There is an old saying that goes along the lines of “Nobody ever thinks about the kicker until you need one.” Well maybe it’s not exactly an old saying, but I heard an ex-NFL radio jock say it once and it stuck with me. And to prove my point, if I said the name “Sean Conley” to you, you’d probably think “who’s the hell is that guy?”

He’s a former kicker of course. For Pitt. All Big-East actually. But you didn’t know that. Primarily because he played on one of the most underwhelming teams in modern Pitt history, and also because well…he’s a kicker. And so if you saw Conley’s memoir on the bookshelf, you’d probably walk right past it.

That would be a mistake.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Point After” →

Pitt landed a verbal from Elijah Staham yesterday. He’s (gulp) unranked on Rivals.com and had only (sigh) two other offers (Akron and Cincy).

50% of POV fans will say “HEY PAT STOP SIGNING UNRANKED RECRUITS!”

But I will say that all D-line recruits get a pass from me, given that Pitt recently turned two, two-stars into consensus All-Americans and looks to be loaded with talent across all positions. Until that production drops off I don’t think anybody has any room to say anything.

Link to Rivals Profile

HUDL Video

http://www.hudl.com/v/2ErUgu

Hail to Pitt

Michaelangelo

As Rashad Weaver and Patrick Jones continue to rack up All-American Awards, our All-ACC analyst, Richard Hefner, put together a nice run down on the 2020 All-ACC team. I’ve been sitting on this for about a week, so my apologies if some of the data is a little bit dated. – Michaelangelo

The 2020 ALL ACC Team

The 2020 ALL ACC Team and (some) Recruiting Info

by Richard Hefner

The 2020 All ACC Team was announced in late December. Below is a link to the press release. If you have not read the release, I suggest you do. It does add some detail to the first team selections.

Tigers, Irish Lead All-ACC Football Team – Atlantic Coast Conference (theacc.com)

For a quicker read, you can also review Mike’s 12/22/2020 article.

All ACC (pittpov.com)

If you decided not to read the ACC press release here are a few details you may want to know:

Continue reading “All-ACC Analysis” →

Should Narduzzi Continue to be Head Football Coach at Pitt or Not?

By Bill Aloe (formerly WWB)

I am going to start this article with the correct answer to the above:  I have no idea and neither do any of you.

Here are how two prominent college sports publications rated the top college head coach football hires when Narduzzi was hired in 2015:

Athlon Sports                                                             CBS Sports

1. Jim Harbaugh, Michigan                             1.  Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
2. Gary Anderson, Oregon St                         2.  Tom Herman, Houston
3. Tom Herman, Houston                               3.  Chad Morris, SMU
4. Chad Morris, SMU                                       4.  Mike Riley, Nebraska
5. Lance Leipold, Buffalo                                5.  Gary Anderson, Oregon State
6. Jim McIlwain, Florida                                  6.  Jim McIlwain, Florida
7. Pat Narduzzi, Pitt                                         7. Pat Narduzzi, Pitt
8. Mike Riley, Nebraska                                  8.  Mike Bobo, Colorado St
9. Paul Chryst, Wisconsin                               9.  Phil Montgomery, Tulsa
10. Mike Bobo, Colorado St                              10.  Paul Chryst, Wisconsin

Note that of the eleven coaches listed above, the following six, Gary Anderson (7-22), Chad Morris (14-22), Mike Riley (19-19), Jim McIlwain (22-12), Mike Bobo (28-35) and Phil Montgomery (31-38) were let go or forced out.   Herman was hired by Texas where he is now in limbo, and only Harbaugh, Leipold, Narduzzi and Chryst remain at their schools. (Editor’s note: Herman was relieved of his duties at Texas yesterday. The article was sent to me a few days prior)

Continue reading “The Firing is the Easy Part” →

Well….

What. A. Year.

What a doggone year.

As we wrap it up, all I can say is thanks to all the readers and comments who make the POV what it is. Yes, traffic is down since the Reed Kohberger heyday, (partly a function of me not writing as much, but also probably a function of me not having as much piss and vinegar to spew about, and well Reed was also just a damn good writer), but traffic still pretty damn strong. This year we had over 525,000 page views, and over 55,000 visitors. Those visitors generated over 32,000 comments. That’s 87 comments a day on average, every day of the year. I don’t think there is another free Pitt Panthers sports site in the world that generates that kind of traffic and engagement. Kudos to you Pitt POV’ers.

We’ve had visitors from over 50 countries, from the far east (headlines by China, Malaysia and India) to the Old World (Portugal is actually our top European country, but UK, France and the Netherlands are not far behind), to Latin America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador), and of course Australia (perhaps Christodoulou friends and family tuning in?)

We’ve also had some really good content and discussion. And after all that’s what it’s all abut. Richard Hefner stepped up this year with his “Up Next” series as well as some hard hitting recruiting analysis and I’m happy to say that one of his post’s was the top post for 2020! Great Job Richard and I really appreciate your contributions! Here are the top five posts for the year, as measured by pageviews:

1. Richard Hefner’s guest post about Power five recruiting (and Pitt) earned top honors with 5,877 views. 2020 Power Five Recruiting (and Pitt).

2. The passing of the “O” clearly resonated with Pitt POV readers as well. My “O”bituary came in at #2, with 4,940 views. An “O”bituary. Pitt mourns the passing of a Legend.

3. Quarterbacks and offensive linemen are always popular topics. A recruiting article about the commitments of QB Nate Yarnell and OL Marco Fugar grabbed the #3 spot with 3,490 views. A Texas (Panther) Quarterback…and Florida Protector.

4. No year would be complete without a robust discussion around an on-campus stadium. 2020 didn’t disappoint. My “Where to Put the Stadium” piece landed at #4 with 3,468 views. Where to Put the Stadium?

5. Rounding out the top 5 was a piece on Football Preseason All-ACC Selections. Spoiler alert, two of them didn’t even play, and one of them didn’t finish the season. 3,251 views. Ten Preseason All ACC Selections.

Honorable Mention: Also if you are looking to capture some of that old Reed Kohberger magic, here is his “Reading Between the Lines” guest post, post-Notre Dame edition. (Came in at #7 overall, but was the top Reading Between the Lines. 2,897 views) Reading Between the Lines – Post Notre Dame Edition.

Have fun reminiscing over these articles and have a safe and happy New Year everyone. Looking forward to hearing from you (and seeing you at some games) in 2021.

Hail to Pitt

Michaelangelo Monteleone