselves.

      Maybe it’s Brandon George’s time at middle linebacker? He’s big, athletic and has a mean streak in him. Remember McKillops took a year or so to become a starter?

      Liked by 2 people

  46. Great article, Jackson.
    Thank you for the synopsis and your hard work.

    Sorry to learn about Wendell Davis. I thought he was the best Mike linebacker…but what do I know?

    And as for Coach Pat allowing trash-talking, it is a sign of an undisciplined team…much like penalties (we lead the ACC), dropped passes (though much better this year), missed tackles, missed assignments, etc.
    Composure…it starts at the top.

    H2P!

    Liked by 1 person

  47. Well, if you watch the SEC, you’ll see even more trash talking than the ACC. But as someone previously pointed out, I think the issue begins with the NFL where it has been going on for a long time … and includes everyone from part time special team players to T Brady and A Rogers.

    If Pickett did what Mayfield did on Sunday, he most likely gets flagged

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  48. The horse has left the barn on trash talking. It is a non issue. Just don’t get flagged for stupidity.

    Like

  50. Nice job Jackson! I really enjoyed the structure of the article as well the article itself. It was well written.
    I hope there are more to come.

    Liked by 1 person

  52. Considering how many Tens of MIllion$ Pedo State spends on it’s choker football program.

    HOW SWEET IT IS !!!

    Like

  53. Everyone does not trash talk and it’s not part of any game!

    This isn’t a gang drug war with guns. It’s still just a game and here’s a word we haven’t seen in a while “sportsmanship”!

    If you’re trash talking you are unfocused on your play! It is and always will be that way. We saw that in Pitt all year but especially Vs Miami! 107yds in penalties cost Pitt the game and maybe being ranked #13 today.

    As several have posted, it’s starts with the players best friend, Daddy Duzz! At the top

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Trash talking is part of the game. It has been for these kids since they played peewee ball. It is not a distraction for them. This isn’t 1950, lol. I personally hate it but it isn’t going away. It has nothing to do with Narduzzi. Happens in about all team sports now.

      My favorite is players celebrating a good hit after the opposing plater just got a first down.

      Liked by 3 people

  55. Duzz said he warned the team about the Miami trash-talking. One of Pitt’s keys to victory on the board was “Poise and Composure.” Duzz said he should have had the scout team trash-talking during the week…and will do that next time.

    Sideline reporter Larry Richert said he could hear Miami trash-talking on the field – which he said was unusual for him to hear.

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  56. Trash talk was never heard or spoken in any of the sporting events (and they were many) during my adventures on the playing fields or court… truthfully, it’s a cultural thing… what I witness at times is total unnecessary BS/nastiness that has no place on a college athletic field where young men are privileged to have a scholarship to represent our beloved university… they are at that school to become better people and make positive contributions to society when they leave… it’s a time to grow and mature into responsible young men… trashing talking and non-sense side- line dunking(just waiting for someone to blow and ACL or turn an ankle) contribute nothing to developing a solid athlete or mature individual…!

    Liked by 5 people

  57. Just drove thru Oakland. Drove with extra care because I wanted no chance of running over Kenny Pickett… 😊

    But when I go up Forbes Avenue now, I’m always reminded that back-in-the-day we had a large banner across Forbes, which I liked, which stated: “You’re in Panther Country!”

    Why don’t we have that anymore?

    Go Pitt!

    Liked by 1 person

  58. I like the turnover dunk and the alternative uniforms, lol. Let the kids have fun. It is college ball, not the No Fun League.

    I don’t get the trash talking because it would never bother me. Seems like a waste of energy.

    Liked by 2 people

  60. WMU is getting boat raced by Central Michigan late in the 4th qtr 42-24

    Not a good look again for Pitt.

    Like

  61. Ran across an interview with freshman TE Gavin Bartholomew. Two things he said jumped out at me.

    —Said Pitt was his only Power5 offer. Wow! Hats off to Pitt on that one.

    —Said he loves to block. Said “You can hit someone every play and not get in trouble!” That’s an outstanding way to look at it! 👍

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  62. My fav players are the biggest trash talkers haha. I love trash talking. It’s def part of the game and really has no bearing on anything. Trash talking did not affect the game at all. Pitt always plays on the edge and sometimes it will bite you. The calls were very borderline so I would not chalk them up to anything. It’s not like emotions were running high. Just a step too slow and the penalty is thrown.

    Like

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