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Brice pollack

TD_6082 said:
Depends on your perspective. I think Pitt's recruiting has been very good under Duzz. He & his staff have done a great job at finding talent and developing players. Just because they don't sign 4 star guys or compete with bigger brand schools often doesn't mean the recruiting hasn't been pretty good.

I think thats a winning formula at Pitt, tbh. Pitt isn't going to fare well if they chase stars or try to battle with the blue-bloods.
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It was okay. Pitt needs to live in that 30-40 range. We've fallen off a cliff, though, and you can bet we're going to pay for that. We're recruiting classes in the ranges of the ones we brought in during those tumultuous years with coaching changes. And the excuse back then was always, "If we could have just had some stability three or fours years ago and not had that one terrible class, we could have better players now who could get us over the hump." Well, back to the hump.
 
King Of All Message Boards said:
Anyone know when those division championships are gonna start paying dividends?

Thanks, I’ll hang up and listen.
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I've been told, "relax, we're just fine" for the first 30-something years of my fanhood. And during that time, we didn't win shit. So I'm thinking last season will go to the optimists' heads for at least another hundred years.
 
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I think we need to come to grips with the fact that the NIL game as it is being played today really has two components; first, how much money does the NIL fund have to dole out? It's worth reminding everyone that the University itself has zero NIL dollars. Businesses are supposed to be the ones shelling out the money for promotions. One problem that has arisen is that alumni groups have formed cooperatives to pool their money and provide NIL. According to NCAA rules, you can't use NIL to recruit players to your school. Obviously, that rule is a joke.

NIL was originally conceived as a way for players to benefit from the use of the Name, Image, and Likeness. It has evolved into a straight up pay for play situation. The big boys are simply letting their big donor alumni put up serious cash in complete violation of NCAA rules, knowing full well that the NCAA is toothless.

When you see a school like NC State paying every player $25K, you know this is a complete sham Aside from the amount of money available through the Pitt "Forged Here" initiative, I don't think the University is willing to play the game the way other schools are playing it.

Some may argue that Pitt is doing it the right way and some may argue that Pitt has it's head in the clouds and will get steam rolled in recruiting. I will leave to others to debate what the Pitt policy should be but the reality is that if we don't start competing aggressively on the NIL front, we are going to be relegated to classes ranked in the 40's, 50's or 60's. Furthermore, if we continue to recruit at that level we will be a middle of the pack ACC team. Forget about any national relevance.

I said this when the NIL rulings first came out that this is going to be a serious game changer in recruiting. IMO, Pitt has two potential paths. Either go out and raise serious NIL cash and allow the sponsors free reign on what they can and cannot do or try to play "small ball" with little money and lots of restrictions. To me, this is the most significant financial issue facing Pitt's athletic department. Time to earn your salary HL.

Cruzer
 
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TheWerewolfFromTwilight said:
I refuse to believe this is entirely NIL related. Not when I look at some of the schools ahead of us and where some of the higher-rated players are going. There is more to this than a bunch of random fans tossing a monthly donation to some Notre Dame grads.

We are sorely lacking in the recruiting department. Quite honestly, I think we need a more eclectic mix of assistant coaches.
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These kids aren’t bailing on Pitt because of NIL. They’re getting offers from programs that are more desirable to them for whatever their own reasons are that they didn’t have when they first committed.

This has been Pitt’s place for the last 35 years. Blaming it on the new NIL is laughable. Nobody, with the arguable exception of a couple of Wanny cycles, has been able to meaningfully elevate recruiting to the point where it consistently makes a noticeable difference on Saturdays. Having the annual future NFL stud or two doesn’t overcome mediocre overall team
talent and depth.
 
Gunga_Galunga said:
I don't think Bryce Pollock is getting a blank check, but he might be getting $50k, $75k, or even $100k. Or, he might be getting told he'll get xxx at some point, which may never happen.
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Or he might just be getting offers from teams/schools he’d rather play for/attend. Or maybe he followed Pitt closely all season and wasn’t impressed.

Since we’re speculating rampantly that is.

This was the same BS excuse for lackluster recruiting we’ve been reading on this board for decades, long before NIL. “They’re getting paid! Pitt doesn’t play that game.”
 
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thebadby2 said:
Or he might just be getting offers from teams/schools he’d rather play for/attend. Or maybe he followed Pitt closely all season and wasn’t impressed.

Since we’re speculating rampantly that is.

This was the same BS excuse for lackluster recruiting we’ve been reading on this board for decades, long before NIL. “They’re getting paid! Pitt doesn’t play that game.”
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Daniels was considered to be a lock to Minnesota before we changed his mind like the day before he committed. So if he ends back up at Minnesota, that will be quite telling. That's not NIL; that's a bunch of dudes not liking what's going on at Pitt.
 
forbesfield said:
That still doesn't mean that he's on-board with essentially bribing high school kids. It's not something that everything is going to want to be involved with.
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It means he definitely doesn’t care -
His money is making money in the nfl .
He’s not throwing away money do lure hs kids

Our grads aren’t idiots
 
TheWerewolfFromTwilight said:
Okay, so, putting all this together:

You want to build a program predominantly out of guys who initially get paid big money to these big schools, go there for 2-4 years, are determined to not be good enough, and the transfer to Pitt.

Here's the problem with the idea that we can build this magical fairytale team from the transfer portal:

Proven commodities are getting even bigger NIL deals than most recruits. So Pitt is going to be even more behind the 8-ball in the transfer portal. It's not like it's some niche market we can master while everyone else is out recruiting high schoolers. No - we're legitimately going to get these schools' discarded trash. Legit, solidified backups, just as I described. And probably not even ones on the two-deep.

As I've said, that's totally fine for 5-10 roster spots. But you aren't winning jack if that's your primary business model.

You know what works better? Recruiting guys in the range of Damarri Mathis, Jalyen Twyman, Kenny Pickett, Dayon Hayes, etc. Guys in that 400-800 national ranking range. And then maybe sprinkling in an Addison and/or Izzy here and there. Even if you can't get the latter, at least get the former. My God. If we can't do that, then we absolutely need to drop down a level.
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All of this
 
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TD_6082 said:
And he might believe that, or wants to believe that. It doesn't work that way. What did his B1G Title and playoff birth do for him and Dantonio at Michigan State? The recruiting pecking order doesn't change until monied boosters and alums change it.
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Correct - that includes large amounts of NIL $, continually upgrading player facilities and accommodations, and a larger financial budget for assistants.
 
TheSpecialSauce said:
Pitt is an 8-5 type program with a good coach. There are simply too many obstacles.
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This max of 8-5 (and more likely 7 or even 6 most years) might be good enough to most of you guys. But it no longer can last for forever. Not getting to the next level and soon will probably spell the end of the sport for us, in about a decade, tops. And yes, trying to play at a lesser level, not in the major league, is the end of the program; it won’t work.
 
The Ole Six-Fiver said:
This max of 8-5 (and more likely 7 or even 6 most years) might be good enough to most of you guys. But it no longer can last for forever. Not getting to the next level and soon will probably spell the end of the sport for us, in about a decade, tops. And yes, trying to play at a lesser level, not in the major league, is the end of the program; it won’t work.
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We just won 11 games and the ACC Championship last year. Any coach who averages an 8-5 record, and wins the coastal every 3-4 years on average is doing a good job.
 
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TheSpecialSauce said:
Just a realist. 11 wins and an ACC championship last season, 8 wins in the regular season this year and a win over your rival. That’s just about as good as Pitt is going to do.
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And how did we get there?

2016 - 31
2017 - 37
2018 - 48
2019 - 58
2020 - 42
2021 - 33

Basically, we've recruited in the middle of the pack in the ACC or slightly above it, and we've had a decent quarterback more often than not.

Right now, we are third to last in the ACC in recruiting. Last year, we were dead last. And our quarterback sucks, and supposedly it took a pretty decent NIL deal to even get him here. So yeah... we've held our own in the ACC. But we're not exactly laying the framework to continue that. It might not show up next year. But it will eventually.

Obviously, recruiting is about a few years down the line. It's why I'm in shock when people say things like, "This new coach just brought in a top 10 class, and they went 5-7! He must suck." As if you're recruiting for the imminent season only.
 
TheSpecialSauce said:
We just won 11 games and the ACC Championship last year. Any coach who averages an 8-5 record, and wins the coastal every 3-4 years on average is doing a good job.
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This isn’t enough. It just isn’t. Plus, even that scenario you lay out is optimistic, given our history. And with our recruiting right now.

The AD desperately needs to get uber donors significantly engaged in NIL.
 
TheWerewolfFromTwilight said:
And how did we get there?

2016 - 31
2017 - 37
2018 - 48
2019 - 58
2020 - 42
2021 - 33

Basically, we've recruited in the middle of the pack in the ACC or slightly above it, and we've had a decent quarterback more often than not.

Right now, we are third to last in the ACC in recruiting. Last year, we were dead last. And our quarterback sucks, and supposedly it took a pretty decent NIL deal to even get him here. So yeah... we've held our own in the ACC. But we're not exactly laying the framework to continue that. It might not show up next year. But it will eventually.

Obviously, recruiting is about a few years down the line. It's why I'm in shock when people say things like, "This new coach just brought in a top 10 class, and they went 5-7! He must suck." As if you're recruiting for the imminent season only.
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It’s almost as if you think tomorrow is the end of recruiting for high school seniors. There have been a bunch of decommittments across the country and it’s a game of musical chairs for many.
 
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TheWerewolfFromTwilight said:
And how did we get there?

2016 - 31
2017 - 37
2018 - 48
2019 - 58
2020 - 42
2021 - 33

Basically, we've recruited in the middle of the pack in the ACC or slightly above it, and we've had a decent quarterback more often than not.

Right now, we are third to last in the ACC in recruiting. Last year, we were dead last. And our quarterback sucks, and supposedly it took a pretty decent NIL deal to even get him here. So yeah... we've held our own in the ACC. But we're not exactly laying the framework to continue that. It might not show up next year. But it will eventually.

Obviously, recruiting is about a few years down the line. It's why I'm in shock when people say things like, "This new coach just brought in a top 10 class, and they went 5-7! He must suck." As if you're recruiting for the imminent season only.
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Last year's ranking really isn't that telling since Pitt only signed 13 players.

Yes, it will catch up with them eventually. if the trend continues. But there is so much time left this year though, both for HS recruits, and for the transfer portal.

Cristobal does suck. Well over 50% of his current roster is already made up of 4 & 5 stars. Pitt will never keep up with Miami in recruiting. Narduzzi is 1-0 versus Cristobal. He never could be Manny Diaz, so we already came out better in that coaching change. And their fan base expects National Championships. Anything less than a Natty at Miami is failure. Their fan base is adamant about that. I don't think Mario is capable of delivering that.
 
TD_6082 said:
And he might believe that, or wants to believe that. It doesn't work that way. What did his B1G Title and playoff birth do for him and Dantonio at Michigan State? The recruiting pecking order doesn't change until monied boosters and alums change it.
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My question was total sarcasm btw. I scoffed when that talk started after both championships.
 
TheSpecialSauce said:
It’s almost as if you think tomorrow is the end of recruiting for high school seniors. There have been a bunch of decommittments across the country and it’s a game of musical chairs for many.
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I think you’re being overly optimistic. I’m sure we will add a few players, but we mostly likely won’t even end ranked in the top 50.
 
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