Can Pitt Become A National Power In Football, Men's Basketball?, LINK!

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Great History of a Fantastic Past.....Before it went wrong......but I tell you all now....get use to a Bigger & Greater Future! I heard it first in 1970....smell it in 1972.....saw it in 1973....then witness it in 1976 on SI Cover....and then got involved in 1978...and will soon be Pitt Is it....again!
Part I of Part II Series Excerpt:
That's been the cry from Cardiac Hill to Heinz Field for the past 35 years from a championship-starved fan base dating to the days Jackie Sherrill roamed the sidelines. It's been heard despite the university's most successful era of men's basketball, a decade in which the program reached No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll in 2009 but never ascended to among the game's elite, failing to secure a coveted Final Four berth in the NCAA Tournament while the likes of mid-majors Butler, George Mason and VCU reached such lofty heights.The latest Pitt administration of chancellor Patrick Gallagher and athletic director Scott Barnes is in its infancy, as are coaches Pat Narduzzi (football) and Kevin Stallings (basketball). But that hasn't lessened the cry of whether Pitt will be consistently mentioned in the national championship picture in either sport..............
Two Part Series: Jerry DiPaola | Tribune-Review
LINK:
http://files.triblive.com/triblive/graphics/2016/pitt/

 

[Nova 66-64]

Jerry DiPaola did a great job with his analysis. You need people with the same vision and plan to be successful . I believe Pitt has those people in place now. The future is bright but we as supporters must be patient, 30 plus years of mediocracy will not be changed overnight .

 

[VincePITT]

I think the football team will be ranked annually in the Top 25 starting in the next 2-3 years! The basketball team might end up in the Top 25 this year but drop out next year, bur find it's way back in 2-3 years!

 

[TD_istheman]

Football and basketball are in much better hands now , I can't believe what clowns ran the show for the last few decades, yes I am talking about your God Nordy and Pedey people, clowns!

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Jerry DiPaola did a great job with his analysis. You need people with the same vision and plan to be successful . I believe Pitt has those people in place now. The future is bright but we as supporters must be patient, 30 plus years of mediocracy will not be changed overnight .

One has to wonder what Pitt was thinking back in 1938 in eliminating Football Scholarships and decided to abandon Football Prowess as others saw the value in it like ND, Michigan, USC, OSU, Bama and then joined in 1950s by MSU, Texas, OU, Georgia. It looks to me on what all I read over the years is once the Ivy League abandon Athletic Scholarships making them all Academic with limits on numbers, Pitt tried to straddle that concept for a long time.

As 1960s Era began the Big Four Agreement created by an Agreement between Pitt, WVU, Penn State and CUSE to limit Athletic Scholarships to 25 Per Year, put in Foreign Language Requiremnets, and limit Redshirts to 10 Medical on any Roster to reduce costs really hurt Pitt, WVU, and Cuse with Eastern Independnet Football

The other Programs like USC, Nebraska, OU, Bama, Texas and a few others would give out as many as 200 Scholarships to keep some Recruits just away from competitors. This was changed in 1970s by the NCAA and went to effect 2 years after Johnny Majors arrived. Having more Players on the rosters especially Players Older, Practicing, and being bigger, stronger with experience at Practice was a big advantage.

Only Joe Paterno saw that if a University wanted to become a Big Time Football Program, it needs many Redshirts just like Naruzzi said in the Article. Joe when he took over added 35 Freshmen Redshirts every year as Pitt, WVU and Cuse still kept the 10 medical Limit and only Pitt kept the Foreign Language requirements. Paterno doing having this advantage that had foresight to compete with the Big Boys plus his Great Coaching and playing an easier schedule being bigger than any Eastern Independent Program and working hard to Win Bowl games, deserves credit for making Penn state a Top 25 Program.

This is the Era when Joe Namath said, why should i go to Pitt or Penn State and can go to Alabama and not go to classes or study foreign languages, that Bear Bryant was upset about and was not true except there was no foreign language requirements.

Joe going 11-0 in 1968 and 1969 playing the Seniors he Redshirted as Freshmen and having a bigger roster and beat Big Team in Big Bowls made me proud as a Pennsylvanian watching those games as younger boy. Pitt meanwhile like Beano Cook once said, "Had the Best Bilingual Team in America" often going 1-10 for 3 years in a row. Joe cared about eastern Football so long as he had the bigger Program and he was paying attention to those aspects as well as being a Brilliant Hard Working Coach.

Pitt Alumni got together and changed it with Chancellor Posvar by raising money to find a dynamic young coach that demanded changes if he would take the job and go them. first thing Pitt did was withdraw from the Big Four Agreement as did WVU & Cuse too. Then you saw Pitt bring in 150 Recruits in 2 years before the NCAA limits started to be enforced.

But like the Article pointed out, Pitt blew it again, and Jackie could see Pitt was not going to continue the support under Bozo Bozik that clash with Jackie at a Bowl Game i was at when Jackie had a $1.8 Million Million Deal biggest ever at that time, from A&M.

Pitt just won the Sugar Bowl with a last pass by Marino to TE Brown and wanted to talk to his Team afterwards about the A&M Offer, while Bozik got upset and pounded on the Lockeroom Door upset the Media was kept out and finally Sherrill being interrupted open it and Bozik came it screaming look u=you don't run this Program, I do! Sherrill walked away, your right I am out of here. I still have Jackie's Thank You letter on A&M Stationary and saying at the end, he looks forward to his task of making A&M a winner like Pitt.

Many thought including me, that Foge Fazio would be another Paterno and was a Pitt Alumnus, and I raised money ever year for them and it was easy doing it. I could raise $10,000 with 20 Supporters in two hours and then this creep told me to bring the $200,000 in Checks to only him. I said no way, I dropped them off at the Chancellor Office. I moved to DC & then Philly, ended my relationship with Pitt but was invited to Philly and DC Chapters of Pitt Football Supporters that got together there but never went to them.

A few years later after Foge was fired and Bozik brought in Gottfriend that same guy was later fired from embezzling some of those funds and and the slow demise of Pitt football dropped off like a ton in water, as a new chancellor took over and refused to bring Jackie Sherill in again after he was fired at A&M. We got Majors Retread but he lacked the support we gave him in 1970sand the game was changed by then, with big TV Money and Conferences and rebuilding now again would take way more than what we raised i the 1970s. Pitt could not even fund 85 Scholarships until 2003?

Nordenberg what he could to restore winning but it was hard to do it with limited budgets and Nordy always thought Wannstedt would do it, and he started it, but Pederson got into Hissy Fits with Wanny, and Nordy chose Pederson whose only assignment then was to get Pitt in a Power 5 Conference but Nordy did that more than Pederson, plus Pennsylvania adding Cable Footprint! Wanny knew it all from 1970s to 2010 all but could do it all alone with Pederson's Poison in the Pitt System.

No Great Coach wanted to work with Pederson even as Pitt was headed to the ACC, until Pederson was fired, oh I mean bought out, oh unemployed and now re-branded himself as retired?

Nraduzzi like majors came with certain demands and Barnes is brought in to be a supporting AD not a controlling AD, and had an interview with Nraduzzi, but Gallagher is running the show as he is require by the NCAA Rules.

Unlike Joyner and Spanier that allow Paterno Shame Penn State Name becoming bigger than the University due to Football Winning at the expense of what the world knows now.