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As expected - Asamoah to Oklahoma

This one hurts. You can't play Narduzzi's defense without top notch LB's.

Harley better pick up his game because his recruiting of LBs has been weak.

Cruzer
 
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Big blow. He was a heavy Pitt lean. The program has to start winning more so that finishing on these kids becomes easier. With the drastic need at LB, it sill blows my mind Narduzzi signed off on Pugh to DE.
 
We've won 8 games the previous 2 years. That's not what I want but it's enough to show kids something early in his tenure. We had wins over Penn State and Clemson to tout as well. Quite Frankly, as far as recruiting goes, he isn't getting it done. Mostly his staff isn't. Harley has been ok, Renaldo Hill has been a bust, and Josh Conklin has been bad on and off the field.

I would get some money and go after Vince Marrow hard when Kentucky struggles this year.
 
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What is concerning is that the LB coach is the recruiting coordinator and we have had trouble landing top LBs. No overreaction to losing a recruit to OK but we do need to step up LB recruiting.

BTW Coach Duzz is 17-10 so far and that is something to build on.
 
Can you blame top level recruits from not picking Pitt? I can't solely pin his recruiting (which isn't as gloomy as some of you say) on his ability. Pitt has had how many coaches in how many years? Lack of stability kills some of the recruiting. If Nard sticks around and Pitt continues to have a top level win or two every year, things will pick up.

This doesn't mean I am not disappointed we aren't getting top tier defensive talent, just trying frame it. Not an excuse...just a reality of our situation.
 
Kids want to go to big name schools,it is what it is,how many lesser ranked schools that win a lot of games actually recruit well,the answer not many unless their in a hot bed of recruiting like Florida
 
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Kentucky, Maryland, South Carolina, Miss State are all schools we could/should recruit as well as
 
Yeah, earlier he was a Pitt lean. Then a first time 34 year old offensive head coach got involved...


QUOTE="TD_istheman, post: 1985548, member: 22403"]Why is that expected, sounds like an excuse[/QUOTE]
 
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We've won 8 games the previous 2 years. That's not what I want but it's enough to show kids something early in his tenure. We had wins over Penn State and Clemson to tout as well. Quite Frankly, as far as recruiting goes, he isn't getting it done. Mostly his staff isn't. Harley has been ok, Renaldo Hill has been a bust, and Josh Conklin has been bad on and off the field.

I would get some money and go after Vince Marrow hard when Kentucky struggles this year.

For what its worth, Conklin was the key guy in Davis and Mathis' recruitment.

This loss absolutely stings because he was a kid they were on for a LONG time, first P5 school to offer and they recruited him heavy all along, he also was tight with a lot of the current commits through social media, position of need and talent.

That said, this is recruiting, you are going to have heartbreaks like this every year, more than one.

When the dust settled the last three classes, Duzz hauled in real solid groups, and managed to get some really nice players late that no one knew they were on.

To that point with Davis and Mathis, who we had no clue they were on until they came up for visits at the end of the season.

Ebbs and flows - this class is strong from the context of them not taking any flyers on under recruited kids, outside of Symonds. With a small class, that should be the case when the dust settles, a crop of solid P5 prospects.

End of the day, this whole thing hinges on Duzz and staff having the culture and coaching to max out their abilities, but as has been highlighted, his first three full classes now have less reaches and projects than we have seen in a while.

They don't have a bunch of four and five stars, but they are developing good depth with kids who have solid or plus talent.
 
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Pitt has had how many coaches in how many years? Lack of stability kills some of the recruiting.


There are many reasons why pitt is losing some top end recruits but this is not one of them.

PN is in his third year. As far as coaching changes go we have stability. That excuse doesn't work anymore.

I will remind you that this kid picked OU.....and the HC who recruited him for the past two years is no longer there.



 
Narduzzi is not a strong recruiter - unfortunately, we all need to admit it. If he is going to be successful, he needs to win more games and a lot of these kids will recruit themselves to PITT. I think this season, more so than the past two, is the most important season of Narduzzi's tenure here. He's now playing with his players and he needs to prove that he can sustain a winning pedigree. If we only win 5/6/7 games, I could see the air in the recruiting tire completely deflating.
 
Now he cant recruit because he doesnt get some of the players he's going after? Really. This is what happens when you go up against the big boys. And please stop with the Wanny crap. He is gone. Yeah recruited some nice players, but almost everyone of us 4 and 5 star players did nothing. It was the 3 stars that showed up.

Right now the only thing that counts are wins, and right now Narduzzi is getting that done. He have recruites Lbs. Give the man a real chance to build the program. You all act like players want to come to Pitt. Not until the culture is changed.
 
Narduzzi is not a strong recruiter - unfortunately, we all need to admit it. If he is going to be successful, he needs to win more games and a lot of these kids will recruit themselves to PITT. I think this season, more so than the past two, is the most important season of Narduzzi's tenure here. He's now playing with his players and he needs to prove that he can sustain a winning pedigree. If we only win 5/6/7 games, I could see the air in the recruiting tire completely deflating.

jury still out. Let's see how this d-line develops with Camp, Weaver, Watts, etc, plus the dbacks of Hamlin, Ford, Coleman, Mathis, Pinnock. Also RB's Davis, Sibley

LB has been a thorn in our side since losing Lee & Pozluzny to the nits during Walts era. Mason was the last decent recruit/LB since the Walt era.
 
I'm not ready to say Narduzzi is not a strong recruiter.

I think he is.

I am ready to say Sherman, Hill, and others are not.
 
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jury still out. Let's see how this d-line develops with Camp, Weaver, Watts, etc, plus the dbacks of Hamlin, Ford, Coleman, Mathis, Pinnock. Also RB's Davis, Sibley

LB has been a thorn in our side since losing Lee & Pozluzny to the nits during Walts era. Mason was the last decent recruit/LB since the Walt era.
As usual you have NO clue what you are talking about. Jury is not still out. We were outgained heavily against Youngstown State in the 2nd half last week, Youngstown freaking State!!! No pressure from our poor LB's, horrible corner play and it starts with Conklin and poor recruiting.

Seriously get a reality check.
 
As usual you have NO clue what you are talking about. Jury is not still out. We were outgained heavily against Youngstown State in the 2nd half last week, Youngstown freaking State!!! No pressure from our poor LB's, horrible corner play and it starts with Conklin and poor recruiting.

Seriously get a reality check.

coming from the guy who wrote off Canada & Peterman after the first game last year, yeah, you are real credible.
 
coming from the guy who wrote off Canada & Peterman after the first game last year, yeah, you are real credible.
If you would stop being a cheap bum and spend $10 to access the Pitt premium board, Ryan wrote a very detailed analysis of Pitt's recruiting and misses.

So again, the jury is not still out. Open your purse and pay $10.
 
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If you would stop being a cheap bum and spend $10 to access the Pitt premium board, Ryan wrote a very detailed analysis of Pitt's recruiting and misses.

So again, the jury is not still out. Open your purse and pay $10.

did you even read my post? Did Ryan really write off Camp, Weaver, Watts after one game? I highly doubt it. You are the one writing them off, just as you did Canada and Peterman last year. And we saw how that turned out.
 
I actually think there's merit to both sides. There are some young guys for whom it's too early to tell. However it is a concern that they target a guy like Asamoah. They are seemingly on the doorstep. Then along comes a big boy school - late - and takes him away. Pitt seems to have been "close" with lots of guys. But it doesn't matter if you're 2nd or 15th. I don't know all the reasons but they're not getting it done with a lot of the high level recruits.

There are teams - Wiscy and Mich St as I've stated several times - that don't have the highest rated classes. But they seem to play beyond their rankings. That was my hope for this staff. Good talent evaluation. Maybe some diamonds in the rough. I was optimistic about Duzz. I'm not pessimistic yet but there's concern. The LBs have been pretty bad. Some say there's still some young talent at S and CB but on the field it hasn't been good. Hopefully it turns around soon. The D has been pretty much abysmal.
 
I actually think there's merit to both sides. There are some young guys for whom it's too early to tell. However it is a concern that they target a guy like Asamoah. They are seemingly on the doorstep. Then along comes a big boy school - late - and takes him away. Pitt seems to have been "close" with lots of guys. But it doesn't matter if you're 2nd or 15th. I don't know all the reasons but they're not getting it done with a lot of the high level recruits.

There are teams - Wiscy and Mich St as I've stated several times - that don't have the highest rated classes. But they seem to play beyond their rankings. That was my hope for this staff. Good talent evaluation. Maybe some diamonds in the rough. I was optimistic about Duzz. I'm not pessimistic yet but there's concern. The LBs have been pretty bad. Some say there's still some young talent at S and CB but on the field it hasn't been good. Hopefully it turns around soon. The D has been pretty much abysmal.

solid post. People want recruiting to improve and not have the Chryst style of beating Kent and Akron for recruits. This will happen when you recruit against the big boys. Need to pull in some of these though.,,coming in second doesn't help. Remember Majors being so close for Pawlus?

Recruiting is a worry for another day....on to Penn State!
 
Big blow. He was a heavy Pitt lean. The program has to start winning more so that finishing on these kids becomes easier. With the drastic need at LB, it sill blows my mind Narduzzi signed off on Pugh to DE.
I think it is more accurate to state that he was a heavy Pitt lean UP UNTIL OKLA OFFERED, after that I would say he was at best a 50/50 possibility, likely less.

I'd like to think PN is a good recruiter based in reactions and statements you hear from recruits, particularly with his high energy level. But sooner or later, he has to show it on the field. I don't think it's debatable that defense is his calling card but, unfortunately, I don't think he's demonstrated anything positive on the field defensively in even 1 game during his tenure. All of our high points have been offensively.

Having to go to OT against YSU in this year's opener likely didn't influence Asamoah's decision, but it sure didn't do anything to help sway him from what was a likely Okla lean going into the season.
 
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Recruits make their decision to go to a certain school.

Sometimes it works out sometimes it doesn't.

Hey Robert Foster picked Alabama.

Last year 5 Pitt players were drafted in the 7 rounds of the NFL draft.

Time will tell.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!
 
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We're doing OK with high-level 3-star types with long big-5 offer lists but elite kids with no Pitt ties still need to see more from this program before they sign on the line. Understandable. The only way to grow things right now are to turn the high-threes into NFL players over the course of their careers. We have a shot at big time RB's because of Conner who was a nobody as a HS Senior and became an AA and NFL draft choice.
 

There are many reasons why pitt is losing some top end recruits but this is not one of them.

PN is in his third year. As far as coaching changes go we have stability. That excuse doesn't work anymore.

I will remind you that this kid picked OU.....and the HC who recruited him for the past two years is no longer there.


It certainly is a big reason why pitt is losing recruits. From people I talk to involved with high school football, brother in law coaches, the general opinion is PN is a good coach but won't be here long.
 
It certainly is a big reason why pitt is losing recruits. From people I talk to involved with high school football, brother in law coaches, the general opinion is PN is a good coach but won't be here long.


so.....our coaching situation today is no more stable than it was the 3-5 years prior to PN getting here?

Really??

I responded to a poster who claims the instability of head coaches contributes to why we are losing recruits TODAY...... Total nonsense. The situation at the top is far more stable right now than it has been for several recruiting cycles.

That said.....your brother in law is correct. I have stated PN is in the 7th inning of his tenure here. I give him two more years tops.

But until then....there are far more glaring reasons why we dont land bigger fish
 
so.....our coaching situation today is no more stable than it was the 3-5 years prior to PN getting here?

Really??

I responded to a poster who claims the instability of head coaches contributes to why we are losing recruits TODAY...... Total nonsense. The situation at the top is far more stable right now than it has been for several recruiting cycles.

That said.....your brother in law is correct. I have stated PN is in the 7th inning of his tenure here. I give him two more years tops.

But until then....there are far more glaring reasons why we dont land bigger fish

That was me you responded to. Your perception maybe. But hell, we have a different OC and AD than last year. So what/where is the top stability? Kids we are recruiting for today probably have witnessed 3 or 4 head coaches at Pitt by now. Possibly more depending on when they started following Football. I do think it is an issue and I don't think it will be solved after 3 years. If Duzz stays, I think he will turn it around. The kids we got this year so far have great offer sheets. That is encouraging and that is how MSU and WISC have been built as mentioned above.

But he does need to make some adjustments on D. Whether it is philosophy or DC. At some point you have to adjust to what you have and build off of the signature wins that you get.
 
so.....our coaching situation today is no more stable than it was the 3-5 years prior to PN getting here?

Really??

I responded to a poster who claims the instability of head coaches contributes to why we are losing recruits TODAY...... Total nonsense. The situation at the top is far more stable right now than it has been for several recruiting cycles.

That said.....your brother in law is correct. I have stated PN is in the 7th inning of his tenure here. I give him two more years tops.

But until then....there are far more glaring reasons why we dont land bigger fish
No recruit is coming here if they think the head coach is leaving in two years. It's a huge problem exacerbated by two OC leaving after one year. Now I am not saying they can't do a better job with making recruits believe they will be there for the next 4 years but it's a problem that coaches like DW didn't have.
 
Look what WVU is paying their OC and especially their DC, you think we would pay that ? I'm talking WVU not OSU!

I think everyone knows , from old people to young kids playing , football doesn't appear important to PITT, truth or not, we all wonder at times, perception is reality
 
Look what WVU is paying their OC and especially their DC, you think we would pay that ? I'm talking WVU not OSU!

I think everyone knows , from old people to young kids playing , football doesn't appear important to PITT, truth or not, we all wonder at times, perception is reality
WVU is the professional sports team for the state of WV. They have the backing of their state government. They are THE team. Where do you think Pitt is on the pecking order?
 
Even the blue-bloods of college football don't have the same coordinators for more than 2-3 years. Even the idiots produced by our current HS education system aren't stupid enough to believe that our situation is any different than anyone else's. Of the coordinator's in tomorrow's game, ours are by far the most likely to still be at the same school next year.

Paying coordinator's obscene money seems like a fool's game to me. The good coordinator's are just as likely to come out of the MAC as the SEC and they are just as likely to leave for the big office or get canned with the HC one way or the other.

Don't get me wrong. If everything else is equal its better to have the budget for higher salaries and even one additional year with a given coordinator can sometimes be impactful. We just aren't there right now and I frankly don't see that as our barrier to competing with the bigs.
 
Paul Chryst and Narduzzi don't have much in common other being coordinators. I think Narduzzi is far more energetic as a recruiter. But the Chryst situation, i believe, has led to the perception that Narduzzi is a similar case. A guy getting head coach experience here until the MSU job opens. Dantonio is getting older, plus had a couple scandals. So the feeling might be, maybe MSU will come calling soon. And one item that seems to support the thought is that Narduzzi doesn't appear to have a speck of concern if his defensive scheme gets crushed so badly. Like it really doesn't matter If he loses. Most coaches aren't SO stubborn that they outright refuse ANY modifications even when getting regularly torn apart.

Maybe true maybe not, but possibly is the perception, and IMO that's thanks to Chryst. In retrospect Pitt shouldn't have so openly gone along with the Chryst arrangement. It was hardly a secret to anyone what the setup was. Recruits notice those things.
 
Pitt needs to finally take a proven head coach , see VT ( the investment many on here speak of) , when when when we need one. Hopefully we are not an incubator for Michigan St, we did that once already recently , doesn't help the perception at all
 
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