in Pitt Football 183 Words

Pitt POV’s Zoom Roundtable Recording 1/13/22

Well, if you missed it you are not out of luck. Here is the full recording of our second POV Zoom Roundtable. We had a great time talking about Pitt athletics, among other things, and I hope you’ll like it – we attendees agreed to disagree on a lot of topics – but that is what makes these fun…

The culprits from top row left – Isnore99 (Ed), Reed, MajorMajors (John), 6&34 (Jay), Missing Wlat (Eric), JoeL (Joe), Pitt-Cocks Fan (Rich), Gordon Conn, and Dan72 (Dan Davis)

Here is Audio Only recording if you are at work or driving, etc.  Not sure what those green blocks are but the left one starts & stops the playback and the right block is mute/unmute…

Here are some photos from the Peach Bowl. Obviously the Pitt athletic department wanted to find the “Prettiest Pitt Fan” and…well, here’s Annie…  Someone else will have to ID the others –

116 thoughts on “Pitt POV’s Zoom Roundtable Recording 1/13/22”

  2. listening now, looking good so far 🙂

    first point, regarding our running game this year, nobody mentioned the games where we ran the ball to finish games on consecutive plays:
    Final offensive series
    Tennessee – 8 plays, 0 passes
    GaTech – 11 plays, 1 pass
    VaTech – 16 plays, 2 passes
    Clemson – 15 plays, 1 pass

    Whip wasn’t a run guy and with KP and weapons at receiver, that is to be expected but when asked, we ran and imo Izzy and Hammond were at least used JUST ENOUGH to keep the defenses “honest”

    Liked by 3 people

  3. Isnore and GC great comments on Pitt BB and fundamentals – box out, FT’s, turnovers, assists/passing is poor, etc

    that reflects talent AND coaching – there are so many factors that aren’t only pointing at Capel but ultimately HE is responsible and needs to overcome and so far, not quite looking like he can with nothing(literally?) in the pipeline

    Like

  4. 1 hour 20 minutes packed full of great content – watch at 1.25x to save a bit of time

    only missing Iek 🙂

    yet no doubt there could be more great contributors among posters here that have yet to join on – TT, D72, VOR, H3, BB, MM(other), nrs, and several more!

    thanks Reed!

    H2P!!!

    Like

  5. While I feel like I know all of you on the POV, I actually have formed close friendships with many on this site. Pitt Fans I would never know without it. We know about each other’s kids, jobs and health issues.

    Thank you Reed and MM!

    Liked by 3 people

  6. —Great pics of various people who wanted to get their photo taken with Annie. 👍

    —The zoom call was fun. Great to see and hear some POVers talking Pitt. I hadn’t realized that isnore goes back to Ditka’s days at Pitt – I enjoyed listening to him and everyone on the call.

    —As usual, Reed did an excellent job of organizing and moderating…

    —Would have been even more awesome if ike had connected…

    —Maybe we can get Cignetti next time…😊

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Had to fix the title of article…had it happening in 2021 vice 2022.

    I had fun also. I hope I didn’t short change any of the attendees but I kept a running talley of how many times they shared and I tried to keep it even.

    Will do another in a few weeks addressing FB portal movements, new OC and mid-BB season.

    Like

  9. The Zoom meeting was like a party for me because I have been unable to attend games and play golf (I really miss both). The meeting gave me a chance to connect faces with names and I REALLY ENJOYED the conversation. Reed a HUGE thanks and I look forward to the next chance to connect with the terrific group of true Pitt fans that share our deep love of the Panthers.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. important question

      is it “i”snore99 ?

      or “is”nore99 ?

      .
      for me definitely the former
      (and the couch)

      Like

  10. Just to add to the Kenny Pickett – did we see his great season coming – discussion.

    Did I think he WOULD hve such a year? … so many moving parts as we said last night. And with the OL being the biggest question mark entering the season, who knew?

    Did I think he COULD have such a year?…I think one can argue there was evidence of it in those prior seasons. Take the UCF game at Heinz as a case in point. He led a really nice drive leading up to that “Pitt Special” play. Game was on the lline late against a highly ranked opponent. Lesser QBs might not have pulled that off.

    Will be interesting to see how high he goes in the NFL Draft and to whom. Is he the first QB off the board…does he go in the Top 5/10….do the Eagles or Giants bring him home? Will be watching with interest.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I grew up in Flatbush and Barbara Streisand was in my graduating class. I had no idea who she was (class of 1,700 students)>>>we all knew the great Billy Cunningham.

        Liked by 4 people

  13. So, a few more thoughts on “Did anyone see this coming?”

    If you look back to last year and all the turmoil caused by Covid started with our highest rated D-lineman opting out and the ACC giving us the most difficult schedule, how could anyone see this coming?

    Two one point losses, then losing KP for two of our toughest games, absolutely no running game, and many dropped passes. ( remember how it was KP’s fault for his passes coming with the tip down, or some other such nonsense?)

    Then the defense loses multiple stars to the NFL. The offensive line was still suspect, Krull wasn’t highly thought of Bart was an unknown, Addison had shown promise, but was no sure thing. Izzy also showed some promise, Davis had one big game and no one ever heard of Hammond.

    Even KP had been a slightly above the line QB and didn’t make the short list of potential stars.

    We were picked 4th in the ACC Coastal.

    So if you say you saw this coming, including Clemson not making it to the Title game, I want some of what you are smoking.

    Liked by 8 people

    1. gotta believe the 2nd glove fixed that ball tip direction problem…. 😉

      ….that existed in probably just one imaginative mind

      .

      well, maybe it emerged for a few passes to Krull and then even Patti had it happen on the early drop by Addison in the bowl game

      nah

      Like

  17. Any guesses as to why Michael Dowell decided to back out from coming to Pitt? Very strange because he had a wide-open chance to start.

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  18. Maybe his girlfriend is going to another school?

    Does anyone believe Slovis would have chosen Pitt if he didn’t have a compelling love interest here? I kinda doubt it. Happy he’s here though…

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      1. Ike, when USC dangles a scholarship in front of a HS QB when he has no other real decent FCS offers he’s going to take it. Especially if he is from the west (Arizona). Any kid in that position would do so…especially if he was most probably promised a starting position in his true FR year.

        His girl was in same HS class of 2019… so why would Slovis come to Pitt, even to follow her, if he saw we were coming off 5-7 (’17) then a 7-7 (’18) seasons?

        All you have to do is look at USC’s game against Washington this season where the FR QB threw for 4 TDs and his later game against BYU. That kid passed Slovis up as soon as he got to USC.That is especially when he saw true FR Jason Dart pass him looking back in his rear view mirror.

        The answer was, and is, that he’s not that dumb.

        But coming out of a situation where his worth at USC had dwindled and so he gets to shack up with his girl…well then – why not Pitt?

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        1. A kid in his position would be able to shack up with just about anyone he wanted anywhere he’d go. So, not that high in a guys list of priorities.

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      2. I was just pointing out that Love came in second over money the first time (USC) As the old saying goes, first marry for money then marry for LOVE!

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    2. You’re projecting and making assumptions. I’m sure it helped but she could have gone west, too. Or followed him.

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  19. Looks like, so far, Pitt is losing the Portal battle… Funny how Pitt fans can sing a player’s praises when here but as soon as they declare for the portal they either stink or are no great loss. When I wrote earlier that I believed Sibly and Davis weren’t great FCS ‘gets’ I got tons of pushback.

    Now, t is don’t let the door hit you on the way out kids.

    https://247sports.com/Season/2022-Football/TransferPortal/?institutionkey=24034

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    1. how exactly are they losing the portal battle?

      doesn’t Pitt NEED to reduce their scholarship #’s as they are a few over at this point?

      I’m sure I missed it but don’t recall tons of pushback on either Sibley or Davis

      I’d say you can expect disagreement on the very most solid opinions, guesses and even “facts” presented here and sometimes I’ve even found I didn’t quite have things exactly right,,,,, amazingly rare of course but it might have happened 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

        2. I would say PITT is winning, bigtime, in the Portal game. Narduzzi is using all his resources to fill the roster. And he’s doing a great job making PITT an environment these kids can see themselves thriving in.

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    2. The portal is a blessing in a way to get rid of dead wood on the roster.

      Landing Slovis and the Akron receiver while having kids who will never contribute leave is a win for Narduzzi.

      These kids wanted the free transfer and got it, so yes, it is “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” because they got what they wanted and are happy.

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  20. Read that coach Whipple will make 875k his first year and 90pk the second year, which is apparently double what he was paid at Pitt.

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    1. It was a slugfest and a big win. Their tough schedule could build character for a good run at an ACC title.

      Pitt is not favored to win the ACC but we have some tough dudes. Nino and Matthews are worth the price of admission every match.

      H2P!

      Liked by 3 people

  26. Bright is the only loss in the portal. Slovis is a bigger gain. You can’t go on just numbers.

    Plus Pitt has to shed players to get down to 85.

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  27. Fun factoid: Since he left after coaching at IUP for several years, Pitt’s new OC has had jobs with 13 different teams in 22 years.

    I find it interesting that lots of teams wanted him and hired him but few teams kept him more than a season or two…

    Hoping that with all his travels he can now put it all together at Pitt Version 2.0.

    Go Pitt.

    Like

    1. Duzz is hoping the same and yet hope is NOT a strategy for success.

      I had posted a comment in the last two days that never made it to the POV forum on FCjr’s resume.

      As the CEO, I would have never hired a guy with 13 jobs in the past 22 years. It screams that he lacks commitment and he is never satisfied or as MajorMajor points out, his employer does not have the desire to keep him.

      Big red flags to me. I’m glad to hear Dorin Dickerson is pleased – should be as he was an All-American playmaker under Frank jr at Pitt.

      Maybe Dorin could be our WR coach along with the jugs machine.

      Like

  28. The roster losses aren’t over yet. Probably a break until Spring ball exposes some needs and some excesses. That’s a good opportunity for players to see that they aren’t part of the plan. I’m guessing they will shed 5 more players and add two transfers.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Looks like the remaining six LB-ers are all a part of the plan, including walk-ons.

      The mass exit of the LB is concerning with the LB coach just finishing his first year – something doesn’t seem right.

      The potential starters seem to be ok – Dennis, George and Kamara. After that the troops get thin on experience.

      DB’s Royal and Battle are big 4 star guys who may transition to the LB room like some others have recently.

      Liked by 1 person

  29. By all accounts the Cignetti hire seems to be a good one. But that roster jumping is a bit troublesome. Some coaches can wear out their welcome pretty quickly, but I hope there are some good explanations for this much team movement.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Assistant coaches move a lot. Life of a coach.

    I’m not a big fan of the hire but the movement is not a concern at all.

    Like

  31. Pitt is winning the portal game. How can you say they’re losing it? They’re still over scholarships and need more to leave.

    When you have depth, kids that are losing competition battles will leave.

    Like

  32. BTW with me in the first picture is Doug Mundrick (Savannah Panther) and the other one is Larry- (IDK what his POV name is). Of course the other one is our own Jimbo Covert!

    Liked by 2 people

  34. Tossing, “projecting and making assumptions” is exactly what a blog’s comments section (and sometimes articles) are for. Otherwise any article or post would be done along journalistic standards as laid out by organizations like the Society of Professional Journalism. But it isn’t, and won’t ever be, that way on here…it takes all the fun out of presenting the subject matter and following discussions.

    Wiki has a great article on this subject:

    And a lot you guys still don’t get that a good amount of my posts & comments are done as conversation starters and not necessarily exactly what I believe or found to be 100% true. But that is what the administers and writers on blogs do to keep readers interested or engaged.

    That is also why you see “I believe”, I think so” and “It appears to me” in a lot of our comments because that is what our readers do when commenting.

    Look at other Pitt sports blogs and at how many and what way the readers comments are on them. PSN gets maybe one or two for their pieces posted. Now they are paywall buy you can see what I’m saying. The difference between those blogs/news site and the POV is markable.

    So yeah, I was projecting and making assumptions like everyone except possibly Rich in SC with his fact-based articles…

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Got it. I don’t like seeing players personal lives brought up … unless it’s initiated by the family like Patrick Mahomes wife and brother … then, of course, all is game.

      Like

    2. Reed, you are a great conversation facilitator! As I told you, our Zoom meeting was my 420th Zoom! I’ve never seen a better handled discussion! TY

      Liked by 1 person

  35. OK, I just looked at the admin section for Comments.

    There were a bunch on there marked “spam” even though they were some old time commenters’ comments.

    I’ll try to figure out what is happening…

    Like

  36. Solomon DeShields should see a lot of action at OLB. He is a terror on special teams but couldn’t get much PT with the crowd at OLB …. Campbell, Bright, Pine, Petrishen, etc

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Again, thin on experience. Special teams experience does not translate to LB assignments in the Duzz D.

      Like

  37. If our linebackers are:

    Sirvocea Dennis
    Bangally Kamara and
    Solomon DeShields

    We might be up for a “Coolest Linebacker Names Award”… 😊

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Penny wanted to leave Hawaii too many pineapples. Whatta couple….I think Fraud Graham will be out of a job for a long time…good riddance.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. How can any college be stupid enough to hire Michael Haywood and Fraud Graham back to back? God bless Heather…

        Like

  42. I was going to comment on the number of jobs Cignetti had but I realized some job changes are because the HC was fired, thus the staff. I know that happened at least a few times with Frank. I didn’t have time to dig into how many exactly.
    Also, several were from getting a better gig.

    I’d only be concerned about the jobs he was fired from because of his own poor performance.

    Duzz really limits his options with wanting a pro style offense. I would imagine the majority of college football is heavy spread RPO or air raid offenses.

    Like

  43. One of my proudest moments was that after Todd Graham’s hiring press conference at Pitt back in Jan 2011, I was the first to call him a “Snake Oil Salesman” on Pitt Blather.

    And btw, that was not a popular opinion at that time on the Blather, and remained that way until the 2nd week of December

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 7 people

  44. Pitt needs players to move on. We’re over the scholarship limit. The kids leaving, I’m sure have had discussions with Duzz and/or their position coaches and what their future outlook is. If a kid wants immediate playing time and they’ve been told that opportunity won’t be there with Pitt, they will probably look elsewhere … and that’s by design. Stars only matter for recruiting. Once they’re with a team it’s about development. The difference between stars is a current rating system and not based on potential. Ideally, 4 and 5 stars will be ready to contribute faster. When they can’t, 3 stars begin to reach potential and catch up. Having a lot of 4 and 5 stars is important to successful programs because it creates a level up depth where it’s the next man up. But, they still have to develop. Pitt will lose players they don’t want to as well but I haven’t seen a key contributor leave yet. Pitt will have a depth problem at LB on paper but who knows how they fill that out or what plan they have. Cam Bright was the only real loss I’ve seen so far but a lot of people thought he’d go pro anyways so it wasn’t necessarily a surprise.

    Slovis has a girlfriend at Pitt but Pitt was also in pretty deep discussions with a couple other high profile transfers. I’m pretty confident Pitt would have landed a high profile transfer at the position regardless of why Slovis chose Pitt.

    Patti is a great number 2 QB to have. I highly doubt it will be much of a QB competition. If you look at game experience, hands down Slovis is the better QB. I would expect one or two QB’s to transfer. It’s not a big deal in the portal era. The portal is quickly becoming as important as recruiting. You are getting more known entities with less risk.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Agree that all the real-game snaps and drop-backs that Slovis has on his resume is critical. Playing time is the most precious commodity available in college football.

      It’s like we should send a thank-you to USC for the work they did in developing Slovis for us….😊😊

      Imagine if KP had transferred from Pitt to USC for his final season and then almost won the Heisman there. We would have been none too happy…. (Or worse yet, KP had portaled to PSU… 😱)

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

  45. Narduzzi is doing a great job in the portal this year. Bringing in Slovis and Mumpfield are both home run picks on paper. We lost a couple that probably we could still have used and the MLB that left during the season was one. Both most of the names we are losing to the portal have played very little or nothing at all at Pitt and were not likely to play more if they remained at Pitt.—-I’m quite sure getting Slovis had a lot more to do with having Addison on the roster than it did by having his girlfriend nearby. That was also probably the same case with Mumpfield because by having Addison at Pitt it will be very unlikely that he would be double teamed by any opponent. Keep in mind also that Narduzzi recruited both of these offensive players even without having an OC in place before they committed. Somebody is good salesman at Pitt and the buck has to stop at the top in this case and thus Narduzzi should be given the credit for securing both of these guys via the portal.

    Liked by 3 people

  48. On the Packer and Durham show some time back Cignetti said he prefers calling plays from the box as opposed to calling them from down on the field. On that point alone he’s already sold me on Narduzzi’s decision to hire him as OC. Clearly seeing the playing field from the box IMO opens up the possibility of making some better calls in the game.

    Like

  49. Off topic, Fraud is getting bounced from Hawaii, he has some anger management issues, it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

    The con man finally has been caught.

    Liked by 1 person

  50. Just listened to the first 2/3 of the Zoom Roundtable while exercising this AM. Holy cow, it was awesome. Very enlightening and better than what you usually find on ESPN or the local media outlets. Kudos Reed and company. Well done!

    Liked by 1 person

  51. Two things I am wondering.
    1) How soon until a Receivers coach is hired?

    2) Will Pitt get any good transfers from BC following Cignetti, or from the WR coach. Stovall following Marion was a great pickup, and I remember we got a nice WR, returner transfer who I believe followed Borbely from Maryland before that.

    Liked by 1 person

  53. Is the Frank Cignetti as Pitt’s next OC nothing but a rumor?

    All I’ve seen is . . .
    “expected to are named”
    “Pitt set to hire , ., ”
    “Pitt close to hiring . . . ”
    “expected to be hired”

    Like

    1. Also, Cignetti’s “wiki” page now says he’s Pitt’s OC, for whatever that’s worth…

      Go Pitt.

      Like

      1. No he doesn’t. First line of that article:
        “Frank Cignetti Jr. is Pat Narduzzi’s choice as Pitt’s next offensive coordinator.”
        That’s it.

        There have been no announcements from BC or Pitt.

        Like

  54. Reed and Zoom Buddies
    Great discussion. Reed did a super job hosting—as I know from experience, it is not easy.
    pmdH2P

    Like

  55. Reed, about the Zoom Zoom meeting, I checked in unexpectedly. (just woke up) and was very clearly able to see you and all the guys. (be nice to see a PITT lady come on sometime) Way better than the round-tables of yesteryear. It was great to see a few familiar faces along with some new friends. Nice to put that face to posters, Isnore/Ed, Gordon and 4&64/Jay. Good to meet you guys even though you couldn’t see me.

    Old familiar faces Reed, Eric, Richard,John, JoeL and finally Big Dan72. Everyone looked great and what a crew. I’m jealous of how you all look and sound, especially Reed and Big Dan who have had serious issues to deal with at this time. Great Job everyone.

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  56. 1). Cignettis agent leaked the story to increase leverage from both BC and Pitt .. or

    2). BC has to advertise the position before Pitt can announce (remember that farce when Paulie went to Wisc) … or

    3). I remain one of the most paranoid people around

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  59. I’m coming around to Cignetti. The nice thing about Duzz is he is very hands off on offense. This may be the first time Cignetti has full autonomy to run “his” offense . He definitely did not have that with Wanny, anyways. I’m still not a big fan of playing it safe. Safe can mean steady which can lead to complacency. I’m more of a risk taker myself and always looking to change. He seems like a safe hire to me. But who knows. Talking myself off the ledge to give the guy a chance.

    Liked by 1 person

  60. I wonder how the new OC will want to use Bartholomew…. He was so good in that H-back type role that I’d be hesitant to move him to being strictly a traditional TE.

    Bartholomew is to fast for most LBs to cover and too big for DBs to cover. Seems he gave a offense great versatility when he was on the field.

    I hope we find a traditional TE in the portal that we can plug in while the young guys get older…

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  63. @ChrisDokish

    LB Shayne Simon has transferred from Notre Dame to Pitt. The 6’3” 233 pound NJ native started 8 games in 2020, but was injured early this year with a torn labrum. Very athletic, and many think he’d thrive in an aggressive defense, and he’ll have that chance at Pitt.

    3:00 PM · Jan 15, 2022

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  64. From Pete Thamel

    Notre Dame transfer LB Shayne Simon has committed to Pitt, sources tell ESPN. @simonshayne is a former four-star recruit expected to make an immediate impact for the Panthers.

    Good news in my book. Shayne is a grad transfer and has 2 years of eligibility left.

    Go Pitt!

    Liked by 1 person

  65. Tennessee is ranked #16 in the Sports Illustrated too early 2022 pre-season rankings.

    No Pitt nor psuX but W_F is ranked in the top 10 at #8.

    Like

  68. Bernie – ESPN did come calling for me in early spring of 2017 after my stint on The Pitt Blather and when the POV was a year old. They said they had read my articles and asked if I wanted to be a ‘stringer” for them for Pitt football.

    I said “Sure, if you pay me round trip mileage, hotel fees(the William Penn thank you) and a decent per diem when I travel up from Maryland to Pittsburgh 30+ times a year for practices, events, and games…”

    After that I heard “We’ll get back on that.” then… crickets.

    Of course that was back when I actually cared enough to travel on my own dime to do those things and write 1st person articles about Pitt football. Now I can’t remember when the games are being played… But, if COVID standards are lifted next fall I think I’ll resume that travels as EJ has been nice enough to keep me on the Media Access list.

    Zoom is nice but it is nothing like being with friends in person. And now that Narduzzi is the only Pitt HC to win a football championship in modern times (correct?) I’d like to apologize in person for calling him King Pat and an idiot…

    Just kidding on that last bit.

    Like

  69. BTW – I think Cignetti will be OK here. Even if his resume isn’t really top shelf to this point – but who knows right – neither was Kenny Pickett’s prior to this season.

    To everything….

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Funny you would post that tune. The Mrs. and I are working on a jigsaw puzzle in the dining room themed “The Sixties” and have been playing a Laurel Canyon playlist on Spotify. It was the second or third song.

      Like

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