Great Game - This Admin is committed.

[mbe 34]

Last year no spring game.
This year celebration of Pitt Football.
Shady, AD, Fitz, RR and more all in attendance.
Band - cheerleaders - interviews - Free T shirt - lots of fun - glad we went.

It's a new attitude - new era - a major change.

Really feel like this administration gets it.

 

[DreamBackfield]

Plus more money for head coach and assistants

I'm sure Nordenberg wanted to win, but Gallagher is doing what it takes to win.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants


That's true. Everyone pretty much wants to win. But.....it is like saying everyone wants to be a millionaire. You have to have commitment to it.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

Originally posted by DreamBackfield:
I'm sure Nordenberg wanted to win, but Gallagher is doing what it takes to win.

No matter that Gallagher's athletic department, thanks to the ACC, has $13.4 million more in annual revenue for FY2015 than we did in our last year in the Big East.

The FY15 budget also is providing for the smallest subsidy for athletics (under $8 million) from general university operations than in any budget in the past ten years. Again, the smallest support from general university operations in a decade....not adjusted for inflation. In fact, the university provided more total subsidy for athletics in 1996...not adjusted for inflation....than it has budgeted for 2015.

So contrary to popular opinion, less general university resources (about $4 million less than the average over the prior decade) are budgeted to be put into athletics by the current administration than any year in which I have numbers available for the past one. It will be an interesting trend to follow going forward as athletic department expenses are only going to climb with COAs, etc.


This post was edited on 4/18 7:42 PM by CrazyPaco

 

[OriginalEther]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

Ah,paco, you're such a buzzkill,throwing out all those pesky facts and stuff.

Imagine if the previous administration REALLY didn't care and told the athletic department that they had to fall under budget every year.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Re: Great Game - Agree!

I was very happy to listen to it on the Radio. No question Coach Pat & Staff are excited to be at Pitt. I am not knocking Coach Chryst & Staff either, but they seemed very laid back during their tenures at Pitt.

I especially enjoyed hearing all the Former Alumni Players and Hall of Famers. I think they should make that Pitt fan Fest for next year, and hope many are flown in and honored and have a large dinner after the game with all the various Alumni.

I hope someone gives an update on how many recruits were there too?

I really liked Coach Pat comments that the future games will be at Heinz Field!

What was exceptional is Coach Pat made many practices closed and prefers not bragging or telling what is going to happen with his Team. Nobody but Pitt Pat & Staff and Players. I really enjoyed that kind of attitude!

I am going on record on something this week about Coach Pat!

 

[mbe 34]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

I don't follow the budget stuff.
One of the reasons is I don't believe it.
These bureaucrats move money around so it best suits them.
From your post it seems Pitt is subsidizing the Athletic Department less from the General fund and its because they have more ACC money.

The question is are they spending more money on football?
The real answer to this is what is Narduzzi and staff being paid compared to Chryst's staff?
Any figures on that?

 

[rc79]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

Money, contrary to what some people continue to peddle, has not been the most immediate problem in why this extended period of middling performance has occurred.

The right people were not leading it. The organization, vision, culture, and genuine care, were not there. None of that really costs much in dollars and cents to put in place. It only requires leadership and talent.

I was there yesterday and at another event in the morning. Everyone knows what the problems were.

Those basic strategic and organizational issues started getting fixed August 1. My guess is you will see something dramatically different on the field with how the team shows. Same players.

It was a top down issue not money. Money will remain a long term challenge. It always is. My guess is Pitt can have success with that as well with the right people in place.

 

[mbe 34]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

I agree completely;

The books could've been juggled - money was always there.
Commitment and in the end competency - were not.

 

[DreamBackfield]

Yes, more money is going to Narduzzi and assistants

The figures aren't public, but I have a friend who used to work in the football office and he told me this.

 

[chethejet]

CP is correct in that the ACC allows for greater flexibility as to athletic spending. Where I disagree is Smiley was fired by Gallagher due to his relationship with Nordy that was just to insular. Gallagher rightly dismissed a person who was divisive and totally mishandled the coaching positions of the football program. No question Nardo isn't here if smiley is here. Gallagher gets it in a way Nordy never quite did. Correct, it was the management style not the money at the heart of Pitt football .

 

[OriginalEther]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

You find it hard to believe that an athletic department whose football team averages 30,000 with dirt cheap prices has budget issues?
Okay.....

I doubt narduzzi is being paid much more than chryst. I'm sure Cheney is being paid well. Otherwise who knows but then again chryst brought half the staff to Wisconsin so I Don't think money was the issue. We'll never find out about the recruiting budget though chryst did go to Florida and Hawaii.

As for the team, if they look better this season, it's because the players are a year older and/or Pitt has a better coach. Unless the administration is letting the players take tackling and blocking 101 instead of writing and biology.

 

[KTP]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

Paco just a question. Wouldn't it be better if we have the extra money this year and a few years into the future to take the money and endow a few scholarships? The investment like this of a few million would go a long distance down the road to saving and freeing up huge amounts of money to be used elsewhere.

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

Paco--Unfortunately some of our fans are going to be very unhappy that any of the ACC money is being used to reduce the outlay to athletics from the general fund. Their dream has been that every cent of additional ACC revenue would be money added to what was already being derived from other sources.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

Originally posted by mbe 34:
I agree completely;

The books could've been juggled - money was always there.
Commitment and in the end competency - were not.

Juggled books? Do you walk around with tin foil on your head?

You know what people are called that ignore data and facts to suit their unsubstantiated opinions?




This post was edited on 4/19 2:06 PM by CrazyPaco

 

[CrazyPaco]

Originally posted by chethejet:
CP is correct in that the ACC allows for greater flexibility as to athletic spending. Where I disagree is Smiley was fired by Gallagher due to his relationship with Nordy that was just to insular. Gallagher rightly dismissed a person who was divisive and totally mishandled the coaching positions of the football program. No question Nardo isn't here if smiley is here. Gallagher gets it in a way Nordy never quite did. Correct, it was the management style not the money at the heart of Pitt football .

Keeping Pederson around was a mistake based on divisiveness and fundraising ability. He should have been pushed on at least after Todd Graham took off, and at the very least he should have never been extended. Really, it is a lesson in the old adage that you can't come home again.

However, instability in athletic leadership during the tumultuous conference realignment period of the 2010-2011 could have been a disaster. Pederson was well connected, and well respected among the AD community, and had been working connections in other conferences for at least a year prior to Pitt's ACC invite. In the end, the most important thing in the last 20 years, if not even further back, was getting a life raft off the sinking Big East. Whatever it took to do that, it is worth it, because the alternative was death...as in no longer having what would have been considered major intercollegiate athletics....and there was zero possibility of getting into a P5 if the athletic department was anywhere near the situation they were in circa 1996. That means if mean keeping Pederson around to work his colleagues, or losing the stadium in 1999 so that all facility upgrades could be jump started, than it wasn't just worth it, it was essential.

Gallagher is off to a great start on the surface, and not just in athletics. He has the benefit of an athletic department that is seeing unprecedented revenue which was handed to him by the prior administration's maneuvers. But he has not been tested, nor has he remotely faced the challenges and emergencies that were faced by the prior administration. Everyone should hope that he never has too.

This post was edited on 4/19 2:35 PM by CrazyPaco

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Re: I Credit Nordenberg & Gallagher Without Reservation!!

It took guts for Chancellor Posvar to embrace a vision that was sought after, supported, and promoted Pitt Football way back in 1968-72 that help build on the foundations whereby someone finally saw the value of the new coming Age of Athletics that brings attention, revenues, and keeps traditions at Pitt.

Pitt had lapses of that kind of support going from the Gold Standard from 1910 to 1939 to ignoring Athletics until 1968 when Pitt hit rock bottom with a few years of excellence in between.

Under Chancellor Posvar Pitt Athletics hit another Golden Era of College Football few can match even today. However, Chancellor Posvar started to ignore that aspect in his later years and the New Chancellors were not up to the task of being a good Chancellor in many aspects until Chancellor Nordenberg was wisely selected.

The very task of rebuilding Pitt Athletics from 1996 was formidable and quite a feat in all fairness. Just choosing a New Coach was tough enough, then having less than 85 Scholarships (67 Until 2002), rebuilding New Facilities, and then going through Conference turmoil deserves respect, recognition, and rightful regards to everyone involved including Steve Pederson and many others involved.

Like anything else, it is one thing to rebuild and start a new renaissance like what happen in 1910, 1919, 1972, and 1996 after years of allowing it to be abandoned.

Additionally, it is another thing to start winning and keep winning and then moving to 10 game winning and then spoiling fans when 11 and 12 wins seasons do not happen as often as expected?

Nevertheless, the Foundation built by Nordenberg with Pederson, Long, and Pederson again and entry into the ACC is something that does happen and sometimes requires new leadership to expand upon it.

Chancellor Gallagher is doing exactly that by finding the right people that can move Pitt to ACC Stability, Athletic Director Inclusions and Branding, and finding the right Coaches to stay and maintain winning at Pitt in these days of competitive revenues.

It take a special vision and then special action and selection in and seeking out special people and leaders like Baylor, TCU, and other Bottom Feeders in other conferences seldom experience until recently in this New dawn of Athletics with Academics, that within itself is changing.

As demonstrated by seeing how Big Programs built on Decades of Devoted Support at Michigan, Penn State, USC, and many others whereby making wrong calls on coaching or having scandals can setback the biggest, while others like Missy State, Baylor, Rutgers, Northwestern, Minnesota, Stanford, TCU and many others can rebuild and thrive.

Pitt is doing the same thing and one can see what changes that were required in 1910 to 1918, 1950 to 56, 1968 to 1972, and 1996 to 2014, is quite different and actually built the Glories Years of 1920-39, 1955-63, and 1976-84 and will be a constant challenge to maintain in this ever changing NCAA, College Football, and University Education Era Environments.

As someone very bright said, "If Pitt Can Cure Polio It Should Be Able to Win 10 Games In Football, and todays resources in a stable Power 5 Conference provides the means to do so, and Pitt will find the New Leaders capable of doing it, just like all Universities are struggling to do the same every year too.

Crediting Nordenberg is well deserved and the challenge for Gallagher is to improve and build upon what is now existing at Pitt and the harder job is not just returning to winning, but winning in the Top 25 and Top 10 and that is possible today more than ever!

This post was edited on 4/19 2:37 PM by CaptainSidneyReilly

 

[mbe 34]

Re: Plus more money for head coach and assistants

No I don't walk around with "tin foil" on my head. Not sure how my choices of apparel have any relevance here.
I don't really care what you say people are called that ignore data and facts to suit their unsubstantiated opinion.
Name calling was never one of my forte's.
However I'm sure there's a name for people who believe everything they read.

Don't know who pooped on your cornflakes but calm down.
My claim that books "could've been juggled" to get more money is hardly radical or revolutionary. I seem to remember that during the hiring of both Wanny and Graham the initials offers were turned down and more money "found".

My point was the previous administration was incompetent. The firing of Wannstadt started a chain of decisions which exposed how leaderless and lost it was when it came to football.

As far as moving forward - letter of intent day Gallagher was there - I never saw Nordy at any of them ( maybe he was but I didn't see him) The Spring game was a great event - especially compared to last year. Having the past players and the way they turned out was real nice. Yep - Narduzzi and Gallagher could be a disaster. A loss to YSU or Akron could burst the bubble of hope.

Bottomline is we can't do anything about the past - look to and support the future.

H2P