THIS WILL BE LONG BECAUSE I AM FRUSTRATED...
- I like Pat Narduzzi. He has done a very good job here at Pitt, in my opinion. He has been behind the eight ball since he started working here. Like it or not, the Pitt football program is not viewed around the country, the way those of us would like it to be. It is hard to recruit the top talent on offense when you are running an offense from the 1980's. Most of the top Power 5 programs are throwing the ball all over the place, They run quick, fast paced, exciting offenses (very similar to what UNC showed Pittsburgh last night), Pitt wants to run the ball. That type of football (Dave Wannstedt coached the same way) will not work in 2023.
If you think about it, Pat Narduzzi is the football version of Jamie Dixon. Both Dixon and Narduzzi are very likeable guys. Guys that most parents would view as solid individuals and would have no problem allowing their children to play for men like the two of them. They both love to have their given sports played in a "slowed down manner". Dixon wanted to take 28 seconds off the shot clock, play superior defense and work hard to get rebounds and win games 60-55. Narduzzi would love to run the ball 50 times a game to take time off of the clock, play solid defense, kick FG's as needed and win games 16-13. In Power 5 college football and basketball of 2023, those approaches will only work when their teams are the underdogs. It allows them to keep games close and gives their teams a chance to win against superior talent in most games. Unfortunately for the Pitt football team, as we saw last night and probably will see when FSU shows up on the schedule, those fast paced, higher scoring teams will make it difficult for Pitt to compete and win. I didn't like the cignetti hire from the beginning and have said so on here many times. Have been attacked by some on here because I've called his "high school" offense conservative and boring, but I do believe that the on field results support my opinion.
- For Narduzzi to keep his job here at Pitt, he MUST change. He must cut cignetti loose after this season and find an OC that is interested in playing Power 5 football of 2024. If he does this, the program will begin to get the top end recruits to come to the school to play in it. If not, just like Jamie Dixon experienced, fans will become unhappy with being mediocre and finishing 7-5. Being a Pitt sports fan doesn't need to be this difficult.
- The steelers are in the same situation. Their HC is stubborn, arrogant and not willing to change his style of playing football. He brought in one of his "friends" in matt canada. There is a reason why canada usually only stays in a given job a year or two and then leaves or gets fired. The steelers offense is just terrible. They do have some talent of that side of the ball, but their OC seems to be lacking the ability to get the ball into their play makers hands. Between tomlin and canada, they have absolutely ruined the start of Kenny Pickett's professional career. People keep saying that he's in his second year and he's not improving like others. Problem is, he was kept on the bench for almost half of his first year. They've treated him like he is some unproven talent, when his college experience shows otherwise. Pickett is not going to go out there and call an audible because he knows he'd be back on the bench for not running the plays that was called for him. If you are a Kenny Pickett fan, you should want to see the steelers continue to struggle on offense so they either get rid of canada (tomlin ain't going nowhere and he knows it) or he gets traded to an NFL team that uses an NFL offensive style better suited to today's game.
- H2P!
- I like Pat Narduzzi. He has done a very good job here at Pitt, in my opinion. He has been behind the eight ball since he started working here. Like it or not, the Pitt football program is not viewed around the country, the way those of us would like it to be. It is hard to recruit the top talent on offense when you are running an offense from the 1980's. Most of the top Power 5 programs are throwing the ball all over the place, They run quick, fast paced, exciting offenses (very similar to what UNC showed Pittsburgh last night), Pitt wants to run the ball. That type of football (Dave Wannstedt coached the same way) will not work in 2023.
If you think about it, Pat Narduzzi is the football version of Jamie Dixon. Both Dixon and Narduzzi are very likeable guys. Guys that most parents would view as solid individuals and would have no problem allowing their children to play for men like the two of them. They both love to have their given sports played in a "slowed down manner". Dixon wanted to take 28 seconds off the shot clock, play superior defense and work hard to get rebounds and win games 60-55. Narduzzi would love to run the ball 50 times a game to take time off of the clock, play solid defense, kick FG's as needed and win games 16-13. In Power 5 college football and basketball of 2023, those approaches will only work when their teams are the underdogs. It allows them to keep games close and gives their teams a chance to win against superior talent in most games. Unfortunately for the Pitt football team, as we saw last night and probably will see when FSU shows up on the schedule, those fast paced, higher scoring teams will make it difficult for Pitt to compete and win. I didn't like the cignetti hire from the beginning and have said so on here many times. Have been attacked by some on here because I've called his "high school" offense conservative and boring, but I do believe that the on field results support my opinion.
- For Narduzzi to keep his job here at Pitt, he MUST change. He must cut cignetti loose after this season and find an OC that is interested in playing Power 5 football of 2024. If he does this, the program will begin to get the top end recruits to come to the school to play in it. If not, just like Jamie Dixon experienced, fans will become unhappy with being mediocre and finishing 7-5. Being a Pitt sports fan doesn't need to be this difficult.
- The steelers are in the same situation. Their HC is stubborn, arrogant and not willing to change his style of playing football. He brought in one of his "friends" in matt canada. There is a reason why canada usually only stays in a given job a year or two and then leaves or gets fired. The steelers offense is just terrible. They do have some talent of that side of the ball, but their OC seems to be lacking the ability to get the ball into their play makers hands. Between tomlin and canada, they have absolutely ruined the start of Kenny Pickett's professional career. People keep saying that he's in his second year and he's not improving like others. Problem is, he was kept on the bench for almost half of his first year. They've treated him like he is some unproven talent, when his college experience shows otherwise. Pickett is not going to go out there and call an audible because he knows he'd be back on the bench for not running the plays that was called for him. If you are a Kenny Pickett fan, you should want to see the steelers continue to struggle on offense so they either get rid of canada (tomlin ain't going nowhere and he knows it) or he gets traded to an NFL team that uses an NFL offensive style better suited to today's game.
- H2P!
