Pitt should've never fired Wanny and...?

[Fsgolfdr]

Say what you want about all his inadequacies , but Pitt Fb would be in a far beter place had he still been here .

Expecting Pitt Fb to compete against opponents that easily out recruit them is akin to expecting Pitt bb to beat the Dukes and UNCs of the world . At least in bb one or two players can make a difference in Fb you need a roster full of players who aren't 3* at best .

Heather eating Stallings contract surprised me and her hiring of JC was the absolute best move a Pitt AD has done , especially considering how toxic the bb program had become . I'm baffled on the contract extension she gave PN after a 5 win season .

There's a reason why Pitt Fb can't sell tickets and you saw it last night . They shit the bed just about every time the stadium is full . ( even if there's a lot of PSU or ND fans attending ) You have to WIN these games and not get embrassed to get some fan interest .

Without PSU or ND on the schedule Pitt can't generate the interest needed to sell season tickets and they're just not good enough to beat any decent version of these teams .

Not trying to kick the field goal when you had the amount of yds they needed to get a first down tells me all I need to know about PN coaching prowess. Plus you run it .

People willing to sit out in the rain shows you that there are good fans out there willing to support Pitt Fb , but they need to win . IMO PN has been here long enough to show me he's not the man to lead Pitt out of the desert .

 

[jtownknowitall]

Pitt should have kept Wanny and...

Stayed in what was the left of the Big Bad Least that he was able to be competitive in?

 

[Pittcrafton]

He was bringing in a top 10 class when he was let go. Pitt self imposed death penalty since 1983!

 

[Pittcrafton]

Pitt should have kept Wanny and...

Stayed in what was the left of the Big Bad Least that he was able to be competitive in?

Dude the Coastal is worse than the big east. Truth

 

[jtownknowitall]

Not the final version.

 

[Jakey_John]

He was bringing in a top 10 class when he was let go. Pitt self imposed death penalty since 1983!

Yeah Gary Nova was stellar. Such ashame he got away.

 

[Las Panteras]

Pitt should have kept Wanny and...

Stayed in what was the left of the Big Bad Least that he was able to be competitive in?

yes,

and no

 

[thebadby2]

Say what you want about all his inadequacies , but Pitt Fb would be in a far beter place had he still been here .

Expecting Pitt Fb to compete against opponents that easily out recruit them is akin to expecting Pitt bb to beat the Dukes and UNCs of the world . At least in bb one or two players can make a difference in Fb you need a roster full of players who aren't 3* at best .

Heather eating Stallings contract surprised me and her hiring of JC was the absolute best move a Pitt AD has done , especially considering how toxic the bb program had become . I'm baffled on the contract extension she gave PN after a 5 win season .

There's a reason why Pitt Fb can't sell tickets and you saw it last night . They shit the bed just about every time the stadium is full . ( even if there's a lot of PSU or ND fans attending ) You have to WIN these games and not get embrassed to get some fan interest .

Without PSU or ND on the schedule Pitt can't generate the interest needed to sell season tickets and they're just not good enough to beat any decent version of these teams .

Not trying to kick the field goal when you had the amount of yds they needed to get a first down tells me all I need to know about PN coaching prowess. Plus you run it .

People willing to sit out in the rain shows you that there are good fans out there willing to support Pitt Fb , but they need to win . IMO PN has been here long enough to show me he's not the man to lead Pitt out of the desert .

You know your favorite team sucks when you’re still wishing Dave Wannstedt hadn’t been fired 10 years later.

 

[revampedpanthers]

Expecting Pitt Fb to compete against opponents that easily out recruit them is akin to expecting Pitt bb to beat the Dukes and UNCs of the world . At least in bb one or two players can make a difference in Fb you need a roster full of players who aren't 3* at best .

I don't think the problem has been recruiting based on rankings as much as the players they have recruited just haven't been as good as their rankings even. PN has had several classes in the upper 20's to 30's. On paper the classes have been better than what PC brought in. But its beginning to look more and more like PC was bringing in more talent. Basically PN has recruited good enough if the top guys he has brought in were working out and he was doing a better job with the under rated guys(something PC did pretty well at)

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Pitt should have kept Wanny and...

Stayed in what was the left of the Big Bad Least that he was able to be competitive in?

Objectively look over all the yrs since his firing is Pitt Fb in a better place ?
When they've had decent yrs they go to I could care less bowl games and lose .
No coach can win without the horses , but it's also the HC job to get the talent here . In his 4 yrs here PN has not been able to sell the program to the type of kids he needs to compete . Its ok to find a occasional diamond in ruff , but that's not a sound recruiting philosophy for an entire class.

I didn't think Pitt could afford to fire KS last yr and with his buyout and the hiring of JC I'm pretty sure PN is untouchable . Especially in light of his new contract for a few more seasons so there's only one solution and that's to surround him with a better staff . Where the money comes from I don't know , but it will be cheaper than replacing
him .
JD would still be coaching the bb team had they remained in the BE ....Just saying !

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Expecting Pitt Fb to compete against opponents that easily out recruit them is akin to expecting Pitt bb to beat the Dukes and UNCs of the world . At least in bb one or two players can make a difference in Fb you need a roster full of players who aren't 3* at best .

I don't think the problem has been recruiting based on rankings as much as the players they have recruited just haven't been as good as their rankings even. PN has had several classes in the upper 20's to 30's. On paper the classes have been better than what PC brought in. But its beginning to look more and more like PC was bringing in more talent. Basically PN has recruited good enough if the top guys he has brought in were working out and he was doing a better job with the under rated guys(something PC did pretty well at)

So what your saying is that PN doesn't evaluate talent very well. Could it be the guys he gets to Pitt that never work out is because other competing programs realize this and back off or is it because the coaching they receive once here ?There is an art to constructing a team and it all starts with being able to evaluate talent .

 

[Pittcrafton]

So what your saying is that PN doesn't evaluate talent very well. Could it be the guys he gets to Pitt that never work out is because other competing programs realize this and back off or is it because the coaching they receive once here ?There is an art to constructing a team and it all starts with being able to evaluate talent .

He is a lazy recruiter and takes scraps , he doesn't even fight for top level kids

 

[thebadby2]

Objectively look over all the yrs since his firing is Pitt Fb in a better place ?
When they've had decent yrs they go to I could care less bowl games and lose .
No coach can win without the horses , but it's also the HC job to get the talent here . In his 4 yrs here PN has not been able to sell the program to the type of kids he needs to compete . Its ok to find a occasional diamond in ruff , but that's not a sound recruiting philosophy for an entire class.

I didn't think Pitt could afford to fire KS last yr and with his buyout and the hiring of JC I'm pretty sure PN is untouchable . Especially in light of his new contract for a few more seasons so there's only one solution and that's to surround him with a better staff . Where the money comes from I don't know , but it will be cheaper than replacing
him .
JD would still be coaching the bb team had they remained in the BE ....Just saying !

Got news for you fellas, what happened last night was not because of talent differential. They have better talent for sure, and they were favored to win on that basis, but the talent differential isn’t what embarrassed Pitt football last night.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

You know your favorite team sucks when you’re still wishing Dave Wannstedt hadn’t been fired 10 years later.

It's just they've gotten nowhere in those 10yrs . I'd have loved to see Wanny here as HC for a few more seasons with better coordinators then have him move up to being the AD . The man still bleeds blue and gold !

 

[Pitt79]

Dude the Coastal is worse than the big east. Truth

And we can't win it! Like we couldn't win the Big East.

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Right or wrong it’s amazing that someone is still posting a topic like this. My god.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Got news for you fellas, what happened last night was not because of talent differential. They have better talent for sure, and they were favored to win on that basis, but the talent differential isn’t what embarrassed Pitt football last night.

IMO PITT players quit and coaches showed a high level of incompetence and no leadership!
The team didn't fight back to reverse the results of their mistakes but he Nitters did. Both teams made early mistakes!

The game started out on the wrong foot with the coin toss decision, the holder couldn't hold costing PITT an extra pt and a FG, nor could he catch a punt long snap giving the Nitters great field position which cost PITT a TD, the kick-off after the first PITT TD was something a 15 yr old would kick, and despite all of this PITT wasstill in the game due to a few Nitter mistakes until the second half when the team ( lack of effort), and coaches ( poor strategy) decided we're finished.

Terrible effort from everyone concerned except the fans who sat in the rain watching this train wreck unfold!
Lack of talent is one thing everyone can deal with a butt whooping in that case but lack of coaching staff leadership and player heart and effort is inexcusable!

 

[revampedpanthers]

So what your saying is that PN doesn't evaluate talent very well. Could it be the guys he gets to Pitt that never work out is because other competing programs realize this and back off or is it because the coaching they receive once here ?There is an art to constructing a team and it all starts with being able to evaluate talent .

Honestly yes he hasn't evaluated the under the radar kids very well. For whatever reason guys like Camp,hamlin, watts,Hill Pugh,flowers,davis, reeves. Half those kids aren't in the program anymore and the other half haven't been good. Thats a pretty big group of kids who could have went to several top 25 programs but chose Pitt and they haven't become good players.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Wanny's team quit in that wvu game.

 

[Pittcrafton]

Wanny's team quit in that wvu game.

Wanny stopped WVU from winning a NC so stuff it!

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I can understand moving on from DW if your aspirations were national championships, but really hiring who they did tells you something entirely different . National ridicule was the only reason they paid up for Todd !
Ps Go Conner !

 

[rutgersdave]

Objectively look over all the yrs since his firing is Pitt Fb in a better place ?
When they've had decent yrs they go to I could care less bowl games and lose .
No coach can win without the horses , but it's also the HC job to get the talent here . In his 4 yrs here PN has not been able to sell the program to the type of kids he needs to compete . Its ok to find a occasional diamond in ruff , but that's not a sound recruiting philosophy for an entire class.

I didn't think Pitt could afford to fire KS last yr and with his buyout and the hiring of JC I'm pretty sure PN is untouchable . Especially in light of his new contract for a few more seasons so there's only one solution and that's to surround him with a better staff . Where the money comes from I don't know , but it will be cheaper than replacing
him .
JD would still be coaching the bb team had they remained in the BE ....Just saying !

I gave up on Rutgers football because we couldn’t get the recruits and we kept falling further and further behind. We now only get mainly 3 star players and a few 2 stars but it’s not enough to be competitive in the better conferences. This appears to be Pitts problem. When you beat Penn State two years ago, your recruiting should have picked up but didn’t really have much of a bump. Flood, Ash and Nuzz don’t have the personalities to get recruits excited and come to the program.

Wish you guys can turn it around but it might take another coach that can recruit.

 

[Toddy_Too_Hotty]

Say what you want about all his inadequacies , but Pitt Fb would be in a far beter place had he still been here .

Expecting Pitt Fb to compete against opponents that easily out recruit them is akin to expecting Pitt bb to beat the Dukes and UNCs of the world . At least in bb one or two players can make a difference in Fb you need a roster full of players who aren't 3* at best .

Heather eating Stallings contract surprised me and her hiring of JC was the absolute best move a Pitt AD has done , especially considering how toxic the bb program had become . I'm baffled on the contract extension she gave PN after a 5 win season .

There's a reason why Pitt Fb can't sell tickets and you saw it last night . They shit the bed just about every time the stadium is full . ( even if there's a lot of PSU or ND fans attending ) You have to WIN these games and not get embrassed to get some fan interest .

Without PSU or ND on the schedule Pitt can't generate the interest needed to sell season tickets and they're just not good enough to beat any decent version of these teams .

Not trying to kick the field goal when you had the amount of yds they needed to get a first down tells me all I need to know about PN coaching prowess. Plus you run it .

People willing to sit out in the rain shows you that there are good fans out there willing to support Pitt Fb , but they need to win . IMO PN has been here long enough to show me he's not the man to lead Pitt out of the desert .

He wasn't that great when he was here, but if we kept then he sure would have been.

Walt would have been better too

 

[DiehardPanther]

He is a lazy recruiter and takes scraps , he doesn't even fight for top level kids

The large majority of top level recruits have no interest in coming here. It doesn’t matter who the coach is.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

It's just they've gotten nowhere in those 10yrs

I can't understand why so many people forget that we never got anywhere when Wanny was here either. I mean his greatest season here delivered us a Car Care Bowl victory even though we were playing in a pathetic conference.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[BuffetParrothead]

I can't understand why so many people forget that we never got anywhere when Wanny was here either. I mean his greatest season here delivered us a Car Care Bowl victory even though we were playing in a pathetic conference.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Joe we're not getting anywhere now?
Our big losses are worse now than with Wanny.
Close games go the other way these days!
He recuited better than Narduzzi so how are we better all these years later?
If Wanny had been retained it would be impossible that he wouldn't have improved the program after all these years.
Narduzzi shows no improvement in recruiting or performance from the day he arrived until now compared to Wanny.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

He wasn't that great when he was here, but if we kept then he sure would have been.

Walt would have been better too

I can't understand why so many people forget that we never got anywhere when Wanny was here either. I mean his greatest season here delivered us a Car Care Bowl victory even though we were playing in a pathetic conference.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Why fire a guy if you make no attempt to change the direction of your program ? I'd have no problem in changing from Wanny if you upgrade ...They didn't and they've had 4 coaches since then .

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Joe we're not getting anywhere now?
Our big losses are worse now than with Wanny.
Close games go the other way these days!
He recuited better than Narduzzi so how are we better all these years later?

We aren't better all these years later. And that's a problem, because Wanny was for us, and for his entire head coaching career, a sub-mediocre coach.

The problem isn't that we fired a guy who was a mediocre coach on the best day of his life, the problem is that we didn't and haven't replaced him with someone better. Which frankly should not have been a difficult chore.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Why fire a guy if you make no attempt to change the direction of your program ? I'd have no problem in changing from Wanny if you upgrade ...They didn't and they've had 4 coaches since then .

We didn't upgrade! PITT has no intention in investing in football!
Our big losses are worse now than with Wanny.
Close games go the other way these days!
He recuited better than Narduzzi so how are we better all these years later?
If Wanny had been retained it would be impossible that he wouldn't have improved the program after all these years.
Narduzzi shows no improvement in recruiting or performance from the day he arrived until now compared to Wanny.
Narduzzi's win /loss performance is getting worse, we won the Nitter first game, played a close game in game # 2, and got blown out in game # 3.
Last year the OSU game was a joke!
Narduzzi was 5-7 , most any coach could have achieved that record!
How do you justify keeping this guy on the payroll???

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I'd have no problem in changing from Wanny if you upgrade ...They didn't and they've had 4 coaches since then .

But everyone surely understands that that is not a defense of Wannstadt, right?

Wanting to keep Dave Wannstadt is an admission that you don't think that Pitt football can ever be anything more than mediocre or maybe a little better if everything falls right in a particular year. If that's all you think Pitt football can ever be then I guess Wanny is as good a guy to have as the coach as anyone else. If you think that Pitt can be more than mediocre then you should find nothing at all wrong with firing Wanny. You should, however, find a lot wrong with what we did after we fired him.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

But everyone surely understands that that is not a defense of Wannstadt, right?

Wanting to keep Dave Wannstadt is an admission that you don't think that Pitt football can ever be anything more than mediocre or maybe a little better if everything falls right in a particular year. If that's all you think Pitt football can ever be then I guess Wanny is as good a guy to have as the coach as anyone else. If you think that Pitt can be more than mediocre then you should find nothing at all wrong with firing Wanny. You should, however, find a lot wrong with what we did after we fired him.

So we fire Wanny and hire The Heymaker Haywood.

A small time guy from a small time program who will take PITT to the big time???
Wow Joe that's making a statement that we want to be more than medicocre??
Joe you're better than this!

Anyone making a case for Narduzzi at this time after this loss is a loser homer who isn't helping the program!

Bottom line is we hired a good AD in Lyke who has inherited a bunch of loser coaches including Narduzzi!
He''ll be gone in two years! Maybe sooner!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

So we fire Wanny and hire The Heymaker Haywood.

A small time guy from a small time program who will take PITT to the big time???
Wow Joe that's making a statement that we want to be more than medicocre??
Joe you're better than this!

Anyone making a case for Narduzzi at this time after this loss is a loser homer who isn't helping the program!

Bottom line is we hired a good AD in Lyke who has inherited a bunch of loser coaches including Narduzzi!
He''ll be gone in two years! Maybe sooner!

It really shouldn't be that hard to separate the two events. Firing Wanny was in no way, shape or form a bad decision if you wanted Pitt to be more than mediocre. Hiring Mike Tyson Junior was in no way, shape or form a good decision if you wanted Pitt to be more than mediocre.

Why is it that so many people cannot understand the completely obvious fact that both of those are true statements?

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Why not pine for Walt Harris?
He actually elevated the program

 

[martingale]

Why not pine for Walt Harris?
He actually elevated the program

He actually won the Big East once Miami and Tech left. That's some altitude.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

But everyone surely understands that that is not a defense of Wannstadt, right?

Wanting to keep Dave Wannstadt is an admission that you don't think that Pitt football can ever be anything more than mediocre or maybe a little better if everything falls right in a particular year. If that's all you think Pitt football can ever be then I guess Wanny is as good a guy to have as the coach as anyone else. If you think that Pitt can be more than mediocre then you should find nothing at all wrong with firing Wanny. You should, however, find a lot wrong with what we did after we fired him.

Wannys last three seasons were 9 ,10 & 8 ( including bowl win after he was fired ) wins . Do you realize you have to back to the Jackie Sherril days before any Pitt team won that much . Pitt wasn't going to win a national championship under DW , but guess what unless something radical changes at Pitt they never will . I'd sign up for 9 & 10 win seasons right now , You can hold out for better just don't hold your breath .

 

[pitt_fb_9x1]

Why not pine for Walt Harris?
He actually elevated the program

Walt did more for the pitt program than any coach after. Pitt was literally the worst p5 school
in the nation. What he did was nothing short of a miracle. His offense was innovative and productive as heck. Pitt isn’t in the ACC if it wasn’t for Walt. Also, he won in a much tougher conference than wanny.
Miami,VT,and Syracuse was top 5 in the country at the time.....

 

[pitt_fb_9x1]

Wanny stopped WVU from winning a NC so stuff it!

With a 5-7 team...go wanny

 

[DiehardPanther]

Walt did more for the pitt program than any coach after. Pitt was literally the worst p5 school
in the nation. What he did was nothing short of a miracle. His offense was innovative and productive as heck. Pitt isn’t in the ACC if it wasn’t for Walt. Also, he won in a much tougher conference than wanny.
Miami,VT,and Syracuse was top 5 in the country at the time.....

Agreed. Walt was handed a complete mess, and did a good job of turning things around.

 

[pitt_fb_9x1]

Agreed. Walt was handed a complete mess, and did a good job of turning things around.

If Walt had the support Narduzzi had with money for assistants etc....Pitt would have gone farther
than we think...not top 10, but perennial top 25. Walt was the only coach pitt hired that actually had a system that took advantage of recruiting deficits. Walt had a keen eye for wr,rb talent and his system made average qbs good....pistal Pete, Rutherford,priestly were all good qbs. QBs could excell in his system, and ever since, we have had zero qbs except Palko....

This is what Pitt is missing...someone who can Taylor a system to the type of recruit pitt can get.
Boise St does this well as Univ of Toledo.....

Jmho

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Wannys last three seasons were 9 ,10 & 8 ( including bowl win after he was fired ) wins . Do you realize you have to back to the Jackie Sherril days before any Pitt team won that much . Pitt wasn't going to win a national championship under DW , but guess what unless something radical changes at Pitt they never will . I'd sign up for 9 & 10 win seasons right now , You can hold out for better just don't hold your breath .

But it was obvious that the 9 and 10 win seasons were the outliers. You forget to mention the 5, 6 and 5 win season. You, like all the other Wanny fetishists, give him credit for a win that he didn't earn. And you completely miss the context of when he was getting those wins. We played one team that was ranked at the time we played them all season long in 2009. We only played two teams that were in the end of the year rankings, and we lost them both. Even by Big East standards the league was not good at all that year. Our five no-conference games were Youngstown State, Buffalo, Navy, an NC State team that won two ACC games that year, and a six win Notre Dame team. In other words, the schedule was pathetic. The schedule in the nine win season wasn't any better. Again, two teams ranked when we played them, one of which was a South Florida team that ended up winning two conference games all season. The highest ranked team we played in the final poll was Cincinnati, who ended up 17th and who beat us.

All those years proved was what some people here, most notably steel, have argued for years. If you play a completely crappy schedule but you beat the crappy teams that in the end no one will remember how bad the schedule was. You'd think that at least Pitt fans might remember how bad the teams that Pitt played were, but it's pretty clear that is not the case when you see all the Pitt fans pining away for Mr. Mediocrity.