Landing local kids is vital to Pitt football.

[bobfree]

First,

-Typically we have been good at. Through the decades of slightly above average to average football we still have been relatively good at landing local kids. Wannstedt was probably the best but even Graham and Chryst landed high ranking locals. So far, Narduzzi has been a step below. Losing Jeter who's brother plays at Pitt (beaver county is typically good to Pitt), wade at a pipeline school like Clariton, and possibly Ford would be a brutal blow and illustrate something is wrong with local recruiting.

-Everyone has raised their game. Penn State is back, va tech is back, Ohio state is to our west, Michigan is sniffing, Maryland recruiting well. Notre dame came in and cherry picked Etc. the only vulnerable area I see is New Jersey.

-We need to make some tweaks to this staff. Recruiting wise we need someone with local ties. I make another run at Eric Kasperovitz (so).....
Also Jeff Hafley is available. He would help tremendously in Jersey.
We have the money to do something like this.....

Co oc's
Ek Qb, Tim Salem tightends.
Oline-Peterson
Wr-make a change get a recruiter.
Rb-Powell

Co DC's
Conklin db, Hafley rc
Harley lb
Simms dline.

 

[vegasgreed]

Recruiting our local area is vital to our success. Agree 100%. Hafley would be the best recruiter on the staff. But I doubt Narduzzi hires him. I do think there is a chance he brings Scott Schaffer on board.

Co OC's or DC's is only for a better title to justify the coach giving that guy more money. If you truly have Co OC's or DC's that means you don't have one. I hate this scenario.

 

[bobfree]

Recruiting our local area is vital to our success. Agree 100%. Hafley would be the best recruiter on the staff. But I doubt Narduzzi hires him. I do think there is a chance he brings Scott Schaffer on board.

Co OC's or DC's is only for a better title to justify the coach giving that guy more money. If you truly have Co OC's or DC's that means you don't have one. I hate this scenario.

Ohio State, Clemson, Oregon, Oklahoma etc have used this: let Salem call the plays jasper be in waiting and the co defense is specifically to Hafley the money he would demand

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

It is obvious to me we need an upgrade, especially locally, to the staff in regards to recruiting.

 

[vegasgreed]

You need to give up the let Salem call the plays, unless Narduzzi misses out on 15 guys, Salem is not going to call the plays. At this stage of his career, he's a TE coach. Other schools agree.

OSU, Clemson, Oklahoma and others have the titles but it's "ONE" guy calling the plays.

I'll stick to my prediction, Narduzzi will not hire Hafley. There is a higher probability that Schaffer gets hired.

Conklin, Hill, Harley and Sims is not going to cut it. Gallagher needs to up the assistant budget.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

I really do hope he brings Scott Schaefer on board. They are buddies, probably work very well together, and I think he would be a really solid co-DC/AHC and a good recruiter given his resume.

As for recruits, I don't care where they come from as long as we win. I think the local guys going elsewhere will eventually regret it.

 

[bobfree]

You need to give up the let Salem call the plays, unless Narduzzi misses out on 15 guys, Salem is not going to call the plays. At this stage of his career, he's a TE coach. Other schools agree.

OSU, Clemson, Oklahoma and others have the titles but it's "ONE" guy calling the plays.

I'll stick to my prediction, Narduzzi will not hire Hafley. There is a higher probability that Schaffer gets hired.

Conklin, Hill, Harley and Sims is not going to cut it. Gallagher needs to up the assistant budget.

I'm not saying what will happen just what I would do.

Salem has been an offensive coordinator and offer the continuity I think the offense needs.

I don't love him as a candidate but it's a way to save money there to put it other places.

 

[Panthers1983]

Prior Pitt coaches who recruited the area didn't have to deal with the rampant madness that is Twitter (at least not to the extent that coaches do today). It's all a big ego validation game. Committing to your local school in a drama-free fashion and then honoring that commitment until signing day just doesn't land you 2,500 followers who hang on to your every word and bombard your Twitter page with incessant begging.

Speaking of honoring a commitment... I find it funny that Wade just posted the other day that everyone should honor the school they committed to and not flip, and then like a day later he is trying to get Ford to flip. These kids can't even keep up with their own BS.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It is strange that we had our best season in decades and that produced the worst local recruiting class in a long time.

 

[eastcoasthoops]

It is obvious to me we need an upgrade, especially locally, to the staff in regards to recruiting.

The best recruiting upgrade would be getting off the field on 4th down against UNC and Northwestern.

"10-3" would have been the best recruiter Pitt has had in decades.

 

[vegasgreed]

8 wins with Canada

8 wins with Chaney

2008 and 2009 had more wins.

It is strange that we had our best season in decades and that produced the worst local recruiting class in a long time.

 

[nationalmanager]

Need to really push the 2018 recruits hard. Raines and Jurkovic (sp?). I know one is committed to ND now, but who knows if Kelly will be there after next year. Push early playing time to the best players.

Need to look at key schools and pluck best player from them: Central Cath, Quips, McKeesport, etc..

 

[NCanton Panther]

It is puzzling the difficulty Narduzzi seems to be having with local recruits considering he is the most liked FB HC we've had here in a long time, the almost universal positive vibe he gets from the fan base and even the local media, and what outwardly appears to be a very likable personality.

It's not that surprising the local CC Kids going elsewhere, how often do we get the big name kids from there. Same goes for a few other schools. But we are missing on a number of others that are surprising and disappointing.

W/r to recruits on the defensive side of the field, I wonder how much our complete ineptitude on that side plays into it. It's one thing to say it's so bad that the opportunity for immediate playing time is large. But a recruit, particularly a DB recruit, could also look at it negatively seeing no big improvement in the DBs, how they are put into position to fail, etc. Memories are short, how many recruits are thinking about this great defensive mastermind reputation Narduzzi had from his days at MSU.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Need to really push the 2018 recruits hard. Raines and Jurkovic (sp?). I know one is committed to ND now, but who knows if Kelly will be there after next year. Push early playing time to the best players.

Need to look at key schools and pluck best player from them: Central Cath, Quips, McKeesport, etc..

Jurkovic has said he's always wanted to go to ND so it seems unlikely unless Kelly is fired and replaced with coaches who run a system not suited for him.

 

[SVPanther]

There is a declining pool of players in WPA. Gotta hunt where the pools are deeper. I don't get the premise.

 

[pittguy81]

Social media, primarily Twitter has changed recruiting dramatically. Kids get so full of themselves based upon the number of people following them, retweets by others etc. Guys like Wade and Jeter convinced themselves they were too goo for a school like Pitt. Pitt wasn't big time enough for their egos. It's not going to change unfortunately. It's only going to get worse. I appreciate the kids who want to come to Pitt and be part of this program. The others...well I don't care if they succeed or fail...and if they play Pitt I hope they get the wood laid to them like Givens this year.

 

[PhPanther1]

Hill isn't getting anybody from Michigan in recruiting and isn't making anybody in the secondary any better. I'm all for replacing him with a Halfley or Kasper immediately.

If Pitt can't recruit local.....i'll be extremely dissapointed and my interest level takes a serious hit.

 

[thebadby2]

First,

-Typically we have been good at. Through the decades of slightly above average to average football we still have been relatively good at landing local kids. Wannstedt was probably the best but even Graham and Chryst landed high ranking locals. So far, Narduzzi has been a step below. Losing Jeter who's brother plays at Pitt (beaver county is typically good to Pitt), wade at a pipeline school like Clariton, and possibly Ford would be a brutal blow and illustrate something is wrong with local recruiting.

-Everyone has raised their game. Penn State is back, va tech is back, Ohio state is to our west, Michigan is sniffing, Maryland recruiting well. Notre dame came in and cherry picked Etc. the only vulnerable area I see is New Jersey.

-We need to make some tweaks to this staff. Recruiting wise we need someone with local ties. I make another run at Eric Kasperovitz (so).....
Also Jeff Hafley is available. He would help tremendously in Jersey.
We have the money to do something like this.....

Co oc's
Ek Qb, Tim Salem tightends.
Oline-Peterson
Wr-make a change get a recruiter.
Rb-Powell

Co DC's
Conklin db, Hafley rc
Harley lb
Simms dline.

New Jersey vulnerable? The big boys are all over that turf. Take a look at Michigans classes if you need some proof of that. PSU and ND have always been there. Alabama has some NJ kids. That state gets recruited HARD.

 

[bobfree]

There is a declining pool of players in WPA. Gotta hunt where the pools are deeper. I don't get the premise.

You wouldn't.

New Jersey vulnerable? The big boys are all over that turf. Take a look at Michigans classes if you need some proof of that. PSU and ND have always been there. Alabama has some NJ kids. That state gets recruited HARD"

Rutgers still got a good bit of quality kids that we could get with the proper resources imo

 

[Tony Zimmermans Dennys Adversary]

But i thought Florida kids were better and faster. That's what everybody tells me. Which one is it?

It's clear that our recruiting focus has shifted south recently. It is very important that we land a few of the top in state recruits every year though.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

First,

-Typically we have been good at. Through the decades of slightly above average to average football we still have been relatively good at landing local kids. Wannstedt was probably the best but even Graham and Chryst landed high ranking locals. So far, Narduzzi has been a step below. Losing Jeter who's brother plays at Pitt (beaver county is typically good to Pitt), wade at a pipeline school like Clariton, and possibly Ford would be a brutal blow and illustrate something is wrong with local recruiting.

-Everyone has raised their game. Penn State is back, va tech is back, Ohio state is to our west, Michigan is sniffing, Maryland recruiting well. Notre dame came in and cherry picked Etc. the only vulnerable area I see is New Jersey.

-We need to make some tweaks to this staff. Recruiting wise we need someone with local ties. I make another run at Eric Kasperovitz (so).....
Also Jeff Hafley is available. He would help tremendously in Jersey.
We have the money to do something like this.....

Co oc's
Ek Qb, Tim Salem tightends.
Oline-Peterson
Wr-make a change get a recruiter.
Rb-Powell

Co DC's
Conklin db, Hafley rc
Harley lb
Simms dline.

Wow! Very original thread! Really needs discussed on a regular basis. Thanks.

Oh BTW recruit only the WPIAL kids that PSU, OSU and ND recruits or don't expect to compete with them.

 

[bobfree]

Wow! Very original thread! Really needs discussed on a regular basis. Thanks.

Oh BTW recruit only the WPIAL kids that PSU, OSU and ND recruits or don't expect to compete with them.

I assume you're being facetious

 

[Pitt4Life34]

I assume you're being facetious

No not at all! Said it many times on premium side and free side. Recruit top 8-10 wpial kids that are recruited by multiple and legitimate P5s. The middle of the pack wpial kids can't get it done at the ACC level.
You think the wpial kids that aren't heavily recruited are the way to build a program(feel free to disregard the last 20-30 years)?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

No not at all! Said it many times on premium side and free side. Recruit top 8-10 wpial kids that are recruited by multiple and legitimate P5s. The middle of the pack wpial kids can't get it done at the ACC level.
You think the wpial kids that aren't heavily recruited are the way to build a program(feel free to disregard the last 20-30 years)?

Yeah. Exactly. I mean it is completely obvious what you said. But Pitt does not owe the WPIAL players a free ride to a P5 scholarship. If they aren't good enough for the top tier P5 schools, then they aren't good enough for Pitt. No more, well I will name names...no more Capera's or Briggs'.

 

[pittmeister]

Important, but not vital...

 

[PhPanther1]

Recruiting the top players from any location is vital. The easiest place to get them is the WPIAL. If you can't get them from the WPIAL, what makes you think you're going to get them from anywhere else?

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Recruiting the top players from any location is vital. The easiest place to get them is the WPIAL. If you can't get them from the WPIAL, what makes you think you're going to get them from anywhere else?

That wasn't my point. Pitt needs to get their fair share of top 10 WPIAL talent and being local should provide an advantage. It's the other WPIAL kids we need to move away from.

 

[pittmeister]

Recruiting the top players from any location is vital. The easiest place to get them is the WPIAL. If you can't get them from the WPIAL, what makes you think you're going to get them from anywhere else?

The end game is to win. Recruiting will take care of its self once that happens. Getting good players is vital in order to win. It doesn't matter where they come from.

Example: Last year we were able to land 8 players that were rated 4 star players by one of the top four recruiting services (ESPN, SCOUT, Rivals 24/7) Only two of them came from the WPIAL:

This year we have gotten commitments from 5 players (Drake, Ford, Sibley, Warren, Reeves) rated 4 star players by one of the top four recruiting services (ESPN, SCOUT, Rivals 24/7) Only one of them came from the WPIAL (Ford). We have a very good chance to land another (Twyman).

I deal with facts, not hysteria...

 

[JoeScaz]

There have been 27 ..4 or 5 stars according to rivals in the last 7 years... we have more than half of them, and only a couple of schools have 3 of them...... We do way better than anyone else here with top kids...

 

[Las Panteras]

Recruiting the top players from any location is vital. The easiest place to get them is the WPIAL. If you can't get them from the WPIAL, what makes you think you're going to get them from anywhere else?

Normally I would agree with this.....

But kids around here have grown up with a culture that is fed by A) mediocre results on the field B) a fan base that doesn't give a shite and C) a local press that consistently takes the easy way out and rips Pitt at every turn.

The result??? Local stud players see a sinking ship at Pitt

While out of state kids ....not infected with the culture described above get excited to be part of the turnaround

 

[pittmeister]

Normally I would agree with this.....

But kids around here have grown up with a culture that is fed by A) mediocre results on the field B) a fan base that doesn't give a shite and C) a local press that consistently takes the easy way out and rips Pitt at every turn.

The result??? Local stud players see a sinking ship at Pitt

While out of state kids ....not infected with the culture described above get excited to be part of the turnaround

Bingo! The Pittsburgh media doesn't help either.

Getting good players is vital. Getting local kids is important for a lot of reasons.

Example: in 1974 Pitt wanted Joe Montana badly. They had to go out of state and settle for Matt Cavanaugh.

It didn't turnout too bad...

 

[bobfree]

An ancillary benefit to landing local kids is that it also could improve attendance.

 

[thebadby2]

But i thought Florida kids were better and faster. That's what everybody tells me. Which one is it?

It's clear that our recruiting focus has shifted south recently. It is very important that we land a few of the top in state recruits every year though.

Pitt will never build a football program on southern athletes. Everyone else is chasing them too. You have to do well locally-PA, OH some northeast, some Midwest-and supplement with underrated talent from the talent rich southern states.

 

[pittmeister]

An ancillary benefit to landing local kids is that it also could improve attendance.

Great point...

 

[Dr. von Yinzer]

It is strange that we had our best season in decades and that produced the worst local recruiting class in a long time.

It's not that strange when you consider that when these kids were growing up – in the years in which they were aware of the Pitt program – we've had a new coach every other year. That tends to hurt your program whether people realize it or not.

When you act like a smalltime operation, you tend to be viewed as such by everyone else. I think that hurts with recruiting, it hurts with media coverage, it hurts with fan interest, etc. Basically, it just hurts you all the way around.

Some people have learned that lesson and others quite frankly never will.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Social media, primarily Twitter has changed recruiting dramatically. Kids get so full of themselves based upon the number of people following them, retweets by others etc. Guys like Wade and Jeter convinced themselves they were too goo for a school like Pitt. Pitt wasn't big time enough for their egos. It's not going to change unfortunately. It's only going to get worse. I appreciate the kids who want to come to Pitt and be part of this program. The others...well I don't care if they succeed or fail...and if they play Pitt I hope they get the wood laid to them like Givens this year.

I never thought of it that way but you may be on to something. Social media adds to player egos. And the higher the ego, the more likely they think they are too good for Pitt.

 

[Tony Zimmermans Dennys Adversary]

Pitt will never build a football program on southern athletes. Everyone else is chasing them too. You have to do well locally-PA, OH some northeast, some Midwest-and supplement with underrated talent from the talent rich southern states.

I'm just going by the numbers posted here yesterday that show the upward trend of southern kids coming to Pitt the last 2 seasons.

 

[TheNoise88]

Local recruits are bombarded with negativity about Pitt for sure. But that is largely Pitt's own fault. Losing and incompetent administration (chicken/egg argument of which led to the other) produces negative (if any) coverage.

Invest (heavily) to win --> Get the best players (including junior college studs, no mater where, no matter the cost) --> Ditto for coaches --> Win --> Major Popularity --> Positive coverage and treatment by local media --> favorable perception by local recruits.

It starts with the first item above. Yes, it would be nice if Pitt could somehow stumble on success with blind-ass and low-budget luck, and they certainly tried with that strategy for decades now. It even kinda worked with Dixon, but they still let it slip away.

You won't get fan adulation, big donations, big crowds, top dollar ticket sales, media kissing your ass, and adoring local recruits with the mediocrity we've relentlessly produced for going on 4 decades now. It needs a stimulus to jump start it.

If not willing to do that, consider whether we should continue in P5 or even D1 athletics. Because looking at all the money being thrown around, Pitt is slipping further behind, rather than catching up.

 

[SVPanther]

Sounds like a good recipe for making IUP into a power. For any team playing in the P5, not so much. Get real. Just aren't enough players in WPA.

 

[SVPanther]

An ancillary benefit to landing local kids is that it also could improve attendance.[/QUOTE

Oh yeah. I remember sitting in the stands in '72. All WPA players. Pitt Stadium was packed...with about 17,000 fans.