Jason Peters
- Thread starter pletch5
- Start date
If true, seems to be unusual in timing in the middle of the season and with our AD situation ...... Barnes out, Juhl interim, no new AD yet ....... was this a recommendation of Barnes ? .... did something happen recently to cause dismissal ? ...... timing seems strange to me.
a coworker told me that a high ranked player recently left the team, but i never saw a story about it to confirm. the same guy constantly tells me that our wrestling program underachieves based on the talent of our area. I'll be curious to hear any reasoning on why Peters was fired.
Here is a statement from the University .... see link ...... pretty generic as expected .....
http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/011917aaa.html
http://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/011917aaa.html
Wow! - http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/01/hershey_high_graduate_jason_pe_1.html
I'm a huge Kocher fan. I want this to work, even though there are going to be a lot of bumps ahead, on & off the mat.
I'm a huge Kocher fan. I want this to work, even though there are going to be a lot of bumps ahead, on & off the mat.
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Genesplace. Your friend is right. Pittsburgh area(wpial), central pa...most of Pa. has some of the best wrestlers in the country. Pitt gets very few of them for whatever reason. With as many top wrestlers so close to Pitt we should be getting more. Other schools like va.,Arizona,vt, n.c.....etc are coming in and taking away wrestlers that don't even give Pitt a sniff. Something was very wrong
I truly hope this is a national search. There are many great coaches out there that would do great at Pitt.
Agree. Like anything else if they're willing to put the cash into program and get the right guy Pitt could move up fairly quickly given the recruiting base. Met Peters at the Johnstown Pitt club function maybe four years ago. Very personable. Nice guy. Like anything else though it's about wins, and the program has been trending down last couple years. Seemingly high rated recruits did not pan out, and several left team (of there own accord and otherwise). Hope they give Stritmatter a look.
It was an incident that happened in Chi-town with the players. Since they are technically his responsibility he was the one to let go. Hearing a couple more could be gone as well.
Yeah. Wouldn't be shocked if it's kept quite and there are several transfers after the school year
I don't think you'll see transfers due to this incident. As far as the team going forward it'll depend on who the coach is. The area has a lot of wrestling talent, but its heavily recruited by every good program. We'll have to do a major investment to get a big name coach and we need a major facilities overhaul ASAP.
Strittmatter has no interest...He is happy with Guns
It is more than just Pennsylvania. Eastern Ohio is loaded with talent and so is NJ. There is no excuse for Pitt, with its tradition, not being a top ten team every year. Peters had one good recruiting year. Since then, mediocre at best.
The new coach will be the key. Tom Brands took the VT job and made them an immediate national powerhouse. Even though he left to go back to Iowa after a year, he set the program in motion and they have been a top ten team since.
NC State had no wrestling tradition. Nada. They hired the coach from Binghamton and he turned them into a power.
When we joined the ACC, people wondered if we even would wrestle in the ACC because it was such a weak conference. We won the dual meet title the first year and have gone downhill since. There are six teams in the conference and we have had the 6th, 5th and 5th ranked recruiting classes in the ACC. That isn't recruiting against PSU, Iowa and Oklahoma State. That is recruiting against Duke, Virginia, VT, UNC and NC State. And not in BB.
Two years ago, the WPIAL had 7 seniors ranked in the top 5 nationally in their weight class. Peters signed none of them. I can understand losing a guy to PSU and a guy to Iowa. But he lost recruiting battles with UVA (2), NC State and ASU(2) for the others. And one of them is a cousin of Headlee, one of our assistants.
Plenty of good coaches would take the job if assured of the financial support. The wrestling room and other facilities need updated. But it is a minimal commitment compared to other sports. This past year, we lost a WPIAL kid who was top ranked nationally at his weight to tOSU. His uncle wrestled here. His dad is a lifelong fan. The kid had been to almost every match since he was 5. But, he wants to win a national individual championship and didn't think that would happen at Pitt. When we have gotten really top kids, they haven't developed.
The trend of settling for mediocrity started under Stottlemyre, who retired ten years too late. Then came Peters, an assistant under Stottlemyre, who continued it. They need a national search and someone from outside the program to get it to where it should be.
The new coach will be the key. Tom Brands took the VT job and made them an immediate national powerhouse. Even though he left to go back to Iowa after a year, he set the program in motion and they have been a top ten team since.
NC State had no wrestling tradition. Nada. They hired the coach from Binghamton and he turned them into a power.
When we joined the ACC, people wondered if we even would wrestle in the ACC because it was such a weak conference. We won the dual meet title the first year and have gone downhill since. There are six teams in the conference and we have had the 6th, 5th and 5th ranked recruiting classes in the ACC. That isn't recruiting against PSU, Iowa and Oklahoma State. That is recruiting against Duke, Virginia, VT, UNC and NC State. And not in BB.
Two years ago, the WPIAL had 7 seniors ranked in the top 5 nationally in their weight class. Peters signed none of them. I can understand losing a guy to PSU and a guy to Iowa. But he lost recruiting battles with UVA (2), NC State and ASU(2) for the others. And one of them is a cousin of Headlee, one of our assistants.
Plenty of good coaches would take the job if assured of the financial support. The wrestling room and other facilities need updated. But it is a minimal commitment compared to other sports. This past year, we lost a WPIAL kid who was top ranked nationally at his weight to tOSU. His uncle wrestled here. His dad is a lifelong fan. The kid had been to almost every match since he was 5. But, he wants to win a national individual championship and didn't think that would happen at Pitt. When we have gotten really top kids, they haven't developed.
The trend of settling for mediocrity started under Stottlemyre, who retired ten years too late. Then came Peters, an assistant under Stottlemyre, who continued it. They need a national search and someone from outside the program to get it to where it should be.
Don't take this as me being snarky, because I really don't know - what facilities do other schools have? Are they solely wrestling-focused, or are they part of a newer, multi-purpose fieldhouse?
Unfortunately with our landlocked situation, we probably don't even have the room to build a replacement for the Fieldhouse.
Lehigh's, which I've toured, is wrestling only and it is impressive.
I think you can renovate/expand the Field House. You can completely redo the wrestling facility....make it all glass walls looking onto the outside or something. You can upgrade without completely starting from scratch by bulldozing.
Better locker room, lounge area, wrestling room, etc. The building is just old and run down. Like an old house, things that should work don't, and it looks shoddy in general. There's no real room for an entrance the way it's configured so if you have a big crowd, people have to stand outside.
Honestly the Fitz needs replaced but I don't know where you'd even be able to put a new one.
Honestly the Fitz needs replaced but I don't know where you'd even be able to put a new one.
Which is why Pat Santoro (like Sean Miller) won't be returning to Pitt. He's got much nicer facilities and makes a lot more money than what were spending.
I'll add that Lehigh's facility was a renovation of an existing building on campus that was largely gutted.
He won't be returning because his family is in Bethlehem. He is still very much a Pitt guy. However, you are right, he has a good situation, but the ceiling at Lehigh is still limited so he could be tempted. Pitt would have to make a serious commitment to bring him in, but I don't think he'd be interested because of family.
And he's an awesome guy and loves Pitt.
^^this too. It's where he grew up. I wish he would take the job. We'd be awesome.
Do you think it'd be possible to turn that into something that multiple Olympic sports can use? I'd love to see a 200m banked indoor track ala Penn State, with nice wrestling and volleyball facilities as well.
Speaking of track, I was mentioning to my former teammate who was fraternity brothers at CMU with Dan Gilman (on the staff of the mayor) that I thought it'd be perfect to turn the old Shadyside Armory into an indoor facility, just like the conversion of the Armory in NYC. Could have an opportunity for CMU to partner with Pitt on the project.
Well, it is currently shared by all the Olympic sports. Could they turn it into a legit indoor track facility that is still used by wrestling, volleyball and gymnastics? I doubt it. A mediocre one? maybe.
As usual, it all points back to commitment. (Almost) every coach has their price...and in wrestling, it's the coach who seems to be the draw for recruits, waaay more than the facilities. Up the salary, and you'll get a nationally recognized coach.
"Somerset Panther" has a link in a post above to a Pitt News article which pretty much describes the situation.
True. But I think to get the right coach, Pitt would have to make a serious commitment to upgrade the facilities. People who don't follow wrestling likely don't understand how important the workout partners, who usually are teammates and assistant coaches, are. If you are a top HS wrestler, like your nephew was, you want to go to a school where the coach is going to develop you and you will have an opportunity to train against top-flight wrestlers. So having an assistant who was an All-American and/or quality wrestlers on the team who are one or two weight classes above and below you is very important. For example, how much could you learn and improve being able to wrestle in the workout room against a four time NCAA champion. That was a big draw for Cornell, with Kyle Dake on the staff, and for tOSU, with Logan Steiber.
I would imagine having a coach who has a track record of being able to produce wrestlers who can win an NCAA title as freshmen (at least 3 who I can think of) and having Stieber there was a big factor for your nephew going to tOSU.
Ideally you'd like to see us make an investment in both, a coach and facilities.
I mean, non-revenue sport? Unless some big shot alum wants to stroke a check, not happening.
It happened to soccer, and it happened to swimming & diving. New ACC money has changed some things.
