Hi Panther fans. I guess we can all agree that last night didn't go as we had hoped against Virginia. One game does not decide a season, but through all the pessimism reading the boards it got me thinking about recent Pitt football. Specifically why has Pitt been stuck in mediocracy in the last decade. I worked on a list of my thoughts on why Pitt has been stuck at 6-6 and so on. I came up with several reasons, some fixable and some not. Feel free to comment and to get a conversation going about how we can help Pitt football without attacking everything about the program.
1. Geography
Let's pretend I am a top WPIAL player. I could stay and be a "hometown hero" or I could take a 3 hour drive West and play for Ohio State and compete for a national championship in my career. Or I could take a 2 hour drive East and play in front of 110,000 fans at Penn State and be regularly ranked in the top 15. Another option is driving one hour south to play for WVU and get to play against Oklahoma and Texas in the Big 12. Pitt being surrounded by top college programs definitely hurts its standing. Especially when 6-6 is the average season it's gonna be tough to keep local talent around. Without local elite talent, Pitt has to look elsewhere to fill its roster.
2. Stadium
I have heard a lot of talk about Pitt needing its own stadium and I partially agree with that. Heinz Field will always be the Steelers' stadium. Other school's have super rich traditions surrounding their stadiums while Pitt will always be second fiddle to the Steelers while they play at Heinz Field. I know an on campus stadium is gonna be almost impossible to build with Pitt being an urban campus, but I feel that it will be difficult to build a Pitt identity without one. This will hurt with recruiting as well as building an overall experience for Pitt fans wanting to go to games.
3. Pittsburgh itself
Similar to point #2, the Steelers are a religion in Pittsburgh. I can guarantee that I will see 25% of the congregation at my local church on a Sunday wearing Steelers' jerseys. To the average Pittsburgh football fan, the Steelers will be a better football product than the Panthers. This is gonna make it extra hard to fill up seats outside of the student section. The average Joe in Alabama may not have gone to school there, but he is gonna root for the Crimson Tide because there is no other sports team to root for in his state. Having to compete with the Steelers if another negative going for Pitt.
4. Winning Bowl Games
This is a fixable one for Pitt, we need to win the Bowl Games we get invited to. I went to Charlotte for the ACC Championship last year and the amount of free advertisement and press Pitt received was amazing. Bowl games are a great way to expand the brand into other cities and regions. And winning these can greatly help Pitt in these areas. Pitt's last Bowl win was against scrub Bowling Green in 2013. Winning some bowls could go a long way in improving the program's standing around the country.
5. Branding
This is an area that I believe Pitt has improved in recently. The switch to the throwback colors has been a great choice by the university. The jerseys were even showcased in "Gear Up" by ESPN right before College Gameday. We need to continue pursuing the Pitt brand and expanding it as much as possible. I'm partially convinced Oregon has been able to build a strong team just on it's jerseys alone lol. Pitt needs to continue working on this front to capture more fans.
6. Overall Game Experience
Another fixable area, Pitt needs to work on building up a game time experience. With overall attendance down across college football, Pitt needs to introduce something to attract fans. Why go to a game when I can eat and drink my heart out while watching the game at home? Television has moved many college fans into their living rooms instead of the stadium. I am not sure of how to fix the experience area, but there really isn't any reason to go to Heinz Field versus watching the game at home.
Let me know your thoughts and suggestions. This is just my list on why Pitt has struggled the last decade and I'm curious to hear what else people have to say.
Best to all Pitt Fans and H2P
1. Geography
Let's pretend I am a top WPIAL player. I could stay and be a "hometown hero" or I could take a 3 hour drive West and play for Ohio State and compete for a national championship in my career. Or I could take a 2 hour drive East and play in front of 110,000 fans at Penn State and be regularly ranked in the top 15. Another option is driving one hour south to play for WVU and get to play against Oklahoma and Texas in the Big 12. Pitt being surrounded by top college programs definitely hurts its standing. Especially when 6-6 is the average season it's gonna be tough to keep local talent around. Without local elite talent, Pitt has to look elsewhere to fill its roster.
2. Stadium
I have heard a lot of talk about Pitt needing its own stadium and I partially agree with that. Heinz Field will always be the Steelers' stadium. Other school's have super rich traditions surrounding their stadiums while Pitt will always be second fiddle to the Steelers while they play at Heinz Field. I know an on campus stadium is gonna be almost impossible to build with Pitt being an urban campus, but I feel that it will be difficult to build a Pitt identity without one. This will hurt with recruiting as well as building an overall experience for Pitt fans wanting to go to games.
3. Pittsburgh itself
Similar to point #2, the Steelers are a religion in Pittsburgh. I can guarantee that I will see 25% of the congregation at my local church on a Sunday wearing Steelers' jerseys. To the average Pittsburgh football fan, the Steelers will be a better football product than the Panthers. This is gonna make it extra hard to fill up seats outside of the student section. The average Joe in Alabama may not have gone to school there, but he is gonna root for the Crimson Tide because there is no other sports team to root for in his state. Having to compete with the Steelers if another negative going for Pitt.
4. Winning Bowl Games
This is a fixable one for Pitt, we need to win the Bowl Games we get invited to. I went to Charlotte for the ACC Championship last year and the amount of free advertisement and press Pitt received was amazing. Bowl games are a great way to expand the brand into other cities and regions. And winning these can greatly help Pitt in these areas. Pitt's last Bowl win was against scrub Bowling Green in 2013. Winning some bowls could go a long way in improving the program's standing around the country.
5. Branding
This is an area that I believe Pitt has improved in recently. The switch to the throwback colors has been a great choice by the university. The jerseys were even showcased in "Gear Up" by ESPN right before College Gameday. We need to continue pursuing the Pitt brand and expanding it as much as possible. I'm partially convinced Oregon has been able to build a strong team just on it's jerseys alone lol. Pitt needs to continue working on this front to capture more fans.
6. Overall Game Experience
Another fixable area, Pitt needs to work on building up a game time experience. With overall attendance down across college football, Pitt needs to introduce something to attract fans. Why go to a game when I can eat and drink my heart out while watching the game at home? Television has moved many college fans into their living rooms instead of the stadium. I am not sure of how to fix the experience area, but there really isn't any reason to go to Heinz Field versus watching the game at home.
Let me know your thoughts and suggestions. This is just my list on why Pitt has struggled the last decade and I'm curious to hear what else people have to say.
Best to all Pitt Fans and H2P
