My 2 Cents on the Season so far

[PantherO]

The Good:

We are 2-0 and beat 2 teams we were supposed to beat.

The Bad:

The posters on this board for having unrealistic expectations for having our bazillionth coach within a 5 year period.


At the beginning of the year, I would think most of us want to see Pitt, well, to see Pitt not Pitt. And so far, we won the games that we should have. Yes, this could change, but as of now, it is a positive sign. Enjoy it. I know I am conditioned to expect the worse, but I am allowing myself to think things could be different. It isn't going to all change in one year, but based on the starts of some of the previous coaching regimes, I will take it. I believe I even saw coaching adjustments yesterday. There is a novel idea.

Anyway, Iowa will tell us a lot. I am not sure if we are better than them or not. Hard to tell, but want I want to see is improvement, and if we have a big lead, hold on to it. If we are losing, then want to see them play hard til the end. A win will be great...A loss, well, will suck, but a lot depends on how we look in the process.

Anyway, that is all I have to say.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

Agreed and that salutation is Gump like

 

[Teh Teh]

Absolutely, we won both games rather easily and without players that were considered our only hope, with all new coaches and many new players.

No question that in the past we would 1-1.

I will say the same posters that always complain are the only ones complaining

 

[Pittx9]

I think a whole lot can change in just one year. Usually not the case, but look at last year's team as a whole. Statistically second half of the year our offense was near the top in the nation. However our defense shouldn't have even been called a defense. Look at now, a lot of the same players and much better results. We weren't that far away from being a great team last year, but the defense held us back. I mean ANYTHING, ANYTHING would've been an improvement over last year's defense, I've never seen anything in my life executed so poorly. And now we have a former stud defensive coordinator as coach, so we even took it to the next level. Look at our schedule and look at how Narduzzi coaches. Narduzzi is very much like Bill Cowher i think. We're gonna win a lot of games, we're not gonna lose to teams we shouldn't, and the overall team will have the same grab the lead, play attacking defense, run the ball, and kill the clock. Chryst knew football, he brought some really good players here. Guys that are really good that nobody else even thought were good coming out of high school. So we had a decent foundation. I actually think it worked out perfectly that we didn't get too far into that whole regime though. Face it, Chryst was not gonna fire House as DC ever, he was just going to keep trying to make him a better coach and it would've stayed ugly. Now, in steps Narduzzi to a team that has talent. The kids we have now can play the way he wants which is great. Eventually he will build pipelines and pick out the types of kids he wants in the future classes. I think what transpired between the end of 2014 Pitt football season and beginning of 2015 Pitt football season is reminiscent of Majors/Dorsett in 1973. The future is very, very bright and will start this season with at the very least a year in which we finish above .500 and at least show signs that we're taking steps forward.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Should have beat Iowa last year-its a decent matchup again for Pitt.
If I was Iowa, I would air it out early with middle range passes.
But I doubt they will.

 

[Pittx9]

Should have yes! Blatant missed PI call where dback grabbing hold of Boyd on third down that killed a TD drive that probably would've put the game out of reach still makes me sick. I don't blame every loss on refs, but there have been a quite a handful that were just so bad the refs should have had their jobs taken away and been fined. And that missed call last year against Iowa is on the list. I mean it literally was so blatant, you couldn't even miss it. Not saying anything like the official had money on the game or anything near that, but I am saying it was one of those calls where there's two options: 1) you have no idea what you are doing and should not be a referee or 2) for whatever reason, maybe grudge on team because the coach yelled at you about the last call or something, but you just flat out make the wrong call knowingly. Not that that call was the demise of our season or anything though even though it killed huge momentum. But whether we win or lose that game, still had Akron the next week and I don't know if coming in after a win would've had them more motivated or they would've just completely overlooked Akron and still lost. Nice little bit of revenge last night, not a good Akron team, but their day will come in the MAC. It just was good to see us take them seriously and not beat ourselves like has happened so many times before.

 

[TD_6082]

I'm sorry, I'm not being negative here, but a lot of posters here are setting themselves up for a huge letdown.

Its a little scary to read anything that compares something in the present to 1973 and Majors/Dorsett. Or read how we are eons better than last year. Take into consideration the competition.

Also, keep in mind that losing to teams you shouldn't isn't a Pitt thing. It happens everywhere regardless of coach. Believe it or not, its still going to happen at Pitt. Hopefully it doesn't happen often, but its just a part of the game.

Funny thing, Paul Finebaum called Bob Stoops irrelevant and a has been yesterday. OU is 2-0 & a year removed curb stomping Bama in the Sugar Bowl.

 

[Pittx9]

Comparing to Majors/Dorsett in 1973 was just saying that today in 2015 we brought in a coach that will make us a better program. Can we win a national championship in 4 years? Idk maybe, maybe not but in 4 years we will be light years better than we were 2011-14.

 

[GT74]

I think a whole lot can change in just one year. Usually not the case, but look at last year's team as a whole. Statistically second half of the year our offense was near the top in the nation. However our defense shouldn't have even been called a defense. Look at now, a lot of the same players and much better results. We weren't that far away from being a great team last year, but the defense held us back. I mean ANYTHING, ANYTHING would've been an improvement over last year's defense, I've never seen anything in my life executed so poorly. And now we have a former stud defensive coordinator as coach, so we even took it to the next level. Look at our schedule and look at how Narduzzi coaches. Narduzzi is very much like Bill Cowher i think. We're gonna win a lot of games, we're not gonna lose to teams we shouldn't, and the overall team will have the same grab the lead, play attacking defense, run the ball, and kill the clock. Chryst knew football, he brought some really good players here. Guys that are really good that nobody else even thought were good coming out of high school. So we had a decent foundation. I actually think it worked out perfectly that we didn't get too far into that whole regime though. Face it, Chryst was not gonna fire House as DC ever, he was just going to keep trying to make him a better coach and it would've stayed ugly. Now, in steps Narduzzi to a team that has talent. The kids we have now can play the way he wants which is great. Eventually he will build pipelines and pick out the types of kids he wants in the future classes. I think what transpired between the end of 2014 Pitt football season and beginning of 2015 Pitt football season is reminiscent of Majors/Dorsett in 1973. The future is very, very bright and will start this season with at the very least a year in which we finish above .500 and at least show signs that we're taking steps forward.

None of us know whether Pitt is better than Iowa or not. As a matter of fact, the Vegas line from the experts may not be right on. Pitt is an unknown quantity right now with the new staff, especially since PN is a first-time HC. So far, so good, though. We will take 2-0, making progress, and seeing potential in a better defense. Yeah, the offense looks questionable with mediocre QB play and a less than stellar pass offense, but I see it getting better with a more vertical passing game, and stability from the injuries. All those who complained of the passive House defense, should be pleased with this year's version so far. Pitt isn't perfect, but may be able to beat those teams that don't overwhelm them with talent. With past successes against ND and VT, anything is possible this year. We, as fans, can sit back and enjoy it, not knowing what will come next. Hoping for 8 or even 9 wins isn't out of the question, but a bowl game certainly is expected.

 

[TD_6082]

Its difficult to say at this point.

I'm quite certain we aren't going to be in the National Championship picture in 4 years. I don't know what the future holds, but I would be encouraged more if recruiting was going a little better.

 

[Pittx9]

TD to start, I think you sound like probably one of the more knowledgeable people on here. I agree with you on most points especially about having to stay realistically reasonable. However, to say you're quite certain we will not be in national championship picture in 4 years is a statement that just can't be made. Like I said, we don't know yet. If someone in the summer of '73 said Pitt will win the national championship in '76 they would've called you crazy. And as bad as the 2011-14 years were, 1969-72 was soooooo much worse it wasn't even close. 4 years is a long time. Yes realistically we probably won't win it all in 4 years because that is very hard to do. But there's obviously always a chance. I just think the brand of football Narduzzi brings here is going to result in a lot of wins. We're gonna lose games still, but we play the same schedule strength wise every single year. A cupcake, a decent lower tier team, some toss-up games against conference opponents in which we usually have more talent but for some reason a worse team, and then of course the games against the big boys when we're expected by everyone except the diehards to lose.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Should have yes! Blatant missed PI call where dback grabbing hold of Boyd on third down that killed a TD drive that probably would've put the game out of reach still makes me sick. I don't blame every loss on refs, but there have been a quite a handful that were just so bad the refs should have had their jobs taken away and been fined. And that missed call last year against Iowa is on the list. I mean it literally was so blatant, you couldn't even miss it. Not saying anything like the official had money on the game or anything near that, but I am saying it was one of those calls where there's two options: 1) you have no idea what you are doing and should not be a referee or 2) for whatever reason, maybe grudge on team because the coach yelled at you about the last call or something, but you just flat out make the wrong call knowingly. Not that that call was the demise of our season or anything though even though it killed huge momentum. But whether we win or lose that game, still had Akron the next week and I don't know if coming in after a win would've had them more motivated or they would've just completely overlooked Akron and still lost. Nice little bit of revenge last night, not a good Akron team, but their day will come in the MAC. It just was good to see us take them seriously and not beat ourselves like has happened so many times before.

Dude. Appreciate your thoughts and trust me I am guilty of the occasional run on. But...,can you please break your thoughts up into paragraph format? Please?

 

[Pittx9]

My apologies, will do.

 

[TD_6082]

Well, you could always use the 1 in a million "So your telling me there is a chance" quote from Jim Carrey, which is would pretty much apply in this case.

We just don't recruit anywhere near the caliber of athletes it takes to compete for National Championships. Those teams have special athletes all over the field, and they are backed up on the depth chart by more special athletes.

If you want to compete for a championship 4 years down the road, we need to be recruiting like champions today and we just aren't. Winning now is nice, but there is a ceiling as to what a program can accomplish with our current roster make up.

 

[dave97]

TD,

I respectfully disagree. Pitt has recruited as well TCU and Boise State over the past decade and they are always knocking on the door. This year, TCU controls their own destiny.

Hail to Pitt!

Dave

 

[Pittx9]

Yeah like I said TD, agree with almost everything you say. You definitely know you're stuff. But Michigan State with Dantonio/Narduzzi did not recruit the best kids out there. Like I said, Narduzzi will bring in "his type of players". If we are able to mimic what they did at MSU, then we can definitely win without 20 5 star recruits in a class.

That stuff is so overrated anyways. Not recruiting, but star ranking. Narduzzi finds the diamonds in the rough and they all become stars. You're more than likely right, but even at one in a million chance, that is why the games are played.

 

[PittME75]

Beware...TD is just a Nitter troll pretending to be a Pitt fan.

 

[Pittx9]

Idk like I said, I really respect TD's knowledge. I just think 4 years really is a long time away and Michigan St. has been winning 10 games a year with 3 star recruits for years now. There is literally no better fit for this program than Narduzzi. Everything about him is what we've been needing for so long. And to boot, he's an Italian!

 

[Pghfan]

Well, you could always use the 1 in a million "So your telling me there is a chance" quote from Jim Carrey, which is would pretty much apply in this case.

We just don't recruit anywhere near the caliber of athletes it takes to compete for National Championships. Those teams have special athletes all over the field, and they are backed up on the depth chart by more special athletes.

If you want to compete for a championship 4 years down the road, we need to be recruiting like champions today and we just aren't. Winning now is nice, but there is a ceiling as to what a program can accomplish with our current roster make up.

National Championship?? Damn fellas, let's bring it down a notch here.. Walk before you run, realistic expectations, don't set the bar too high, whatever cliché you want to use. Let's realistically set our 4 year expectations. How bout competing for a Coastal division championship? We are 7-9 in ACC over last two years, finished 4th last year and 6th in '13, in the Coastal.. Let's get in the top 1/2 of the coastal at least before talking about National Championships..

I like the enthusiasm and all but you guys keep setting unrealistic goals, you're gonna spend rest of your life disappointed..

 

[Pittx9]

Maybe I'm stating this wrong, I don't think it's a goal or anything. Narduzzi actually though, did say he wants to win championships now and Pitt is definitely a place you can do it. I'm just stating we're gonna have some good teams and who knows, maybe we have one of those magical years.

Narduzzi is gonna have a foundation built that will be better than anything we've seen recently. Just look how close in 2002 AND 2009 we were to being undefeated. And we lost 4 and 3 games in those years.I'm just saying maybe one year instead of all the bad breaks, we're actually the team that gets all the lucky bounces.

Yes, it's enthusiasm and and borderline fan dreaming. But, the Any Given Sunday cliche can be applied to Saturdays too. You never know until the games are played and I think with Narduzzi gone are the days where we come out and play flat and uninspired.

 

[CaptainSidneyReilly]

The Good:

We are 2-0 and beat 2 teams we were supposed to beat.

The Bad:

The posters on this board for having unrealistic expectations for having our bazillionth coach within a 5 year period.


At the beginning of the year, I would think most of us want to see Pitt, well, to see Pitt not Pitt. And so far, we won the games that we should have. Yes, this could change, but as of now, it is a positive sign. Enjoy it. I know I am conditioned to expect the worse, but I am allowing myself to think things could be different. It isn't going to all change in one year, but based on the starts of some of the previous coaching regimes, I will take it. I believe I even saw coaching adjustments yesterday. There is a novel idea.

Anyway, Iowa will tell us a lot. I am not sure if we are better than them or not. Hard to tell, but want I want to see is improvement, and if we have a big lead, hold on to it. If we are losing, then want to see them play hard til the end. A win will be great...A loss, well, will suck, but a lot depends on how we look in the process.

Anyway, that is all I have to say.

No kidding, any New Coach & Staff will prove themselves coaching his Players into Teams woth good Game Plans against Power conference Competition, Older More established Coaches and more experienced Players, and the ACC Coaches & Teams?

Yet, I am intrigued how Coach Pat & Staff & Chaney have made changes, played freshmen, and added 5 New Players to the Defense, and even against YSU & Akron, they did not give up, quit, and won like they w ere suppose to do unlike Wannstedt, Graham and Chryst did not do when they first came to Pitt and took over with a New Staff?

Now we shall see if Coach Pat & Staff can do it against Iowa and then VT and UVA?

It is going to be fun to watch them rebuild Pitt into a Top 25 Program and I like what i see so far. If not, No Soup for them NEXT!!! I suspect what NC Panther and some others said to be and corrected me way back in December, when I was wrong wanting Rudolph to take over and they said Narduzzi should be Pitt Man! I love being wrong so long as Pitt Wins!