Once again, it's chicken before the egg. In this business of college football (and it's a cutthroat business, even more than pro sports, which is socialism), capital investment is needed up front to create an attractive product. Only then will customers will come.
Those chastising fans for not blindly coming out to root for "dear old Pittsburgh and the glory of the game" only to see pastings by Akron and Houston, shoot stick with pro sports, where they artificially reward losing teams by giving them the best new players the following year. That sh*t ain't happening in college sports. Winners get the spoils, and the spoils can be tremendous. But they have to become winners first. No charity "draft lotteries" or "supplemental drafts" exist. Schools have to supply their own capital up front. That means significant upfront coin.
I like Narduzzi, he and his staff exude far more promise than Chryst and his gang of idiots ... perhaps they will be the blind squirrels who find the golden acorn for us. But Pitt bumping its spending on coaches up a mere two million shows that the commitment is still lacking. That's cost of living increase in this business, nothing more. We are still following the dubious business plan of hoping for blind-ass luck.
Even then, it's no guarantee, as basketball is showing. Even if you strike gold against all odds, as Pitt did with Howland/Dixon, you have to keep it up. JD lost his excellent assistants, and they were replaced with garbage, plus placed draconian limits on players (aka Durand), which has turned recruiting sour, and the program is suddenly struggling mightily.
"Fraud" is indeed in a unique position to explain this to recruits as you say, because it's exactly why he left,,,screaming into the night...cuz he saw the writing on the wall.
