Early Signing Day - PITT Comes in at 43 (Rivals)

[sappycrease]

While I'm sure there will be some extra theatrics throughout the recruiting world today, I think we'll see ourselves hold steady at somewhere near 40 in the recruiting rankings. So with today's information, what does everyone think?

1. Who is left on the recruiting board that we will still pursue?
2. How do you see our final ranking playing out after the late NSD?
3. What are your thoughts on the class? Happy? Disappointed?

Edit: We just got bumped back to 47.

 

[doubleAA's]

not bad for a small class

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

What is our average stars per player ranking? Top 40 I assume? That's not bad for Pitt, seems like yeomans work, but I am still concerned at how many 4 star Pennsylvania kids we've missed lately.

 

[President Stache]

Great day... new players, new promise.

You see Pickett, Quadree, O'Neil, and you know its not the stars, its the training, drive and intangibles.

I read that 14 of the 15 kids signed today were there team's captains. That is impressive! Shows the kinda kid that Narduzzi and staff are trying to land.

 

[SempleFest06]

What is our average stars per player ranking? Top 40 I assume? That's not bad for Pitt, seems like yeomans work, but I am still concerned at how many 4 star Pennsylvania kids we've missed lately.

Solid class. Duzz did a lot of his work late and left no stone unturned. Getting 0 of the top 15 players (we did get 3 in the top 25 tho) in Pennsylvania is a bit concerning. For Duzz to take us where we want to go he needs to keep some of those kids home AND supplement that with national recruits. I suspect he would tell you the same thing.

 

[melwood]

I'll be the Debbie Downer of the group. We couldn't land one stinkin' 4* in the whole class?!? And spare me the 'Donald was a 3*' stuff. I get it. Still, it's a bit disconcerting when 4 and 5 stars seem to fall out of the sky to the school back east. For me, the jury's still out on Coach Narduzzi's recruiting acumen. Let's hope all these 'projects' pan out. HTP!!!

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Solid class. Duzz did a lot of his work late and left no stone unturned. Getting 0 of the top 15 players (we did get 3 in the top 25 tho) in Pennsylvania is a bit concerning. For Duzz to take us where we want to go he needs to keep some of those kids home AND supplement that with national recruits. I suspect he would tell you the same thing.

I disagree with recruiting priorities!
HCPN should focus on national recruits and supplement the class with local talent to meet specific needs.

Pitt won't be a program on the national Top 20 radar until it learns how to recruit quality players outside of PA especially in the football "hotbeds" like TX, FL, GA, LA, VA etc.

Local PA talent isn't what it used to be as many PA recruits don't live up to national expectations! Pitt has had alot of PA fizzles, and other problems with local recruits.

Merry Christmas to All!
Signed: Mr & Mrs Buffett
Go Pitt Panthers & CSU Rams!

 

[21Guns.]

I read that 14 of the 15 kids signed today were there team's captains. That is impressive! Shows the kinda kid that Narduzzi and staff are trying to land.

You think that impressive? When was the last time a top player wasn't a team captain? I would say 99% of D1a football players were team captains in high school.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

I disagree with recruiting priorities!
HCPN should focus on national recruits and supplement the class with local talent to meet specific needs.

No one except maybe Michigan, BYU or Notre Dame can pull that off. We can't "recruit nationally". I don't know how you have been on these message boards for years and not understand how this stuff works.

We can recruit where our coaches have relationships and where players have an interest in living in Pittsburgh, which is generally WPIAL/city league, Eastern PA, NJ, NY, and sometimes OH, MD, and FL thanks to conference affiliation. That's been about the same since about 1970...yes our region has declined, but it's also where the god damned university sits.

How would Narduzzi land a "national recruit" anyway? What is a "national recruit"?

 

[21Guns.]

No one except maybe Michigan, BYU or Notre Dame can pull that off. We can't "recruit nationally". I don't know how you have been on these message boards for years and not understand how this stuff works.

We can recruit where our coaches have relationships and where players have an interest in living in Pittsburgh, which is generally WPIAL/city league, Eastern PA, NJ, NY, and sometimes OH, MD, and FL thanks to conference affiliation. That's been about the same since about 1970...yes our region has declined, but it's also where the god damned university sits.

How would Narduzzi land a "national recruit" anyway? What is a "national recruit"?

It all starts at home. If you look at the signings, something like 90% sign with a school that within a 200 mile radius of home. It just unrealistic to expect to recruit top kids nationally. What does a Pitt or Penn State offer to a kid in Texas that they can not find closer to home? If recruiting resources were infinite then recruit nationally. However in reality you have to go where you have the highest chance of landing that recruit.

 

[revampedpanthers]

Its a solid small class. I suspect we can land another 2 or 3 kids yet and maybe finish around 40. Considering the size its probably comparable with last years class. One thing to note is that 9 of the kids are rated 5.7 and 5.8 is a 4 star. So a lot of these 3 star kids are really well thought of and had they committed to a top 10 program probably would get a bump to 4 stars. I do agree that PA recruiting has not been good under PN. He seems to have done as well as just about anyone since gottfried outside of PA but he has done worse than any previous coach in state. A lot of that I think is the coaching TO at Pitt and not PN's fault.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Yep combination of Franklin at PSU and turnover at Pitt can't have helped in state. And there is always that Catholic pull for kids like the two from central last year and Bauer and Jurkovec. Hoping Narduzzi's longer term contract and the upsets helps inspire some players who commit for reasons other than playing time/it was their best realistic offer. Also think he's done an OK job finding at least a few gems in the 3 star mountain.

 

[pittmeister]

I'll be the Debbie Downer of the group. We couldn't land one stinkin' 4* in the whole class?!? And spare me the 'Donald was a 3*' stuff. I get it. Still, it's a bit disconcerting when 4 and 5 stars seem to fall out of the sky to the school back east. For me, the jury's still out on Coach Narduzzi's recruiting acumen. Let's hope all these 'projects' pan out. HTP!!!

Ok, let me help you.... To be a 4 Star player, you have to be rated 5.8

Currently we have 7 players who are rated 5.7 that's not including Alaimo. I would say that's a pretty good haul.

We have players on our roster that were named as 4 Star players by at least one of the major recruiting sites (ESPN, Rivals, 24/7) that haven't done anything. (McKee, McVittie, Pugh, Flowers) Maybe we should recruit more like them?

Relax...

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Typical imo standard credible Pitt class if they get Shockey without a Hamlin or even a Flowers to bump it on paper.
Took a bit of rallying though to get even there this year though.

 

[rmf05]

Looks like we'll have 18-19 signees and be ranked 45-50 as other programs close out the remaining blue-chippers.

The various sites only use the top 20 signees from each program's class so having only 18-19 will hurt us a bit but not too much. We just don't have a very highly thought of class. We beat some other middling programs for decent kids but this class won't create any buzz. Any buzz for next season will have to come from young kids already on the roster like Paris Ford and Pickett.

 

[sappycrease]

I love the effort in FL and GA but let's be honest, we need to be better in our traditional areas - namely PA. How will we be able to recruit better in FL and GA if we can't do it in our backyard?

To not land any of the top 15 in-state is very concerning, especially some of the guys that were not even pursued by PSU. In all honesty, the last two cycles Franklin has handed it to Narduzzi with the in-state talent.

Hopefully we can close out with a couple studs over the next 6 weeks and really get a strong start on '19 kids.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

I love the effort in FL and GA but let's be honest, we need to be better in our traditional areas - namely PA. How will we be able to recruit better in FL and GA if we can't do it in our backyard?

To not land any of the top 15 in-state is very concerning, especially some of the guys that were not even pursued by PSU. In all honesty, the last two cycles Franklin has handed it to Narduzzi with the in-state talent.

Hopefully we can close out with a couple studs over the next 6 weeks and really get a strong start on '19 kids.

I basically agree but what do you mean by Georgia? We didn't get anyone from there. You might mean Cameron O'Neill from Alabama, the one player outside of our traditional recruiting footprint, but he was also a military kid who lived all over and considered several northern schools. Yeah most southerners are going to stay in the south unless they get an OSU offer.

 

[SempleFest06]

It all starts at home. If you look at the signings, something like 90% sign with a school that within a 200 mile radius of home. It just unrealistic to expect to recruit top kids nationally. What does a Pitt or Penn State offer to a kid in Texas that they can not find closer to home? If recruiting resources were infinite then recruit nationally. However in reality you have to go where you have the highest chance of landing that recruit.

This is spot on. You can't expect to win conference championships by relying mostly on kids who fall through the cracks in SEC country. Our best chance to get highly coveted recruits are the ones in our region that want to play football relatively close to home and like the school/city. If given the choice most kids don't want to go halfway across the country to college, especially not someplace with much worse weather.


.

 

[sappycrease]

I basically agree but what do you mean by Georgia? We didn't get anyone from there. You might mean Cameron O'Neill from Alabama, the one player outside of our traditional recruiting footprint, but he was also a military kid who lived all over and considered several northern schools. Yeah most southerners are going to stay in the south unless they get an OSU offer.

I meant the effort placed in identifying and recruiting in the state of GA, not necessarily landing any of the kids. GA is arguably the #1 hotbed of football recruiting right now. It can't hurt to try and get a footprint in that state and snag a kid or two each cycle.

 

[Safety Blitz]

Gotta be solidly in the hunt for at least a handful of the top Pennsylvania kids each year.
And have to land two or three of those players (on average) each year.
Anything less than that (after the coach has been in place a couple years) is unacceptable.
"Coach 'em up" seems to be the rally cry around here.
Somebody needs to seriously "coach up" the coach when it comes to recruiting.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

You might be right, I just assumed (yeah i know i know) the time on Jatavious Harris would be better spent on, say, Florida athletes.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

No one except maybe Michigan, BYU or Notre Dame can pull that off. We can't "recruit nationally". I don't know how you have been on these message boards for years and not understand how this stuff works.

We can recruit where our coaches have relationships and where players have an interest in living in Pittsburgh, which is generally WPIAL/city league, Eastern PA, NJ, NY, and sometimes OH, MD, and FL thanks to conference affiliation. That's been about the same since about 1970...yes our region has declined, but it's also where the god damned university sits.

How would Narduzzi land a "national recruit" anyway? What is a "national recruit"?

You make good points!

But

As the talent level declines locally so will football program performance so its important that Pitt figure out how to recruit nationally which is defined IMO as players outside of PA.

Pitt has alot of advantages with the big one being playing time. A kid from FL will have to sit a while to crack the FSU, or FL line-up, same for TX ( A&M/U of TX), same for SC ( Clemson / Gamecocks). If he's good and comes to Pitt he plays today a big advantage for a kid wanting to play at the next level.

Facts back up this up when you look at all of the Pitt players on teams and playing in the NFL. Just look at RB's McCoy, Lewis, Conner!
Lewis might not have played on another top D1 team but he played at Pitt. Conner moved to RB from a DE recruit, got an opportunity, and played at Pitt.

There's many more examples of how PT at Pitt made the difference between moving up to the NFL or sitting home watching the NFL!

If a football program hires the appropriate staff/coordinators they will be able to reach the football "hotbeds."

Pitt can pick up the Fl or TX for example 3 stars which are better than PA 3 stars. A FL or TX 3 star player is probably a 4 star in PA.


Merry Christmas to All!
Signed: Mr & Mrs Buffett
Go Pitt Panthers & CSU Rams

 

[SempleFest06]

You make good points!

But

As the talent level declines locally so will football program performance so its important that Pitt figure out how to recruit nationally which is defined IMO as players outside of PA.

Pitt has alot of advantages with the big one being playing time. A kid from FL will have to sit a while to crack the FSU, or FL line-up. If he comes to Pitt he plays today a big advantage for a kid wanting to play at the next level.

Facts back up this up when you look at all of the Pitt players on teams and playing in the NFL. Just look at RB's McCoy, Lewis, Conner!
Lewis might not have played on another top D1 team but he played at Pitt. Conner moved to RB from a DE recruit, got an opportunity, and played at Pitt. There's many more examples of how PT at Pitt made the difference between moving up to the NFL or sitting home watching the NFL!

If a football program hires the appropriate staff/coordinators they will be able to reach the football "hotbeds."

Pitt can pick up the Fl or TX for example 3 stars which are better than PA 3 stars. A FL or TX 3 star player is probably a 4 star in PA.


Merry Christmas to All!
Signed: Mr & Mrs Buffett
Go Pitt Panthers & CSU Rams

ND, OSU, PSU, Michigan, Alabama and Georgia would disagree that talent has declined in Pennsylvania as they have all come here to get recruits in the past 2 cycles.

 

[DiehardPanther]

I'll be the Debbie Downer of the group. We couldn't land one stinkin' 4* in the whole class?!? And spare me the 'Donald was a 3*' stuff. I get it. Still, it's a bit disconcerting when 4 and 5 stars seem to fall out of the sky to the school back east. For me, the jury's still out on Coach Narduzzi's recruiting acumen. Let's hope all these 'projects' pan out. HTP!!!

9 guys were rated 5.7. 5.8 makes you a 4 star.

 

[sappycrease]

We aren't even getting sniffed by the top recruits from the other side of the state. I'm aware that PSU traditionally lands these kids but I can't even remember being mentioned by some of the top kids Swift, Webb, Parsons, Kuntz, Dotson, Tarburton, McGovern, Menet, etc. Not to mention the kids from this cycle that never landed a PSU offer like Barmor (Bama), Pitts (UF), Brown (WVU), Simmons (Tech). Those 4 guys alone would be impact prospects for Narduzzi.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

ND, OSU, PSU, Michigan, Alabama and Georgia would disagree that talent has declined in Pennsylvania as they have all come here to get recruits in the past 2 cycles.

Yep.

Also,

Pitt has alot of advantages with the big one being playing time. A kid from FL will have to sit a while to crack the FSU, or FL line-up, same for TX ( A&M/U of TX), same for SC ( Clemson / Gamecocks). If he's good and comes to Pitt he plays today a big advantage for a kid wanting to play at the next level.

Florida is somewhat realistic partially due to scheduling/conference. We have been recruiting there on and off for decades and I'm all for it. Southern Florida is culturally (and airport-wise) very connected to a lot of the eastern US, which helps too. And mostly it's just packed with too many three star players to fill up all the schools down there, so they want to go somewhere.

As for Texas or South Carolina, why would they choose Pitt if they aren't good enough to get playing time for the Longhorns or Clemson Tigers when they could also look at programs that are a short drive to home like Houston/Baylor/TCU/Oklahoma State or Georgia Tech/North Carolina/NC State? Pitt has gotten the occasional player from between Norfolk and Fort Lauderdale in the last 30 years but quite occasional for a reason...

 

[Adrift]

You make good points!

But

A FL or TX 3 star player is probably a 4 star in PA.


Merry Christmas to All!
Signed: Mr & Mrs Buffett
Go Pitt Panthers & CSU Rams

Oh Dear God! Stop watching ESPN. They have spent the last 10 - 15 years convincing the CFB world that everything football in SEC country is better...I've got a secret, it's not. So, what would a PA 3-star be rated if they instead went to school in TX or FL?

Pitt needs to recruit within the region first and foremost. When it comes right down to it most kids are somewhat fearful about going more than a 6 - 8 hour drive from home. Yes, there are many examples of long range recruits but the VAST majority stay close to home.

 

[BradlyPitt]

Great day... new players, new promise.

You see Pickett, Quadree, O'Neil, and you know its not the stars, its the training, drive and intangibles.

I read that 14 of the 15 kids signed today were there team's captains. That is impressive! Shows the kinda kid that Narduzzi and staff are trying to land.

the captain is typically the best player on the team, D1 prospects are typically the best players on their high school team

 

[gmandingo]

While I'm sure there will be some extra theatrics throughout the recruiting world today, I think we'll see ourselves hold steady at somewhere near 40 in the recruiting rankings. So with today's information, what does everyone think?

1. Who is left on the recruiting board that we will still pursue?
2. How do you see our final ranking playing out after the late NSD?
3. What are your thoughts on the class? Happy? Disappointed?

Edit: We just got bumped back to 47.

I really like this class (more than most). Solid top to bottom. Still a couple more to sign, who knows. Shocky was an enormous get tonight. Honestly, I think we could have 5-7 4 stars. I don’t take Rivals too seriously because they clearly downplay certain recruits who choose certain schools. Then there are the normal “huh” ranked recruits like Bentley who is a 5.5. Yea, right! I don’t know anyone I can take seriously who says Danielson is not a top 15 player in PA. Williams and Patti look like huge steals as well. Lots of solid talent. Recruiting is rolling as I’m impressed with the previous 2 classes as well. We start winning 10 games and the floodgates will open to 4 stars.

 

[Teh Teh]

Oh Dear God! Stop watching ESPN. They have spent the last 10 - 15 years convincing the CFB world that everything football in SEC country is better...I've got a secret, it's not. So, what would a PA 3-star be rated if they instead went to school in TX or FL?

Pitt needs to recruit within the region first and foremost. When it comes right down to it most kids are somewhat fearful about going more than a 6 - 8 hour drive from home. Yes, there are many examples of long range recruits but the VAST majority stay close to home.

SEC is vastly better

 

[TD_istheman]

You think that impressive? When was the last time a top player wasn't a team captain? I would say 99% of D1a football players were team captains in high school.

He doesn't get this. Every kid signed by power 5 are studs, captains etc on their high school teams , but anything to shill

 

[TD_istheman]

Oh Dear God! Stop watching ESPN. They have spent the last 10 - 15 years convincing the CFB world that everything football in SEC country is better...I've got a secret, it's not. So, what would a PA 3-star be rated if they instead went to school in TX or FL?

Pitt needs to recruit within the region first and foremost. When it comes right down to it most kids are somewhat fearful about going more than a 6 - 8 hour drive from home. Yes, there are many examples of long range recruits but the VAST majority stay close to home.

Bingo , it's a farce , 3 star here is a 3 star there , 4, 5 , etc

 

[bobfree]

I’m a little disappointed to be honest....

-We continue to do poorly locally.

-the eastern Part of the state is fertile and we can’t do shit.

-we get beat by Louisville and Maryland for recruits down the stretch.

-Kentucky is eating our lunch in Ohio.

Some decent recruits but we have 0 identity in recruiting right now besides getting our butts kicked in PA

 

[21Guns.]

Ok, let me help you.... To be a 4 Star player, you have to be rated 5.8

Currently we have 7 players who are rated 5.7 that's not including Alaimo. I would say that's a pretty good haul.

We have players on our roster that were named as 4 Star players by at least one of the major recruiting sites (ESPN, Rivals, 24/7) that haven't done anything. (McKee, McVittie, Pugh, Flowers) Maybe we should recruit more like them?

Relax...

Not when you consider how many 5.7 rated recruits there are. There about 350 4 Star Kids and about another 300-400 5.7 rated Kids. So while it close it not that rare.

 

[pittmeister]

Not when you consider how many 5.7 rated recruits there are. There about 350 4 Star Kids and about another 300-400 5.7 rated Kids. So while it close it not that rare.

All it means is that these guys are high 3 star players that are pretty good.... No one needs to sneer at this group...

 

[21Guns.]

You make good points!

But

As the talent level declines locally so will football program performance so its important that Pitt figure out how to recruit nationally which is defined IMO as players outside of PA.

Pitt has alot of advantages with the big one being playing time. A kid from FL will have to sit a while to crack the FSU, or FL line-up, same for TX ( A&M/U of TX), same for SC ( Clemson / Gamecocks). If he's good and comes to Pitt he plays today a big advantage for a kid wanting to play at the next level.

Facts back up this up when you look at all of the Pitt players on teams and playing in the NFL. Just look at RB's McCoy, Lewis, Conner!
Lewis might not have played on another top D1 team but he played at Pitt. Conner moved to RB from a DE recruit, got an opportunity, and played at Pitt.

There's many more examples of how PT at Pitt made the difference between moving up to the NFL or sitting home watching the NFL!

If a football program hires the appropriate staff/coordinators they will be able to reach the football "hotbeds."

Pitt can pick up the Fl or TX for example 3 stars which are better than PA 3 stars. A FL or TX 3 star player is probably a 4 star in PA.


Merry Christmas to All!
Signed: Mr & Mrs Buffett
Go Pitt Panthers & CSU Rams

1. There is still plenty of talent in the area. You could easily have a top 5 class without even going outside a 3 hr drive of Pittsburgh.

2. Top recruits are not afraid of competition. If that was the case then the top schools year in and year out will not be signing top classes. Pitt not the only school that can sell immediate playing time so I don’t know why you think that a big selling point. If it was that easy why would Rutgers be loaded with 4 or 5 star recruits looking for early playing time?

The bottom line is if you can’t get it done at Home area you aren’t going to be able to get it done 300 miles away.

 

[President Stache]

the captain is typically the best player on the team, D1 prospects are typically the best players on their high school team

And? You think each school has one D1 prospect? You guys have to turn rainbows into mud all the time huh? You have to be miserable people to be around

 

[DiehardPanther]

1. There is still plenty of talent in the area. You could easily have a top 5 class without even going outside a 3 hr drive of Pittsburgh.

2. Top recruits are not afraid of competition. If that was the case then the top schools year in and year out will not be signing top classes. Pitt not the only school that can sell immediate playing time so I don’t know why you think that a big selling point. If it was that easy why would Rutgers be loaded with 4 or 5 star recruits looking for early playing time?

The bottom line is if you can’t get it done at Home area you aren’t going to be able to get it done 300 miles away.

1) Western and Central PA + Eastern OH do not produce enough talent to be a Top 5 class. Not even close.

2) There are states like WV that typically do not produce many prospects, but WV goes elsewhere. The same can be said of others who have been successful.

 

[joeydavid]

Recent on field results don't support that opinion.

SEC is vastly better

 

[joeydavid]

HCPN is recruiting at the same level as HCDW did. Why care about where they are from?

I’m a little disappointed to be honest....

-We continue to do poorly locally.

-the eastern Part of the state is fertile and we can’t do shit.

-we get beat by Louisville and Maryland for recruits down the stretch.

-Kentucky is eating our lunch in Ohio.

Some decent recruits but we have 0 identity in recruiting right now besides getting our butts kicked in PA