With a few high quality local kids considering Pitt, just thought I'd share an old video with Marino discussing briefly what factors went into his decision to stay at home and play at Pitt. They aren't much different from reasons given by kids today, but it felt different due to Pitt's national reputation of playing "big time football". With Marino I would imagine his decision was made easier, as he was the equivalent of today's 5 star recruit and Pitt was in the middle of its heyday.
When programs win big and consistently, other influences decrease in value; facilities, game attendance, etc. Winning cures almost everything. What's similar however is he played with a slew of local players, which made it special, in that not only was Pitt ranked perennially in the top 5, but with local kids to boot. A degree of civic pride came with it.
Note: For the many who are sensitive to this subject, I'm not suggesting Pitt fill the roster with WPA players. The gist of this post is recognizing the parallels and differences between the 80's and today from a Pitt recruiting perspective. Nothing new necessarily, but the video is fun to watch, especially for those of us who lived though that period.
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