Don’t agree at all about Hamlin being a mediocre talent. He is much better than you are giving him credit. He has made a number of big plays and he is struggling far less in Narduzzi’s system than almost everyone else- including Ford. Does that mean Ford is mediocre too? Or is it possible it’s the coaches - many including Narduzzi who who have struggles now for years - who are the mediocre ones.
Was Whitehead overrated too: ACC Defensive Rookie of the year. He should have been All American the year he left, yet he didn’t even make 3rd Team ALL-ACC. How about Q Henderson? He went from having an All-American year with so many big yardage plays on offense and so many great returns to looking pedestrian the next year on offense. Was he just overrated too? Or again, is it possible that coaching issues (coaching changes specifically in Q’s case which lead to misuse of his talents and poor recruiting /developent at QB) played a big role in his weaker performance?
Not that Pitt is loaded with talent, but I have trouble believing Hamlin, Ford, Whitehead and Henderson are all simpmy overrated. It is much more likely that they are actually very special players whose struggles at Pitt are directly related to various weakness in the coaching staff (teaching poor technique, sticking with schemes/plays that do not work, using players in ways that do not take advantage of their greatest strengths, recruiting poorly, downplaying the significance of real issues that are plaguing the team).
This experiment with hiring head coaches without any experience will be over soon, and should not be repeated anytime soon.