Clemsons New Football Facility
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I heard Pitt's AD say that Pitt will remain competitive in the facilities arena in the ACC but will not engage in a competition with the likes of Clemson. I believe a Putt Putt course and similar attractions were out of the question for the Pitt Football program.
It makes me sick that there are college football players now who don't have access to bowling alleys, yard games, whiffle ball field, 60 man cold tub, arcade and a nap room. How can they be expected to perform without these necessities.
I agree that all those features are ridiculous but it will certainly have a positive impact on recruiting. What kid would not want to experience such a facility. I'm surprised they just didn't include a village of apartments right there with the facility. Then, aside from class, players would always be a stones throw from the football building.
They have to spend the money on something. Instead of paying the players with actual money, they are paying them with outlandish facilities, most of which are unnecessary. I'm pretty sure the players would rather have a salary than a beach volleyball course or miniature golf course.
But where will our players take a nap? This is waaaay over the top and should be a violation of spending college tuition/sport revenue.
Don't give me the argument that the football team supports its own expenditures because the school is the reason for the team in the first place.
Don't give me the argument that the football team supports its own expenditures because the school is the reason for the team in the first place.
If you want track and field to be better, but football to be behind the competitors? Yep. Otherwise, the gap grows.Definitely wouldn't want Pitt investing in these kind of leisure items. We have real needs to address, like a track and field facility and an academic building, than laser tag and tennis courts (ironically something else we need)
But the football team does produce revenue while basically nothing else does.
Pitt isn't competing with this nonsense.. Freakin bowling alley, 60 man tubs, mini golf and an arcade? Let Clemson have that, good for them..
Pitt football has a nice setup in the south side, facilities look good enough, they have the food thing working for them, nice weight room, couple fields and spiffy new wooden lockers. No need to build them a Dave and Buster's to compete with Clemson..
I don't think we can compete with that, but funding improvements for sports that are a 99% loss at the expense of football is going to put you further and further behind. I'd much rather fall far, far behind in track & field or women's field hockey or badminton (whatever sports we probably can't truly compete in anyways) and have a fighting chance in football and men's basketball.
But they've done this. They have supported facility upgrades for football. I believe but could be wrong but didn't they do some upgrades at the Pete a year or two ago? I mean, there's only so much you can do.. Sometimes you have to hope the coach and players can do their fair share.. Any success or failure for this team will fall on Duzzi and the players. You can only blame the size of the locker room or sharing an entrance to the practice facility with the steelers so many times before maybe the fact that UNC or Miami took it to you is not because of the lockers but because of what happened on the field.. Would a separate entrance to the practice complex a year earlier have helped them beat Notre dame??
I want football and it's facilties to improve, but like Barnes said, I don't want to get into a competition with schools like Alabama and Clemson to see who has the best nap room in the country. What we just did on the South Side was perfect. Besides, I'm not sure if we could start adding all those kinds of amenities where we currently practice, there might not be enough room for it
I'm sure Populous will design facilties for all our sports that will be just right for us.
We already have. We've finished almost dead last amongst P5 schools in all-around sports performance the last few years. Barnes is right in that we should try to improve in all sports.
I don't think it has to be an either or thing.
And quiet honestly, if improvements weren't made to the facilities for all of our sports, I don't think we are in the ACC.
We need to have acceptable levels, but I think the focus should be on revenue and image boosting programs, even though the idiotic Title IX makes it tough.
And, yes, I know those regulations are in place and hands are tied in a lot of ways, but the whole system is so screwed up IMO. Yes, it is stupid to have these types of facilities, but it is even dumber we have a Title IX entitlement set up and they are even saying all athletes should get the same scholarship/pay as football and men's basketball players. Just an extreme societal problem creeping its way into college athletics.
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Glad to see rising tuition costs and constant elimination of majors/programs are contributing to more swag for the football programs.
And you wonder how we end up with Trump and Hillary as POTUS candidates? 1000 years ago, advanced civilizations will look back on our society with great curiosity, trying to comprehend how a sport trumps education and how a sport allows criminals like pedophiles run rampant and unchecked.
I am saying the US has about 25-50 more years of dominating the globe.
And we are. The increase in coaching salaries, the facilties renovations. Like ThePanthers said, this doesn't have to be an either or. And with the increase in donations, it's shouldn't. I'd love it if we could be ACC contenders in every sport, whether it's football or soccer. With Populous, they are going to take that to the next level.
many countries look at our love for college athletics with a curious eye. Of course these same countries build billion dollar stadiums for their soccer teams while their residents don't have basic sanitation so hypocrisy exists everywhere.
I'll put it to you this way, players like the amenities while they have to be there but there won't be much time for whiffle ball while the coach says the kids have to be there.
Once they don't have to be there, they will all want to split. Nobody (and most former college players will agree) wants to hang around after the coach says they're free. They want to go see their girlfriend or do something less intense. Imagine your place of employment having cool amenities. You hanging around after hours with your boss lurking?
These facilities at Clemson were built as a "trap" to keep kids under the watchful eye of the staff. That's fine and might sell some kids. Pitt just needs to keep selling the pro relationship with the Steelers, the professional facilities it has, and the fact that kids have an entire city (one of the greatest on the planet) to spend their free time enjoying.
Once they don't have to be there, they will all want to split. Nobody (and most former college players will agree) wants to hang around after the coach says they're free. They want to go see their girlfriend or do something less intense. Imagine your place of employment having cool amenities. You hanging around after hours with your boss lurking?
These facilities at Clemson were built as a "trap" to keep kids under the watchful eye of the staff. That's fine and might sell some kids. Pitt just needs to keep selling the pro relationship with the Steelers, the professional facilities it has, and the fact that kids have an entire city (one of the greatest on the planet) to spend their free time enjoying.
I'd much rather be very, very competitive in NCAAF and MBB and also rans in the other sports. And, I don't think we can come close to being contenders in most sports.
good post. great point about this stuff.. When the hell do you play whiffle ball and miniature golf? Before practice? after? You know what's more fun than playing arcade games and laser tag at a university facility when you are a 21 college student? ALOT OF THINGS. My little 7 and 4 year old would love this place though..
I disagree. We have a WBB program led by a coach who's on Team USA, a men's soccer program led by one of the most decorated soccer coaches in NCAA history, a wrestling program that has been in the Top 25 the last couple years. It doesn't take much to become good in some of these sports as well.
You look at a school like Ohio State. They are a prime example of how a school can be competitive in all sports. Now they haven't had as many road bumps as we have the last 30 years, but we could certainly get there one day. All it takes is good leadership and support. It looks like they have the foundation in place.
That's great. Great to have that, but I'd much rather be a lot better in football and men's basketball and not lose any resources to those sports.
And I come from a family with Pitt letter winners in football and other sports and a 4 time AA in a women's sport which is tragically underfunded (although it is getting a nice facilities upgrade) and a certain revenue loss leader.
Agree to disagree then I guess. All I'm saying is we can become and stay competitive in P5 and ACC for football and basketball without sacrificing our other sports. I think we are heading in that direction.
so you think if we take away the money that goes to gymnastics and soccer and build the football team a Dave and Busters in the south side complex, we'll win the ACC??
Yeah, what I am saying is I don't want to just be "competitive" in football and basketball, so we can be competitive in sports that don't produce revenue or attract attention/students.
No, but I think there is some amount of money that is spent on those sports that would be better spent on football and/or basketball. Of course, our hands are tied in a lot of ways because of awful legislation/societal pressures.
I think the path we're going on right now is the best one for the Univeristy, one where all sports are being heavily invested in. I'll add two more things in here.
1) If you start deemphasizing other sports for gains in other sports, that might begin to alienate the fan base. Look at how disgusted we were when they did it to football over the years. Other sports may not be as popular as the revenue sports, but people still care about them. Donations and support is up right now because the new administration is committed to making all sports contenders. Hiring Jay Vidovich in soccer has had no negative effect on Narduzzi's program, same with Populous helping us create a facility masterplan.
2) Money and resources will only get you so far. Eventually, coaches will have to start putting up results and getting the job done. Buying Coach Stallings his own private jet will not make the difference between being a good program or a great program. I'd also be concerned if a recruit committed to us on that fact alone. We've done good in raising the assistants salaries over the two sports. Now it's time to see where that got us
We both have the same desire: to become contenders in football and basketball. However, I don't believe we have to take away from other sports in order to do so. Not with the current resources and revenues we receive. I could see some schools doing that if they were a G5 school, say Boise State, but I don't think any P5 school has to worry about that.
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I'd also point out that the AD's strategic plan calls for the University to up its game in all sports. The plan calls for Pitt to be in the top 10% of the Directors Cup standings in D1(for all sports) by 2021. For reference, Pitt finished 106th this past year. Right behind Pepperdine and right ahead of Albany.
You can't sell your school as having a strong commitment to athletics with bottom feeder programs.
You can't sell your school as having a strong commitment to athletics with bottom feeder programs.
I always think of Fitz's recruitment when I read about these new amenities, and how he said he preferred the people of Pitt over the glitz and glamour of other schools. Hell, our indoor facility at that point was the Cost Center, an undersized concrete box on top of a parking garage. As long as our facilities are nice enough to not be a deterrence, we'll be fine.
If you watch the video, it's really not that superior to UPMC Sports Performance Complex.
Those little extras are very unique for recruiting but the part of building Football Players, I'm not seeing an advantage.
I assume they have an indoor facility like us............not sure.
