Paul Chryst , Alex Hornbrook and Seven Other

[Panther Parrothead]

Chryst 31-6 as their head coach, Hornbrook (Pitt verbal and three star QB) and likely four year starter, and seven coaches who coached at Pitt with their assignments at Wisconsin include: Jo Rudolph offensive co-ordinator and line coach, John Settle (rb's) , Chris Haering (special teams), Inoke Breckinfield (defensive line) Ross Kolodziel (stren. and conditioning ) and Mickey Turner ( tight ends coach) and offensive quality control coach Jon Budmayer.

The football gods really, really hate us!

I think it demonstrates how bad that the program was when Chryst got here. If you all remember, he had to “nudge” more than a few players out of the program even before a re-build could begin. We had waaay too many players who had no business being on a Power 5 roster. Some people don’t like to admit it, but Chryst inherited a shambles.

 

[DiehardPanther]

PC and his staff do a better job recruiting than people give them credit for. He is a lot like Dixon. He lands the right guys for his system, and he develops his players. Some Pitt people are too stupid too realize that this is the only realistic chance for success here. They are fixated on the impossible task of Pitt landing a bunch of 4 and 5 star recruits. That is part of the reason why people were not happy with PC when he was here.

 

[daminals76]

Sounds like we had all the pieces in place. Just a bad geographical location.

How is Wisconsin's recruiting much different than ours?

 

[Jeffburgh]

he would have had he not left. You guys leave that out. Some fans insulted him after he left. Sour grapes stuff. But again, he left pitt. You guys post this like we pushed him out and that's simply not true.

19 - 19 at pitt. That's his record.

This.

I always stuck up for his offense, which a lot of people yammered about because it was boring or whatever.
My biggest beef was that he clocked his time her. Never had his heart in it, completely half arsed two thirds of the program (defense and sts).
I know this season sucks, and there are SOME legit things to nitpick Nards, but the team is reasonably well coached and he wants to be here, which is more than any coach not named Wanny or Foge than we have seen.

 

[Pittfan85]

I think it demonstrates how bad that the program was when Chryst got here. If you all remember, he had to “nudge” more than a few players out of the program even before a re-build could begin. We had waaay too many players who had no business being on a Power 5 roster. Some people don’t like to admit it, but Chryst inherited a shambles.

Yep, the program was a train wreck. He left it in much better shape than he found it.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Thread is basically a list of reasons Chryst is doing better at Wisconsin than Pitt:
- heart is more in it
- easier schedule. both conference and non conference
- better defensive coordinator
- now has more head coaching experience under his belt
- better home field advantage
- knows the recruiting turf better
- inherited less of a mess

 

[NCanton Panther]

This.

I always stuck up for his offense, which a lot of people yammered about because it was boring or whatever.
My biggest beef was that he clocked his time her. Never had his heart in it, completely half arsed two thirds of the program (defense and sts).
I know this season sucks, and there are SOME legit things to nitpick Nards, but the team is reasonably well coached and he wants to be here, which is more than any coach not named Wanny or Foge than we have seen.

I agree with most of this. PC definitely wasn’t the energetic and charismatic type but my biggest complaint was that he never seemed fully committed. His offense was never going to be flashy but you could usually count on him to recruit and develop offensive lineman and run the ball effectively.

PN I think definitely wants to be here so that is a plus. I don’t know if you can say that the team is always reasonably well coached though. And while two 8-5 seasons starting out is reasonable, it took one amazing offensive performance to accomplish that just to offset what has been far less than even a mediocre defense his entire time here. Many wanted to claim after the UNC game that it was the first game he lost that he should have won. That’s only because he had set the bar so low going into a number of games with one of the worst defenses we’ve seen here in a long long time. Some of that has to fall on the defensive specialist head coach and not just the supposed lack of talent he inherited.

So time will tell as to whether or not PN has what it takes to turn us into a somewhat consistent above-average P5 program.

 

[thebadby2]

PC and his staff do a better job recruiting than people give them credit for. He is a lot like Dixon. He lands the right guys for his system, and he develops his players. Some Pitt people are too stupid too realize that this is the only realistic chance for success here. They are fixated on the impossible task of Pitt landing a bunch of 4 and 5 star recruits. That is part of the reason why people were not happy with PC when he was here.

Let's talk about his defensive and QB recruiting while at Pitt.

He has been force-fed his DC hires at Wisky and the personnel were already in place.

he has done a very good job at Wisky, but that program has long been a self-fulfilling prophecy under Alvarez--it's basically the same, consistently good, never great program every single year. Look at Bielema and Gary Anderson since they left Wisky. One is on the hot seat at Arkansas after several underwhelming years, the other was a complete flop at Oregon State and just up and quit his job a couple weeks ago, forfeiting $12.6 million in salary. Both did very well at Wisky working under BA.

I think that speaks volumes. BA has his hands all over every aspect of that program, all the time. Does it really matter who the HC is?

 

[vegasgreed]

One of only 3 coaches in Big 10 history to win 30 games in his first 3 years. Barry didn't do it. Brett didn't do it. Anderson didn't do it. All this said and your slamming the guy. Good luck with that. Gotta love Pitt fans banging on a guy when he's 10-0 and we're having the season we are. But then again, this is what Pitt fans do....

Not to mention he's had 3 different DC's in 3 years.



QUOTE="thebadby2, post: 2075510, member: 1492"]Let's talk about his defensive and QB recruiting while at Pitt.

He has been force-fed his DC hires at Wisky and the personnel were already in place.

he has done a very good job at Wisky, but that program has long been a self-fulfilling prophecy under Alvarez--it's basically the same, consistently good, never great program every single year. Look at Bielema and Gary Anderson since they left Wisky. One is on the hot seat at Arkansas after several underwhelming years, the other was a complete flop at Oregon State and just up and quit his job a couple weeks ago, forfeiting $12.6 million in salary. Both did very well at Wisky working under BA.

I think that speaks volumes. BA has his hands all over every aspect of that program, all the time. Does it really matter who the HC is?[/QUOTE]

 

[PittGuyYessir]

How is Wisconsin's recruiting much different than ours?

It isn't much different. They have a roster recruited specifically for their system that they have been running since Alvarez got there. They are better prepared, better developed, and more disciplined. They also have not had the off field problems we have had to deal with like dismissals and suspensions to key players. This roster should look to UW the next 2 years where even if it lacks some in top end talent, the players skills should line up with what Duzz whats to do scheme wise.

 

[thebadby2]

One of only 3 coaches in Big 10 history to win 30 games in his first 3 years. Barry didn't do it. Brett didn't do it. Anderson didn't do it. All this said and your slamming the guy. Good luck with that. Gotta love Pitt fans banging on a guy when he's 10-0 and we're having the season we are. But then again, this is what Pitt fans do....

Not to mention he's had 3 different DC's in 3 years.



QUOTE="thebadby2, post: 2075510, member: 1492"]Let's talk about his defensive and QB recruiting while at Pitt.

He has been force-fed his DC hires at Wisky and the personnel were already in place.

he has done a very good job at Wisky, but that program has long been a self-fulfilling prophecy under Alvarez--it's basically the same, consistently good, never great program every single year. Look at Bielema and Gary Anderson since they left Wisky. One is on the hot seat at Arkansas after several underwhelming years, the other was a complete flop at Oregon State and just up and quit his job a couple weeks ago, forfeiting $12.6 million in salary. Both did very well at Wisky working under BA.

I think that speaks volumes. BA has his hands all over every aspect of that program, all the time. Does it really matter who the HC is?

[/QUOTE]
I'm not criticizing the job he's doing at Wisky. How could I? I am saying that under BA the program just sustains basically the same level no matter who's at the controls. The schemes don't change, the level of recruiting is always the same, and PC has done nothing different than anyone else--because the Wisky HC doesn't have that leeway under Alvarez. Those are facts. PC inherited an 11-3 team coming off an Outback Bowl win over Auburn and a great defensive coordinator. With BA overseeing everything, he couldn't F it up if he tried--he wouldn't be allowed to.

I am criticizing the job he did at Pitt. His record, and the roster he left for the next guy, speaks for itself--especially at QB and on the defensive side.

But I'd like to hear your reply to the facts I posted--look at Bielema and Andersen since their Wisky days. Explain that for us please. Why do you think they left Wisky for inferior jobs? Explain that one too please.

Wisky also gets the enormous benefit of being in the weak division of the B10--the one that doesn't have OSU, Michigan, PSU and MSU in it. Look at their schedule this year. Bielema only got the benefit of the divisional split for his last 2 years, and went 11-3 one of them and to the Rose Bowl twice.

Now if you want to extrapolate that same self-fulfilling prophecy theory to Pitt, i.e., it doesn't matter who the head coach is here, nobody can succeed at Pitt, PC was a good coach but Pitt held him back, etc. etc.--you might be able to make a decent case for it. After all, the past 30 some years of Pitt football pretty much speak for themselves.