LOL - Do you realize how much talent is in So. Florida? Then they have the advantage of showing northern recruits South Beach. Are u serious?
Maybe some of you picked the wrong school
- Thread starter JS School
- Start date
Are you serious ? They get their fair share of top local talent , going against FLD ST, FLORIDA and USF, we get the leftovers that PSU and ND don't take, and that's locally. EXCUSES!
So that means pitt can't build a winning program and play in a less than capacity crowd? The point was pitt can become a program like Miami, a winning program without a 100,000 seat on campus stadium. No matter what pitt does they can never be a Michigan, Ohio state, oklahaoma, etc.
I have attended several games at Beaver stadium(had good friends that went to PSU) and the point you make has been a point I have made for years. Games at PSU are just a small part of the EVENT. The event is tail gaiting and partying for the weekend.
To the point another poster made about casual fans and fans from YSU or toledo like OSU, I can tell you I have met a ton of people who attended other colleges IUP, Cal U etc etc, who are PSU football fans and Pitt Basketball fans(or at least they were). These people have no ties to either school so they start rooting for a team thats winning. Pitt needs to find a way to win 9 or 10 games for 5 to 10 years and these fans will start to become Pitt fans. Having a on campus stadium isn't going to attract these fans or the normal pittsburgher. Winning will. Pitt would be far better off spending the 200 million it would take to build a stadium on the football program itself and play games at heinz till the lease is up. That means spend the money to keep good coaches and go out and get good ones, up the recruiting budget etc etc. IF they want to continue playing at the highest level of competition thats the investment they need to make. By 2030 that should give them time to make a decision on what the landscape of college football looks like moving forward, good chance we see another split in divisions with a group that is going to pay players significant money(on the books!) and a larger 60 or so team division that looks like something in between FBS and FCS.
I still say the jury is out on HF until (if ever) pitt returns to top 15 status on an annual basis.
Then I think better comparisons can be made
Then I think better comparisons can be made
I agree. The place has a great atmosphere when the team is successful and playing other good teams for meaningful stakes. It just has soooo rarely occurred.
Likewise I've been to Steeler games when they've been eliminated from playoff chase. The place may have had a few thousand more fans than some of our lamer games (but many thousands of empties!) And the atmosphere was funeral like.
Do you realize how many 3, 4, and 5 star prospects there are in Central and South Florida? You can have a Top 10 program, and win a national title with an All-FL team. The quantity of talent in FL is ridiculous. Pitt is comparable to GT.
I remember being at a Pitt game at Beaver Stadium. There were port-a-johns inside the stadium, in the concourse behind the bleachers. They weren't sound proof, either. What a nice touch!
The majority of the parking lots were grass fields. If it rains a little, with the vehicular traffic, they turn into muddy slop. Bit that's ALL THEY HAVE THERE! So of course they glorify it and boast about it to others.
I'm very happy that I get to go see my team play their home games in Pittsburgh rather than go a camping trip to some of these other places. And I've been to a bunch of other college campuses and venues to see Pitt play away games over the years. The romanticism of some of those places is really laughable based on my own experiences.
Mr. '89,
Kentucky has proven through his turgid, relentlessly negative and childishly selfish posting (I DESERVE TO HAVE A WINNING FOOTBALL TEAM!) that he is every bit that freaking moron you suggest.
In general, people don't associate with or support losers. Win consistently and people will come. When Wanny s#it the bed against Cincinnati there were 65,000 fans. 1 or 2 k from Cincinnati.
Duquesne's "stadium" doesn't even have bleachers on both sides. And it actually only has seats for about 800 people. It's smaller than any big high school stadium in Western PA.
There were a lot more than 1 or 2k Cincy fans. We were on the visitor side for the game.
Ok so let's pretend for a second that Pitt spends $200,000,000 on a state of the art on campus stadium , they get lucky and hire a coach that makes Pitt a top ten team in the country . You can't get a seat in the place . This is the hottest ticket in town , then he leaves for his dream job . Pitt conducts a national search and comes up empty so they hire his top assistant who turns out to actually be a better coach . Afraid of losing that coach the AD constantly renegotiates his deal until he has a guaranteed lifetime contract paying him many millions of dollars . That coach hits a rough spot and a new AD is hired and that AD with the backing of a new chancellor push that coach out feeling they can hire a cheaper coach and get similiar results .....sound familiar !
Until there's a major cultural change about the importance of athletics at Pitt there's no reason to spend the money necessary to build an on campus stadium . Pitt will never fill up any stadium of reasonable size until they become a consistent top 20 team . Unless the past history of Pitt athletics is to be ignored those in charge would eventually screw it up anyway .
Until there's a major cultural change about the importance of athletics at Pitt there's no reason to spend the money necessary to build an on campus stadium . Pitt will never fill up any stadium of reasonable size until they become a consistent top 20 team . Unless the past history of Pitt athletics is to be ignored those in charge would eventually screw it up anyway .
Being crammed in there shoulder to shoulder you better hope you don't get stuck sitting next to the guy whose finishing his third Chili Dog!
I never said we were anywhere near comparable to Miami. I agree, right now we are very comparable to a Georgia tech. But best case scenario our goal should be to be a program like Miami, because nothing pitt can ever do could ever make them into a Ohio state or Michigan.
Miami is a smaller school, doesn't get great attendance, but they win. They've had several runs as one of the top programs in the country. Yes it is a much easier task to accomplish at Miami, no question about that. But in regards to the original point of pitt not being the same as the big name schools, the highest they should set the bar is a program like Miami.
Obviously pitt would have to take a different approach than Miami to get to that point, but it's a realistic goal. Approaching Ohio state, Oklahoma, or Texas levels never will be a realistic option.
Seriously doubt that's the case. Pitt typically gets 4 to 6 of the top 10 prospects in WPA. I doubt miami gets %40 of the top guys in near south beach. The thing is while their might be 10 good FBS prospects in WPA a year their is probably 40 or 50 in south florida. So even if they get %25 that means they are landing 8 to 10 well regarded kids from their home area. Now in their prime they probably were closer to %50 but under DW Pitt was landing close to %70.
Of course to add to my previous point. Pitt can land every single player they want in WPA(will never happen here or anywhere else as some kids will always want to get away from home) and they will still only have half a recruiting class. Where as miami can get the same number of kids by landing %20 of the locals.
