Clearly a brutal night and I ain't falling asleep anytime soon. So I'm just gonna pretend I magically warped into Narduzzi and became the old ball coach and what I would do after tonight's debacle. Interested to hear if anyone would do any differently. And if you don't like it, don't read, it's gonna be long and probably eyewash.
Step 1 - The Elephant in the room, the quarterback
Phil Jurkovec simply cannot be the starting QB moving forward. The team very obviously doesn't believe in him, the offense cannot call plays around him, and he cannot be trusted to make good decisions
That last part of the sentence is actually all that matters, it was the only thing Jurkovec had over Veilleaux was knowledge of the playbook and how to at least operate the offense
But now seeing as though he cannot do any of that effectively it's time to move on
Not only because 2023 is hanging on by a thread, but because of the rest of this post, you simply need to know where you stand for 2024
I don't know if you guys have looked at the schedule, but it is a cakewalk compared to 2023 and 2025 is TERRIFYING. So 2024 is absolutely going to be a make or break year, it's gonna be HARD to win in 2025.
So for me CV is getting all 9 games. Plain and simple, I have to know what I have in him. Because the rest of the plan of the offseason revolves around knowing if I think he can be the guy in 2024-2025.
Step 2 - the Gorilla who is also somehow in the room, the offensive coaching staff
"But pghsonj1325 don't you just mean Cignetti?"
No. No I do not. But Cignetti is the most pressing so I will start there.
The offense ain't working and the adjustment can't be to stop passing. We saw that in 2022 - and it worked! It did fool me. But that's because you had like 7 experienced linemen and the best RB probably since Dion (yes Izzy is possibly a better college RB than JC, and post injury Ray and def better than QO, DH, VD, AJD, etc) to fall back on. But he went back to the well tonight and didn't have the jimmy's and joe's to make it work.
I like Hammond but he's a JAG+ RB, and the OLine has some glaring inefficiencies
It's impossible to call games around Phil right now, so Cig isn't being fired tonight even though he maybe should be. He gets until the Wake game with CV and we go from there.
But Cig isn't alone and I think it is time to look long and hard at the offensive coaching staff
Powell and Borbs for me are done after the year, It's inexcusable how uselss they've been IMO.
And i'm sure some insider or Karlo will tell me I'm wrong, but I do not care. It's time to face facts that they've been asleep at the wheel and get credit they don't deserve
Pitt's best players even at their positions were all recruited by Salem or people who aren't here. Izzy and Goncalves were Salem, KP might've been too, maybe even Dennis? Whatever. Beatty brought in Addison and Hammond. WHo have these jokers brought in? Baer and Holmes are a long ways away from helping
Powell is a dogshit gameday coach with his stupid RB rotations, Borbs was propped up by extremely experienced OL's and there's a massive gap after the last few years 6th year dudes have moved on. And I don't trust him to reload in the portal.
Need 2 better recruiters. The tidewater region is too important for Powell to man, and I need someone who can go into Ohio or Philly.
After I fire Cignetti after the season, I go for a more unique offensive playcaller, preferably from the Veer n' Shoot/Briles offense tree. That OR someone who can run the Chadwell style offense (which I love)
It can't be about the defense anymore. Defense can't win football games outright in college football anymore. It's not the Sparty days.
Have the best possible defense, and you will, because your scheme is great and the coaches and players have bought in
But be happy when you score 40 and give up 28. That's better than giving up 17 but scoring 6. Because those are W's.
I let that new OC hire their favorite RB and OL coach, demand they have recruited at a P5 level before, and let him decide on Wood. Salem believe it or not is a must keep for me.
Step 3 - Personnel
The name of this game is talent acquisiton.
Jimmy's and Joe's matter in college football now more than ever.
We know we have the defensive scheme that kids want to play in, and now we need to figure out an offensive one that they want to as well
But regardless of that - the point is going to be made to players that this is now an evaluation season. We certainly aren't quitting on it or them, but your job is now being completely under the microscope
Because we are going to hit the portal HARD.
Pitt has done really well at talent retention and a good job at development. But acquisition has simply not been good enough
We now have a really solid NIL infrastructure and it's going to be put to use
If CV shows he can do it? We're gonna go get a RS FR who hits it to establish more depth at the position
If he can't I am BUYING the best QB on the market that I can get. Maybe I specifically hire an OC that comes with a QB.
The WR and reserve OL are being put on NOTICE. Because they are clearly not taking these jobs where dudes are struggling, and I'm getting dudes there.
We can't play like Clemson. Clemson can't play like Clemson anymore. The culture is great, but culture can't help you if it's down 2 TD late. Get DUDES. BUY THEM. And use your excellent weightroom and development structure to put them in the NFL, and repeat. I will do a deeper dive on how this roster came to be later cuz that's how I am.
It's time for us to join 2023, can't live in 2010 anymore.
If you made it this far, woof. Sorry to do that to you.
Step 1 - The Elephant in the room, the quarterback
Phil Jurkovec simply cannot be the starting QB moving forward. The team very obviously doesn't believe in him, the offense cannot call plays around him, and he cannot be trusted to make good decisions
That last part of the sentence is actually all that matters, it was the only thing Jurkovec had over Veilleaux was knowledge of the playbook and how to at least operate the offense
But now seeing as though he cannot do any of that effectively it's time to move on
Not only because 2023 is hanging on by a thread, but because of the rest of this post, you simply need to know where you stand for 2024
I don't know if you guys have looked at the schedule, but it is a cakewalk compared to 2023 and 2025 is TERRIFYING. So 2024 is absolutely going to be a make or break year, it's gonna be HARD to win in 2025.
| 2024 Non conference | 2024 ACC* subject to change | 2025 Non Conference | 2025 ACC* subject to change |
| at Cincinnati | at Miami | vs Notre Dame | at Florida State |
| vs West Virginia | at UNC | at West Virginia | vs Clemson |
| vs Kent State | NC State | vs Central Michigan | at Louisville |
| vs Youngstown St | Syracuse | TBA (hopefully an FCS with this gauntlet) | at Virginia Tech |
| Virginia Tech | Duke | ||
| Virginia | Wake Forest | ||
| at Georgia Tech | at Syracuse | ||
| at Boston College | Boston College |
So for me CV is getting all 9 games. Plain and simple, I have to know what I have in him. Because the rest of the plan of the offseason revolves around knowing if I think he can be the guy in 2024-2025.
Step 2 - the Gorilla who is also somehow in the room, the offensive coaching staff
"But pghsonj1325 don't you just mean Cignetti?"
No. No I do not. But Cignetti is the most pressing so I will start there.
The offense ain't working and the adjustment can't be to stop passing. We saw that in 2022 - and it worked! It did fool me. But that's because you had like 7 experienced linemen and the best RB probably since Dion (yes Izzy is possibly a better college RB than JC, and post injury Ray and def better than QO, DH, VD, AJD, etc) to fall back on. But he went back to the well tonight and didn't have the jimmy's and joe's to make it work.
I like Hammond but he's a JAG+ RB, and the OLine has some glaring inefficiencies
It's impossible to call games around Phil right now, so Cig isn't being fired tonight even though he maybe should be. He gets until the Wake game with CV and we go from there.
But Cig isn't alone and I think it is time to look long and hard at the offensive coaching staff
Powell and Borbs for me are done after the year, It's inexcusable how uselss they've been IMO.
And i'm sure some insider or Karlo will tell me I'm wrong, but I do not care. It's time to face facts that they've been asleep at the wheel and get credit they don't deserve
Pitt's best players even at their positions were all recruited by Salem or people who aren't here. Izzy and Goncalves were Salem, KP might've been too, maybe even Dennis? Whatever. Beatty brought in Addison and Hammond. WHo have these jokers brought in? Baer and Holmes are a long ways away from helping
Powell is a dogshit gameday coach with his stupid RB rotations, Borbs was propped up by extremely experienced OL's and there's a massive gap after the last few years 6th year dudes have moved on. And I don't trust him to reload in the portal.
Need 2 better recruiters. The tidewater region is too important for Powell to man, and I need someone who can go into Ohio or Philly.
After I fire Cignetti after the season, I go for a more unique offensive playcaller, preferably from the Veer n' Shoot/Briles offense tree. That OR someone who can run the Chadwell style offense (which I love)
It can't be about the defense anymore. Defense can't win football games outright in college football anymore. It's not the Sparty days.
Have the best possible defense, and you will, because your scheme is great and the coaches and players have bought in
But be happy when you score 40 and give up 28. That's better than giving up 17 but scoring 6. Because those are W's.
I let that new OC hire their favorite RB and OL coach, demand they have recruited at a P5 level before, and let him decide on Wood. Salem believe it or not is a must keep for me.
Step 3 - Personnel
The name of this game is talent acquisiton.
Jimmy's and Joe's matter in college football now more than ever.
We know we have the defensive scheme that kids want to play in, and now we need to figure out an offensive one that they want to as well
But regardless of that - the point is going to be made to players that this is now an evaluation season. We certainly aren't quitting on it or them, but your job is now being completely under the microscope
Because we are going to hit the portal HARD.
Pitt has done really well at talent retention and a good job at development. But acquisition has simply not been good enough
We now have a really solid NIL infrastructure and it's going to be put to use
If CV shows he can do it? We're gonna go get a RS FR who hits it to establish more depth at the position
If he can't I am BUYING the best QB on the market that I can get. Maybe I specifically hire an OC that comes with a QB.
The WR and reserve OL are being put on NOTICE. Because they are clearly not taking these jobs where dudes are struggling, and I'm getting dudes there.
We can't play like Clemson. Clemson can't play like Clemson anymore. The culture is great, but culture can't help you if it's down 2 TD late. Get DUDES. BUY THEM. And use your excellent weightroom and development structure to put them in the NFL, and repeat. I will do a deeper dive on how this roster came to be later cuz that's how I am.
It's time for us to join 2023, can't live in 2010 anymore.
If you made it this far, woof. Sorry to do that to you.
