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Anonymous ACC Coaching Staff Quotes About Conference Foes

Oct 25, 2021
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Article from Athlon

Here's what was said about Pitt:

Pitt

"The obvious thing is that losing Kenny Pickett is going to hurt them a lot. That's not the caliber of quarterback you turn around and replace at a program like that. But the under-the-radar thing, at least to a lot of us, is losing [OC Mark] Whipple. It was no secret he didn't really jibe with Pat [Narduzzi], but that's not a bad thing all the time. I think he was the first offensive coach to come in there and really push back and call his own shots, and it really worked. They had a talented QB and they could attack defenses really well."

"The interesting thing will be Kedon Slovis. He's a different style player than Kenny. I think [new OC] Frank Cignetti Jr. is going to bring that Boston College offense over and try to play a little bit more ball control, but they need to run the ball better."

"The defense is going to be what you're used to at this point. They play like Pat wants; they match his personality. This is a tough team. They embrace physicality. They're Pat, for better or worse: maul you or get too aggressive and go to zero coverage and get torched. They're not really deep, either, and they lack high-end talent."

"The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows what the expectation for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He's certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year."
 
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Article from Athlon

Here's what was said about Pitt:

Pitt

"The obvious thing is that losing Kenny Pickett is going to hurt them a lot. That's not the caliber of quarterback you turn around and replace at a program like that. But the under-the-radar thing, at least to a lot of us, is losing [OC Mark] Whipple. It was no secret he didn't really jibe with Pat [Narduzzi], but that's not a bad thing all the time. I think he was the first offensive coach to come in there and really push back and call his own shots, and it really worked. They had a talented QB and they could attack defenses really well."

"The interesting thing will be Kedon Slovis. He's a different style player than Kenny. I think [new OC] Frank Cignetti Jr. is going to bring that Boston College offense over and try to play a little bit more ball control, but they need to run the ball better."

"The defense is going to be what you're used to at this point. They play like Pat wants; they match his personality. This is a tough team. They embrace physicality. They're Pat, for better or worse: maul you or get too aggressive and go to zero coverage and get torched. They're not really deep, either, and they lack high-end talent."

"The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows what the expectation for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He's certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year."

I love these.

A more truthful title would be "anonymous sports journo gives his opinion of staff while hiding behind the moniker of opposing conference coach."

They do these every year and they are complete fabricated bullshit.
 
I love these.

A more truthful title would be "anonymous sports journo gives his opinion of staff while hiding behind the moniker of opposing conference coach."

They do these every year and they are complete fabricated bullshit.

I would imagine they're legit but maybe they're being a little liberal on who they're considering to be a part of the coaching staff. I don't think head coaches would ever provide some of this bulletin board material. But who knows?

Funny how they talk down on Pitt and Clemson but act like Syracuse is right around the corner from greatness.

They may also be getting a bunch of quotes, both good and bad, and only including certain ones to paint a certain narrative. Just guessing.
 
I would imagine they're legit but maybe they're being a little liberal on who they're considering to be a part of the coaching staff. I don't think head coaches would ever provide some of this bulletin board material. But who knows?

Funny how they talk down on Pitt and Clemson but act like Syracuse is right around the corner from greatness.

They may also be getting a bunch of quotes, both good and bad, and only including certain ones to paint a certain narrative. Just guessing.


Being hunted feels good ...... real good!




.
 
"The obvious thing is that losing Kenny Pickett is going to hurt them a lot. That's not the caliber of quarterback you turn around and replace at a program like that. But the under-the-radar thing, at least to a lot of us, is losing [OC Mark] Whipple. It was no secret he didn't really jibe with Pat [Narduzzi], but that's not a bad thing all the time. I think he was the first offensive coach to come in there and really push back and call his own shots, and it really worked. They had a talented QB and they could attack defenses really well.


"The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows what the expectation for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He's certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year."
1. How quickly we forget how rough Whipple's first couple of seasons at Pitt. Many were ready to run him out of town after year 2.

2. They do realize Narduzzi just got a contract extension, right?
 
1. How quickly we forget how rough Whipple's first couple of seasons at Pitt. Many were ready to run him out of town after year 2.

2. They do realize Narduzzi just got a contract extension, right?
The outsiders also keep saying how Whipple left as opposed to the reality that he was not offered a contract extension. Big difference.
 
I would imagine they're legit but maybe they're being a little liberal on who they're considering to be a part of the coaching staff. I don't think head coaches would ever provide some of this bulletin board material. But who knows?

Funny how they talk down on Pitt and Clemson but act like Syracuse is right around the corner from greatness.

They may also be getting a bunch of quotes, both good and bad, and only including certain ones to paint a certain narrative. Just guessing.
100% pulled from a journo's ass.
 
Article from Athlon

Here's what was said about Pitt:

Pitt

"The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows what the expectation for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He's certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year."
Weird comment. Narduzzi wins the league and signs a contract extension, but you’re still too mad to shake his hand after a game, so you think Pitt wants him gone?
 
Was curious what was said last year

Pitt

"They’re consistently inconsistent. It’s weird, you want to say they’ve shown who they are under Pat Narduzzi, but they can always sneak up and punch you in the face. You expect them to play predictable but play hard. They’re not gonna scheme you to death but they’re always really sound. This is the team in our league who wins one game they have no business winning and loses three they shouldn’t. That’s their identity right now."

"They have a talented quarterback [Kenny Pickett] they don’t really seem to know what to do with. Their passing game is bad and it shouldn’t be, they got away from the run game and it hurt them. They don’t know what they want to be on offense, or maybe it’s just too many ideas."

"They had some really nice players on the defensive line and in the secondary that they’re losing, and it’s going to be a regression year replacing those guys, because this is not a program that recruits particularly well. That compounds the problem for the offense. For them to have a better year, or maybe just to keep their standard, they’re going to need an offensive identity. I think [offensive coordinator] Mark Whipple’s a really smart guy, they just haven’t found the one thing they do best and built around it. It could be a really long year if they don’t figure that out.”
 
Good. The coaches and team should feel motivated to get revenge for the disparagement. The returning players should particularly feel snubbed, given the comments insinuated that those individuals really believe Pickett alone accounted for the entire success of the team. Qb is important but can’t win on his own. It’s hard to believe actual coaches made such remarks, which lends credence to the writer just making some or all of them up. But like I said, use it to our advantage.
 
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I love these.

A more truthful title would be "anonymous sports journo gives his opinion of staff while hiding behind the moniker of opposing conference coach."

They do these every year and they are complete fabricated bullshit.
I would think that coach would know if it's made up or not by, first, knowing if he was asked to give anonymous quotes about the other teams in the league, and second, if any of his said quotes showed up in the other team's notes.

Even if those two are true, it still doesn't rule out embellishment by the author.

With all of that said, I really can't see coach giving a crap about any of it.
 
I'm sure all of it was said by coaches (or assistant coaches) but it really does not paint a picture of the true talent on this team. It is no secret that Cignetti plays ball control football and will run the ball....and that is a good thing looking at our backfield. I love the comment about not being "deep" on the defensive side of the ball.....meanwhile our secondary players are getting drafted every year for the pros, our d-line is arguably top 5 in the country, and we have the best LBer corp we have had in a decade.
 
Article from Athlon

Here's what was said about Pitt:

Pitt

"The obvious thing is that losing Kenny Pickett is going to hurt them a lot. That's not the caliber of quarterback you turn around and replace at a program like that. But the under-the-radar thing, at least to a lot of us, is losing [OC Mark] Whipple. It was no secret he didn't really jibe with Pat [Narduzzi], but that's not a bad thing all the time. I think he was the first offensive coach to come in there and really push back and call his own shots, and it really worked. They had a talented QB and they could attack defenses really well."

"The interesting thing will be Kedon Slovis. He's a different style player than Kenny. I think [new OC] Frank Cignetti Jr. is going to bring that Boston College offense over and try to play a little bit more ball control, but they need to run the ball better."

"The defense is going to be what you're used to at this point. They play like Pat wants; they match his personality. This is a tough team. They embrace physicality. They're Pat, for better or worse: maul you or get too aggressive and go to zero coverage and get torched. They're not really deep, either, and they lack high-end talent."

"The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows what the expectation for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He's certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year."
The best incorrect information or opinions involve half-truths. Pitt's defense lacks high end talent and isn't deep opinion. Really?? Statement could be true only if the premise against which it is measured is some "hypothetical" unit that has NFL early round draft prospects at every position on the defensive first team and that there is little or no drop off between the starters and the third team. Sorry, I am not buying this part of the assessment.

As far as getting torched by being "too aggressive" goes there is obviously more truth to that concept but only if that opinion reflects that of a guy who personally prefers a keep it safe by playing a non-aggressive style of defense. IMHO, being aggressive is better even if you occasionally do get burned. To each his own.

Overall bottom line--unconcerned about the Pitt defense. Concerned about having Cignetti as Whipple's replacement as OC. Opinion: Cignetti's offense will be far easier to defend and may very well under-utilize its available weapons producing far fewer big gain plays and by not stretching opposing defenses. IMHO, if Pitt "falls back into the pack this season" it will be due to playing a more conservative unimaginative offense. Hope I am proven wrong.
 
The best incorrect information or opinions involve half-truths. Pitt's defense lacks high end talent and isn't deep opinion. Really?? Statement could be true only if the premise against which it is measured is some "hypothetical" unit that has NFL early round draft prospects at every position on the defensive first team and that there is little or no drop off between the starters and the third team. Sorry, I am not buying this part of the assessment.

As far as getting torched by being "too aggressive" goes there is obviously more truth to that concept but only if that opinion reflects that of a guy who personally prefers a keep it safe by playing a non-aggressive style of defense. IMHO, being aggressive is better even if you occasionally do get burned. To each his own.

Overall bottom line--unconcerned about the Pitt defense. Concerned about having Cignetti as Whipple's replacement as OC. Opinion: Cignetti's offense will be far easier to defend and may very well under-utilize its available weapons producing far fewer big gain plays and by not stretching opposing defenses. IMHO, if Pitt "falls back into the pack this season" it will be due to playing a more conservative unimaginative offense. Hope I am proven wrong.
I’m as curious to see Cig’s O as anyone. But I don’t believe his intent in any way will be to “under-utilize its available weapons producing far fewer big gain plays and by not stretching opposing defenses.”

I see him taking his shots downfield. Like he did with Flowers in his attack at BC. There are a whole bunch of ways to attack downfield in the passing game. Formation. Match ups. Play action, set up by making a D have to respect the run at all times. Pitt looks to have some good speed and deep threats at WR, at least on paper. So we’ll see.
 
The entire country both media and fans of other teams are saying the exact same thing.

They are saying Pitt is going to take a huge step back because we lost Pickett, Addison, Whipple. Not to mention they say our recruiting is average at best. The only reason why we won last year was Pickett started for 5 years.

I am also surprised to hear Tennessee fans thinking they are going to blow us out of the stadium. Stating they should of blown us out last year if Hooker started the game. Little do they know they blocked a punt and a bad snap deep in our territory was directly responsible for 2 of their TD’s.

I hope someone sends the team these comments
 
The entire country both media and fans of other teams are saying the exact same thing.

They are saying Pitt is going to take a huge step back because we lost Pickett, Addison, Whipple. Not to mention they say our recruiting is average at best. The only reason why we won last year was Pickett started for 5 years.

I am also surprised to hear Tennessee fans thinking they are going to blow us out of the stadium. Stating they should of blown us out last year if Hooker started the game. Little do they know they blocked a punt and a bad snap deep in our territory was directly responsible for 2 of their TD’s.

I hope someone sends the team these comments
Vegas has us at 8.5 wins. They're usually bearish on Pitt. I see 9 or 10 wins.
 
The entire country both media and fans of other teams are saying the exact same thing.

They are saying Pitt is going to take a huge step back because we lost Pickett, Addison, Whipple. Not to mention they say our recruiting is average at best. The only reason why we won last year was Pickett started for 5 years.

I am also surprised to hear Tennessee fans thinking they are going to blow us out of the stadium. Stating they should of blown us out last year if Hooker started the game. Little do they know they blocked a punt and a bad snap deep in our territory was directly responsible for 2 of their TD’s.

I hope someone sends the team these comments
I'd love to see another Coastal championship, but at the same time point out where the other media and fans are wrong with their assessment. Our defense is always boom or bust under Narduzzi and we only won 10+ games because Pickett had a once-in-a-generation performance in his 5th season. None of that reasoning is incorrect and we'd all be saying the exact same thing at any other school that isn't a top-5 recruiter.

But hey, the rest of the world was wrong about Pickett heading into 2021 (I thought he'd be the 4th or 5th best QB in the ACC, certainly not a Heisman finalist) so maybe everyone is wrong again.
 
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The best incorrect information or opinions involve half-truths. Pitt's defense lacks high end talent and isn't deep opinion. Really?? Statement could be true only if the premise against which it is measured is some "hypothetical" unit that has NFL early round draft prospects at every position on the defensive first team and that there is little or no drop off between the starters and the third team. Sorry, I am not buying this part of the assessment.
Totally agree. Only way I would buy this is if it came from a defensive coach on the staff of Bama or Georgia.
 
I’m as curious to see Cig’s O as anyone. But I don’t believe his intent in any way will be to “under-utilize its available weapons producing far fewer big gain plays and by not stretching opposing defenses.”

I see him taking his shots downfield. Like he did with Flowers in his attack at BC. There are a whole bunch of ways to attack downfield in the passing game. Formation. Match ups. Play action, set up by making a D have to respect the run at all times. Pitt looks to have some good speed and deep threats at WR, at least on paper. So we’ll see.
I also am certain that Cignetti's intent is not to “under-utilize its available weapons producing far fewer big gain plays and by not stretching opposing defenses.” On the other hand, there is a difference between intent and actual outcomes. The actual potential outcome is what I was suggesting as a potential concern if we will be employing a more standard and predictable style of offense. And, as I said, I hope I will be wrong.
 
I'd think an opposing coach would know Pitt plays quarters coverage not "zero coverage". And would be less likely to question Narduzzi's fairly solid job security.
Quarters is Pitt’s base coverage. We go to zero coverage every time we blitz a safety.
 
We go to zero coverage every time we blitz a safety.

That's not necessarily true. Maybe when we're playing 4 down and bring a safety we're going to play zero. However, Pat loves 3 deep and 2 under zone fires and he has and can easily do that bringing a safety with a 4 down alignment.

When we run a 3 down front, Pat will still give you his classic 3 deep, 2 under while bringing a safety with relative ease.
 
Article from Athlon

Here's what was said about Pitt:

Pitt

"The obvious thing is that losing Kenny Pickett is going to hurt them a lot. That's not the caliber of quarterback you turn around and replace at a program like that. But the under-the-radar thing, at least to a lot of us, is losing [OC Mark] Whipple. It was no secret he didn't really jibe with Pat [Narduzzi], but that's not a bad thing all the time. I think he was the first offensive coach to come in there and really push back and call his own shots, and it really worked. They had a talented QB and they could attack defenses really well."

"The interesting thing will be Kedon Slovis. He's a different style player than Kenny. I think [new OC] Frank Cignetti Jr. is going to bring that Boston College offense over and try to play a little bit more ball control, but they need to run the ball better."

"The defense is going to be what you're used to at this point. They play like Pat wants; they match his personality. This is a tough team. They embrace physicality. They're Pat, for better or worse: maul you or get too aggressive and go to zero coverage and get torched. They're not really deep, either, and they lack high-end talent."

"The floor for this program is floating around a bowl. No one really knows what the expectation for this staff is now. Did Pat earn a little security? He's certainly no charmer. They're almost certainly going to fall back into the pack this year."
PG Trolls ..
 
Nah, the end result is no difference at all.


If you don't think there is a difference between your employer telling you that you are no longer wanted and you telling your employer that you no longer want to work for them, well, I mean come on, that's just silly.

We can argue if Whipple's employer telling him he was no longer going to have a job was the correct decision or not, but the reason that he's gone clearly matters.
 
We've spoken (posted) before about this . PG and there new Penn State zombi are behind this .... What better way to welcome the Wacko in ?
 
If you don't think there is a difference between your employer telling you that you are no longer wanted and you telling your employer that you no longer want to work for them, well, I mean come on, that's just silly.

We can argue if Whipple's employer telling him he was no longer going to have a job was the correct decision or not, but the reason that he's gone clearly matters.
Really Joe, the reason that he’s gone matters w/r to the end result and only result of importance - that being performance on the field this year. I’d say you’re wrong big time with that assertion.
 
Really Joe, the reason that he’s gone matters w/r to the end result and only result of importance - that being performance on the field this year. I’d say you’re wrong big time with that assertion.


Well you can say that, but it doesn't make any sense.

If Narduzzi wanted Whipple back and he left anyway, that would tell you that Narduzzi was happy with the job he was doing and thought he was doing a good job. If Narduzzi doesn't want Whipple back and tells him he's out of a job, that would tell you that Narduzzi thinks that Whipple wasn't doing a good job and that he can hire someone who was going to be better.

Like I said, we can argue if he's right or not. But clearly the guy making the decisions thinks that the guy he has now is better than the guy he used to have. And if Whipple left on his own that might very well not be the case.

People don't get let go because their boss thinks that they are doing a great job.
 
Really Joe, the reason that he’s gone matters w/r to the end result and only result of importance - that being performance on the field this year. I’d say you’re wrong big time with that assertion.
You would be incorrect! Fired is way different than leaving for another job!

If you are literally talking about the same result being he is no longer at Pitt then yes but how it got to that point could not be more different!
 
Fired is way different than leaving for another job!


That is exactly what I an arguing. For all intents and purposes, Whipple got fired. He absolutely would have come back had Pitt offered him a new contract, Instead, Pitt told him long before the season was over that he wasn't coming back next year, that they were replacing him.

That is completely different than Whipple having a chance to come back to Pitt but deciding on his own that he wanted to go elsewhere. Whipple isn't coaching at Pitt this year because Pitt (Narduzzi) thought they could do better, not because Whipple did better.
 
That is exactly what I an arguing. For all intents and purposes, Whipple got fired. He absolutely would have come back had Pitt offered him a new contract, Instead, Pitt told him long before the season was over that he wasn't coming back next year, that they were replacing him.

That is completely different than Whipple having a chance to come back to Pitt but deciding on his own that he wanted to go elsewhere. Whipple isn't coaching at Pitt this year because Pitt (Narduzzi) thought they could do better, not because Whipple did better.
Yep and the comment by some douche coach saying that Whip was able to stand up to Coach Duzz is bush league!
 
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