in Pitt Football 833 Words

2022 WTE Production Lost – Georgia Tech

In 2019, Geoff Collins took over the unenviable task of replacing Paul Johnson and his triple option offense at Georgia Tech.

Like Pitt, GT is located in a pro town. BC and Miami are also in a pro town but are not carrying the additional burden of a close by large and nationally relevant state university. IMO, Collins promised a rapid changeover in personnel leading to wins. He was able to upgrade the recruiting and used the TP, but the wins never came.

By the end of the 2021 season, the Yellow Jackets were 9-25 (7-18 conf). Collins was on the hot seat. Four games into the 2022 season, GT was 1-3 and Collins was fired.

Enter Brent Key as interim coach. He was a four-year starter as a player for GT (1987-90). He was hired by Collins in 2019 as the OLine coach.

In his first game, he pulled out a shocker. His second game as HC turned out to be another upset. He ended up leading the Jackets to a 5-7 season by going 4-4. He was announced as the full time HC three days after the season ended.

On to the review starting with the 2022 and 2023

My brother and I were at the GT game. Great tailgate. Terrible game. Somehow, GT beat the three top teams in the Coastal but lost to Virginia and Miami. Go figure.

Looking at the 2022 schedule, there was some strange results. GT won every game that they scored over 20 points. That could lead one to believe, the Jackets had a decent defense, but they gave up 30 points or more 5 times. The Central Florida (UCF) and Virginia games were the outlier.

NCAA 2022 offensive stats:

Those are some terrible stats. The Jackets did excel at not turning over the ball on offense. Why is that?

Because as we know, the QB drives the offense.

Last year, Georgia Tech had three QB’s who started at least 2 games.

Jeff Sims started the first seven games but suffered a season ending injury against Virginia. (That probably explains that loss.)

Zack Gibson (2019 Akron recruit and 2022 TP pickup) started three games. True freshman recruit Zack Pyron started the remaining two games.

Since Jeff Sims entered the TP, Georgia Tech plucked Haynes King from the TP.

King was hyped in his recruiting class by 24/7 (4-star) but was only a Rivals 5.7 3-star. Spring camp ended with King at the front but no definitive starter named.

Here are the 2022 QB stats and Haynes King career at Texas A&M.

By my count, Gibson, Pryon, and King are the only scholarship QB’s on the roster.

On to the Running Backs and Wide Receivers:

There is a lot of color in the chart. It can only mean one thing – lots of loss production.

The RB group is in the best shape with returning Dontae Smith.

The WR group needs some bolstering. They have signed three from the TP including Abdul Jannah from Duquesne and a WR each from Texas A&M and Alabama.

The OLine review:

The OLine was young in 2022. They also were not particularly good at protecting the QB or opening holes. There may still be some lingering effect in recruiting from running the triple option. They did add five lineman in the recruiting class but only added one from the TP.

That wraps up the offense except for offense TP and recruiting activities.

On to the defense starting with the 2022 NCAA stats:

These numbers are much better than offensive stats, but not impressive. A few more interceptions and GT may have been top ten in forcing turnovers.

The following chart lists all defensive players who made at least one defensive stat.

Based on the stats, the Jackets ran a 4-2–5 defense in 2022. I do not have a clue on what defense they will play under the new HC. I did not spend any time on the assistant’s turnover.

There were only five players (of ten) with stats who entered the TP.

The linebacker group lost both of the main starters.

Overall, they are in the Miami group with lost production in the 40+% range.

The defense coming and going chart. It includes TP activity (both In and Out) and 2023 recruiting:

To shore up the LB group, GT plucked three from the TP. I have noticed that the more concerned a team has over losing players, the more they go for immediate help.

The LB help has one (2018), two (2019), and three (2021) years of eligibility remaining for those from the TP. The 2018 and 2019 players are for immediate help.

The NCAA Miscellaneous Stats:

The Jackets punting and kicking special teams needs reworked.

For the ACC, Georgia Tech is a very disciplined team concerning penalties.

Kickers and Punters stats:

If you want to feel better about the Pitt punters, meet one of the three ACC teams that were worse.

That wraps it up for the Georgia Tech review. The gambling site Draft Kings has the over/under win total for GT at 4 games. Sounds about right to me.

100 thoughts on “2022 WTE Production Lost – Georgia Tech”

  2. Heard a lot of Steeler stadium talk lately
    Pitt has a minor role as a tenant
    Heinz always looked to me like it was built with an Erector set just like PSU stadium
    Serves as a place with seats to watch a game unlike PNC which is built as a place to see

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Nice job, Richard. I will miss playing our old usual schedule. We had exciting games with teams like GT and Duke. Yeah, we won a lot of them, but that was a good thing.

    Looks like GT has a tough schedule with Georgia and at Ole Miss, plus some tough ACC games…

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. In volleyball news, Coach Fisher will once again coach a national team of U21 players for NORCECA Pan Am Cup games. Two of our players, setter Rachel Fairbanks and Libero Emmy Klicka have made the 18 person training roster. Twelve will be chosen for the games. Fairbanks was the setter for the championship team last year, with Fisher coaching that team too.Now find us some middles coach!!! H2P!

    https://usavolleyball.org/story/eighteen-athletes-on-roster-for-2023-u21-womens-pan-am-cup/

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Fairbanks is a lock for the team. Klika not so much. Klika being from Ohio may be a big help though! See disussion about U19 team below.

      I believe Pitt may use some of their stock of incoming OHs at middle/OH this fall. The trend in women’s volleyball is heading that way. Both Wisconsin and BYU used that philosophy last year. Previously coaches would move a middle to the outside to fill holes but now it may be headed the other way. Pitt presently has one middle with lots of potential in Jepsen and a serviceable one in Mosely, the transfer from Michigan State.

      One comment about the U19 team, Torrey Stafford, would have probably made the team but for one problem. In the levels below the Senior team, US Volleyball tries to get players from all around the country on the team to help grow the sport. Stafford and Babcock are both from the same part of California and actually played for the same club team as well as the same high school for a while. Babcock is the better of these two excellent players and was invited to tryout leaving Stafford at home.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Not sure what happened to my 1st post, so I’ll try again. That was a nice WVB update from John in SC. Concerning Torrey Stafford’s absence from the 2023 U-19 Pan Am roster, a desire to spread participation geographically may indeed have been a factor. However, I’ve read that Stafford was a member of the 2022 Pan American Cup Gold Medal winning team. Perhaps, USA Volleyball is also trying to share the wealth a bit? In any case, Olivia Babcock and Blaire Bayles, both Pitt recruits, have been named to the 2023 U-19 Pan Am team. The 4th Freshman recruit, Haiti Tautua’a, was merely named the best HS setter in Hawaii. So, adding these four to the returnees from last year’s Final Four team should lead to an exciting 2023 season.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. I found your missing comment. Looks like the one you posted.

          The only difference was a VB magazine reference with a ” .com”. I have no idea if you were trying to post a link. WP likes Links on a separate line not in a sentence.

          Like

        2. For what it’s worth, Volleyball Magazine recently named Babcock, Bayles and Stafford to their list of Girls Fab 50 for HS Volleyball. One more indication that Pitt’s 2023 VB Team should be exciting to watch.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Geo- The best way to post a link is to type what you wrote above, then skip a line and then insert your link. Gordan Conn and John in SC both had problems with posting links before they started to follow above advice, Example:

            Words, words and more words

            Insert Link (and then press post comment button)

            Like

    1. I heard on XM84 College Sports that they expect Huggins to be fired for his comments.

      The two hosts of the show, Dusty Divorchic (sp) and Danny Kanell were interviewing a Big 12 reporter and all three believe Huggy will get canned.

      Like

    2. I predict no. WVU invested too much in the next season via the NIL to make a change and causing turbulence in the program. The school cannot feel good about the upcoming football season and Neal’s future.

      If football struggles then hoops is a mess with Huggins not there the fans will riot. Athletics is too important in Morgantown and rightfully so. No one will be thinking of this story by Friday and by next week it will be ancient history with Huggy Bear still the coach.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. I would be surprised if Huggins gets fired…they took him after his firing at Cincinnati
    OT, looking forward to seeing some POVerts at the Dick Groat Golf Outing at Champion Lakes this Saturday.
    Mr Groats life will surely be celebrated. One of my childhood heroes that I was fortunate enough to meet on a few occasions.
    Mr Groat even bought my cousins and I a round of beers after golf one year at his course after telling baseball stories for over an hour.
    H2P

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Once again a much-aappreciated overview of an ACC team and as always an exceptionally well done job. The conference realignment leaves GTech off our schedule and that is a shame because we were embarrassed by them last year in a game that destroyed our ranking and hopes for a better bowl. A payback this year would have been loads of fun.
    The Rambling Wreck has a difficult schedule and they are headed for a very rough year.
    GTech, a city school in pro territory is somewhat similar to Pitt and the sports profile is to a degree imitating our situation.
    Yellow Jacket basketball has been extremely weak, football is constantly rebuilding and yeah, the GTech baseball team is about as pathetic as ours. I admit that I have always had a soft spot for GTech….GREAT SCHOOL in an amazing city,,,,it would be to the ACC’s advantage to see Tech’s athletics get back on track as a power to be feared.

    Liked by 3 people

  8. Based on Hugely’s apparent medical issues, I’m wondering if he was gently “encouraged” to seek other pastures. There must be other information on this we are not aware of. Did he break some team rules while rehabbing his knee? Did he fail to show up for rehab sessions? Did he fail to show up for classes during this past year?

    I never believed the mental heath part.. He went from sitting on the bench supporting his team mates to disappearing altogether. It will be interesting to see if Dan is right that he will be a complete bust at Oklahoma.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I took the heat when I questioned the mental health issue. Just never smelled right. I wish the guy well but don’t think we will ever hear the real story. The positive thing for Pitt is that his troubles gave Fede and Guillermo the opportunity to accelerate their development. They both took advantage of that. A power forward from the Portal would completely erase his absence.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Dan Dakich this morning on The Dan Dakich Show: “Bob Huggins is one of the biggest dirtbags in the history of college athletics.”

      HaHaHaHa – is Dakich a Pitt fan?

      Like

  9. Huggie coaches in WVA. He will be celebrated for those comments.

    As far as Hugley, it’s all of the above. The mental health part was not following rehab to fix his knee.

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  10. Dan, I agree 100%. In fact, given the lack of tolerance in West Virginia, he could get a contract raise. Huggies statements ( I listened to the tape) were so far out of line that the least the Hoopies could do would suspend him from coaching for a minimum of 10 games during the upcoming seasom….it will not happen!

    Liked by 2 people

  11. I think Huggie should keep his job and be suspended for a bunch of games as well as go to sensitivity training.
    Was it bad, yes. It shouldn’t result in job loss. He apologized. Punish him and move on.

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      1. You aren’t in college athletics, LOL. The rules or lack there of are different.

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    2. Pitt is NIL poor. Narduzzi and Capel’s jobs are a lot tougher than people realize.

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  18. Neither of the two TP guys we got can play at the ACC level! My humble opinion.

    Right now Pitt is a lower to mid pack ACC team! We need help at guard and anyone that can make a three!

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  19. Heard Joe Starkey of the FAN say that he will be playing in the Pitt outing at Champion Lakes this Saturday.

    He sounds like an avid golfer, even though he hasn’t been playing for long. He might be fun to have in your five-some…

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  20. You were right about Hugely all along, GC. Something always seemed off about him. Maybe some day the true story will come out. But it is starting to get really concerning about those last two MBB scholarships. They still need some experienced help for the coming year to replace the 3 point shooting and provide a mature hand.. I wonder what Georgia offered Thomasson that Pitt couldn’t.. Haven’t heard of any NIL package yet, but maybe he was promised he would start..

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Pitt isn’t going to win many battles with Georgia. That is pretty much baked in the cake,
    but we still have the Sugar Bowl.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Rickey Jackson is one of my favorite all time Pitt players along with Hugh Green, Chris Doleman, Bill Fralic, Tony Dorsett, Larry Fitzgerald, Aaron Donald and Mark Stepnoski.

        I liked them all prior to their NFL careers, but those careers were all something to watch as well.

        H2P!

        Liked by 2 people

  24. So according to this we would be favored in 5 of the ACC games, dogs in three. We would then be favored vs Wofford and Cinci so there is your seven wins. Factoring in probable loss to ND and WV, I guess.

    I think this is a fair projection but obviously hope that our lines and skill players are good enough to get a few upsets and not have our usual stinker that seems to happen in most years.

    Like

    1. I’m more of the opinion that they have Pitt going 4-4 in conference and 3-1 in OOC. Lossing to UNC, L’Ville, ND, FSU and either Duke or Wake.

      I don’t think the pundits or gambling sites think Pitt is capable of reloading.

      Like

      1. I think you are right about them not thinking that Pitt can reload, but that is the great thing about college football, in many ways you have to reload every year. While I never predict wins and losses, I think Pitt will be better this year than last year. I think both lines are in really good shape and QB play should be better. PJ has something to prove with CV pushing from behind. Izzy is a loss, but there are really good options that as a group should be pretty powerful. We do need the receivers to step up, but there is experience if not elite talent, and we haven’t seen the freshmen yet.

        Again the defensive line lost a lot but there are guys that have been waiting to show what they can do. Even without Kancy the middle looks strong, and when hasn’t Pitt had pass rushers in the Narduzzi era? Defensive backfield looks strong with the linebackers the biggest question, with a combo of experience and youth.

        Liked by 2 people

        1. Good summary. I think the RBs are a concern. Hammond and C’Bo are decent but not very big. I don’t know what to think about the new transfer RB, I guess he could surprise.

          Wouldn’t surprise me to see Daniel Carter be a big contributor the second half of the season…

          And the TEs have to make some plays – they didn’t do much last year…

          Go Pitt.

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          1. Davis is a stud. Power guy will complement Hammond and C’Bo. Hopefully Carter gets more carries as well.

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  25. Regarding Ricky… He lived in Tower B his freshman year. For whatever reasons, probably more than one… he didn’t see the field at that point. Basically, he was a nobody, just another one of the multitude of recruits for a team that just won a National Championship.

    Meanwhile, another freshman was seeing the field and quickly making a name for himself.

    I remember some friends who lived on the same floor with Jackson saying how some player was walking around all of the time saying “You think Hugh is good. Wait until you see me.”

    Well, the last time I checked, only one is in the Hall.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. BTW… neither was very good at basketball. Ricky didn’t play much. Played in multiple pick-up games against Green. An athletic football player with limited skills on the court.

    Like

  27. Noah Thompson played for Niagara. Not really concerned about losing that one. Was concerned we were recruiting someone from Niagara to be honest.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Plus a $1M pay cut this season and a bunch of other conditions, including having his contract converted to annual vice long term.

      Like

  29. Think about Huggy for a minute. He works for a President that says just as many politically incorrect things. A match made in hoopieville! Know them both and they won’t ever change their stripes around speaking what’s on their minds. Some will like it, some will not. Gee firing him would be laughable given Gee’s history of comments. Now, if a real wealthy donor or Board member turns on Huggy, it’s a different ending.

    I wish Hugley well. I think he was messed up mentally after the vehicle transgression. When I say that, I don’t mean he is deficient mentally. I think it got into his head that he was being held accountable for behaviors, perhaps for the first time in his life when the vehicle incident happened. When he got injured and was told what he needed to do to rehab it, that was the second time. Wake up calls for athletes that have never been told no and that there wasn’t a fix to their problems.

    The issue with hoops roster is not just whether Pitt got better, but how much other ACC teams got better. From a funds flow perspective, there is plenty of NIL money available in bball. That is not the issue.

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    1. Just found this in WP in the pending file. WP just doesn’t like to automatically approve your comments. Write a second comment saying your comment is hung up. I usually respond quicker if I know to look for it.

      Like

  30. Capel got some guys last year that could shoot around 40% from three. He needs to replicate that this year. It was a huge part of the teams success.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Unfortunately, those 40% three-point shooters are in high demand…. So it’s like for Pitt to have a shot at them, they have to have some obvious flaw, like can’t play defense very well…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

  32. Some hints at the Lair that Pitt may be getting a recruit from New England. Karlo and Dibiaso tweets suggest something may be happening. If correct a good guess might be the QB Hasselbeck who Cignetti visited with yesterday.

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  33. Pitt baseball has a pitcher in the game with a 10.41 ERA vs the eers and losing 9-5.

    Go figure!

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  34. What’s the difference? 10.41///9.41//8.41//11.41 Any way you look at it Pitt has absolutely horrible pitching. Once about every 3 or 4 games we hold the other teams under a football score (not funny). WVU has been toying with us and if you can explain why a young high school kid would want to play in the middle of nowhere instead of playing in a major league city in a great conference I am all ears. Coach Bell was given an extension for his outstanding work ???? What am I missing?

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    1. Agree isnore and Erie Express. Coach Bell’s interesting decisions and awful pitching staff have created a Stallings like feel to the baseball program.

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  35. In the 8th it is Hoopies 9 Pitt 8 a pitchers battle. I love baseball and it is painful watching the Pirates loaded with AAA talent struggling the last two weeks, but they do have a future.
    Pitt just for whatever reason can not recruit well for baseball///OUCH!

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    1. UConn is 9th, wvcc is 12th and BC is ranked 20th. Pitt should be able to compete in the ACC but not with the current pitching staff and coach.

      Rutgers and Maryland have competed at the top of the Big Joke conference in 2023.

      UConn, MD and wvcc all will probably host regionals. Don’t tell me northern teams don’t have a chance – systems, in-game strategy and development of talent win.

      We have hitters coming to the plate with runners in scoring position and less than 2 outs with .126 batting averages and pitchers with 10+ ERAs. I know 60 year old men that could do better than that.

      I also know there are HCing candidates that could manage & recruit better than we are seeing right now.

      Like

  36. One of the things I track for ACC football is the TP, both the ins and outs. I have been slacking in keeping up to date on where a TP out ends up. I still keep track of where a TP in comes from.

    With that said, cream does rise to the top. Of the 118 players that have either committed or enrolled at an ACC school, 17 have been from a FCS school and one from a true D2 school (Kyle Morlock, TE, Shorter University, to FSU). That’s 15% of all ACC TP ins.

    FBS football schools have at max 11,135 scholarship players (131×85) players each season. All division 1 basketball schools have at max 4,719 scholarship players (363 teams x 13). It is very reasonable to assume that some low mid major or low level D1 BB teams have players that were either overlooked in recruiting or later developed into All Conference players.

    To say or imply that the players (both football and basketball) from low level schools should be overlooked or imply that they are not P5 or FBS worthy is ludicrous.

    I use both 24/7 and ON3 to research the TP. My numbers for FCS schools may be understated.
    Tyler Wiltz was a TP in Missouri State. He started 3 games and was a valuable addition to Pitt’s roster in 2022. Guess what? Both 24/7 and ON3 did NOT have him listed as a TP in on their database. How many other players on other teams were overlooked?

    BTW, Kyle Morlock probably will end up starting for FSU at TE.

    Liked by 3 people

  37. Weekly Pitt baseball gripe: Dear Coach Bell, last night was our third time playing WVU this season. The first two games, you started the same pitcher and he did poorly both times. Why would you start this poor gentleman (who I will not name because he has been set up to fail) for a third straight time against a team that clearly owns him? Are we not trying to win? I don’t care that the game was on a Wednesday and it could change the weekend rotation…try someone else. Show me as a fan that I should continue to care because it’s getting tough to continue caring.

    Liked by 2 people

  38. I did go to the orthopedist yesterday. I knew I had arthritics in my right knee from when I had a hip replacement in 2016. Doctor said I did something that caused my pain and swelling. He drained some fluids and gave me a shot of steroids.

    Felling much better today but he also told me to take it easy for a few days before I got back to my normal outdoors work.

    Liked by 5 people

  39. I’m very impressed with Verdis hire of Lakale Malone as Women’s Asst Basketball Coach. She comes from
    Indiana State and has a rep as a terrific recruiter. My sources say that she speaks the language of lady
    ballers and is a terrific closer! This year is a loss but next year should see significant improvement. H2P

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I don’t see any previous ties between Coach Malone and Coach Verdi. I like that. I also like that Coach V. now has two experienced black women assistant coaches.

      Coach Malone will coach the guards.

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I’ve said this many times….. recruiting is the key to winning at Women’s Basketball. 2nd place a long way away!

      Let’s see if Lakale can work her magic at Pitt!

      Like

  40. I have a pretty good idea where you’ll be hanging out convalescing Richard, down at the burn-pile burning winter dead fall among other things? Glad you’re feeling better.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. My first action is to go around the yard to pick up limb falls to haul to the burn pile. We had some high winds during the period between making the appointment and yesterday.

      Like

  41. The U.S. U19 women’s volleyball team is doing very well in the NORCECA Pan American Cup in Puerto Rico. They have handily defeated the U.S. Virgin Islands and Costa Rica in two straight set matches. In only one set did the opposition score more than 13 points.

    Our two future Panthers have been major contributors. Olivia Babcock was one of the top scorers in the U.S. Virgin Islands match while Blaire Bayless was one of the top scorers in the Costa Rica match. The next opponent is Mexico at 1:00 PM today, 5/11/2023.

    Liked by 6 people

  42. I just approved a hung-up comment from HuffIII. it is above at 5/10/2023 6:23PM.

    If you have a comment that doesn’t go thru, make a comment saying it didn’t go thru. I respond quicker if I know to look for it.

    Like

  43. I admit I don’t follow Pitt baseball very carefully, but from what you guys and Annie are reporiting why is Bell still coaching this team, and why did Heather extend him? Is there something we are missing? He seems like a total incompetent fool in his game strategy, and player match ups.

    And I see nothing that indicates he can recruit. The pitching stats alone are enough to get him fired in my book. Now, I have never called for any Pitt coach (including Dave Hart and Carl DePasqua) to be fired, thinking that with Pitt there is always some hidden reason for the poor results. But my goodness, this guy Bell seems totally inept..

    Like

    1. Funny enough, neither have I – contrary to public belief!!

      Wasn’t sorry to see Graham go though. At first I thought his offense would actually do something. Lucky for him he had Tino Sunseri to blame all his problems on…

      Like

  44. OT — The thought of Bob Huggins attending sensitivity training is just hilarious.

    Does he have to pass a test? 😊

    Go Pitt.

    Liked by 5 people

      1. I had to attend sensitivity training once in the Coast Guard – I said ” Our Logistics Supply Chain is a bitch to use” in an all-hands meeting and an 18 year old female sailor reported it claiming”bitch” was anti-feminine or some crap .” I told the boss “Well, that’s a bitch of a thing to have to do” and SHE cracked up…

        That 18 year old female member was pretty sharp in other ways though – great sailor.

        Liked by 3 people

  45. Heather doesn’t like admitting mistakes when she extends coaches. IE Capel, Bell. You absolutely can compete in 2023 as a Northern Team. The facilities (Indoor, Turf, Etc.) are way different than trying to compete 20 years ago on grass fields, etc. with Northern weather. I don’t think you can be consistently good but should be able to have surprise seasons for sure.

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  46. Dan – I see Coach Verdi is looking for a DOBO – Director of Basketball Operations. Your chance to help this team!
    😊

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  47. Verdi is doing everything a top notch coach would do to overcome the curse of Pitt Women’s BBall.
    His Asst hires (all women) have tons of experience and past proof of competence!

    Can he/staff change the losing trajectory of this program? I’m optimistic!

    I see that DBA opening. These teens still have parents. The only place I’d coach again is an orphanage!!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Dan – one of Coach Verdi’s assistant’s is Ty Margenthaler. He’s also experienced and will be Pitt’s “Defensive Coordinator.”

      Here’s some info on him:
      “Ty Margenthaler comes to Pittsburgh with more than 20 years of coaching experience, including four seasons as a head coach. He spent the 2022-23 campaign at South Dakota where he helped sophomore point guard Grace Larkins earn First Team All-Summit League honors as she became the first player in league history to rank in the top five in points (17.5 ppg), rebounds (8.0 rpg), assists (4.4 apg) and steals (2.1 spg).

      Prior to South Dakota, he spent six seasons at Saint Louis including his last four years as associate head coach. The Billikens made three WNIT appearances during that span, including reaching the WNIT’s Elite Eight in 2021. Saint Louis marked his second stint with head coach Lisa Stone, following five seasons on her staff at Wisconsin. During their time in Madison, the Badgers were the 2007 WNIT Runner-Up, set a program record of 23 wins and made the 2010 NCAA Tournament.”

      Go Pitt.

      Like

    2. Thanks for linking the article. I saw it earlier but didn’t read it because I thought it was a puff piece. An excellent article about Voss, family and Pitt.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. The image of SirVocea intercepting the shovel-pass against Clemson and taking it for the TD is one of my Pitt-forever memories…

      Go Pitt.

      Liked by 2 people

  49. The most pro Pitt article that I have ever read…a truly great story. I wish that it could be sent to every Pitt recruit. SVD will always be a credit to our University.

    Liked by 2 people

  50. Reed, as far as Graham, he remains a complete enigma to me. Why would a coach make a major move to another team like Pitt, and then jump after just one year? Knowing this could hurt his career, what in the world was so bad or unexpected that he concluded he could never win or even tolerate the situation at Pitt for a few years before jumping?

    I get that he was a scheming, high octane sleezeball, but he wasn’t stupid. Even at ASU, he won some games early but then began to slide. Later on, his tenure at Hawaii was marked by allegations of player mistreatment, and I believe he is now out of football. Maybe it is simply a case of poor character, which raises the question of why Pitt didn’t see it before hiring him in the first place (remember he shafted Rice before Tulsa).

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    1. Now it is 9-8, Pitt has a runner on 3rd with one out and a .155 batter came to the plate and struck out looking.

      What is this coach thinking?

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  55. Just leaving the Pirate game. Underwood = Will Crowe.

    Don’t think the Bucs will win one of these!! No ce game by Pitt too losers both!!

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  57. Larry Fitzgerald – Future 1st Ballot Hall of Famer as a WR for the Arizona Cardinals – has more career tackles (41) than dropped passes (29) despite never playing a single snap on defense.

    To put this into further context, those 29 dropped passes occurred over the course of 263 regular season games over a 17 year career.

    Those tackles occurred when his own QB threw an interception and he was the one that prevented the opposing team from scoring.

    On average he made 2.4 tackles per season when his QB threw an INT and had a dropped pass 1.7 times per season.

    One other thing, to put this in perspective. A dropped pass is defined as “an incomplete pass where the receiver should have caught the pass with ordinary effort.” The Green Bay Packers had 30 dropped passes collectively over 18 games as a team, in one season.

    Larry Fitzgerald acquired more than 1,400 receptions for approximately 18,000 yards over a 17 year career, and the Packers, dropped the ball MORE in a single season with only 364 receptions and 3,632 yards.

    Lastly, the Green Bay Packers have Aaron Rodgers as their Quarterback who has been one of the most consistent QBs over the past 20 years.

    Not sure if this stat is highlighting how bad the QBs were for Arizona, how bad the WRs were in Green Bay last year, but one thing we can say is Larry Fitzgerald had some of the best hands the NFL has ever seen.

    -credit reddit poster

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