With coordinator changes and significant recruiting visits, Tuesday was full of activity for Pitt, and Wednesday is shaping up to be no different.
Here’s the rundown of everything that’s going on.
Tuesday’s big news
Just when we thought we would only write about recruiting this week.
These writeups are focused on recruiting because that’s the big thing that is happening right now. And to be honest, I was looking forward to spending all week writing recruiting updates; that’s what makes this time of year fun. But alas, yesterday brought news of Mark Whipple’s departure from Pitt after three seasons as offensive coordinator. So that’s going to be part of today’s writeup.
What happened with Pitt and Whipple? Here’s what I have pieced together.
I think there has been an expectation for some time that 2021 would be Whipple’s final season at Pitt. He has family matters to consider as a primary motivating factor, plus the success of 2021, from his work with the offense to Kenny Pickett’s stellar play and the overall team success, seemed to set up perfectly as a swan song: Call an offense that is one of the best in the country, develop a Heisman Trophy finalist, win a conference title and get to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Perfect.
And I think all parties were looking forward to things ending on that high note. Except maybe Whipple wasn’t.
Whipple reportedly interviewed with Nebraska on Sunday (it looks like Huskers head coach Scott Frost flew to Arizona to meet with him). The next day, Whipple did an in-home visit with transfer quarterback option Chubba Purdy, ostensibly to recruit him to Pitt. That seems like a conflict - interviewing with one school and recruiting for another - and I believe Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi felt the same way. Once he caught wind of Whipple’s connection to Nebraska, things moved pretty quickly on Tuesday morning.
This does seem to be something of a mutual decision. I think Narduzzi was already preparing to have a new coordinator in 20222, with only an outside chance of Whipple returning, and the events of the last 48 hours only solidified the move. To me, that should suggest a head start on the search for a new coordinator. I don’t necessarily think that means someone will be hired tomorrow or even later this week. But you’d like to think that Narduzzi has some idea in mind of who he would like for the position.
The one thing that really stands out to me is the fact that Whipple isn’t coaching the bowl game. In the past, we’ve seen plenty of coordinators leave for other jobs but still coach their teams in a bowl, particularly if it’s a prominent bowl. Narduzzi himself coached the defense for Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl after he took the Pitt job. Paul Chryst coached Wisconsin’s offense in the Rose Bowl after he took the Pitt job. And just yesterday came news that Ohio State is hiring Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles - but Knowles will coach the Cowboys in the Fiesta Bowl.
Whatever the circumstances are here, it’s unfortunate that Whipple won’t be calling plays in the Peach Bowl. I’m sure that was mutually agreed upon, but you’d like to think he would finish things out.
It has been jokingly suggested to me by several sources that Pitt should just let Kenny Pickett call the plays against Michigan State. I think he’s smart enough to do it, but obviously that would be a challenge when he doesn’t have a direct line to Tim Salem and the offensive grad assistants in the booth.
That would certainly add to the legend, though.
Recruiting impact
So what’s the recruiting impact of Whipple’s departure? That’s an interesting question. In the three recruiting classes Whipple was involved with - 2020, 2021 and 2022 - Pitt got a commitment from just one high school quarterback prospect: Nate Yarnell, who signed with the Panthers last year.
It didn’t look like the class of 2022 was going to add to that list, as Pitt made only moderate efforts at landing a high school quarterback this year, and once guys like Steve Angeli and Drew Allar and Peter Delaportas committed to their schools of choice, the whole process seemed to stop.
Of course, some of that is explained by the depth on Pitt’s current roster, where the Panthers had Kenny Pickett in his final season and Nick Patti, Davis Beville, Joey Yellen and Yarnell all with multiple years to play. Those numbers allowed the staff to punt on the 2022 class with an eye toward 2023, where they do have some targets they are pursuing, like Marco Lainez, Colin Houck and William Watson.
The other thing that has given Pitt (and every other school) a bit more flexibility in quarterback recruiting is the transfer portal. While the portal has changed the landscape of recruiting at every position, I think it is most pronounced at quarterback; the portal has, over the past few seasons, provided instant help at the most important position for teams who need it.
Pitt has obviously tapped into the well, with mixed results. But it was clear that the coaches went into this offseason with the plan of doing it again. I don’t think that’s necessarily a reflection on Patti, Beville, Yellen and Yarnell as much as it’s a matter of evaluating next season’s roster with all the talent coming back and seeing that there’s really one piece that could set the Panthers up for another 10-win season.
And that piece is quarterback, of course.
Here’s where we get to the negative impact of Whipple’s timing.
Because Pitt played in the ACC Championship Game, the coaches only had one week to go on the road recruiting (they spent last week preparing for Wake while all the coaches who weren’t in conference championship games were on the road). That’s a short schedule and it meant the staff had to get a lot of work done between Sunday and Saturday.
For Whipple, this week was going to be spent with a majority of the focus on transfer options. We saw that he visited - and offered - Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy on Monday night. That visit made sense as a starting point since Whipple still has a residence in Arizona, where Purdy lives. Plus, Purdy is pretty good and one of the top available transfer options.
Here’s the problem, though. Each coaching staff can visit each recruit/transfer target once in a week, and since Whipple went to Purdy’s house on Monday night as a member of the Pitt coaching staff, nobody else from the Panthers - not Narduzzi or Tim Salem or anyone else - can visit him this week.
And since this week is the final week of the contact period until January 14, and Pitt’s spring semester starts January 10, you can see the conflict:
If Pitt wants to get Purdy on campus for the spring semester, it will have to be done without an in-home visit.
Now, that’s not a death knell. Coaches are well aware of how to use Zoom and FaceTime for recruiting, and I think that will be in full operation over the next month. Purdy or another transfer option could also take an official visit this weekend, but I don’t know if Pitt will be able to get that moving quickly enough.
There’s also the fact that not every quarterback who will transfer is in the portal yet. More players will go in over the next few weeks, meaning more options will emerge and Narduzzi will be able to recruit those players virtually; if they are as anxious to get on campus for the spring semester as Pitt likely will be to have them for the spring, then they should be able to make it work.
What will be interesting to watch over the next three days is whether Narduzzi himself conducts any in-home visits with transfer quarterback options. I’m not sure yet where he is expected to be today, but we do know he is scheduled to join Archie Collins for a visit with defensive back commit Ryland Gandy tomorrow. We’ll see if Narduzzi tries to get in with any transfers, but my guess is that most of that will happen over the next four weeks without any in-person contact.
I know that seems less than ideal, but quarterbacks in the portal are looking for an ideal situation and opportunity, and those things can be conveyed via Zoom and FaceTime.
Continued
Here’s the rundown of everything that’s going on.
Tuesday’s big news
Just when we thought we would only write about recruiting this week.
These writeups are focused on recruiting because that’s the big thing that is happening right now. And to be honest, I was looking forward to spending all week writing recruiting updates; that’s what makes this time of year fun. But alas, yesterday brought news of Mark Whipple’s departure from Pitt after three seasons as offensive coordinator. So that’s going to be part of today’s writeup.
What happened with Pitt and Whipple? Here’s what I have pieced together.
I think there has been an expectation for some time that 2021 would be Whipple’s final season at Pitt. He has family matters to consider as a primary motivating factor, plus the success of 2021, from his work with the offense to Kenny Pickett’s stellar play and the overall team success, seemed to set up perfectly as a swan song: Call an offense that is one of the best in the country, develop a Heisman Trophy finalist, win a conference title and get to a New Year’s Six bowl.
Perfect.
And I think all parties were looking forward to things ending on that high note. Except maybe Whipple wasn’t.
Whipple reportedly interviewed with Nebraska on Sunday (it looks like Huskers head coach Scott Frost flew to Arizona to meet with him). The next day, Whipple did an in-home visit with transfer quarterback option Chubba Purdy, ostensibly to recruit him to Pitt. That seems like a conflict - interviewing with one school and recruiting for another - and I believe Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi felt the same way. Once he caught wind of Whipple’s connection to Nebraska, things moved pretty quickly on Tuesday morning.
This does seem to be something of a mutual decision. I think Narduzzi was already preparing to have a new coordinator in 20222, with only an outside chance of Whipple returning, and the events of the last 48 hours only solidified the move. To me, that should suggest a head start on the search for a new coordinator. I don’t necessarily think that means someone will be hired tomorrow or even later this week. But you’d like to think that Narduzzi has some idea in mind of who he would like for the position.
The one thing that really stands out to me is the fact that Whipple isn’t coaching the bowl game. In the past, we’ve seen plenty of coordinators leave for other jobs but still coach their teams in a bowl, particularly if it’s a prominent bowl. Narduzzi himself coached the defense for Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl after he took the Pitt job. Paul Chryst coached Wisconsin’s offense in the Rose Bowl after he took the Pitt job. And just yesterday came news that Ohio State is hiring Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles - but Knowles will coach the Cowboys in the Fiesta Bowl.
Whatever the circumstances are here, it’s unfortunate that Whipple won’t be calling plays in the Peach Bowl. I’m sure that was mutually agreed upon, but you’d like to think he would finish things out.
It has been jokingly suggested to me by several sources that Pitt should just let Kenny Pickett call the plays against Michigan State. I think he’s smart enough to do it, but obviously that would be a challenge when he doesn’t have a direct line to Tim Salem and the offensive grad assistants in the booth.
That would certainly add to the legend, though.
Recruiting impact
So what’s the recruiting impact of Whipple’s departure? That’s an interesting question. In the three recruiting classes Whipple was involved with - 2020, 2021 and 2022 - Pitt got a commitment from just one high school quarterback prospect: Nate Yarnell, who signed with the Panthers last year.
It didn’t look like the class of 2022 was going to add to that list, as Pitt made only moderate efforts at landing a high school quarterback this year, and once guys like Steve Angeli and Drew Allar and Peter Delaportas committed to their schools of choice, the whole process seemed to stop.
Of course, some of that is explained by the depth on Pitt’s current roster, where the Panthers had Kenny Pickett in his final season and Nick Patti, Davis Beville, Joey Yellen and Yarnell all with multiple years to play. Those numbers allowed the staff to punt on the 2022 class with an eye toward 2023, where they do have some targets they are pursuing, like Marco Lainez, Colin Houck and William Watson.
The other thing that has given Pitt (and every other school) a bit more flexibility in quarterback recruiting is the transfer portal. While the portal has changed the landscape of recruiting at every position, I think it is most pronounced at quarterback; the portal has, over the past few seasons, provided instant help at the most important position for teams who need it.
Pitt has obviously tapped into the well, with mixed results. But it was clear that the coaches went into this offseason with the plan of doing it again. I don’t think that’s necessarily a reflection on Patti, Beville, Yellen and Yarnell as much as it’s a matter of evaluating next season’s roster with all the talent coming back and seeing that there’s really one piece that could set the Panthers up for another 10-win season.
And that piece is quarterback, of course.
Here’s where we get to the negative impact of Whipple’s timing.
Because Pitt played in the ACC Championship Game, the coaches only had one week to go on the road recruiting (they spent last week preparing for Wake while all the coaches who weren’t in conference championship games were on the road). That’s a short schedule and it meant the staff had to get a lot of work done between Sunday and Saturday.
For Whipple, this week was going to be spent with a majority of the focus on transfer options. We saw that he visited - and offered - Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy on Monday night. That visit made sense as a starting point since Whipple still has a residence in Arizona, where Purdy lives. Plus, Purdy is pretty good and one of the top available transfer options.
Here’s the problem, though. Each coaching staff can visit each recruit/transfer target once in a week, and since Whipple went to Purdy’s house on Monday night as a member of the Pitt coaching staff, nobody else from the Panthers - not Narduzzi or Tim Salem or anyone else - can visit him this week.
And since this week is the final week of the contact period until January 14, and Pitt’s spring semester starts January 10, you can see the conflict:
If Pitt wants to get Purdy on campus for the spring semester, it will have to be done without an in-home visit.
Now, that’s not a death knell. Coaches are well aware of how to use Zoom and FaceTime for recruiting, and I think that will be in full operation over the next month. Purdy or another transfer option could also take an official visit this weekend, but I don’t know if Pitt will be able to get that moving quickly enough.
There’s also the fact that not every quarterback who will transfer is in the portal yet. More players will go in over the next few weeks, meaning more options will emerge and Narduzzi will be able to recruit those players virtually; if they are as anxious to get on campus for the spring semester as Pitt likely will be to have them for the spring, then they should be able to make it work.
What will be interesting to watch over the next three days is whether Narduzzi himself conducts any in-home visits with transfer quarterback options. I’m not sure yet where he is expected to be today, but we do know he is scheduled to join Archie Collins for a visit with defensive back commit Ryland Gandy tomorrow. We’ll see if Narduzzi tries to get in with any transfers, but my guess is that most of that will happen over the next four weeks without any in-person contact.
I know that seems less than ideal, but quarterbacks in the portal are looking for an ideal situation and opportunity, and those things can be conveyed via Zoom and FaceTime.
Continued
