Narduzzi won 8 games with MAC talent

[ratking17]

Let that sink in for a bit.

Now I think we all can see the negatives of the year. After a great start we played more talented teams and lost. I didn't like how the last two games of the year played out. We had some close wins against mediocre teams. Our talent and depth are not where it needs to be.

But my last comment is what brings me the biggest excitement for the narduzzi era. He is getting recruits that don't have MAC offers but recruits that other big name coaches want. If we got to 8 wins with these players decimated by coaching turnover, the sky is the limit once we infuse some serious upgraded talent to this roster. This season was so enjoyable and we had 8 wins with a first time coach. Not only are the players going to get better, but our coaches will as well. As the saying goes Rome wasn't built in a day. Well pitt football isn't going to get fixed quickly as well. Next year's schedule is probably more difficult (minus the child rapist program that will hurt our strength of schedule ) so for those looking for an improved record, you might wait a little longer. But give narduzzi a few years of getting his guys and this program has championship capabilities.

Hail to pitt and can't wait for next September.

 

[PittPoker]

Yeah I think year 3 we will truly see how good Narduzzi is. As I mentioned in an earlier thread, no way Chryst and House come close to 8 wins this season without Connor. I'd say 5 wins tops.

Only thing that concerns me though was the performance the past 2 games. It really did remind me of the Chryst/House era and Narduzzi needs to take some blame for that. Plus 2-4 in its final 6 games.

 

[H2Pittisit]

I would not call the ranked classes of

2012 - 47th
2013 - 35th
2014 - 44th

with Whitehead sprinkled in this year MAC Talent. I'd call that Wisconsin type talent. We won 8 games with it and we had a lost a game we could have won and won a few games we could have lost. My biggest concern is how badly we got down in a lot of games.

 

[Jeffburgh]

I would not go so far as to say a TEAM full of MAC talent, he isnt the genetic mutated spawn of rockne, shula and hoodie ...

It was the.same basic talent that your middle of the road p5 teams have, but to the ops point, I do agree that while this was the only game this year I was disappointed in, he did max out the talent he was working with for the most part.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

This is such revisionist bullshit.

We didn't lose because of talent, we lost because our defense got shredded and the offense no showed for 4 games down the stretch.

 

[ratking17]

For years under Chryst, this board has exploded with the complaints regarding recruiting. The offer sheets on these guys were MAC level schools for quite a few at key positions. Of course a few of them turned into absolute gems like a James Conner and his Buffalo offer. That said, there are obviously more opportunities for finding studs with guys that are regarded higher with better offer sheets.

Dion Lewis, you aren't fooling anyone.
2015: Pitt was ranked by Rivals with the 66 best class and average star rating of 2.8
2014: 44th and a 3.0 average star rating
2013: 35th (ranked that high because we took 27 players that year) with an average star rating of 2.81
2012: 47th and our highest star average of this period with a 3.13

This year's current crop is currently ranked 36th with an average star rating of 3.11. Now the key is can Narduzzi close on some of these 4 star local guys? If so, the average will obviously grow.

The other thing to keep in mind is the 2 star recruits.

Current 2016 class has 2 star recruits out of 19 total recruits
2015: 5 out of 15 total recruits
2014: 4 out of 23 total recruits
2013: 9 out of 27 total recruits
2012: 2 out of 16 total recruits

So the funny thing is the year with our highest ranked class of 35, saw 1/3 of the entire recruiting roster as 2 star guys. Give Narduzzi a few years to work over this roster and look out...

 

[H2Pittisit]

For years under Chryst, this board has exploded with the complaints regarding recruiting. The offer sheets on these guys were MAC level schools for quite a few at key positions. Of course a few of them turned into absolute gems like a James Conner and his Buffalo offer. That said, there are obviously more opportunities for finding studs with guys that are regarded higher with better offer sheets.

Dion Lewis, you aren't fooling anyone.
2015: Pitt was ranked by Rivals with the 66 best class and average star rating of 2.8
2014: 44th and a 3.0 average star rating
2013: 35th (ranked that high because we took 27 players that year) with an average star rating of 2.81
2012: 47th and our highest star average of this period with a 3.13

This year's current crop is currently ranked 36th with an average star rating of 3.11. Now the key is can Narduzzi close on some of these 4 star local guys? If so, the average will obviously grow.

The other thing to keep in mind is the 2 star recruits.

Current 2016 class has 2 star recruits out of 19 total recruits
2015: 5 out of 15 total recruits
2014: 4 out of 23 total recruits
2013: 9 out of 27 total recruits
2012: 2 out of 16 total recruits

So the funny thing is the year with our highest ranked class of 35, saw 1/3 of the entire recruiting roster as 2 star guys. Give Narduzzi a few years to work over this roster and look out...

You just ruined your entire argument by posting the 2012 class had an average star rating which is above this years class. That is your Seniors and RS Juniors. There is/was plenty of talent on this team. Last year, they were young. This was the year they were to step up and make a mark. The recruiting has been average...not MAC level. MAC level does not average around 3.0 stars. The 66th ranked class in 2015 was Narduzzi's class. Chryst had that class ranked higher, but it fell apart due to the coaching change. For the most part, the 2015 kids did not see the field, other than Whitehead, who is a stud.

 

[ratking17]

You just ruined your entire argument by posting the 2012 class had an average star rating which is above this years class. That is your Seniors and RS Juniors. There is/was plenty of talent on this team. Last year, they were young. This was the year they were to step up and make a mark. The recruiting has been average...not MAC level. MAC level does not average around 3.0 stars. The 66th ranked class in 2015 was Narduzzi's class. Chryst had that class ranked higher, but it fell apart due to the coaching change. For the most part, the 2015 kids did not see the field, other than Whitehead, who is a stud.

And again you showed your true blue and white colors. Look at that 2012 class and count how many of those guys are still on the team. You add coaching instability (you guys call them the sanctions), and your talent on the field suffers accordingly.

 

[H2Pittisit]

And again you showed your true blue and white colors. Look at that 2012 class and count how many of those guys are still on the team. You add coaching instability (you guys call them the sanctions), and your talent on the field suffers accordingly.

I just think this team has better than MAC level talent on it.

 

[KennyTheKangaroo]

Pitt had the ACC offensive and defensive rookie of the year; three players on the first team all acc, and six second and third team all acc guys. This team had holes, but it is a stretch to say that the coaching staff waved some magic wand to get 8 wins.

 

[President Stache]

Well, you proved his point excellently Dion. With those poor recruiting numbers, we over performed as we were ranked in the 30s and the average of those classes was 43. And 2013 we only had 2 4 star recruits, Boyd and Johnson. We were 35th as

2015 we were 66th in recruiting too so the average of all those players on our team was 49th. So, we should be the 49th best team this year in college football, and we beat those projections. Wanna guess how your team did?? hah

 

[H2Pittisit]

Well, you proved his point excellently Dion. With those poor recruiting numbers, we over performed as we were ranked in the 30s and the average of those classes was 43. And 2013 we only had 2 4 star recruits, Boyd and Johnson. We were 35th as

2015 we were 66th in recruiting too so the average of all those players on our team was 49th. So, we should be the 49th best team this year in college football, and we beat those projections. Wanna guess how your team did?? hah

I watched them yesterday and seen how they performed. What is it with this board that if you don't buy "this team had MAC talent" you are a Penn State or WVU fan. Can we just say we didn't look good yesterday? Want to check and see where Navy's classes were ranked?

87th
93rd
122nd

 

[President Stache]

No, you are a penn state fan because you are one.

I dont think anyone said anything about west virginia.

Yeah, I watched yesterday and saw our team play hard and make good tackles, but lacked the talent to get into the backfield to stop the pitch and dives. After they broke the los we did a great job tackling and seldom missed any tackles. On offense 'we' threw three interceptions and only had 9 drives ALLLLL game because Navy had the ball for 40 minutes. When we werent turning the ball over, yes we looked good, and frankly, looked like the better team. They won due to turnovers and having a brilliant QB that has most every record in college football. Kudos to him, he deserves all the accolades.

 

[pittdan77]

I think if I'm the coach, I put that game on a continuous loop in the weight room all winter. Make sure the team is sick and tired of seeing it when spring practice opens.

Getting better players will help but I dare say this team was a disaster without the coaching that was done. A lot of the problems stemmed from having small DB's facing larger receivers and struggling badly. UNC and Miami exploited our DB's badly. Otherwise, the team played pretty well (excluding yesterday's aberration).

 

[BGI User 1596]

Do you think Narduzzi will stick it out at Pitt - other bigger name schools with money might take this guy away after another year or two.

 

[President Stache]

Do you think Narduzzi will stick it out at Pitt - other bigger name schools with money might take this guy away after another year or two.

Yes, I would bet money on who last longer at a school our guy or your guy

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I agree his talent level was very low but the 4 first half blowouts is disturbing. He needed to find a way to win 1 or 2 of those, even with inferior talent, or at least make it look like we belonged on the same field.

 

[OriginalEther]

Is Tyler Boyd MAC level talent?
ACC freshman of the year Qadree Olision?
Darrin Hall?
JP Holtz?
Adam Bisnowaty?
Dorian Johnson?
Juan Price?
Nicholas Grigsby?
Jordan Whitehead?
etc, etc
Even some of the whipping boys like Avonte Maddox, Nate Peterman, Chad Voytik are far above that description.

And in reference to Pitt's opponent from yesterday, I'm willing to bet most of Navy's players didn't even have MAC offers. Keenan Reynolds appears to not have gotten one nearby Middle Tennessee State.

 

[OriginalEther]

Now that said, Pitt and Narduzzi did have a successful year.
Coaches making the jump from coordinator to BCS head coach don't improve the team's record that much in year 1 - see Bob Stoops, Dan Mullen, Charlie Strong for examples. (biggest exception I could note was Bo Pelini).
There should still be more improvement in year 2.

Biggest thing Narduzzi needs to fix is how Pitt starts games. For as much criticism as his predecessor got for being sleepy and uninspiring, Pitt came out flat in the first half way too many times.

 

[oldpantherfan]

You just ruined your entire argument by posting the 2012 class had an average star rating which is above this years class. That is your Seniors and RS Juniors. There is/was plenty of talent on this team. Last year, they were young. This was the year they were to step up and make a mark. The recruiting has been average...not MAC level. MAC level does not average around 3.0 stars. The 66th ranked class in 2015 was Narduzzi's class. Chryst had that class ranked higher, but it fell apart due to the coaching change. For the most part, the 2015 kids did not see the field, other than Whitehead, who is a stud.

That is bull. And by the way several MAC teams were ranked this year and Pitt was not. So what does that say about your comment. In the end it wasn't talent it was the coaching carousel that cost Pitt the game and many in the past this season included. It finally caught up to us. But Narduzzi's coaching actually showed how good Pitt can be if we keep a good game day coach for a few years.

 

[H2Pittisit]

That is bull. And by the way several MAC teams were ranked this year and Pitt was not. So what does that say about your comment. In the end it wasn't talent it was the coaching carousel that cost Pitt the game and many in the past this season included. It finally caught up to us. But Narduzzi's coaching actually showed how good Pitt can be if we keep a good game day coach for a few years.

Pitt had coaching stability for 3 years prior to Narduzzi's arrival and had very little attrition from this years roster with him coming. In fact, we added a starting qb, safety, DE. This was basically the 4th year of stability in the program. The Chryst to Narduzzi transition went pretty smoothly.

 

[Teh Teh]

Coaching stability??? Chryst was just hired then. That is not stability. He was hired after a long search, and had no chance to recruit. Then, after his first year Wisky coach left to Arkansas and everyone was talking about Chryst going to Wisky, and Alvarez had to publicly say he would never do that (Chryst didnt say it). So... there was NO stability. Plus, we sucked over that time, 19-19, after just having Fraud for one year and haymaker before that. I know, being a Pitt fan, you must know all that, so I will give you a pass for forgetting.

Coaching stability is not what we had at all.

 

[JokePa]

Id disagree with the MAC talent. We are just a middling P5 talent though. Teams like Indiana, penn state, and many others had better recruiting than we did and less with it is probably the point though

 

[H2Pittisit]

Coaching stability??? Chryst was just hired then. That is not stability. He was hired after a long search, and had no chance to recruit. Then, after his first year Wisky coach left to Arkansas and everyone was talking about Chryst going to Wisky, and Alvarez had to publicly say he would never do that (Chryst didnt say it). So... there was NO stability. Plus, we sucked over that time, 19-19, after just having Fraud for one year and haymaker before that. I know, being a Pitt fan, you must know all that, so I will give you a pass for forgetting.

Coaching stability is not what we had at all.

3 straight years of stability with Chryst and 3 straight years of recruiting classes with the same staff. Chryst gutted the program when he got here, so his years were filled with young teams and rebuilding. He did a tremendous job with the Oline and at RB. This year we finally had a little more experience playing both sides of the ball. The only thing that can be argued is Narduzzi's first recruiting class was hurt by the coaching change, but that will not have an effect for 3 years when those kids would have been bigger factors on the roster.

 

[JokePa]

You clearly didnt read the response. The position wasnt stable the previous 3 years. And really we had 2 recruiting classes, just like really this is Narduzzi's first class coming up