I want to see Pitt be competitive and win just like the next person on this board does. I also know that a lot of what is said on here is just people blowing off steam. I totally understand that. That being said, there is something to be said about players taking responsibility to executing plays. Also pre-snap penalties are all on the players. It doesn't matter if you are a five star or no star recruit. Both make those mistakes and it is, flat out, the players responsibility not to make them.
Dropped passes and fumbles...squarely on the shoulders of the players. Again, it doesn't matter how highly or lowly rated the player is. It is their focus on that play that causes either its success or failure. As far as the interception goes, where I was seated, I had a clear shot to see the receiver didn't read what, and where, the safety was playing. He should've made his break in front of the safety. Not behind him. Pickett made the right call on that safety read, the receiver...not so much. Fumbles are all on the players, plain and simple. You practice strip drills every week so that you don't fumble. Again, can't blame the coaches there either.
Now, where the coaches can take responsibility and blame is that they knew what BC was going to do and that's RUN THE FOOTBALL!!! They essentially have one offensive weapon...A.J. Dillon. The coaching staff's foundation philosophy is to stop the run. Couple that with the fact that BC's passing game is practically nonexistent and it makes your defensive game plan rather easy. Put 8 people in the box and make them beat you with the pass.
Narduzzi said that they were in the wrong defensive set when Dillion ran for the 61 yard TD. That being said, Ford had a clear shot at Dillon and WHIFFED!!
Everybody wants to blame the head coach when a team loses. However, we've got to keep perspective here. Fumbles, missed tackles, dropped passes, etc. are solely the responsibility of the players. A coach can put you in position to succeed, however, if the player doesn't execute.....
So, the responses will say then get better or higher rated recruits recruits. Or do a better coaching job of coaching up the recruits you have. Two expected responses. I say, you have in the neighborhood of 64 schools in the Power 5 conferences all going after 25-27 five star recruits in each recruiting class. Odds are not that good that most of those schools land one 5 star recruit. Four star recruits have way better odds as they average in the 225 range per year. Still, you are not guaranteed that those recruits will live up to there ranking. So, getting higher rated players isn't always the answer. There has been several 2 and 3 star recruits that have run rings around 4 star and a few 5 star recruits.
As far as coaching up what you have, staffs can run a pass play 20 times in practice and the receiver catches the pass all 20 times in practice. Then game time comes and for whatever reason, that same receiver drops the same pass he caught in practice all week. Why? A coach can't answer that question in a post game interview. Or any other time. Ask the player.
Finally, both Peak and Hammet have said it multiple times on this forum...if you win, the better players will come. Which all boils down to, no pre-snap penalties...player, no dropped passes...player, no fumbles....player. I believe we have players that can, and have, performed well this season. However, those same players have also made crucial mistakes that have caused a game or two to go into the "L" column. Yesterday was a prime example of that. Again, why? Ask the players who made the mistakes.
Dropped passes and fumbles...squarely on the shoulders of the players. Again, it doesn't matter how highly or lowly rated the player is. It is their focus on that play that causes either its success or failure. As far as the interception goes, where I was seated, I had a clear shot to see the receiver didn't read what, and where, the safety was playing. He should've made his break in front of the safety. Not behind him. Pickett made the right call on that safety read, the receiver...not so much. Fumbles are all on the players, plain and simple. You practice strip drills every week so that you don't fumble. Again, can't blame the coaches there either.
Now, where the coaches can take responsibility and blame is that they knew what BC was going to do and that's RUN THE FOOTBALL!!! They essentially have one offensive weapon...A.J. Dillon. The coaching staff's foundation philosophy is to stop the run. Couple that with the fact that BC's passing game is practically nonexistent and it makes your defensive game plan rather easy. Put 8 people in the box and make them beat you with the pass.
Narduzzi said that they were in the wrong defensive set when Dillion ran for the 61 yard TD. That being said, Ford had a clear shot at Dillon and WHIFFED!!
Everybody wants to blame the head coach when a team loses. However, we've got to keep perspective here. Fumbles, missed tackles, dropped passes, etc. are solely the responsibility of the players. A coach can put you in position to succeed, however, if the player doesn't execute.....
So, the responses will say then get better or higher rated recruits recruits. Or do a better coaching job of coaching up the recruits you have. Two expected responses. I say, you have in the neighborhood of 64 schools in the Power 5 conferences all going after 25-27 five star recruits in each recruiting class. Odds are not that good that most of those schools land one 5 star recruit. Four star recruits have way better odds as they average in the 225 range per year. Still, you are not guaranteed that those recruits will live up to there ranking. So, getting higher rated players isn't always the answer. There has been several 2 and 3 star recruits that have run rings around 4 star and a few 5 star recruits.
As far as coaching up what you have, staffs can run a pass play 20 times in practice and the receiver catches the pass all 20 times in practice. Then game time comes and for whatever reason, that same receiver drops the same pass he caught in practice all week. Why? A coach can't answer that question in a post game interview. Or any other time. Ask the player.
Finally, both Peak and Hammet have said it multiple times on this forum...if you win, the better players will come. Which all boils down to, no pre-snap penalties...player, no dropped passes...player, no fumbles....player. I believe we have players that can, and have, performed well this season. However, those same players have also made crucial mistakes that have caused a game or two to go into the "L" column. Yesterday was a prime example of that. Again, why? Ask the players who made the mistakes.
