in Pitt Football 379 Words

How Did Our Conway Award Winners Do?

I’ve always wondered about how Pitt’s Conway Award winners did in their Pitt careers after receiving the honors. For those who aren’t familiar with the award here is a squib from Pitt explaining it:Clipping from York Daily Record - Newspapers.com

“Until his passing in 1974, Ed Conway was the radio voice of Pitt football for four years and a tremendous friend and supporter of the Panthers program. In appreciation of his work, the football team presents an annual award in his honor to the most improved players each spring.”

Listed below are the winners for the last 10 years. Let’s rack our brains and award ‘star points’ to the players based on how we fans feel they did after the award was given to them. Let’s make it a choice of one through five stars like:  Ike – 4*, Tex – 2*, Rich in SC – 5*etc. For example I would rate RB Israel Abanikanda a 5* and LB Anthony McKee a 2* – both ends of the spectrum almost.

I’ve linked each name to their Google search page so we can refresh our memories on whether they sucked or were great. Isn’t it interesting that T.J. Clemmings won it for both offense and defense!

CONWAY AWARD WINNERS

Karter Johnson, Nahki Johnson Named As 2023 Ed Conway Award Winners

2013 Offense: T.J. Clemmings (OL)
Defense: Tyrone Ezell (DL)

2014 Offense: T.J. Clemmings (OL)
Defense: David Durham (DL)
Special Teams: Todd Thomas (LB)

2015 Offense: Dontez Ford (WR)
Defense: Tyrique Jarrett (DL)

2016 Offense: Jester Weah (WR)
Defense: Shakir Soto (DL)

2017 Offense: Jaryd Jones-Smith (OL)
Defense: Elijah Zeise (LB)

2018 Offense: Connor Dintino (OL)
Defense: Anthony McKee Jr. (LB)

2019 Offense: Tre Tipton (WR),
Carter Warren (OL)
Defense: Phil Campbell III (LB),
Paris Ford (DB)

2020 Spring drills canceled due to COVID

2021 Offense: Israel Abanikanda (RB)
Defense: John Petrishen (LB)

2022 Offense: Daniel Carter (RB)
Defense: Bangally Kamara (LB

Note: Below is the list in shortened form if you want to cut & paste parts of it for your comments.

T.J. Clemmings (OL)
Tyrone Ezell (DL)
T.J. Clemmings (OL)
David Durham (DL)
Todd Thomas (LB)
Dontez Ford (WR)
Tyrique Jarrett (DL)
Jester Weah (WR)
Shakir Soto (DL)
Jaryd Jones-Smith (OL)
Elijah Zeise (LB)
Connor Dintino (OL)
Anthony McKee Jr. (LB)
Tre Tipton (WR),
Carter Warren (OL)
Phil Campbell III (LB),
Paris Ford (DB)
Israel Abanikanda (RB)
John Petrishen (LB)
Daniel Carter (RB)
Bangally Kamara (LB)

HTP!

156 thoughts on “How Did Our Conway Award Winners Do?”

  1. Have at it folks. Seeing how different readers viewed the kid’s’ careers will be a topic of disagreements I’m sure… we do that a lot on here so we are good at it.

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  4. Can’t believe Paris Ford is on the list. They kissed his butt and he responded by bailing early…

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  5. Most had solid careers at Pitt.

    I got the shakes seeing David Durham’s name. He was a fullback at Ohio State but had to play defensive end at Pitt due to the lack of talent at the position. The DE room was solid under Wannstedt then went by the wayside with two coaching changes. Chryst and Ian Breck tried to recruit JuCos but struck out on about 30 kids it seemed.

    Zeise would’ve had a better career had he stayed on offense.

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  6. The “Most Improved” award is a meaningless award designed to soothe the ego of a player who hasn’t played and could be thinking about transferring out. Additionally, a player who stinks or has an attitude problem might be given the award to build confidence if the coaches see a glimmer of hope.

    The best “Improved” award is more playing time in the Fall. Players like Paris Ford had ability but couldn’t get on the field early because they weren’t sufficiently focused on team goals. Giving him “Most Improved” didn’t help him become a team player, and in the end his selfish ego was his undoing.. Most of the players on this list would have become good anyway because they worked at it.

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  7. Most of these players don’t stand out in my memory – most were good contributors on teams that weren’t that good…

    T.J. Clemmings (OL) — my memory of Clemmings was that he was a big recruiting get from NJ for Jeff Hafley and I remember at the LOI event, after Hafley talked about Clemmings, Greg Gattuso (the DLine coach) came up on stage and gave Hafley a big, long hug. A funny moment. I’d give Clemmings 5 stars for his OLine work…

    Most of these guys were and stayed 3 stars. Though I think Weah, a late PC 2-Star recruit, had some good moments…

    Shakir Soto (DL) was interesting because he was a big, too-slow DE who turned into a playmaker when someone realized he would work better at DT. I give him 4-stars.

    Connor Dintino (OL) worked his way into being a decent OLineman. 3.5 stars!

    I was never that impressed with Carter Warren – great size but I thought the lateral movement wasn’t so good. I hope the Steelers aren’t tempted to draft him…. 3-stars.

    Daniel Carter (RB) is a puzzlement. They couldn’t tackle him in last year’s spring game, yet he hardly saw the field last season. 3-stars, but I’d like to see more opportunities for him.

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Great evaluations Major, and I couldn’t agree with you more on Daniel Carter. He runs low and hard and doesn’t stop, yet he seldom plays. Most surprising to me is that he seems satisfied with his role.

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  8. On this list I’d say there are about three guys who didn’t see the field in some meaningful way for at least a season or two. Were the ones that did see the field always great college players ? No. But I think a lot of that has to do with the talent pool at that time. (Durham and Ziese are good examples here).

    Nonetheless I think it’s pretty fair to expect this years winners to contribute. One Johnson will contribute in a thin Tight end Room and the other Johnson to a deep DE roster.

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  9. This is the answer to a question on the previous article’s comments about when Dan Marino took over as the starting QB in his freshman year.
    In 1979, Marino led the Panthers to a Fiesta Bowl victory after replacing injured Rick Trocano in the season’s seventh game.

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  15. OT — A bit troubling to me that Pitt’s women’s BB team still has only 4 returning players, one or maybe 2 incoming recruits, and zero assistant coaches, but I realize that with a 4-year rebuild, there’s no big hurry…

    🙂

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. I agree with John/M&M. Dan Carter should get a good long look at tailback at the start of some games. Curious to see what he would do.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Peak at Lair reporting portal TE Malcom Epps 6’6″ 250lbs from USC transferring to Pitt. Bama commit to Texas to USC and likely now to Pitt.

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  19. Blessings, faith and strength to Stan Savron who’s lung cancer has gotten worse and his right foot has been amputated. Also to those POVers fighting the Big C.

    My dad died from same as a life long Camel smoker at 66.
    Not a pleasant trip. My brother died of esophageal cancer at 55.

    A nurse I knew said that if everyone who got cancer turned blue (like the Plague) we’d all go running into the streets!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  20. From my post above it looks like Epps spent 3 years at Texas and 2 years at USC. Not sure how he gets that 6th year to still play in college. I think he only had 3 catches for USC last season. He must be the player to be named later in the Addison trade Pitt made to USC.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Wondering about Bart and why he missed the Spring Game. Mr. Epps has been on a merry-go-round hopping all over the good old USA. Not much production at offense-minded USC….I will not throw him under the bus because there might be very valid extenuating circumstances as to why he has not been seeing the field….if he has the desire to prove that he can play and he lives up to the hype that has surrounded him we might finally have a productive tight end. Bart where have you been?

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  21. Good news today on the clock change to college football. It will no longer stop after a first down except within the final two minutes of each half.

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  22. I’m against the rule change, I’m old school, raised on Bud Wilkinson, Darrel Royal and Keith Jackson.

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    1. Agree Ike. All that change will do is severly limit the substitution of players in for situational plays. Which in turn means less kids will get meaningful playing time. Hello portal!!

      Don’t like the new baseball rules either. It used to be we’d go to Forbes Field because you would have a laid back, relaxing time while watching the game unfold. Now everything is rushed to completion.

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    2. The last time the clock did not stop after a first down was during the 1968 season. Bud Wilkinson’s career was mostly spent with the running clock rule, same with Royal.

      This will be good for those undermanned teams not having kids on defensive playing over 90 snaps. Navy games will go much quicker and less plays for defensive layers to be chop blocked.

      With so much passing and incompletions, there still be plenty of plays for kids to get their bell rung.

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  23. Narduzzi must have a sign outside the practice facility on the Southside that reads “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.” (I made that up myself!) (Maybe)

    Because that is what he has been getting through the portal. Players whose mere presence at the other schools had doors slamming behind them that barely miss bruising their asses.

    Since I’ve been outside Pitt fandom over the last two seasons can anyone name a portal transfer who has truly played head and shoulders better then someone already on the roster could have? And don’t say Slovis because he was a mediocre QB at best. His 127 QB rating was as blah, blah, blah as his FB intelligence.

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  24. Reed several transfers have made big plays for Pitt including Petrishen, Devonshire, Krull, Taysir Mack, Marcus Minor, and Flemister. Means and Mumpfield were instrumental in winning the bowl game last year. Kylan Johnson was one of the better linebackers at Pitt after transferring from Florida.

    The portal has become vital in supplementing recruiting, and will be even more important moving forward. This year our top two QB,s and receivers are transfers.

    Pitt basketball really depends on it.

    Liked by 9 people

    1. I agree with you, GC. I think Duzzer has done a decent job of addressing roster weaknesses with transfers.

      However, for some reason this approach has not worked with TEs – okay, Krull did have one very good year, but how about all those other TE tranfers who came in and contributed so little.

      And as for this USC TE guy, I don’t trust Coach Cignetti to be able to incorporate any new offensive player in one season. It will be more of the first half of last season where the QB and the receiver are not on the same page…

      Go Pitt.

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  25. OT – Some action in women’s BB. “Pitt women’s basketball head coach Tory Verdi announced the additions of Candice Finley as Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator and Ty Margenthaler as Assistant Coach / Defensive Coordinator for the Panthers. Both Finley and Margenthaler bring over 15 years of college coaching experience to the Pitt sidelines for the 2023-24 campaign.”

    Finley worked with Verdi at E. Mich and UMass, before coaching the last few years at Xavier. Verdi says she’s a good recruiter. She coached post players.

    Margenthaler comes here from South Dakota. Huh?
    He also coached several years at St. Louis.

    I don’t remember seeing a BB Coach designated as the “Defensive Coordinator,” but makes sense…

    Let the portal signings begin…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Shocker alert: Pitt baseball is shutting out #2 W_F in the 8th inning of play at Cost Field 3-0.

    Go Pitt!

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  27. This new TE Epps will probably be limited to 2 TE formations in the red zone. His 6’7” height would come in handy in crossing and rear end zone routes.

    By the way, speaking of TEs, did Krull make an NFL roster somewhere?

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    1. Sounds like a good idea, but using a tall receiver in the red zone would be breaking new frontiers for Pitt…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 2 people

  29. Blake Hinson to the draft.

    Exploring all his options as he’s probably not impressed with High Point and Rhode Island transfers.

    Keeping his option to return to Pitt as well.

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    1. if you think he’s even a remote possibility to actually go to the NBA, you don’t watch basketball

      his game will be perfect in Europe but….

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  30. According to Kenny Pickett’s personal QB Coach, KP has added 13 pounds of muscle since the end of last season. Said KP played last season at 213 pounds, but is checking in now at 226…. Go Kenny!

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 4 people

      1. Unfortunately I didn’t think they would want Justin Champagnie either.
        They need bodies for their minor league.
        I agree it is doubtful that Hinson has an NBA future but if he lost weight and gained some
        quickness who knows.

        Liked by 1 person

  32. Heather now has two new minor sport hires, although WBB could be viewed as a sub-major sport. On the surface, they look like good hires, but haven’t seen much feedback from POVers at this point. A few did weigh in on the WBB hire, and the limited comments suggested it was a mediocre hire until the press conference. Nothing much yet on the gymnastics hire..

    Are these two new coaches capable of duplicating what we have seen in wrestling, WVB, and the soccer programs, or will we see more coaching turnover for these two sports in the near future? Inquiring minds want to know…

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    1. I’d guess Coach Verdi will get his 4 or 5 years like White did. So far, Verdi has brought in 2 assistant coaches and zero players. And one of our previous commits – and the only real height we would have had – has decided to stay home in Canada…. Right now we have 4 remaining players and 2 commits. That’s it.

      I imagine Verdi’s assistant coaches got raises to come to Pitt, just like he did, but so far, nothing to get excited about…

      Go Pitt.

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  34. Before Addison left for big money, Cam Johnson left because of Barnes Stallings ineptitude.
    He is now starting for the Brooklyn Nets.

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    1. They went for 2 in the 4th inning to make the score 15-0 and Pitt still with no hits.

      Televised on the ACC Network to boot.

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  38. 20-1 Wake now. Glad we having a former pitching coach as HC. Not a fan of Bell. Neither are his players

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  40. So Oswald again gets a 1-2-3 inning but he’s not good enough to start or play in a game situation??????

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  42. 25 hits and a football-like score of 22-2

    OUCH!

    But hey, HC Mike “Taco” Bell is 100-106 as the head baseball coach at Pitt. That is also his record as a college baseball head coach.

    UGH!

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    1. The score is now 23-2 and W_F cannot score again, but they did score in each of the 9 innings of this game in Pittsburgh at Cost Field.

      I hope aj2 did not take his son to this game. 🤞🏼

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  44. As bad as things look for Pitt baseball, would Heather want to launch a third coaching search this year? It might send a message that she will stick with major sport coaches but will dump the minor coaches who have low budgets and average facilities. A very low recruiting budget might be the source of Bell’s problems.

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  46. I’m shocked with all tradition Pitt baseball has and the wonderful facilities from those awesome past administrations who took athletics so serious that coach Bell isn’t winning more.

    Liked by 1 person

  47. Reed’s comment regarding the TP, IMO HCPN has done a decent job finding contributing players in the TP, excluding the QB position. Not everyone is going to be a major contributor, but there have been some significant holes that were filled as identified by GC.

    The QB position is so critical that maybe Pitt needs a moratorium on transfers for awhile, but that means they need to find diamonds in the rough, which is not an easy task at this position. Frankly, excluding KP it’s hard to remember many FR recruits who have made significant contributions at this position.

    Please not meant as an invitation to Tino bashing, no matter how well deserved.

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    1. I think Narduzzi is still the coach at Pitt due to bringing in Peterman and winning 8 games in those first two seasons, respectively. Without Nate and considering the QB room left behind, Narduzzi would’ve been lucky winning six games with Voytik. A bad start then the 2017 season would’ve been him on the hot seat.

      He took a chance on Browne hoping to hit again but Max just didn’t have it in 2017.

      Slovis won seven games last year and despite how he left things, those seven helped Pitt win a total of nine games.

      I’d be pretty disappointed if Narduzzi didn’t recruit the most important position in football via the portal just to cast a wide net in hopes of having the cream rise in summer camp.

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  48. Following up on Reed’s disparaging comments on Narduzzi’s success with transfer players, I think that first off just like with high school recruiting, the elite players are not coming to Pitt.
    Therefore Narduzzi has to find role players to fit specific needs and fit the culture established at Pitt. None of these guys have been without faults or weaknesses or they would have stayed where they were or gone on to greener pastures. However Pitt will field a decent team this year because of QB and wide receiver transfer players, and Pitt is lucky to have them.

    The same goes for basketball and even more so. Last year’s season can be attributed to mostly transfers, all with faults and weaknesses who bought into the culture that Capel is trying to create. Pitt would be nowhere without these guys. Next year there will be more high school recruits contributing, but Fede and Hinson will be mainstays.

    Obviously the two new transfer guys fit the profile of not highly touted guys coming from lesser programs that will hopefully fill specific needs, while our freshman class grows up.

    In most cases our coaches have done a pretty good job at identifying overlooked or less wanted talent that end up doing pretty well.

    Liked by 2 people

  49. Why can’t PN at least recruit the elite players in Western Pa? Maybe he is disliked by the local coaches? Or maybe lack of OCS? He has shown no ability to close with the local players!!!

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    1. If you recruit one or two elites, others will follow. I suspect Duzz doesn’t actually want 4-5 stars as it would raise expectations on him and his staff. Ditto Capel.

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  50. OK, I wasn’t saying they all sucked, but like I asked, did any of those Portal players play head and shoulders above guys already on the roster? Did we have any Portal kids who were stars for us?

    Just to see here are the All-ACC 1st & 2nd string kids for the 2021 & 2022 seasons. Looks to me like the All-Star kids from Pitt were actual Pitt recruits save Marcus Minor.

    2022:
    Marcus Minor *
    Israel Abanikanda
    Jared Wayne
    SirVocea Dennis
    Erick Hallett II

    2021
    Kenny Pickett
    Jordan Addison
    Calijah Kancey
    Lucas Krull
    Habakkuk Baldonado
    Carter Warren
    Brandon Hill

    I know times have changed but I also think young players who are already acclimated to Pitt’s program, coaches and school benefit by being in the system and grow to really produce later on.

    Just because a portal transfer guy came in, started and played OK for us and contributed does not mean the kid he passed over (and who might have left themselves because of it) wouldn’t have done as well or better.

    I think that if PN was a better across the board recruiter – getting more 4* kids instead of almost all 2* & 3* recruits then we’d have stronger play on both sides of the ball.

    Shiny and new isn’t always the best course.

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        1. In the age of the TP, there is no difference between a grad transfer and a “true” freshman. They both have to register with the NCAA to get on a list that is sent to all schools. Registering with the NCAA in the TP allows any and all teams know you are available.

          In the pre-TP days, a “Grad Transfer” had to contact any or all teams himself. So, his services were limited to only those schools he was able to contact.

          And yes. Krull entered his name in the TP.

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          1. BTW, more and more players are “Grad Transfers”. It used to surprise me when a player “Graduated” after playing 3 years for his signing school. It seems to be more prevalent this year. But with the December signing day, enrolling in January, and year-round training (with summer school), it more than possible to graduate in 3 years.

            Liked by 1 person

    2. Right, high school recruiting is the best opportunity to develop stars. Transfers are used to supplement weaknesses. Yes it would be great if Narduzzi would recruit better players, but no one has been able to do that since Jackie. Narduzzi has been pretty good at recruiting 3 stars that become all ACC.
      Four and Five star guys want to go to the elite schools and it is hard to blame them. This year we got four of them back after it didn’t work our for them.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Also when you recruit mostly 3 star kids a lot of them are not going to work out for multiple reasons. another reason that the portal is a great thing for Pitt.

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  51. Pitt softball was swept by Clemson who is only in their 3rd season as a program.

    AD Lyke pushed our previous softball HC out to Louisville who is currently 31-14 and 12-4 in the ACC.

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    1. I say that all to say Heather will have two more failing Spring teams to consider the future of the HC.

      Women’s softball will need a change – Heather hired a washed up unimpressive MAC HC who hasn’t recruited well and has a losing record at Pitt.

      The baseball coach hasn’t recruited well either and has a losing record at Pitt. However, Heather gave Mike Bell a contract extension last season after the team fell into a season ending slide that knocked them out of the NCAA tournament before selection Sunday. Taco was extended through 2028.

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    1. I don’t wish ill toward anyone but after what Barnes did to Pitt basketball I could care less.

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  55. The successful coaches with long tenures like to recruit high school players and develop them in their own system. So it seems that recruiting TP players amounts to a form of failure to recruit and develop top high school players for each position.

    Coaches like Narduzzi who recruit mostly 3 stars must be especially good at developing them or they will continue to over rely on the portal to win.

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  56. Agree with all the above. I’m just not100% convinced that heavily working the Portal is, or ever will be, as good as recruiting, developing and fielding top shelf players.

    Times have changed and I believe that change in college FB has happened in ways that aren’t always apparent. The real fun in college fandom was watching the recruiting season unfold then following that year’s kids through their Pitt careers.

    That has pretty much gone by the wayside and now the recruitment, signing and development of youngsters has been supplanted by the “win only” attitude that CFB is now.

    HCs seem convinced that pretty much regardless of who they already have on the roster someone coming to them from another school must be the way to go. But those portal kids are, for the most part, leaving their other school because of problems or lack of playing time. If they had been satisfied and/or truly producing well for that other school they would have stayed.

    But I’m an old school guy who believes that CFB should be more, much more, than just winning games. We all want wins but, again, the joy for me has been to watch young Pitt kids grow, do well in their academic and athletic careers and, yes – win ballgames. To win one more game than the season before isn’t that high a priority for me.

    PN won 8 games in his first two years with a good amount of talent left over from the coaches before him with the exception of one transfer in Nate Peterman. He was a game changer for us but I do believe that the rest of the starting roster was homegrown.

    Anyway, my bitching about it isn’t going to change anything. I just think that in many ways the fun and joy of being a university’s CFB fan is creeping out of the house and making way for instant gratification.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Reed, you are spot on. It is (was) such fun watching these kids grow and get better, and always a point of pride when they became doctors, dentists or lawyers. Another fun part of being a fan was the treck up Cardiac Hill to see a game at Pitt stadium. I was always thankful that it was a downhill walk after the game when rubbery legs and balance were an issue! But a new OCS still seems like an unattainable goal at this point..

      One has to wonder if someone like Epps will ever develop any ties to Pitt after attending his third college in 6 years. But winning is important as well, and Pitt is seeing record setting applications, so maybe the national visibility that comes with winning helps to strengthen the university in other areas beyond athletics.

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      1. Winning helps increase applications. It did wonders for Boston College when Flutie was there and after he left. The school even did a study on it.

        Ohio State strengthen its academics remarkably in the 1990s and by the end of that decade it started becoming way more difficult to get in. The days of needing a pulse to gain acceptance into Ohio State have been over for 20-plus years.

        It seems Pitt understands this now about athletics, albeit way too late to the party.

        There is going to be an OCS in Oakland in 2030.

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    2. Reed, you just can’t stop harping on players PN inherited from Chryst, LOL. I think the question is, would Chryst have won eight games in his next two years at Pitt with the same players while making the additions to the team Narduzzi did in recruiting.
      In my opinion, he would not have. All we know is he slithered off to Wisconsin in a classless way to be Barry’s puppet. Then got fired when Uncle Barry was no longer in the picture.

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  58. Portal > recruiting. You get mature kids who understand the process. It has to be supplementary but to a program like Pitt that struggles getting high profile kids to look our direction, you absolutely have to work the portal. Blue bloods can maintain the status quo … and when players flee those programs you scoop them up.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I say great only because it can enhance our existing recruiting acumen. The portal can improve the team. Without it, it’s same old same old. Pitt has to at least maintain the current recruiting and then portal can amplify it.

      Liked by 3 people

  59. Please note updated listing of surviving family for Herb Douglas.

    He is survived by his wife Minerva Douglas, daughter Barbara Joy Ralston of Copenhagen, Denmark; daughter-in-law Susan Douglas of Richmond, VA; four grandchildren, Tracy Douglas of Richmond, VA, Christopher Douglas of Aldie, VA, Mikel Christianson of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Anja Besnik of Vienna, Austria; as well as by great-grandchildren, grandnieces and grandnephews.

    Thank you!

    E.J.

    E.J. Borghetti | Executive Associate A.D./Communications

    University of Pittsburgh | Petersen Events Center

    E: eborghetti@athletics.pitt.edu

    O: 412.648.8240

    @Pitt_Athletics Pitt Panthers PittsburghPanthers.com

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  60. OT – I’ve watched a few innings of Pirate baseball – nice to see them winning some games. Best starting pitching they’ve had in a long, long time, but not a very high bar…

    But have you noticed how the umpires are doing their part to speed up the games? Without telling anyone, they have apparently conspired to enlarge the strike zone. Every time I’ve watched, the umps have called several pitches strikes which were clearly out of the strike zone…

    Puts the batters in a tough spot – time to be aggressive, especially with two strikes…

    Go Pitt.

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  61. MM excellent observation. Every single night I see more pitches that are clearly out of the strike zone being called wrong. In fact, in some cases, the umps are so far off that you have to wonder how they advanced from AAA to the show. Umpiring is an extremely difficult job and mistakes will always be made…but when the so-called mistakes become a very common occurrence something is wrong…very wrong.

    Liked by 1 person

  63. OT, (as I often am), I read on a volleyball blog that there are rumblings that Valeria Vasquez Gomez is considering turning pro rather than return to play for Pitt. There will be a lot of competition at Outside Hitter this fall. If true, Wolfe will be heartbroken….

    Liked by 3 people

  64. PC:
    86-45 (.656 win %)
    7-2 in bowl games
    AP Post season Top 25: four times:11th, 7th, 9th, 21st

    PN:
    62-41 (.601 win %)
    2-4 in bowl games
    AP post season Top 25: twice: 13th, 22nd

    Run down Chryst all you want. He has a better HC record than Narduzzi by far.

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    1. A lot more games as a HC at a school with a much larger football budget. Speaking of inheriting players. Chryst walked into a great situation in Wisconsin. He did an admiral job. I’d still take him as an OC.

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      1. Wisconsin also plays easy OOC schedules. Narduzzi got stuck with a brutal one in 2018 and usually Pitt plays two good opponents. In 2015 Pitt faced Iowa and ND. The 2020 Covid schedule was ridiculous for Pitt. Two teams who made the playoffs plus NC State, FSU, Miami, Louisville.

        The fact that Wisconsin fired Chryst due to seeing how lazy his recruiting was getting is all I need to know about important football is at that school. It’s the complete opposite at Pitt.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Why not compare apples with apples? (Not doing so is cherry picking.)

      Chryst was 19 and 19 at Pitt. Narduzzi 62 and 41. Who has the better HC apples to apples record?

      Liked by 2 people

    3. When PC came to PITT, Wisconsin’s football program was perceived as a better football program than PITT. When PC left PITT and went to Whisky and Narduzzi came to PITT, Wisconsin was still thought of as a better football program than PITT. When PC left Wisconsin with Narduzzi still at PITT, Wisconsin was/is no longer considered a better football program than PITT.

      Follow the facts. One coach elevated a football program, and one coach devalued a football program. It’s fun to play games with vision but don’t play games with your eyes!

      Liked by 4 people

      1. To your point, there is more to it than stats.

        Love the throwback line at the end of your post. I sang it as I read it…. haha. Can’t remember the ad of the PSA…. since you were able to remember it, I’m hoping you can share that as well.

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        1. I can’t remember anything about the ad or find anything, that’s how old it is. It’s an example of what my brain priorities these days. 🙂

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    4. Not bad, but I wonder, what were their respective teams records during the 7 years prior to PC and PN coaching Wisky and Pitt..

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  65. The Chryst vs Narduzzi debate means little to me. I do agree that it is apples and oranges since it is much easier to recruit to Wisconsin. Chryst also benefitted from Michigan being down for some time, and a little here while PSU had the sanctions. Chryst was also behind the eight ball recruiting at Pitt with pretty much two lost classes in a row.

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  66. Bowl games don’t mean anything. Lol. It’s 2023, can we please stop trying to make them mean anything. They can be fun. But, it’s an elaborate exhibition game that is not a reflection of the team that played the entire season. Pitt’s bowl win was a significantly different looking roster than what represented Pitt during the season.

    Duzz > Chryst, mostly because Chryst was a bum who was planted here to be groomed for his dream job. At least Duzz wants to be here. With all his flaws.

    I’d also prefer to be employed and successful with my own roster rather than having success with someone else’s roster before flaming out with your own recruits.

    Duzz is not a perfect coach by any means. I’ll never probably fully embrace him. But, he’s grown on me. He’s generated some success that appears to be sustainable in the near future. Can he make a jump from 15-25 to 5-15 … I have my doubts … but, he has a few years to figure it out. The portal will help.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Plus, Chryst over-purged a roster that set us back years. There were some bad seeds that had to go but he jettisoned way more than he had to. His lack of risk taking was apparent at Pitt and ultimately lead to his demise at Wisconsin. Have to take risks to be above average at anything you do. No risk taking will lead to falling back to the mean. Risk taking can have consequences but it can also lead to a greater return.

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      1. There weren’t even that many bad seeds to jettison. The perception from that ridiculous SI article gave even our own fans this reality of bad seeds everywhere and a major cleanup was in order.

        He purged because the guys weren’t his type of players. How about adapting in the short term before you can get your guys into the program?

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  68. Anytime anyone brings up how great Paul Chryst is, please remember this: Paul Chryst got his butt WHOOPED by Youngstown State and Akron at home as a Pitt head coach. There is no excuse for that to happen EVER. I was there. I still have PTSD from it. If we are comparing Paul as a Pitt coach vs. Nard…Nard is a million times better. Would Paul Hackett manage to lose against YSU and Akron…Who knows?

    Liked by 3 people

  70. Well, I’m glad Pitt fans don’t think that SI article was a big deal….even thought every word written in it was factual as to the player’s actions. But believe me the Pitt admin and Athletic department took it very seriously.

    As to Paul Chryst – he did indeed inherit a crap storm of a program between our 2 week wife beating HC and then Fraud Graham and those who think Chryst ‘over purged’ are rather naïve to think that the Pitt administration didn’t have a huge hand in that – they sure did.

    Look – I was up in the Southside tons during that time period talking with players, admin staff and media reporters. I was up for practices, Media Days, Pro Days, games in the Press Box and alumni functions and had many, many conversations about the Pitt football program.

    Fans can believe what they want – that doesn’t change what actually was. Of course, most fans have no idea what actually transpired and believe what they want to believe in hindsight.

    Also, I usually bet $1.00 on things but I’ll go on record right now and bet any takers $100.00 that there will NOT be an OCS in Oakland by 2030. Folks – it just isn’t going to happen. Pitt itself doesn’t want one and neither does the Pittsburgh city government.

    Had Pitt really cared about an OCS they wouldn’t be using many millions of dollars and acres of land to build everything but an OCS.

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    1. There wasn’t one incident or player name mentioned. The Pittsburgh media never reported any of the incidents before SI did. The reason was the incidents were minor, like public intoxication, i.e. dumb college kids stuff.

      SI needed to sell magazines and did an awful job in its reporting.

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    2. I’m sure the administration did but as head coach you flip them the middle finger. A good coach pushes back on authority. Football is king.

      Regarding an OCS, I would not bet on it but I do think if Victory Heights is successful, and Pitt’s football program takes another leap, it will be in the cards. Maybe not on campus per se, but a Pitt only facility close to campus.

      Doubtful but more realistic now than before.

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      1. ??? OCS depends on which conference Pitt will be playing in. Money talks and nobody walks. The future of the ACC is very much in doubt with major realignment coming in the next 5-7 years. If Pitt is downgraded, a 45,000-50,000 seat stadium costing megabucks just is not going to happen.

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        1. ACC is rock solid. Nobody can get out of the contract. They’ll be here for a while. And OCS may be part of the deal to get into the mega conference. Pitt’s current investment tells you they plan on being a part of any mega conference in the future.

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    3. I know more than most. I know a guy from Youngstown who was on Wannstedt’s staff as the lead video coordinator. He is now the head video coordinator for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals.

      He’s more credible than the media you spoke to. The same media people who’ve dumped on Pitt for decades, a lot of it deserving due to ineptitude at running athletics. Nevertheless, these people found ways to dump on Pitt during its 2021 season. Pitt will get the short end by the local media more times than not.

      Liked by 1 person

  71. The SI article like much of our media was a designed weapon to destroy Wanny.
    The AD planted the story and SI was happy to do the job.
    The whole thing stunk from the start.

    Liked by 1 person

  72. Why are we talking about a bum who deserted Pitt and got fired at his dream school? I don’t care one iota about his midwestern niceness. I like my coaches grouchy, not neat.

    Onward.

    H2P.

    Liked by 2 people

  73. Nate, are you saying that the AD planted the story with SI to undercut his own coach who had won 10 games? That seems hard to believe.

    It was known that the police and local press at that time would bury any bad incidents by players to keep them out of the press and on the team. Maybe Wanny knew about them but it is more likely that a competitor like the Nitters or Nitter fans in Pittsburgh leaked to SI.

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    1. I doubt it happened but SP and Wanny HATED each other with a fiery passion. That is not debatable.

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  75. Good point.
    Funny, back then if you told me the press would bury a story to protect someone or some institution I would call you crazy. Now it happens all the time and better yet, everyone knows it happens and it is just accepted as typical. LOL.

    Liked by 1 person

  77. I’m not a conspiracy theorist guy but the two hated each other with a fiery passion. I’m doubtful SP planted a story but I also would not put it past him. If someone came forward and said it happened, I would not be surprised.

    Chryst was such a terrible hire. We could/should have hired Cristobal. But no, Pitt let Barry Alvarez influence our hiring process.

    Remember the smear campaign on Cristobal? His wife was too hot for Pittsburgh and wouldn’t like it. Lol.

    Liked by 2 people

  78. Chryst was a worse hire than Fraud in my opinion. Hiring Fraud was at least forward thinking. It crashed and burned but SP also owns some of that because he was cheap.

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  79. OT but since we discussed the TP – Colorado under new head coach Dieon Sanders is up to a total of 78 players either leaving Colorado (49) or transferring into Colorado (29). Colorado did sign 19 players in the 2023 recruiting class.

    Colorado was 1-11 last year. I guess we’ll find out if a complete roster turnover beats recruiting and development.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. We shall see if a transfer overhaul works in football like it can in basketball. Bet he wins more than one game, lol.

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    3. Since I wrote the comment, 2 more players from Colorado have entered the portal. The problem is that one of them was one of the 29 who transferred in earlier in the year. It looks like he didn’t enroll so his action doesn’t affect his eligibility (free first year transfer).

      GC is correct, he has picked up some big-name players. The latest is a RB from Houston who committed today.

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  80. If Sanders wins 2 games, then he has doubled his wins from last year! Is that making progress?

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    1. No, absolutely not. Coach Prime as some are calling him, will settle for nothing less than a bowl game.

      The guy can coach and he is a great marketing person as well, ala Johnny Majors in the 70’s.

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  82. I’d take Neon Deon at Pitt in a heartbeat over PR disaster Narduzzi
    At least he’s learn how to coach offense!

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    1. He’ll take a few lumps early against TCU and Washington, but his team will learn, grow and improve with in-conference wins.

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  85. Neon Deon is probably paying the players with his own money. With the crazy coaching salaries, that’s what all the head football coaches should be doing…

    Go Pitt.

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