I will try to stick to facts as much as I can but some opinions will be added for discussion purposes.
How would one assess and evaluate Pat Natduzzis legacy if it ended today.
All things considered it would have to considered a success for 3 main reasons:
1. Before his hire we were a national laughing stock churning through coaches at an astronomical rate.
2. ACC title. Cant take this away it’s in the books. And to win one while Clemson was on such a dominant run is a real feather in his cap. We did beat Clemson that season as well so it wasn’t like we limped in. (Another strong point of his legacy is beating Clemson 2x)
3. Whether this was him, lyke, the admin. He brought back our tradition l. Colors, uniforms, pride, alumni. The athletic sept as a whole was in a bad spot and I want to give Narduzzi at least some of the credit for getting it back on the right track. He’s challenged the athletic dept and alumni to step up.
Some additional notes I feel as positive:
1. Players and staff, generally stay out of trouble!
2. Graduation rates, community service, low transfer rates. All good things and things he should be recognized for.
3. At least on defense, we have a recognizable identity. Finishing top 5 in sacks year after year is really neat and gives us something to be “known” for.
4. Players in NFL (developing players). There is no doubt Narduzzi has a good track record of developing nfl talent especially in the defensive backfield.
5. He’s a Pitt guy now. I’m not sure how many college football fans outside of Pittsburgh And East Lansing associate him at all with MSU. For better or worse he’s Pitt through and through.
But he is not without detractors:
1. Unfortunately- he has done a really poor job hiring offensive coaches. We have had successful offenses under him but his run of OC’s has not been good. We’ve had as many legendary awful offensive years as we’ve had good.
2. Local Recruiting. Yes local talent is down. But yes Narduzzi is doing worse and worse each season. He’s even lost traditional strongholds like Aliquippa. Areas that are growing and producing more talent we aren’t even a factor in. In addition PA recruiting in general is down.
3. When he was hired PSU for obvious reasons was down. Now, 9 years later I’d argue today is one of the largest gaps we’ve seen as far as the two programs status.
One is a legit national title contender one is a laughing stock. Any local kid would be chastised if he chose Pitt over PSU currently.
I will continue later: but this is a good start to get the discussion going.
How would one assess and evaluate Pat Natduzzis legacy if it ended today.
All things considered it would have to considered a success for 3 main reasons:
1. Before his hire we were a national laughing stock churning through coaches at an astronomical rate.
2. ACC title. Cant take this away it’s in the books. And to win one while Clemson was on such a dominant run is a real feather in his cap. We did beat Clemson that season as well so it wasn’t like we limped in. (Another strong point of his legacy is beating Clemson 2x)
3. Whether this was him, lyke, the admin. He brought back our tradition l. Colors, uniforms, pride, alumni. The athletic sept as a whole was in a bad spot and I want to give Narduzzi at least some of the credit for getting it back on the right track. He’s challenged the athletic dept and alumni to step up.
Some additional notes I feel as positive:
1. Players and staff, generally stay out of trouble!
2. Graduation rates, community service, low transfer rates. All good things and things he should be recognized for.
3. At least on defense, we have a recognizable identity. Finishing top 5 in sacks year after year is really neat and gives us something to be “known” for.
4. Players in NFL (developing players). There is no doubt Narduzzi has a good track record of developing nfl talent especially in the defensive backfield.
5. He’s a Pitt guy now. I’m not sure how many college football fans outside of Pittsburgh And East Lansing associate him at all with MSU. For better or worse he’s Pitt through and through.
But he is not without detractors:
1. Unfortunately- he has done a really poor job hiring offensive coaches. We have had successful offenses under him but his run of OC’s has not been good. We’ve had as many legendary awful offensive years as we’ve had good.
2. Local Recruiting. Yes local talent is down. But yes Narduzzi is doing worse and worse each season. He’s even lost traditional strongholds like Aliquippa. Areas that are growing and producing more talent we aren’t even a factor in. In addition PA recruiting in general is down.
3. When he was hired PSU for obvious reasons was down. Now, 9 years later I’d argue today is one of the largest gaps we’ve seen as far as the two programs status.
One is a legit national title contender one is a laughing stock. Any local kid would be chastised if he chose Pitt over PSU currently.
I will continue later: but this is a good start to get the discussion going.
