More evidence that fiscal conservatism is gone. MAGA is social conservatism with fiscal spending.

Karl has a story on the front page about some early training camp developments....



Pat Narduzzi understandably dedicated the first press conference of the spring to the tragic passing of Mason Alexander, and while the entire program continues to mourn the loss of an outstanding young man, as Narduzzi said Tuesday, his untimely loss is the first adversity the Panthers have to work through in the 2025 season.

Pitt hit the field at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Thursday morning for the second time this spring, and while the pads won't come on until Saturday, Narduzzi knows there's a long way to go.

"It wasn’t as clean as I’d like practice two to be, but I would probably guess that most of the time it’s not," Narduzzi said after practice. "I anticipated that in our team meeting this morning, saying yesterday they did a good job taking care of each other, but after you get that taste of the first practice, you want to go harder.

"Thought there were too many offsides on the defense. The offense did a nice job with their cadence, so that’s a tribute to Eli (Holstein), the quarterbacks and Kade Bell. So, he got them today. He won’t get them again, but it’s great that we see it that early — people trying to draw us offsides. I don’t want to see it in September. But again, good work at really all three phases."

So, what did Narduzzi say about his team Thursday?

RB2?

Desmond Reid is one of the best running backs in college football, so it makes sense that Juelz Goff is doing everything that Reid is doing.

Reid is the easy No. 1, coming off an All-American campaign, and if you ask Narduzzi, there isn't much uncertainty at RB2. It's Goff, who is coming off a solid true freshman campaign.

Narduzzi said that while Goff started slow, he looked really good in the GameAbove Sports Bowl against Toledo (six carries for 27 yards and three receptions for 32 yards). The pair formed a one-two duo in the bowl game, and that one-two duo hasn't been able to be separated since.

"Him and Dez are like two brothers," Narduzzi said. "I say we got a brotherhood in this room, but those two do everything together. When Dez is going to stretch in the training room, Juelz does."

The stats don't jump off the page in Goff's freshman season, but he's an electric athlete with plenty of speed. He looks the part. And he will have the opportunity throughout the spring to be the No. 2.

Derrick Davis Jr. is still rehabbing a late-season injury against Boston College, one that will force him to miss the entire spring, and it will take Reid, Goff, early enrollee Ja'Kyrian Turner and wide receiver-turned-running back Justin Cook.

"You need two or three or four of those guys," Narduzzi said. "And the Boosie kid, Turner, Ja’Kyrian, he’s talented, he makes you miss and for a young guy, we’re excited about him, too.”

What is Julian Dugger's role?

Julian Dugger earned a lot of fans with his gutsy performance in the bowl game last year (maybe the bowl game loss wasn't as important as the development of the young players...), and the coaching staff is high on him, too.

Dugger is the clear-cut No. 2 quarterback, and it's not because there aren't many other options.

“You saw the bowl game, right?" Narduzzi said. "So, yeah, there’s no question about it. You’ll have to defend him in the run game, and he’ll hurt you in the pass game, too. There’s always gonna be a special package for him.”

Dugger is a big, strong kid who only played in one game last season. But when he was inserted into the lineup in the second half of the GameAbove Sports Bowl, the offense opened up. I think a full four quarters of Dugger would have led to a Pitt win.

He wasn't perfect, throwing for 72 yards and two scores and rushing for 88 yards and another score (against one interception, a pick-six), but he showcased a skill set that a whole lot of quarterbacks simply don't have. It's not unfair to wish he was inserted into the lineup much earlier in the season, as the offense sputtered with Nate Yarnell and David Lynch.

There's a long way to go with Dugger, but he's clearly a good fit in the scheme and a very capable playmaker. If Holstein goes down, Dugger is ready. And I think Mason Heintschel will quickly climb the ranks to QB4.

Could Pitt use a proven backup? Sure, who couldn't? But there's a whole lot of upside in the room as it stands.

Who's taking over at Mike?

Brandon Geroge was a very solid Mike linebacker last season, stepping up into a leadership role that was greatly needed on the defense.

But he's gone, and a very, very talented linebacking corps needs a playmaker in the middle. So, who is it?

It's Braylan Lovelace and Jeremiah Marcelin.

Lovelace played on the outside last season, and unfortunately for him (because he played so well), he was overshadowed by his excellent running mates. Kyle Louis was a first-team All-American and Rasheem Biles earned an All-ACC nod.

Lovelace isn't quite the same player as George, but he's a playmaker (53 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, four sacks and a pick six last season), and he's smart enough to fulfill the role required of the "green dot" in the linebacking corps.

Marcelin, a rising sophomore who burned his redshirt last season, is incredibly intriguing, too. And he's perhaps more suited to take that Mike spot.

“Jeremiah Marcelin, and Lovelace is in there starting right now," Narduzzi said. "And then Justin Thompson. We’re always gonna play our three best. Kyle Louis could go in there and play Mike; he’d be dangerous. I don’t know what he would do in there, might have to try him there one day.”

Pitt is in a very good position with its linebackers, more so than any position on the team, and there are a couple of options at Mike. And there's versatility.

Linebackers coach Ryan Manalac has the unenviable task of dishing out snaps now, including safety convert Jayden Bonsu.

Quick Hitters

Derrick Davis is out for the spring, one of 19 players who needed surgery. Narduzzi said that was double the total over the last two or three seasons combined. Yikes. He, of course, declined to name any others who underwent surgery.

Che Nwabuko was another, though. He wasn't on the first spring roster, and Narduzzi confirmed he isn't with the team anymore. He's still at Pitt, though, and will pursue track & field.

Cruce Brookins is in the pole position at boundary safety, playing alongside Javon McIntyre at field safety. Narduzzi said he would like four starters at safety and cornerback, so Jesse Anderson and UC Davis transfer Kavir Bains-Marquez are in the mix, too.

I think it is between Stanford and Florida State. I'm leaning toward FSU since I have never been there. Stanford football lacks the passion of most programs, but the surrounding area is incredible.

An amazing board off a missed alley OOC with no one around him. UF players now easily getting behind him with cuts to basket. The announcer first called him one of the best offensive rebounders in the country and a few minutes after he missed a shot said if he can’t dunk he will have trouble scoring tonight.

Don't know if this is really Eli, but love that snerd is getting called out. What a loser.

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Hey Paul:

Didn't you say in your introductory post a couple of weeks ago that political posts would not be acceptable? It's seems like there have been a lot of them since then. I, for one, wouldn't object to you not allowing them any longer.

Some thoughts from me as we get started here:

1) I want this to be a healthy community and that means we all need to communicate. I am way open to suggestions of things you as subscribers would like to see in the future. We are hitting the ground running in terms of the amount of content we are already producing but I have a number of weekly items that we will begin to implement over the next week or two. One will obviously be a mailbag of some sort where Karl and I will answer your questions. Once spring football begins we will have a daily notebook of items from practices and around the team as well as at least one recruiting summary each week as well. These will be staples so that every day we can provide as much quality information on Pitt football/basketball as possible.

2) Some have asked about a podcast and I will eventually get that up and running but it is not a front shelf priority thing for me right now. It will get rolling in short order and I have actually talked to someone who would be excellent for our community to do some podcasting for us. This is obviously going to be an important element but my head is spinning right now as I have so much to get done to get us off and running that a daily podcast of some sort will be something I get running after I get this all together.

3) I have 30 years in the newspaper business and so my standards for journalistic integrity and ethics are rooted in what the business USED to be. I will not publish stuff that I don't know to be correct and accurate. It is important to have the news and stay on top of the news but we need to get it right. There have been way too many high profile blunders in recent years across many platforms because guys valued being first over being right. We will be on top of news and cover the hell out of Pitt but we are not in the business of being wrong and our reputation of being right is far too important to risk because I want to hit the button 2 minutes before the next guy.

4) I am bringing a moderator on board to help me make sure the flow of these threads is good and the community is user friendly. I want to make sure people are having a good experience in these threads and we can't do that if there are bullies and trolls and people who don't follow the rules. I have to believe if you are a subscriber you are serious in your interest about all things Pitt and that's what the focus of all of these discussions should be. And this should be fun, a diversion, entertainment not a miserable experience. Like I said, give me a few days to get up and running and get some staff in place to make sure we are covering all the bases.

5) Spring camp starts next week and Karl will be there to chronicle it all and cover the heck out of it. Obviously we all have a sour taste after the late-season meltdown but with Eli Holstein back and a defense that should be improved, it feels like this could be a bounce back year for the Panthers. We will begin today with our "position battles to watch" series so look for that up on the site a little later.

6) I am excited to get this thing started and up and running and for the chance to interact with all of you. If you have any suggestions, questions, news tips you want us to look into, whatever, my door is figuratively always open just drop me a line at paulzeise@yahoo.com.

Enjoy your Friday, let's all make sure it is good vibes only every day and let's try and live our best life one day at a time!!!

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Can someone please force this team to move? Tampa/St. Pete hates this team and have refused, for all of its history to go see them play unless they are playing the Yankees or Red Sox. Their new stadium deal just got shut down so now the plan is to fix their dome, which was destroyed by a hurricane. What a waste. They haven't even sold out Opening Day at the 11K seat minor league stadium that they are playing at.

Mike Blue & White writes today for the case of Suzie McConnell being inducted into the basketball HOF. While he of course speaks glowingly of her psu days (big surprise) he offered this brief assessment of her Pitt tenure:

"McConnell-Serio also had some excellent seasons as Duquesne’s women’s coach before taking the coach’s job at Pitt. Although her tenure at Pitt didn’t end well when she was let go, she also had some successful seasons there."

Didn't end well? It was a full blown disaster. When your star recruit from a local WPIAL catholic school transfers out, that is a huge red flag.

Honestly, I thought she was the biggest home-run hire ever at Pitt, bigger than Wanny. I guess the warnings signs appeared early when she was losing to Duquesne (the school she left) in the first couple seasons. I don't follow women's BB very closely, but that was really a disappointing run she had. Not sure why she didn't have the success we thought would be had here. Maybe the ACC was too big a jump? Her coaching resume, outside of high school, was very light. Hiring her sister as the assistant didn't help much either (er, are you paying attention Jeff?).