Again, I want a roll call with explanation. When Capel was hired....what were your thoughts?
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You may very well be right, but I’m reasonably certain that Narduzzi’s bosses don’t see it that way.
The guy just hasn’t done a good job. In many ways the program is either no better or even worse off than it was in Dooz Year 1. In 6 seasons he has managed to swap defensive ineptitude for offensive ineptitude. Pickett isn’t great but if he didn’t come back this season it likely would have been the worst season in a decade or more. That’s where we’re at.
Exactly 💯 Duzz has made a snoozefest out of the football program and he better win soon, there are coaches out there that can win at Pitt , DUZZ isn't one of them
I put a deposit on a season ticket package.
I only previously had only gone to single games here and there. I was ready to be all in.
Part of this is on these players who seem to refuse to be all in too. I’m not absolving Capel, but part of it is on them.
I only previously had only gone to single games here and there. I was ready to be all in.
Part of this is on these players who seem to refuse to be all in too. I’m not absolving Capel, but part of it is on them.
If you say it's on the players, then it is ultimately on Capel 100%. He's the head coach. The players are kids and take their cues from their head coach. And their head coach is not very good at giving them the right cues.
Judging a coach by how his players act is assuming that their are no other outside influences on them . We all know that that is the furthest thing from reality .
then you also inequivically ignore we are in year 3. The coaches job is to have relationships with kids AND their families. you just concluded he picks the wrong kids and doesnt manage them well once they get here
both things are huge focal ponts of his job.
i dont get to make bad hiring decisions and then go "welp people will be people"
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Are they new influences?? Or long-standing? It's still the HC's player. Excuses lead to chaos.
Capel's well-compensated. If he doesn't kick ass in this recruiting period, he should be fired next February. Lots of nice guys to choose from if that's the criterion.....because his RESULTS so far are simply inadequate. It may end Lyke's run, too.
I expected a definite improvement over KS but thought Capel was the best we could do given the Barnes/KS train wreck. He has barely met those expectations— although I was hoping (but not expecting) even more.
I certainly didn’t anticipate Covid, the free transfer portal, bad team chemistry and Hugley’s trouble to exacerbate everything. So, I will be patient just a little longer. If Capel can produce a roster (mainly from the portal) that goes 0.500 or better in the ACC next season and makes the post season he will be back in my good opinion. If not, I will be anxiously awaiting his replacement.
Thinking that your bb Coach has more influence on every young man that comes through their program than people he’s know all his life is like believing in Santa Claus .
Do you really know anyone until you live with them ?
Better programs can be more choosier than a program like Pitt if they so choose to be .
I‘m sure if you’d like to write the two checks ( one for JC and one for the next coach ) your wish could come true . While your at you should get rid of the chancellor and the board and replace them with people who value athletics above integrity and education !
I just don't think football wise (not sure how this thread got there) it is possible for Pitt to even have a 6 year run like 76-81, when they were mostly a top 10 program. I think they can have an individual year, when the stars align, maybe win 11 games. In fact, I think Pitt's ceiling is sort of like WVU has been over the past 30 years, have those 11 win seasons out of the blue, but nothing sustainable.
People do not understand the transformation of circumstances over the last 40 years.
1) Demographics, PA and Western PA in particular has been amongst the lowest population growth areas in the US. So the young folks producing children are elsewhere.
2) $$$ And I mean the whole money involved with the sport. It reminds me and parallels MLB where in the 80's the payrolls on teams were between $10-30 million between the top and lowest. Dave Parker was a million dollar baby and a Pirate. Now, the payrolls are $50-350 million. And the same divide has happened in college football. Part of it is....
3) Schools in NFL towns will always be second, therefore always be disadvantaged. In 1979, maybe you get away with it because there wasn't the revenue discrepancies as there are today. Not now. You are either "the show" or not. Pitt's not. Ohio State is.
4) TV. Back then, still large portions of the nation weren't wired for cable, let alone internet. Pittsburgh and many east coast cities were, consequently when networks broadcasted games, when ESPN starter, Pitt was a stalwart.
5) Social Media. These kids all know each other, they know where they are ranked, they become friends, they see how active fanbases are, again for a Pitt to go against an Ohio State, hell even stinkin' Penn State, those fanbases are nuts. Truly nuts. They would literally sacrifice small children in order to win.
Well, Gallagher hasn't been exactly a ball of fire. If he wants to de-emphasize sports, tell us. He caved to a big donor, which crushed the hoops program, let HIM figure out how to fund the solution. Don't hold your breath. Add in Lyke's silly extension for Capel.
No more excuses. The comment about integrity is dumb. They hired freaking Barnes.
Gallagher has been a fantastic chancellor, and the university’s investment in athletics has never been higher.
Huh? He hasn't met anything. His teams collapse every year, he can't coach and half the team want to get the hell away from him and the program. He has been a terrible hire.
i get it capel has zero accountability in any of this and after 3 years we are in fine shape.
i doubt you made this many excuses for stallings
I never expected Capel to be anything but an average at best gameday coach, I think his history has shown that. Thought he’d recruit a little better though.
I’m still not ready to give up on him, but if next year is pretty much a repeat of what we’ve seen so far it’s probably time to take a serious look at moving in another direction or at least forcing him to make major changes to his staff if he still wants to coach at Pitt.
I’m still not ready to give up on him, but if next year is pretty much a repeat of what we’ve seen so far it’s probably time to take a serious look at moving in another direction or at least forcing him to make major changes to his staff if he still wants to coach at Pitt.
I agree. If Capel can get us into a postseason tournament, NCAA or NIT, then he gets to stay another year. It's time next year to make a tournament, some postseason tournament. If Capel can't do that and can't get us some recruits who are top 100 at least, it's time for a replacement ASAP. Enough already with his excuses and lack of results.
I’m not making excuses the program currently is in a mess . I was expecting more at this point in time .
The problem with Pitt bb is very simple , Pitt can’t recruit enough talent to be competitive. JD couldn’t do it his last three yrs here , Stallings who was able to occasionally recruit NBA level talent to Vanderbilt couldn’t do it here and now JC , know as an ace recruiter , is struggling to find enough talent to do it here . There’s one common denominator here and it’s Pitt .
Thinking that any coach Pitt could successfully hire was going to come in and instantly turn this program around while abiding by the rules is naive .
Thinking that Pitt is going to go in a different direction any time soon is also being naive . No way they’re buying JC out with so many yrs left on his contract . It’s just not that important to them to eat another multI million dollar buyout .
College BB has changed and the average kid isn’t willing to stay and wait their turn . Not playing or thinking your not being used the way you like ..see ya later . This new dynamic might actually help Pitt , time will tell .
Can‘t see how any coach can be held responsible for one player sleeping with another players girlfriend , or an unrealistic parents interference in their kids decision . Guess he should’ve had 24 hr surveillance on Hugley . Or a guy whose no more than a rotation player on a decent team thinking he’s being misused .
Pitt Bb is a mess and no ones riding into town on a white horse to save the day . Pitts best bet right now is to hope JC finds his niche recruiting and Pitt becomes a middle of the pack ACC team , anything more is unrealistic.
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Barnes hired his bud , holy cow that doesn’t go on everyday in every aspect of life . Sucks for us though !
Pitt isn’t willing to do what it takes to win and they won’t spend the money necessary to win case closed . Name a school that wants to win that turns themselves in to the NCAA to save a few dollars !
So how did this school have a coach that was the winningest in Big East history?
How did it have the 5th best winning % in the country over a 10 year period?
What changed that the problem is “Pitt”?
We aren’t talking football in the 80s where facilities got obsolete and suddenly all programs were on TV.
PITT should still win. The old “brand” of recruiting tough kids that want to grind for 4 years is likely a victim of the era. But we have a enough that we should be able to evolve...and win
Just more excuses. And 3 years & counting isn't "instantly". Especially since we haven't landed a new commitment in about a year. Of course, Pitt is the only school with Covid problems.
We were a winning program before Stallings and Capel got here. And we'll win again. It may be after another coach or 2, but we WILL win again. I just have zero confidence in the present coach being capable of even getting us back to being competitive and possibly getting us an NIT bid let alone an NCAA bid. Just my opinion, but I don't think he knows how to do that at Pitt. He has given no indication whatsoever to this point that he can recruit or coach.
He was never the best coach and his recruiting is overrated without the $$$$ to buy players
But will he move the needle? We haven't really had one of those in over a year, well over a year. Any top 50 guys coming? Or maybe a transfer who was a top 50 player and playing at that level where he is now? X, Toney, McGowens, Champ, none of them were in that category. Lots of talk and lots of stuff thrown at the wall. Is any of it quality and does any of it stick?
Sorry, I look at results, and I don't listen to chatter or a lot of talk or excuses from a head coach. Let's see if anyone can produce at a high level. Because that's what we're going to need now with a depleted roster and no leadership.
If Pitt wanted to be really relevant again they need an active booster group to get the ball rolling .
Why would any impactful player choose Pitt when there’s literally 100 schools they can choose from with better records ?
Is going to Pitt better than going to Wake Forest or Clemson or ......
What would Harve's impressions be of the program and coach after 3 years you think? I sometimes wonder what he would be posting.
I wouldn't wish this on him. He was really disgusted with the jackals the last few discussions we had.
I don’t think anyone said anything resembling that -but you destroyed that strawman
without a big turnaround we’ll be looking for another coach in either 1 or 2 more sessions .
There simply isn’t any use in publicly picking scabs
Whether Capel gets 1 or 2 more seasons will depend on how he fills the roster and if we win more as a result
Yep
Harve was like most of us who warned those who wanted Dixon out no matter what - would get what they wanted and we’d be much worse as a result.
Stalling was always a bad hire
Capel will rightfully get sometime-
But goodwill is evaporating with each winless February
That PM I partially posted also addressed this. I can tell you for sure he was disgusted. But it wasn’t just Pitt. It was college hoops in general. And if you recall he stopped posting for quite a while then posted only very sporadically. I didn’t know the man but just based solely on that interaction I don’t think much would have changed. Other then being more disappointed maybe.
He was beyond sick that Stallings was hired. But here’s one line from that PM that sums it up.
“I think I'm done.The game is just too dirty.”
I have to say I have to agree with Harve. Right now though, I guess I'm holding out hope that there is still an ounce of decency and integrity in the game somewhere.
I remember PMing with Harve and he was not too high on Pitt during his last years. May he rest in peace.
Yeah he was not a fan of Stallings that's for sure. I just wonder if he would be patient with what's going on with Pitt or would he want Capel to go. I remember like you some of his past pm's with me were that he doesn't like to come on here that much anymore because he is disgusted with Pitt and Stallings and how far we fell.
souf is always good for some gaslighting
"no one is saying that" you obviously didnt read. "its not his fault" "they were bad kids" "its happening everywhere"
blah blah blah
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1. Your transformation of circumstances is spot on!
2. I think that Pitt has wasted nearly all of the last 40 years. The advantages you had, up until recently, over WVU were immense. Pitt routinely underachieved. WVU overachieved. (Those of you who read my comments know that I’m not a troll or trying to stir the pot....it’s simply the truth)
3. I agree with you that Pitt’s ceiling is hoping for the occasional, random 10-11 win season just like WVU. That’s been the case for quite sometime.
It’s unfortunate for Pitt that they didn’t embrace the opportunities afforded to them in the 80-90s when the WPIAL was still producing quantity and quality.
No he said coaches door get hired in a vacuum which is true
Players transfer from losing programs and winning ones too for that matter
Hughley getting arrested is an exception not a rule
Same with the cuse kid arrested for shoplifting and the uconn kid stealing laptops
Or ya know a football player driving drunk into a building
Kids are stupid and do stupid things
Capel at least distanced him from the team
