what am i to make from dokish's optimism.......

[benchwarmer04]

about pitt football under narduzzi. honestly, doke is my "go to guy" when it concerns pitt football. he has an honest well studied view of the program,and he is extremely knowledgeable about high and college football . oh,were we only so blessed to have him as on a college football beat for pitt, on our major daily newspaper.

I got my first season tickets on "major 1",arrival-and its been.....well, you know as well as me, fellow panther travelers. doke's got me almost believing. what say you fellow travelers ? do you buy into doke's- well constructed by him-optimism about nardizzi and his staff ? (honestly I hit his blog first thing in the am, after I review google world news.) I view him as an wonderful asset to the Pittsburgh scene. (honestly, I think stern is clowning doke-as well as all of sterns few remaining listeners)

 

[oldpanther]

about pitt football under narduzzi. honestly, doke is my "go to guy" when it concerns pitt football. he has an honest well studied view of the program,and he is extremely knowledgeable about high and college football . oh,were we only so blessed to have him as on a college football beat for pitt, on our major daily newspaper.

I got my first season tickets on "major 1",arrival-and its been.....well, you know as well as me, fellow panther travelers. doke's got me almost believing. what say you fellow travelers ? do you buy into doke's- well constructed by him-optimism about nardizzi and his staff ? (honestly I hit his blog first thing in the am, after I review google world news.) I view him as an wonderful asset to the Pittsburgh scene. (honestly, I think stern is clowning doke-as well as all of sterns few remaining listeners)

I read Dokish once in a while but take his info with a grain of salt.

 

[The Loaded Italian]

I think its really easy to be optimistic about Narduzzi, why wouldnt you? Most every local recruit has us in their list, and things are looking good so far.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Take it for exactly what it's worth.

 

[Gary77]

about pitt football under narduzzi. honestly, doke is my "go to guy" when it concerns pitt football. he has an honest well studied view of the program,and he is extremely knowledgeable about high and college football . oh,were we only so blessed to have him as on a college football beat for pitt, on our major daily newspaper.

I got my first season tickets on "major 1",arrival-and its been.....well, you know as well as me, fellow panther travelers. doke's got me almost believing. what say you fellow travelers ? do you buy into doke's- well constructed by him-optimism about nardizzi and his staff ? (honestly I hit his blog first thing in the am, after I review google world news.) I view him as an wonderful asset to the Pittsburgh scene. (honestly, I think stern is clowning doke-as well as all of sterns few remaining listeners)

Honestly, I've never been a big fan of Doke, but if he's being optimistic about Pitt I applaud him. Pitt sure doesn't get much 'fluf' from the local media as others seem to, so I think it's encouraging to see a bit of positive energy on his site. Sure doesn't hurt!

 

[Tri-Power65]

Most every local recruit has us in their list, and things are looking good so far.

How so?

 

[Jeffburgh]

How so?

I like Nards A LOT, I think he is Pitt's Neo.

But, yeah, while not disastrous, they aren't killing in recruiting.

And, it is all just feel good until we see that he has changed the culture of morbid mediocrity on the field.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Take it for exactly what it's worth.

I'll translate. Zero.Point.Zero.

 

[vegasgreed]

I think its really easy to be optimistic about Narduzzi, why wouldnt you? Most every local recruit has us in their list, and things are looking good so far.

Being on the list and actually becoming a commit is two different things.

 

[The Loaded Italian]

Yeah, of course it is. But, we havent lost any that I know of yet from the WPIAL... Sanders committed before Narduzzi was even out recruiting. We havent even played a game yet, and the buzz around the program is great. There are far more 4 star guys with us in their list than before.

Deep breath there negative dudes... things are going well. I mean, why the attitude? Because we lost a guy that we didnt stand a chance with just a month or 2 ago??? We got Pine, he was a good out of state get. If we land Hamlin, things are good.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Not a fan, but I do agree in liking the staff hires more than the several previous.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

I appreciate the guy's passion, but I would never describe Chris Dokish as a well-informed football guy. I think his viewpoints are often shallow and pedestrian.

Chris Peak is far better informed. I'm not saying that because I'm posting to this board, that is genuinely how I feel.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

I appreciate the guy's passion, but I would never describe Chris Dokish as a well-informed football guy. I think his viewpoints are often shallow and pedestrian.

Chris Peak is far better informed. I'm not saying that because I'm posting to this board, that is genuinely how I feel.

Dokish is right more often than wrong. Far from perfect but offers decent opinion (better than the local rag columnists) Pretty much nailed Chryst from the beginning while most were sipping the anti-Graham kool-aid.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Dokish is right more often than wrong. Far from perfect but offers decent opinion (better than the local rag columnists) Pretty much nailed Chryst from the beginning while most were sipping the anti-Graham kool-aid.

He's a poster like the rest of us.

 

[NC Panther]

I think Doke is great - more informed than anyone on this board except Chris imho.

 

[LeftCoastPanther]

Take anybody's opinion with a grain of salt. Bottom line, nobody really knows. Even when Narduzzi speaks. He has no idea what's going to transpire on the field on Saturday afternoons.

 

[Jeffburgh]

He's a good amateur, which, sadly ranks him higher than most of the lazy, barely better than complete hackish Pittsburgh sports "media."

 

[SO4LIFE]

about pitt football under narduzzi. honestly, doke is my "go to guy" when it concerns pitt football. he has an honest well studied view of the program,and he is extremely knowledgeable about high and college football . oh,were we only so blessed to have him as on a college football beat for pitt, on our major daily newspaper.

I got my first season tickets on "major 1",arrival-and its been.....well, you know as well as me, fellow panther travelers. doke's got me almost believing. what say you fellow travelers ? do you buy into doke's- well constructed by him-optimism about nardizzi and his staff ? (honestly I hit his blog first thing in the am, after I review google world news.) I view him as an wonderful asset to the Pittsburgh scene. (honestly, I think stern is clowning doke-as well as all of sterns few remaining listeners)

Doke knows almost nothing about football. He was one of these Graham guys thinking all you have to do is run the spread hurry up to win. He is someone I wouldn't want to sit around during the game because the lack of insight would get annoying quickly.

That said he is right on Narduzzi it appears. Pitt is following the correct processes to win. If the average fan can't see that then the don't know what to look for.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Doke knows almost nothing about football. He was one of these Graham guys thinking all you have to do is run the spread hurry up to win. He is someone I wouldn't want to sit around during the game because the lack of insight would get annoying quickly.

That said he is right on Narduzzi it appears. Pitt is following the correct processes to win. If the average fan can't see that then the don't know what to look for.

Yeah, Narduzzi came from a similar background; large rival school with a ton more resources. Proceeded to kick their butt 7 years in a row. Hopefully can work the same magic here

 

[9nationalchampionships]

If Pitt beats ups in the next 4 games there is no way ups puts Pitt back on their schedule. I can’t wait till the 2016 game in PITTsburgh

Yeah, Narduzzi came from a similar background; large rival school with a ton more resources. Proceeded to kick their butt 7 years in a row. Hopefully can work the same magic here

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

He's a fan blogger. He is not media. He is no different than you or I. He does collate information well, and he is an optimistic Pitt fan in which he tells a lot of you things you want to hear. So you follow him like he Edward R Murrow.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I think Doke is great - more informed than anyone on this board except Chris imho.

It's still kind of early, but this may be the funniest thing posted on this board the whole year.

Recruits has it right. He's essentially a fan with a blog. He collates information well, but he has little real understanding of the meaning of it all. The notion that he's more informed than any of the more well informed fans on this board is laughable. His opinions are worth absolutely no more (and for the record, no less) than your average Pitt fan.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Doke knows almost nothing about football. He was one of these Graham guys thinking all you have to do is run the spread hurry up to win. He is someone I wouldn't want to sit around during the game because the lack of insight would get annoying quickly.

That said he is right on Narduzzi it appears. Pitt is following the correct processes to win. If the average fan can't see that then the don't know what to look for.

I think this is exactly right.

I remember reading his blog during the Todd Graham hiring and he clearly thought it was as simple as running a hurry up spread offense and you'll win.

That was alarmingly naive, IMHO.

Like many others, Doke guzzled the Graham Kool-Aid. What was most odd to me was his seeming insistence that to win in today's game Pitt HAD to run a spread offense. I vehemently disagreed with that POV at the time and I strongly disagree with it now.

Regardless of what you think of Paul Chryst as a coach, it was very obvious that his Wisconsin-esque run the ball down your throat offensive approach was working here. I think it was getting ready to take off with a quarterback who could make the necessary reads at the LOS and then stretch the defense horizontally with his legs and/or vertically with his arm.

I have said it many times on this board and I heard Brett Bielma reiterate it on the radio over the weekend. In that system, if you can recruit well on your offensive and defensive lines, and if you can add a couple of good running backs and a solid quarterback, you can beat any team in the country.

With so many teams going to spread offenses, playing a true power offense like that which is run at Arkansas and Wisconsin is almost like facing the wishbone. Teams simply don't face it very often and they are not built to stop it.

I am not at all sure that the defensive philosophy was working or if he was recruiting well enough to win as big as we'd like. However, that has nothing to do with what Doke continually insisted for about three years: that to win in today's game teams like Pitt MUST run a hurry up spread offense.

As I told him on a few occasions, I'm sorry but that is simply incorrect. It was wrong five years ago, it is wrong now, and it will be wrong 10 years from now. People will continue to insist that the game has changed and that type of football is archaic and antiquated and that teams can no longer win by playing that style of football. I am here to tell you that those people are wrong when they say that now and they will continue to be proven wrong going forward.

That is why I have long believed that his viewpoints were very narrow and maybe not the best informed. He seems like a better basketball guy than a football guy.

 

[Pghfan]

Been on this board for years and I realized one thing... Its all nonsense. His made up nonsense is just a little more entertaining than the made up nonsense from posters in this board

 

[geeman2001]

Graham had been successful before his lone Pitt season and has been successful since at ASU. BCS successful? No. But better than us. It's understandable sour grapes to minimize him, but sour grapes nonetheless ... and worse, inaccurate.

The most accurate criticism of him was his severe miscalculation that he could make Tino successful in his system instead of bringing in a quality juco qb (and there are plenty juke QBs who can run an offense like his successfully).

I dislike him for his crap departure as much as any and wish him the worst, just because. But I won't pretend he wasn't a very good hire. And I still wonder to this day what the administration reneged on to him so drastically that caused him such a dramatic abandoning of the job for what really amounts to a parallel tier job at best.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Been on this board for years and I realized one thing... Its all nonsense. His made up nonsense is just a little more entertaining than the made up nonsense from posters in this board

I think he also went to Plum HS.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Graham had been successful before his lone Pitt season and has been successful since at ASU. BCS successful? No. But better than us. It's understandable sour grapes to minimize him, but sour grapes nonetheless ... and worse, inaccurate.

The most accurate criticism of him was his severe miscalculation that he could make Tino successful in his system instead of bringing in a quality juco qb (and there are plenty juke QBs who can run an offense like his successfully).

I dislike him for his crap departure as much as any and wish him the worst, just because. But I won't pretend he wasn't a very good hire. And I still wonder to this day what the administration reneged on to him so drastically that caused him such a dramatic abandoning of the job for what really amounts to a parallel tier job at best.

I couldn't disagree more. If a guy isn't a fit for your company's culture, he's not a good hire.

Graham is a successful coach but he was a disastrous hire on a lot of levels.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

I couldn't disagree more. If a guy isn't a fit for your company's culture, he's not a good hire.

Graham is a successful coach but he was a disastrous hire on a lot of levels.

Pitt only has a bad culture as related to football, and it's fans primarily are interested only is they win the way the fan wants... And will diminish any other way.

Our culture is poison... Which is why no good coach will come here or stay.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

As for what the admin did to cause Graham to leave, I think that's a complicated question without any real clear answers.

I have no doubt that our former athletic director told him - or at least implied -that Graham would have much more latitude than he was actually given. I also have no doubt that Pederson meddled with Graham's program and that quickly grew tiresome for the coach. That is a recurring complaint from all of the coaches who worked under him - that he often confused with the athletic director's position with that of a general manager.

However, it also must be said the Graham was intentionally circumventing Maureen Anderson and freezing her out of his donor circle of trust. That was a real problem as it almost certainly would have led to cheating - which I think was his aim in the first place.

Also, I think Graham quickly realized that his strategy of including Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma as his primary recruiting grounds was not going to work.

He couldn't convince those kids to go that far north and the few kids he did convince to come here mostly failed to stick for any number of reasons.

The bottom line is the guy never planned to be here for more than two or three years and always saw this as a stopgap for his career. That would not have been a good thing for Pitt as it would have crippled us worse than his leaving after just one season did. It's incredible that people just blow that off like its an incidental consideration when in fact it should have been the primary consideration.

His character issues were well-documented before he ever set foot on our campus. That should have become readily apparent during the interview process and the fact that it didn't is a major indictment on everyone involved.

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

Pitt only has a bad culture as related to football, and it's fans primarily are interested only is they win the way the fan wants... And will diminish any other way.

Our culture is poison... Which is why no good coach will come here or stay.

Nah. If we win, the haters will have no choice but to shut up for fear of looking foolish.

 

[GT74]

Pitt only has a bad culture as related to football, and it's fans primarily are interested only is they win the way the fan wants... And will diminish any other way.

Our culture is poison... Which is why no good coach will come here or stay.

Nah. Our culture is not poison, actually not much different than most others. We have a nucleus of hard-core fans, albeit smaller than most, that will support the program no matter the circumstances, another group that is fragile, and can turn negative at the drop of a hat, and another that will support only when winning. We have to share loyalties with the Steelers, Pens, and Pirates, as any other major pro city must do. And, a coach will stay if the results are good, administration is supportive, and future is bright.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Nah. If we win, the haters will have no choice but to shut up for fear of looking foolish.

Doesn't deter yinzer angst.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Nah. Our culture is not poison, actually not much different than most others. We have a nucleus of hard-core fans, albeit smaller than most, that will support the program no matter the circumstances, another group that is fragile, and can turn negative at the drop of a hat, and another that will support only when winning. We have to share loyalties with the Steelers, Pens, and Pirates, as any other major pro city must do. And, a coach will stay if the results are good, administration is supportive, and future is bright.

I frankly,. Disagree.
Maybe because I've lived in a different college town since graduation... But our fans suck and are cheap.
The administration isn't the problem.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I frankly,. Disagree.
Maybe because I've lived in a different college town since graduation... But our fans suck and are cheap.
The administration isn't the problem.

Does your college town have 3 pro teams? And surrounded and infiltrated by 3 rabid fan bases? Pitt's biggest issue is geography. It will always be at best, the 4th option and in many cases the 6th option as far as sports teams go in the area. Fans, including alumni notice this. One thing that surprised me when I went away to college is how many people could care less about sports. I know, funny, eh? Those imbeciles. Anyways, even all those zombies who jump up and down in trance like fashion in State College probably don't know much or foilow much in regards to sports. They are there because it is an event, it is a party and it is their way of saying WE ARE and celebrate who they are. We have that here, it is called Steeler games.

 

[bobfree]

Why is this guy such a lighting rod?
Ya, he's a fan with a blog, so what?
Some of you have such egos that you have to rush on here making sure people know exactly what doke "really is". And don't forget to tell us what you were right about along the way.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

I think it is funny that you are on a Pitt site posting that there is no Pitt fan base. Your existence on this site contradicts your statement.

You have to have a culture...to have a bad fit. Pitt has no fan base. No set symbolism. Changes coaches and philosophy as often as I wipe my ass. Please, define the Pitt culture???

 

[Pghfan]

I think he also went to Plum HS.

Nice recruits, well done

 

[Pghfan]

Why is this guy such a lighting rod?
Ya, he's a fan with a blog, so what?
Some of you have such egos that you have to rush on here making sure people know exactly what doke "really is". And don't forget to tell us what you were right about along the way.

I don't get the hate either. Go over to the hoops pay board, his name is mud over there with the pay board posters. Dude loves to talk Pitt sports, I love Pitt sports. He is opinionated, OK but so what, its Pitt related and I enjoy reading any Pitt material. If I disagree then so be it but I'll take an opinionated Pitt article any day. As far as recruiting predictions, if doke gets into that nonsense, well I go with the opinion I do with all these self proclaimed experts and call BS

 

[Delpanther]

Pitt only has a bad culture as related to football, and it's fans primarily are interested only is they win the way the fan wants... And will diminish any other way.

Our culture is poison... Which is why no good coach will come here or stay.

What coach has Pitt ever had that was criticized and run out of town because he didn't "win" the way the fans wanted? Answer-None.Your faulty theory has never been put to the test.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It's still kind of early, but this may be the funniest thing posted on this board the whole year.

Recruits has it right. He's essentially a fan with a blog. He collates information well, but he has little real understanding of the meaning of it all. The notion that he's more informed than any of the more well informed fans on this board is laughable. His opinions are worth absolutely no more (and for the record, no less) than your average Pitt fan.

Curious, does Doke's opinions (or even yours or mine) count more or less than Ron Cook, Joe Starkey, etc? Do "Pittsburgh media" like Cook, Starkey, etc know more about Pitt football than Doke........or you or me?

Personally, I'm much more interested to hear what Pitt fans and Pitt bloggers are saying about Pitt football than "Pittsburgh media," and that's not to be overly critical of the Pittsburgh media but they just can't pay enough attention to it to be knowledgeable enough to have valid opinions. Too much Stillers, Pens, Pirates to cover.