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Are we recruiting well enough?

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You're four posts deep on the board. Please, without relying on scouting service nonsense, please enlighten us on why this class is so bad that Pitt should start a coaching search?
 
The recruiting rankings will also be down due to the small number of scholarships this year. I expect some of the pitt recruits might get a bump after their senior season.
 
I don't want to be that guy (freaking out in August) but is anyone getting nervous about recruiting? We're currently rated the 61st class (rivals) and are behind 10 ACC teams.

I understand that Narduzzi has traditionally closed hard since arriving here but his past 2 seasons he could hang his hat on two 8-win seasons. With the injuries/suspensions we're seeing pile up before the season has even started, what if he takes a step back and we only see 5-6-7 wins? Are we going to be in danger of taking a step back as a program?

Maybe I'm looking too hard at the stars but am I wrong to think we're not matching the recruiting prowess of other schools in our region? PSU, Tech, WVU, UMD.

No. We aren't. Despite what pollyannas are saying, we are recruiting about the same as we always have, save for a couple of Wanny classes. We have achieved real consistency. Mark Pitt down for 6 to 8 wins every year, and you will be pretty safe with that bet 90% of the time.

Doesn't matter who the coach is, at some point the Jimmy's and Joe's have to get better.
 
It all boils down to Pitt hiring the best recruiters they can buy. Who can also coach!

Hire young hungry guys like Hafley who has tremendous ties to fertile areas that produce a ton of talent. Exactly how we got many Jersey kids with offers from everywhere. Exactly how Kentucky keeps out recruiting us. They have a couple dynamic recruiters on staff. Thus, being able to recruit at a level they shouldn't be.

The most important reason these kids pick a school is strictly because of the coaching staff and the coaches recruiting them. If the coaches can make a player very comfortable around them. 1a

Plus, show a recruit evidence they have the ability to get them to the next level is 1b.

Then sell them on how well they fit into the scheme they are running. And show them exactly how he is extremely important for their system to work.1c

All the rest is a distant 2nd in most of their eyes.

Boils down to who has the best salesman selling themselves and the program. Sadly, guys with this type of salesmanship costs money

I think Partridge is a great hire. But you are right. I forget the name of the guy at Kentucky (Darrow?) who is killing it in Ohio, if I am Pitt I am all over him giving him a big offer. Same a guy like Tony Gibson. I don't care if he is an ass, he can recruit and sell the program. Of course as we have seen with Matt Canada, and PSU has seen with Joe Moorhead, Off Coordinator is one spot where you want the best X and O's guy possible, because that also recruits itself.
 
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He's not kicking our arse. It's just reality regardless of who is coaching at each school. We arent going to out recruit PSU until we become a perennial Top 10-15 program which wont happen until we get better recruits which wont happen until we win 10-11 games a year which wont happen until we get better recruits..... see the cycle here?

No, he is kicking our ass. Paterno and that dysfunctional inbred coaching family and then the reluctant college coach Bill O'Brien weren't killing us in recruiting as bad as Franklin is.

I don't care if a poster has 7 posts or 7000, or is a Nit imposter, the truth is the truth.
 
I think Partridge is a great hire. But you are right. I forget the name of the guy at Kentucky (Darrow?) who is killing it in Ohio, if I am Pitt I am all over him giving him a big offer. Same a guy like Tony Gibson. I don't care if he is an ass, he can recruit and sell the program. Of course as we have seen with Matt Canada, and PSU has seen with Joe Moorhead, Off Coordinator is one spot where you want the best X and O's guy possible, because that also recruits itself.


I agree with this.
 
I think this might be the case of a regular poster using another log-in (handle) to address a subject he doesn't feel comfortable using his regular handle.

Or it's someone that feels a need to create another poster to support his POV. This b.s. Happened a lot on the Scout message board

Either way, it's stupid. Stand up for your opinion and let the chips fall where they may. I will not criticize opinion. I get pissed when opinion is passed along as fact.
 
No, I don't. Classes - ours, your school PSU's - none of them are done. Ours may get better and PSU's may get worse. The opposite can also happen. The point is, where things stand today is not where they'll finish.

If one is at say 15 and the other is say 30, then you can say when it is all said and done, they likely will be close together. When one class is 2 and the other around 60, no amount of attrition is going to close that gap. True, this is a small class for Pitt, so it is always going to be lower than normal, but PSU's class right now is averaging 3.68 stars which still puts in the top 10. They are getting quality and quantity.
 
I think Partridge is a great hire. But you are right. I forget the name of the guy at Kentucky (Darrow?) who is killing it in Ohio, if I am Pitt I am all over him giving him a big offer. Same a guy like Tony Gibson. I don't care if he is an ass, he can recruit and sell the program. Of course as we have seen with Matt Canada, and PSU has seen with Joe Moorhead, Off Coordinator is one spot where you want the best X and O's guy possible, because that also recruits itself.

Vince Marrow. Impressive bio.

http://www.ukathletics.com/sport/m-footbl/2017/roster/559d9623e4b01c7eefd62757
 
Seeing PSU add 4 star after 4 is tough.

I don't see anything that Ped State is doing as anything to be impressed about. They have certainly some 4* players ranked by recruiting servcjes but I would rather have players that are ranked and offered by Narduzzi than just throw out offers at everyone like PSU does. We got the top player in the state last season and have beat them out for a few kids already. Narduzzi can outrecruit, outbuild, and most importantly outocoach Franklin. He beat his ass last year and will do so again this year. Recruits will take notice. Narduzzi > Franklin in every respect and most media and experts would agree.
 
Narduzzi and his staff deserve credit for landing Regular Transfers and Grad Transfers as well, but that is not factored into the Rival Rankings that some of you are fixated on.
 
I don't see anything that Ped State is doing as anything to be impressed about. They have certainly some 4* players ranked by recruiting servcjes but I would rather have players that are ranked and offered by Narduzzi than just throw out offers at everyone like PSU does. We got the top player in the state last season and have beat them out for a few kids already. Narduzzi can outrecruit, outbuild, and most importantly outocoach Franklin. He beat his ass last year and will do so again this year. Recruits will take notice. Narduzzi > Franklin in every respect and most media and experts would agree.

You realize Narduzzi is throwing out offers to all the guys Franklin is offering and losing 90% of those battles, right. We beat his ass last year but if we beat his ass this year consider me shocked. We will have a difficult time keeping it close. That's reality
 
minor point, but to win the National Championship, we'd have to be 15-0
win all 12 regular season games
win ACC championship game
win 1st round playoff game
win national championship game
Normally, but by the time we'd get to the 14-0 point ... let's face it, even before that ... the rest of the known world would have collapsed and died of shock, so there would really be no point in the final game.
 
The pessimist in me says that yes recruiting is a concern. I get that Wade is 5'9 or whatever, but he was a blue chip recruit from a Pitt pipeline highschool and plays a position of desperate need, and we didn't land him. Those type of things are a concern for sure. If Raines doesn't commit (another pipeline HS and a position of need) that'd be a blow too. The optimist in me is pleased that Duzz is recruiting some guys from Florida and we have to remember that Connor and Henderson were 2 star recruits (I believe). Maybe he's just finding guys the guys are the right fit. The realist in me says we are a 7-8 win team for the next few years.
 
The pessimist in me says that yes recruiting is a concern. I get that Wade is 5'9 or whatever, but he was a blue chip recruit from a Pitt pipeline highschool and plays a position of desperate need, and we didn't land him. Those type of things are a concern for sure. If Raines doesn't commit (another pipeline HS and a position of need) that'd be a blow too. The optimist in me is pleased that Duzz is recruiting some guys from Florida and we have to remember that Connor and Henderson were 2 star recruits (I believe). Maybe he's just finding guys the guys are the right fit. The realist in me says we are a 7-8 win team for the next few years.
This year we are 7-8 win team. The following year is when PN will have all of his own Upperclassmen in place. I think we will be 9-4 on average once PN has all of his own Upperclassmen in place. That is the best Pitt fans could hope for in reality.
 
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This year we are 7-8 win team. The following year is when PN will have all of his own Upperclassmen in place. I think we will be 9-4 on average once PN has all of his own Upperclassmen in place. That is the best Pitt fans could hope for in reality.
I would hope the Pitt administration and its staff to expect better than 9 win seasons every 3 or 4 years.

If Pitt's best season is to win 9 games. That means Pitt is never in contention to win the ACC. Which would be very disappointing. I would hope Pitt has a least a chance to win the ACC once every 3 or 4 years.

If 9 wins is the best we can hope for........ that sure won't get the casual fans to come to the games
 
I don't want to be that guy (freaking out in August) but is anyone getting nervous about recruiting? We're currently rated the 61st class (rivals) and are behind 10 ACC teams.

I understand that Narduzzi has traditionally closed hard since arriving here but his past 2 seasons he could hang his hat on two 8-win seasons. With the injuries/suspensions we're seeing pile up before the season has even started, what if he takes a step back and we only see 5-6-7 wins? Are we going to be in danger of taking a step back as a program?

Maybe I'm looking too hard at the stars but am I wrong to think we're not matching the recruiting prowess of other schools in our region? PSU, Tech, WVU, UMD.

Agree with your concerns but be careful about posting them on here if you're not Mr. Rah Rah. Not impressed at all with Narduzzi's coaching or recruiting thus far. Way too many 3 stars and under and not nearly enough 4 stars and above.
 
I would hope the Pitt administration and its staff to expect better than 9 win seasons every 3 or 4 years.

If Pitt's best season is to win 9 games. That means Pitt is never in contention to win the ACC. Which would be very disappointing. I would hope Pitt has a least a chance to win the ACC once every 3 or 4 years.

If 9 wins is the best we can hope for........ that sure won't get the casual fans to come to the games
If they earnestly won't compete for actual championships, honestly and truly, then they should drop them. Not because "winning sports are dishonorable" or "losing lets me pretend Pitt is an Ivy school". Because having perpetually losing sports is money-hemorrhaging idiocy. It's a bad BUSINESS decision.

And the argument that they're offered as a boon to students doesn't wash. It's not a service to students... none of them want to waste their time to see teams that suck, especially knowing their school has to spend money from the tuition they paid in order to operate them (since sucky teams can't sell tickets or entice donations to be self sustaining). The students themselves show that. When the teams stink, fewer go at all and many leave early, deserting the stadium after a gimmick party song gets played. Yay, team.

Losing sports doesn't raise esprit de corps, doesn't encourage students (or alumni for that matter) to give money once they graduate. It's the opposite. Losing sports will make them think their school is crap.

So WHY offer them at all then? Really, why?
 
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We go through this every f'ing year. It's August. We can critique in February. My god. Last year we out recruited WVU and were right in the ball park with Tech.

WVU right now has 3 more recruits and we are still in the ballpark. Look at the points.

PSU is just killing it now. They are a factory. We won't match them.

Can we do better. Sure. But are we going to be in the top 20 every year, no. We will be lucky to hit that occasionally.

A Penn St acquaintance of mine said (more like rubbed it in) Kwantel Raines is down to them and WVU. Supposedly Raines favors them, but will go WVU because with only 3 slots left he's not a take for them...unless 1 of their committed DBs de-commits. Dammit!! We need him with Ford's situation. Could the recent spate of disciplinary problems have turned him off? We need to maintain that Quips pipeline!
 
Raines will be a Panther!


A Penn St acquaintance of mine said (more like rubbed it in) Kwantel Raines is down to them and WVU. Supposedly Raines favors them, but will go WVU because with only 3 slots left he's not a take for them...unless 1 of their committed DBs de-commits. Dammit!! We need him with Ford's situation. Could the recent spate of disciplinary problems have turned him off? We need to maintain that Quips pipeline!
 
You realize Narduzzi is throwing out offers to all the guys Franklin is offering and losing 90% of those battles, right. We beat his ass last year but if we beat his ass this year consider me shocked. We will have a difficult time keeping it close. That's reality

How is this reality? What has truly changed from last year's team to this year's team which makes this game impossible for PITT to win? I agree that Franklin and staff are doing a great job recruiting though.
 
How is this reality? What has truly changed from last year's team to this year's team which makes this game impossible for PITT to win? I agree that Franklin and staff are doing a great job recruiting though.

The players, our offensive coordinator, and the location of the game.
 
A Penn St acquaintance of mine said (more like rubbed it in) Kwantel Raines is down to them and WVU. Supposedly Raines favors them, but will go WVU because with only 3 slots left he's not a take for them...unless 1 of their committed DBs de-commits. Dammit!! We need him with Ford's situation. Could the recent spate of disciplinary problems have turned him off? We need to maintain that Quips pipeline!

Raines isn't even considering Psu, its down to PItt and WVU. Supposedly he isn't hearing good things from his friends inside the Pitt progam (probably Whitehead?) and is now strongly considering WVU
 
I would be very surprised if Raines goes to Penn State. They seem full at DB, so I believe it is a Pitt vs WVU battle. Think he is ours to lose, but ultimately he sticks with us. He sees the need for DBs in our secondary.
 
You realize Narduzzi is throwing out offers to all the guys Franklin is offering and losing 90% of those battles, right. We beat his ass last year but if we beat his ass this year consider me shocked. We will have a difficult time keeping it close. That's reality

What a surprise response from the nitter Mauti/Dion. Still paying premium to troll your non-rival?
 
How is this reality? What has truly changed from last year's team to this year's team which makes this game impossible for PITT to win? I agree that Franklin and staff are doing a great job recruiting though.
The way things are going it might be a challenge to beat Penn right now.

Shoot the messengers if it makes ya feel better. Sometimes it does!

But as usual, camp month has been a like a pail of sewer water in the face rather than a cause of optimism and excitement.
 
The players, our offensive coordinator, and the location of the game.

James Conner admitted he played the game at around 60% capacity coming off of chemo treatments and injury. Price wreaked some havoc on the outside, but the defense as a whole did very little to stop the passing game. Peterman also had a very pedestrian game, with less than 100 yards passing on the day; hell, Weah didn't even have a catch in this game. Although Whitehead will not be available for this game, the insertion of Hamlin, Ford (hopefully we find out he is elegible today), Zeise, etc. will allow the secondary and LBs to make some stops unlike last year.

Most people were calling for Narduzzi's head for bringing in an OC who couldn't even make it at NC State; what makes you think Watson will be a drop-off as the new offensive coordinator?

This team was undaunted by the prime-time lights of Death Valley where Clemson rarely ever loses; not sure an erector set in the middle of a cow pasture is going to phase them.
 
The way things are going it might be a challenge to beat Penn right now.

Shoot the messengers if it makes ya feel better. Sometimes it does!

But as usual, camp month has been a like a pail of sewer water in the face rather than a cause of optimism and excitement.

That's the thing; spitting out an opinion and calling it reality is not, in fact, reality.

Camp really hasn't gone according to plan. There have been some bright spots with the emergence of another option at WR in Butler-Jenkins, Hodges ability at the RT position, etc; but the injury to Aston (still not sure how severe the break is) coupled with the suspensions and explusions of some key players sucks.
 
James Conner admitted he played the game at around 60% capacity coming off of chemo treatments and injury. Price wreaked some havoc on the outside, but the defense as a whole did very little to stop the passing game. Peterman also had a very pedestrian game, with less than 100 yards passing on the day; hell, Weah didn't even have a catch in this game. Although Whitehead will not be available for this game, the insertion of Hamlin, Ford (hopefully we find out he is elegible today), Zeise, etc. will allow the secondary and LBs to make some stops unlike last year.

Most people were calling for Narduzzi's head for bringing in an OC who couldn't even make it at NC State; what makes you think Watson will be a drop-off as the new offensive coordinator?

This team was undaunted by the prime-time lights of Death Valley where Clemson rarely ever loses; not sure an erector set in the middle of a cow pasture is going to phase them.

I agree it's not an impossible task. They will have all the pressure of expectations going into this game and could fall flat on their face.

You do realize that the majority of this team didn't play against Clemson right? Psu will be the first time in a big college game for a lot of the players and its difficult to predict how a 19 year old reacts. Max Browne went 1-3 at Usc and lost 52-6 vs Alabama to start last season. Hopefully he got a lot better in one offseason.
 
Last year.
1. We were the experienced team
2. We were at home
3. We were the favorite
4. Last year we had the experienced QB, they had a first year starter

This year.

1. They are the more experienced team
2. They are at home
3. They are a heavy favorite
4. We have a new starter at QB, RB, TE, 2 new OL
5. Suspensions/kids getting kicked off the team are not a positive. It's not as simple as "next man up". It will impact us in the w/l column
6. I look for our D to give up a lot of points early in the season....maybe a lot of the season

Nothing is impossible but our odds were better last year compared to this year.


How is this reality? What has truly changed from last year's team to this year's team which makes this game impossible for PITT to win? I agree that Franklin and staff are doing a great job recruiting though.
 
Last year.
1. We were the experienced team
2. We were at home
3. We were the favorite
4. Last year we had the experienced QB, they had a first year starter

This year.

1. They are the more experienced team
2. They are at home
3. They are a heavy favorite
4. We have a new starter at QB, RB, TE, 2 new OL
5. Suspensions/kids getting kicked off the team are not a positive. It's not as simple as "next man up". It will impact us in the w/l column
6. I look for our D to give up a lot of points early in the season....maybe a lot of the season

Nothing is impossible but our odds were better last year compared to this year.

Only chance Pitt has is if Browne turns out to be pretty good. I don't think he is.
 
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