Could the Loss to Miami Be For The Best For The Program?

[pitt-girl]

He was ready to take Colorado st before Pitt was interested. He didn't turn down many good jobs, trust me. He will be gone the minute a better job comes around and WANTS him.

LOL. I'd worry about your own HC at this point and the fact that he seems incapable of improving any of his players. Did you happen to read that for the first time in ACC history 1 team had the offensive AND defensive Rookie of the Year honors along with overall Rookie of the Year? Pitt/Narduzzi are just fine.

 

[pittdan77]

Narduzzi seems to get the tradition and seems to have a vested interest in the program. If not, he's one hell of a con artist. I don't think The Fraud even bothered to notice that the program had a history or the potential. Maybe the admin never gave him the impression that they saw the job as anything more than a stop-over? Who knows?

Only thing I can tell you is that a lot has changed and apparently for the better. A lot of what happens next is in the hands of the alumni.

 

[SouthSidePanther]

I think Narduzzi will be here at least a few years, at least until one of the blue bloods come calling (and perhaps he will be entrenched and compensated enough here to stay). What I don't understand is the theory that Narduzzi would jump at Michigan State if he was offered. He has no ties to the university other than he was an assistant to Dantonio. Even in their current "golden years," MSU's recruiting is essentially on par with Pitt's. The recruiting potential at Pitt far and away exceeds MSU's, given their limitations with "big brother" and that school to the east. It goes without saying that Pittsburgh BY FAR is a better living option than Lansing (ever been there? yuck!). Presuming the money is similar and Narduzzi has success here, why MSU?

 

[pitt-girl]

I think Narduzzi will be here at least a few years, at least until one of the blue bloods come calling (and perhaps he will be entrenched and compensated enough here to stay). What I don't understand is the theory that Narduzzi would jump at Michigan State if he was offered. He has no ties to the university other than he was an assistant to Dantonio. Even in their current "golden years," MSU's recruiting is essentially on par with Pitt's. The recruiting potential at Pitt far and away exceeds MSU's, given their limitations with "big brother" and that school to the east. It goes without saying that Pittsburgh BY FAR is a better living option than Lansing (ever been there? yuck!). Presuming the money is similar and Narduzzi has success here, why MSU?

I can say for a fact that Narduzzi's wife really likes Pittsburgh. As opposed to E. Lansing, Pittsburgh is a true city with pro sport and cultural offerings, along with retail, food, etc. They're also in a very strong public school district. Plus we have an international airport less than 45 minutes from their home. I know they loved their life in East Lansing, but Pittsburgh has SO much more to offer and she likes that. A LOT.

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

I really don't see a team that is so great Narduzzi would have to accept their offer coming after a guy who was been a head coach at the collegiate level for all of 12 games. By the time he does become a target though, when Pitt hears rumblings they have to seriously make it near impossible for him to leave.

Narduzzi likes it here I think and could very well win here just as well as anywhere else. Pitt has to do their end and fork up the cash. If they do that and he has already had success here by that point, there is no point in leaving.

You are absolutely insane if you think Pitt can not be Baylor, TCU, VT, or the other schools Cap'n mentioned. Those programs were absolute garbage before those coaches arrived. They built winners and are still there. The reason was even mentioned above... they are well compensated. If Pitt pays Narduzzi top dollar once he's proven himself, Pitt with it's history is just as good if not a better football school than TCU, Va. Tech, etc.

Yeah, I agree that there is no reason Pitt can't be as good as many of the top ten teams (the they were in the 70's and early eighties). We are already starting to move in that direction.

The compensation should all work itself out. There's no need for the administration to panic and throw money at a guy who says he sees this gig as the closest thing to his dream job. When he was hired, he was offered fair compensation for someone who looked promising yet had not proven he could win as a HC. Should Pitt improve to 9 or more wins (during the regular season) next season, he will prove he deserves more and I suspect the powers that be at Pitt will approach him and show him the kind of love that will seem fair at that time. It's very possible he has already been told that if he can continue to win more, he will continue to be compensated more.

 

[mehinpgh]

I wrote this post to be a bit of a devil's advocate and to make a bit of commentary on the way tides can change so much with mainstream media and social media. Look at last week with Les Miles--it was all over the place that he was as good as gone, then he wins on Saturday and he gets a vote of confidence that his job was never in danger. Unfortunately in this day and age with Twitter/etc, perception is reality anymore...I love Coach Duzz, and I hope he has tons of success in the next two seasons and we give him a huge raise and extension so it would be impossible for him to leave, but I honestly think if espn or foxsports or cbssports took off with a story about Narduzzi being a hot commodity, who knows what could have happened. At the worst a school could have bought into the hype and paid him whatever he wanted At best, our recruiting would have been temporarily damaged with the rumors...losing to Miami squelched all that and we have nothing to worry about. Hail to Pitt!

Always enjoy your informative posts! I just feel that Coach Narduzzi just focuses on what he has to do at Pitt, and is something special and will be at Pitt a Long Time. A Coach that stays in the Dorms to get to know his Players won't abandon them, in my opinion. Coach Pat said he will have Pitt Win Championships and that is going to happen before he would consider leaving, Just a Hunch!

 

[Pittx9]

It's very possible he has already been told that if he can continue to win more, he will continue to be compensated more.

I saw earlier today Sam Werner mentioned a quote from Scott Barnes. He said that nobody has contacted Pitt about Narduzzi and regarding his future Pitt some 3 weeks ago made sure Narduzzi will stay here in the future.

I really have no idea what he means by that though. I mean we had the great facility upgrades this past summer, but at some point money has to be part of the equation. So whatever they did, I hope they don't think they can avoid paying him the bucks because of it.

 

[Saboteur]

Schools make those decisions all the time without worry about what effect it will have on a staff or their families. That's a two way street and everybody looks out for number one. Kiffin pretty much got taken down 3 months into the job when the NCAA put the hammer down with a loss of 30 scholarships over 3 years. He'll get another gig soon.

I don't see the appeal of Todd Graham.[/QUOTE

I don't see the appeal of Graham either. The PAC 12 was mediocre at best this year and Graham is well into his tenure so he has his own recruits (which is a bs line anyway IMHO) yet ASU was average in a below average conference.
Pedal to the metal or running out of high octane? I think it is the latter.

 

[Jpripper88]

I don't think my response has been naïve. Go back and read my original response. SIGNIFICANTLY better offers. The offers Narduzzi had were crap compared to Pitt. He was also one of the top paid DC's in college football at MSU.

Cap is an absolute hack and homer. Pay him no mind.

 

[Pitt79]

Considering there will be a near-record amount of head coaching vacancies this year, could the loss to Miami be a blessing? Things were riding real high for the Pitt Program and to finish the year with three straight wins and a 9 win season for the first time in quite awhile, Coach Narduzzi could have been the hot new girl at the dance and a lot of big time programs that don't worry about money or buyouts could have asked him to slow dance. After yet another slow start in the game that we could not quite dig our way out of, we lost, and just a slight bit of the luster came off HC Duzz. The program is most certainly still trending upward, especially with the whole #412crew phenomenon in the WPIAL going on, but the loss to Miami in my opinion saved a lot angst among us Pitt fans since a lot of programs will not come calling for our coach with a hard sell...for at least another year...

LOL, the newest insanity, let's lose some games to make sure our coach doesn't leave! LMFAO!

 

[Pitt79]

LOL, the newest insanity, let's lose some games to make sure our coach doesn't leave! LMFAO!

Hears an idea, when the other teams come calling, JU$T OFFER MORE CA$H than they do, try that!

 

[UPitt '89]

Hears an idea, when the other teams come calling, JU$T OFFER MORE CA$H than they do, try that!

That's a great plan.

Except for when the other offers more cash than you have.

 

[Pitt79]

That's a great plan.

Except for when the other offers more cash than you have.

How do we know what they have and what they don't have? Everybody in Pittsburgh assumes our teams can't pay, ever. I see people arguing vehemently to defend the Nutting's and the Rooney's bank accounts. Cincinnati was paying $3 million for a football coach when we where paying Chryst like $1.6, are you saying you believe that we can't even match Cincy?

 

[UPitt '89]

How do we know what they have and what they don't have? Everybody in Pittsburgh assumes our teams can't pay, ever. I see people arguing vehemently to defend the Nutting's and the Rooney's bank accounts. Cincinnati was paying $3 million for a football coach when we where paying Chryst like $1.6, are you saying you believe that we can't even match Cincy?

Didn't say that.

There is some number that Pitt can pay. That number is certainly much higher than we're currently paying Narduzzi..... but it is not higher than some other schools can afford to pay.

We can give Narduzzi raise after raise...... but if they want him, there are schools out there that can pay more than we can pay. Hopefully we always pay him enough to keep him happy no matter what offers come along. We've managed to do it so far with Dixon, so there's no reason to believe we can't to it with Narduzzi.

 

[TD_6082]

Don't you think a coach would be more than a little put off if you wait until he is a hot commodity before Pitt is willing to stroke him a big check and show him the love?

Seriously, If Pitt screwed around and let it get to that point with Narduzzi after taking care of damaged goods like Steve Pederson all that time... well, I just don't even want to think about the possibility.

 

[Pitt79]

Didn't say that.

There is some number that Pitt can pay. That number is certainly much higher than we're currently paying Narduzzi..... but it is not higher than some other schools can afford to pay.

We can give Narduzzi raise after raise...... but if they want him, there are schools out there that can pay more than we can pay. Hopefully we always pay him enough to keep him happy no matter what offers come along. We've managed to do it so far with Dixon, so there's no reason to believe we can't to it with Narduzzi.

Here's the thing, I've heard from reliable sources, that the new AD and Admin of the University want to win big. So maybe we'll find out if they can afford more than we ever thought they could.

 

[Pittx9]

How do we know what they have and what they don't have? Everybody in Pittsburgh assumes our teams can't pay, ever. I see people arguing vehemently to defend the Nutting's and the Rooney's bank accounts. Cincinnati was paying $3 million for a football coach when we where paying Chryst like $1.6, are you saying you believe that we can't even match Cincy?

Yeah that is absolutely insane. There may not be another ownership group in baseball that can fork up the money that the Nuttings can. Nutting is incredibly, filthy rich. He is more interested in pocketing money than spending it though. Anyone who thinks otherwise is terribly misinformed.

 

[TD_6082]

MSU was just a job for Narduzzi; no real connection there. Was does anyone think this is a sure thing?

In this day and age, they are all just jobs. Yeah, even those employed by their Alma Mater.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

There is only one way thing good about a Loss, and that is the Players, Coaches, and Team learning from it, correcting the mistakes, and e4xecuting next game and next time. Nothing more and certainly nothing less!

What comes from Winning is the building of Confidence to keep doing it again, and never giving up, by executing better every play.

The Miami Loss came at the end of the season and they were prepared to play from the first play and Pitt Players catch up came up short, missed execution on kicks, and now they have to play better in the Bowl Game.

The ND & UNC losses were bad execution and too many mistakes on bad tackles and sacks, missed blocks, and dropped passes.

The Iowa lost was a Coaching Players experience and Pitt Narduzzi & Staff learned from it!

Pitt will have weeks to prepare for the Bowl Game, I will be surprised if coach Pat & Staff cannot have them ready to play and compete the season and I don't care whom they play, just win it, by learning from the Miami Loss!!!

 

[Pitt79]

There is only one way thing good about a Loss, and that is the Players, Coaches, and Team learning from it, correcting the mistakes, and e4xecuting next game and next time. Nothing more and certainly nothing less!

Sad to say, but the BEST THING that can happen for Pitt, is that Narduzzi does so good, wins so big, that the whole nation is beating his door down to get at him.

Do I want him to leave? Hell no! He seems great so far. But if the choice is, he stays just good enough that we are better than usual and nobody really wants him OR he reels off five or six 10-12 seasons, impresses everybody, and blows town with a bundle, I'd rather wave good bye, thank him for doing what we wanted a Pitt coach to do, and wish him luck.

Of course I want him to have that big success and figure out a way to keep him. But I don't want him staying because nobody else wants him, because that means we aren't that much better because of him. We don't want to be hovering at a "Wanny Level" where we are just good enough, the guy is a local guy and he excites nobody else.

Win BIG 1st, and then worry about keeping him later.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

"TD_6082, post: 590327, member: 510"]Don't you think a coach would be more than a little put off if you wait until he is a hot commodity before Pitt is willing to stroke him a big check and show him the love?
Sorry, but I really think you are confusing and not understanding why Narduzzi came to Pitt. It shows in his Press Conferences. It Shows in his Coaching. He is not here to make more money or use Pitt as a Stepping Stone. These are the furthest things from his mind and one can see he is just focused on making his Players better as Team.

There are no complaints or crying from Coach Pat, he makes no excuses. After every game he tells it like it is, and when explainable the losses, he just comes out and tells the Press where his players went wrong and need to improve. He lets his Players As coach's we can teach and coach you, but you have only each player has to to execute and learn to be ready every game, and that is more dependent on you than than coaches. It can be seen in his very Good Game Plans, Half-Time Adjustments and Game Day Coaching.

Narduzzi is just doing his job and it shows in every game, including the losses. There is no thinking about salaries other jobs, and Programs.

It is about making his Players better to win more at Pitt! Anybody that follows CFB can see it. This is truly a Great Coach that knows his job and is coaching up his Players and teaching them to not to quit and get better. IN HIS FIRST YEAR!

Seriously, If Pitt screwed around and let it get to that point with Narduzzi after taking care of damaged goods like Steve Pederson all that time... well, I just don't even want to think about the possibility.
What possibilities???? LOL, Come on, you are talking nonsense.

Once again, there is no problem with Narduzzi & Staff at Pitt and Pederson ain't here anymore. There are problems at WVU & Penn State and your solution is Wait give him time, but on Narduzzi only you are in panic mode over issues not in reality, germane, and Narduzzi is just coaching not holding Press Conferences explaining things because he doing more important things.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

Pitt79, post: 590447, member: 2170"]Sad to say, but the BEST THING that can happen for Pitt, is that Narduzzi does so good, wins so big, that the whole nation is beating his door down to get at him.
Outright this disagree with respect to your post that are good on the Lair.A Coach like Narduzzi BEST THING to do at PITT is just keep coaching up his Players, Recruit as hard as he can, and then coach them them into better Players too. This is how Great and Elite Coaches do it every day, not think about it, but do it. Winning comes from coaching the players into complete Teams. The rest takes care oif itself. This is what Narduzzi is doing!

It is Franklin looking at his 7-5 record and then holding Press Conferences to explain his Plan and firing his OC to improve his Coaching so he can win better, but he is not making it happen. Great Coaching of Players brings on bigger Winning, it is that simple. Any other thoughts and actions of not doing that causes losing?

Do I want him to leave? Hell no! He seems great so far. But if the choice is, he stays just good enough that we are better than usual and nobody really wants him OR he reels off five or six 10-12 seasons, impresses everybody, and blows town with a bundle, I'd rather wave good bye, thank him for doing what we wanted a Pitt coach to do, and wish him luck.
There is no choice as far as Narduzzi is concern, he just keeps doing his job by coaching and not thinking about his future. His future is every day he coaches in the present, not plans for his future?

Of course I want him to have that big success and figure out a way to keep him. But I don't want him staying because nobody else wants him, because that means we aren't that much better because of him. We don't want to be hovering at a "Wanny Level" where we are just good enough, the guy is a local guy and he excites nobody else.
Narduzzi could care less what we as fans want or think about right now. He is doing what his Players need and want to do to become better Players, end of story. Talk about his future winning and then leaving is just that talk, and that is Franklin is doing talking instead of coaching, unlike Narduzzi!

Win BIG 1st, and then worry about keeping him later.
Coach up Players first into compete Teams that execute in every game, and winning comes from that, nothing else!

 

[#99HUGHgreen]

I saw earlier today Sam Werner mentioned a quote from Scott Barnes. He said that nobody has contacted Pitt about Narduzzi and regarding his future Pitt some 3 weeks ago made sure Narduzzi will stay here in the future.

I really have no idea what he means by that though. I mean we had the great facility upgrades this past summer, but at some point money has to be part of the equation. So whatever they did, I hope they don't think they can avoid paying him the bucks because of it.

Actually, it sounds more like they may have given approval for Barnes to match any reasonable offer Narduzzi gets. Or maybe they have another incentive built in that guarantees a significant pay raise should he continue to win 9 or more a season. Or maybe even he has a Golden Parachute that guarantees a huge payout if he stays for something like 7 years. Whatever it is, it seems like Pitt has decided to take a proactive approach to ensure he is happy and content instead of waiting to make reactive decisions to every offer that comes his way.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

"Cruzer, post: 585212, member: 460"]IMO the loss didn't really have an impact on Narduzzi at this point in his career. What Narduzzi has proven this year is that he can motivate the team (and the fans) and he can coach. What we don't know yet is can he recruit? Big time programs want both because both are necessary to win at the highest level. In 2-3 years, if the program is continuing to trend up, you can bet that the big boys will come calling.
Cruzer
Great Points and Spot On!