Does Narduzzi Know What He’s Doing? Part IV

Here is a thought-provoking piece by POV reader and commenter “6&34”.

I have written three articles for the POV all concerned with the question: Does Narduzzi know what he is doing? I am once again asking that question and it may be the last time I ever ask it. So, does he?

Case in point, a week or so ago I heard a podcast that said since Watson has been replaced as OC the offense is on Pat Narduzzi. Well, with all due respect to the podcaster, the Watson hire is on Narduzzi so to say that this year’s offense is really on Narduzzi seems like a rather weak point.

If the offense is weak this year, will the offense really, really be on Narduzzi next year? No, the weak 2018 offense falls squarely on Narduzzi because regardless of the reason. And there are a lot of potential reasons: Watson was doing his friend a solid, Narduzzi though Watson actually knew what he was doing, Narduzzi was incapable of fixing Watson’s observable inadequacy mid-season, Narduzzi believed that Pitt’s smash mouth running offense was incapable of being stopped, or whatever.

Offense aside, we’ve had four full seasons of Pat Narduzzi and arguably four full seasons of his recruiting though this present recruiting class is not yet over (we could get some additional good players or we could lose some as we did last year). POVers stand divided on the question and its no wonder: Pitt has been mediocre during Narduzzi’s reign which has been characterized by amazing highs and lows. Seriously, the lows have been humiliating (the defensive backs getting repeatedly torched) and the highs, what can you say about the Clemson and Miami wins (please Negativos, don’t mention that in 2017 Miami lost its next two games because I’ll just mention that in 2016 Clemson went on to win the National Championship). Continue reading “Does Narduzzi Know What He’s Doing? Part IV” →

Are Pat and Staff Developing Players?

Here is a well-researched article by Brian Ferrari, aka “notrocketscience”, and it should give some good food for thought as we head into spring ball in the next couple of weeks.

We have much discussion about Pitt recruiting on the POV. This year’s class is considered too low in rank by almost everyone. Some believe all of Narduzzi’s classes were ranked too low. I am not one of those people. I feel all of the classes, with the exception of this year, were on par for what Pitt can accomplish with their football budget. I also feel Pitt football can reach a level of success we all expect with those classes. For me, that is eight to nine wins per year with occasional ten win seasons. Top 25 rankings should happen.

Let’s forget where Pitt’s classes have been ranked by Rivals. After all, it has zero impact on how the players are ultimately developed by the coaches. An eighteen year old kid changes a lot in four to five years. Instead, let’s look at the players on the current roster that contributed last year and are poised to contribute more this coming year. How good are they? Has Pitt developed them? Do we see potential NFL draft picks?

Continue reading “Are Pat and Staff Developing Players?” →

Know The Enemy – Penn State

Byline: Chris Logue and it is a good one…

It’s go time for another week, another opponent and worst of all, a whole new slew of athletic receivers, running backs, most of which I am sure can run the wheel-route, and a quarterback that can beat you in a myriad of ways. This could just as easily be time-stamped in 2016 heading into Death Valley and Clemson, but this year’s edition of that is in Happy Valley to take on the Nittany Lions.

While I would love to be the sole interpreter of Penn State this week, I also felt that it would be doing our readers an injustice. This edition of “Know Your Enemy” comes with a guest, Centre Daily Times’ Penn State beat writer, John McGonigal. John pulls no punches and lets it all fly which is why he fits the bill to be our guest this week.

John provided incredible feedback and you’ll notice it throughout our inside look at what our Panthers face this week in Centre County.

Last week, Penn State drubbed Akron 52-0 and did it in a multitude of ways. Whether it was breaking a long, very strong, streak of not having a return for a touchdown, intercepting Akron quarterback, Thomas Woodson or if it was quarterback Trace McSorley and his trusted back, Saquon Barkley, Penn State looked good. Very, very good at that. It’s no mystery that McSorley and Barkley will be the key drivers for PSU on offense, it goes back to the basics, deep in the trenches who kick-starts this offense.

“Outside of Barkley and McSorley, I think an underrated guy on this offense is center Connor McGovern. I could’ve gone with flashier picks like breakout wide receiver Juwan Johnson or tight end Mike Gesicki — who I think will lead the Nittany Lions in all receiving categories this year — but McGovern is a guy who guides the offense,” says McGonigal.

Like Pitt who has shifted and mixed the offensive line over the past two seasons, McGovern is amid transition himself, “The Penn State staff moved him to center in the offseason after the departure of senior Brian Gaia — the Nittany Lions’ lone loss from the o-line — and McGovern has lived up to all expectations so far, being more vocal and impressing against Akron.”

Reed and I exchanged emails and we both had the same feel that a lot of what Penn State wants to do and should succeed in doing is planting roots in the trenches and making it their own, and it seems as though McGovern is sturdy in that task where “[McGovern] had a lot to do with that, and the lineman will play a key role in the Pitt game.”

How big of a task do the Panthers have this week on the defense? Look for yourself at PSU’s last game’s offensive stats:

PSU Game 1

Continue reading “Know The Enemy – Penn State” →

THAT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE, COACH

Byline: Chris Logue

Hey, I’m back and would like to apologize to Reed, but especially the faithful readers of the POV over the last two weeks. There were legitimate reasons for my absence, such as classwork obligations as well as rebounding from a brief identity-theft crisis that erupted out of nowhere; but again, I am back and ready to keep this train rolling.

Now, to the important stuff…

Paris Ford is official. He is a Panther. He is finally a Panther. While that’s wonderful to read, there were so many flaws in the way Pat Narduzzi handled the “breaking of the news” to the reporters. To me, it’s a mystery as to why so many flaws were evident, and it doesn’t fit the past of how he has handled media, the celebrity status of players and their importance to the team.

This time around, he highly contradicted himself.

I took a look at Jerry DiPaola’s write–up on TribLive.com. When it comes to the Pittsburgh media covering what’s in front of them, no one does it better than Jerry, so in times of needing quotes and understanding the effectiveness in conveying the quotes, I go to his work.

THE GOOD

Paris Ford is on the field and able to run around with his teammates. He appears to have put on some weight, based solely on photos, but that’s not necessarily a negative thing. After all, he has been working-out alongside a perennial All-NFL player in Aaron Donald in the meantime.

THE BAD

Ford missed all 17 of the camp practices so far, placing him behind fellow position-mates in development at this level of play and has only taken mental-reps since Saturday during the scrimmage. I can’t speak for everyone, but ‘mental reps’ are not worth a grain of salt unless you’re actually out on the field putting thought into action. Still, contact was open with the coaches for feedback and guidance.

Continue reading “THAT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE, COACH” →

Category: Writing