Better let the president know -
He lives on twitter hours a day
Reynolds and transfers slamming Narduzzi
- Thread starter JoseLind13
- Start date
He lives on twitter hours a day
I knew you would jump in because you don’t care for PN. Do you know why Reynolds was kicked of the team and suspended at least 3 times over the years? It sure was not personal from PN as Reynolds started several games and got good PT.
I’ll give you a hint without exposing the kid. A few years back the kid was suspended for off the field behavior. It was an incident that took place in South Oakland. PN covered for this kids behavior. It’s funny the kid uses the word thug because the reason he was suspended was due to drunk thug behavior (I’ll leave it at that). I’m surprised it didn’t make the news as PN did a good job of keeping it quite...but if you want to do some research you may be able to find it.
Reynolds has a history of such behavior.
Sicilians, Italians from south of Rome and Greeks weren't considered white until around WW2, my great grandparents and grandparents had their "color" listed as "dark" when they came to this country. The WASP hierarchy in this country considered the Irish as sub-human until the early part of the past century. Also neither group suffered anywhere near the injustice and discrimination that African-Americans and Native Americans have suffered and still suffer.
Just looked at Street's tweet calling Narduzzi a phony and saw the following "liked" it:
Michael Smith
Butler-Jenkins
Elias Reynolds
Justin Morgan
Chase Brown
You could say all of them might have a grudge over PT, but that isn't a good look.
This is not BB with just a few players this is football with over 100 players and most who are not happy due to lack of PT or being disciplined for their own actions.
Reynolds, Morgan & Brown All kicked off the team so easy to see why they are disgruntled.
Smith & Jenkins lack the talent to get good PT and PN is finally doing what most major FB coaches do...basically saying sorry not gona work but I can help you find a soft landing spot. Or we can do the fake career injury thing so you can stay in school for free like he did with a few players last year.
It is generally not my style to replicate posts, but here is something I posted elsewhere that offers how I feel about this particular situation:
I cannot speak to the racial make-up of this message board, but as someone who actually is a black person, I do not think there is much to any of this. Coaches have been telling kids to cut their hair forever, whether the kids are white or black. The terminology of thug is vague to me and if it really were an issue, I feel like it would have come up long ago as a problem. You kind of need to be there with these things and different people interpret things differently. That said, if there was a larger problem, I think we would all know by now considering how closely many of us follow this football program.
I think Pat sometimes says dumb things. But, I highly doubt the guy is racist. 90%+ of the players that he recruits are black, let alone the guys that actually commit to the roster (where I think the number may be higher). Half of his coaching staff is black. He has been coaching for a very long time without any issue. And numerous players both on the present roster and off of it have talked about Pitt having a family culture. Guys had a lot of option to leave this year and came back in full force; that says something about the program and how they are treated.
I see nothing here but sour grapes and maybe someone that just did not get along with the coach(es). Reynolds especially should probably be quiet as he was in trouble a good deal in his time at Pitt per multiple accounts.
But, I will allot that maybe Pat needs to be more careful with his language across the board (including with the media). And, I will gladly continue to listen and watch to see if anything truly troublesome in my eyes emerges (and will immediately call out Pat for it).
I also will say that I think that this younger generation just needs to be more circumspect with how they complain and what they complain about. Racial matters are nothing to sneeze at and put a stain on everyone's record. Reynolds, especially should be careful as it does not appear he has clean hands in his own situation. If the coaches bail you out a ton, you probably should have more respect.
Those are just my thoughts.
I cannot speak to the racial make-up of this message board, but as someone who actually is a black person, I do not think there is much to any of this. Coaches have been telling kids to cut their hair forever, whether the kids are white or black. The terminology of thug is vague to me and if it really were an issue, I feel like it would have come up long ago as a problem. You kind of need to be there with these things and different people interpret things differently. That said, if there was a larger problem, I think we would all know by now considering how closely many of us follow this football program.
I think Pat sometimes says dumb things. But, I highly doubt the guy is racist. 90%+ of the players that he recruits are black, let alone the guys that actually commit to the roster (where I think the number may be higher). Half of his coaching staff is black. He has been coaching for a very long time without any issue. And numerous players both on the present roster and off of it have talked about Pitt having a family culture. Guys had a lot of option to leave this year and came back in full force; that says something about the program and how they are treated.
I see nothing here but sour grapes and maybe someone that just did not get along with the coach(es). Reynolds especially should probably be quiet as he was in trouble a good deal in his time at Pitt per multiple accounts.
But, I will allot that maybe Pat needs to be more careful with his language across the board (including with the media). And, I will gladly continue to listen and watch to see if anything truly troublesome in my eyes emerges (and will immediately call out Pat for it).
I also will say that I think that this younger generation just needs to be more circumspect with how they complain and what they complain about. Racial matters are nothing to sneeze at and put a stain on everyone's record. Reynolds, especially should be careful as it does not appear he has clean hands in his own situation. If the coaches bail you out a ton, you probably should have more respect.
Those are just my thoughts.
pittdan77
Athletic Director
I don't like a coach using a word like "thug". If that's happening, it's something for ADHL to address.
The thing with Narduzzi, that I'm surprised few notice, is that he has a very "take it or leave it" approach to his program. You buy in or you don't. It's in his branding that he uses. Very "Us vs. the world". His players seem to buy in. Anyone who has fallen on the wrong side of him hate him. We see this with recruits and media a lot.
Nobody loves everything about a HC as a player. A lot of guys hated the HC when I played because there was a perception of unjustified favoritism. He won games. Take it or leave it. Just how it is sometimes.
The thing with Narduzzi, that I'm surprised few notice, is that he has a very "take it or leave it" approach to his program. You buy in or you don't. It's in his branding that he uses. Very "Us vs. the world". His players seem to buy in. Anyone who has fallen on the wrong side of him hate him. We see this with recruits and media a lot.
Nobody loves everything about a HC as a player. A lot of guys hated the HC when I played because there was a perception of unjustified favoritism. He won games. Take it or leave it. Just how it is sometimes.
How do you know the reference of "thug" did not mean violence on the football field. Everyone is so in a rush to judge!
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Excellent post! Agree with everything said. What’s funny is disgruntled players (Kicked off the team etc) will jump on the bandwagon now like cowards instead of coming forward if or when they has an issue.
As you and I stated Reynolds was in trouble multiple times and I know for a fact a big incident where PN covered for him and saved his a$$ from charges. PN worked behind the scenes to help the kid and this is how he pays him back.
I know Shilique Calhoun who played for PN at MSU and his uncle is a close friend. I can tell you they rave about PN.
I agree he sometimes says dumb things and is not media savvy but I highly doubt he is racist. We have black assistant coaches who could get jobs at other P5 schools...I doubt they would stay if he was racist.
As you stated coaches tell kids of all races to cut their hair, especially old school guys like PN. Thug is very vague as you said. PN has coached a long time and this is the first anyone has come forward and said such stuff so it’s very hard to believe especially from a kid with a larger discipline history such as Reynolds. The kid lacks credibility.
This an excellent post. Well said.
As for Reynolds, I find it interesting that he waited to finish his free education this April before he spoke up. A free education and Pitt degree he would not have received if the coach he is now slamming handled his situation differently. Tells me more about Reynolds than Narduzzi.
Yes...some may not agree but his take it or leave it is up front and not a lie like many coaches. Hamlin, Weaver etc have said what they like most about PN is he is the same guy he was when he recruited them. He is up front and honest to a fault. But some kids can’t deal with this as they are used to being coddled.
It is a lot to unpack.
I think we, as people (let alone people that are parents), do not teach kids well enough to push back in certain areas if they feel offended. If a coach tells you that you should not wear a hoodie under a jacket, you can always say to him, "coach, this is the style." Or, "coach, this is my style." Or, "coach, it is a really cold and I need the hoodie like this in addition to the jacket and hat." Regardless, I think a comment like that, even if pared with a pejorative, it is mostly nothingness.
I have no doubt Narduzzi said that to kids (or called opponents thugs or told kids to cut their hair because they do not want to appear thuggish or other words that he likely used), because it appears that multiple kids have liked the statement. But, I just find it harmless. And it is funny because it seems like half the kids on the team have had dreads at some point. Some still do. Maybe some kids pulled it better than others.
As far as the word "thug" goes, I mean, anyone that played on a football team knows that much worse things are said about opponents. Do we want coaches to not MF people now? I heard way worse things than thug or MF from coaches growing up. I mean, I do not know if people went soft but if the language that most football or basketball coaches I had was made public now, I guess it would be a big issue.
I think saying "thug" to your own kids as a differentiator is poor form. And he should use better words. But, I just do not see much harm there dependent upon context. The context provided to me is harmless. I think it would be a lot different if people would cite to other consistent context and actions.
I see nothingness here but of course Narduzzi will likely have to comment now. Or at least, he will have to address it in some way. But, I highly doubt he says much because if he starts talking, what is he going to say? I used some poor word choice, Elias (and/or the other kids kicked off the team) has some other issues that I could talk about but will choose not to in order to keep the kid's business from the street. It is just a big nothing ...
Agree. I have my doubts about Dooz as a coach but I really don't think he is a racist, while he is certainly prone to some clumsy speech habits. At the same time I think you have to be smart enough to know that using the word "thug" while working with a group of young black men today is just a poor choice of words.
if the biggest gripe these guys have is that Narduzzi uses the term "thugs" in the context they describe, and they don't air that out until there is a national race crisis going on many months after they left the program, I don't see this as a big deal at all. But then again I'm a middle aged white guy like Narduzzi, so I can't pretend to understand the impact certain words might have on a young black man. And neither can any other middle aged white guy, even though they may like to think they understand.
We are on the same page that if you have an issue then go speak with the coach. And if coaches have to watch all they say or lose their jobs then most coaches would be fired for as so say MF this or that. I was told way worse by coaches as were teammates. If kids want to be babied (Not yelled or cursed at) then big time college Sports may not be for them.
Nick Saban makes PN look like a pussy cat and their are many articles about former players (most kicked off the team) complaining about him. But he wins big time so it’s not brought up much.
It really shouldn't be an issue but we do have a st penn grad as Pitt's football beat writer that passed this onto espn how lovely.
This is a little off topic, but the D-1 coach with the worst language that I have heard from a direct source on was John Chaney. He said things to his players that make Saban seem like a highly pious leader with his speech.
The African-American kids that played for Dooz at MSU loved him, I can say that. he coined the term "Spartan Dawgs" for his defense and he and his players ran with it, branded themselves with it. It was an image that he embraced.
Read our thread on the matter. Most of the BWI McAndrew board thinks its bullshit too. You guys are still turds, but I call bs when I see it.
Yep and the pics of flags at st penn's tailgates are of confederate flags etc. I dont have a Twitter acct but someone needs to remind him of it. Unreal
When Saban was with the Dolphins, it was reported in one of his autobiographies that I own that he had a player who was suffering from heat stroke. The player had been brought into the locker room. He was lying flat on the ground and unconcious. Players in the locker room said that when Saban entered the locker room he stepped over the body and left to enter his office. Players said that incident cost him the supporters he had on that team.
Saban's LSU QB who won the NC for him said he absolutely despises Saban as a man, but absolutely respects him as a coach.
Saban's LSU QB who won the NC for him said he absolutely despises Saban as a man, but absolutely respects him as a coach.
I dunno but we have given other fan bases a lot of material over the last few years. Regardless, the Pittsburgh media or you guys could run nardo out of town for wins and losses, but not sour grapes by some grad transfer on his way out the door.
He has been around the team and Narduzzi and as such has had plenty of opportunity to speak with Narduzzi about issues that he had with him correct? As I recall he has received swag from Pitt and did not take issue or refuse it correct? If I am wrong please tell me.
What does that have to do with calling him gutless ?
perhaps it’s why he bounced early - didn’t like narduzzi ?
I say that as he had a chance to say things to Narduzzi face to face and not some lame Twitter follow
Try every player, coach, staff, administrator, etc.......
Are you sure he didn’t ?
You’re making assumptions and judgements -because ya want to defend the flag
that’s okay - I’m simply pointing it out
As will every elected official going forward.
From the horses mouth, no twisting by the press.
It's good business.
Every coach sweet talks you during recruiting. Not just PN, everyone… Here is a general scenario…
They promise the recruit early playing time, a good education, etc…
His teammates like him and considers him a good guy, however he doesn’t perform to expectations. He lacks the effort to get better on the field, he smokes dope, he gets into squabbles with coaches and then develops a bad attitude. He gets thrown into the doghouse so many times his teammates laughingly start to call him Lassie…
When things get worse, Narduzzi finally kicks him off the team. He pouts and tells everyone that Narduzzi is a phony because he promised playing time and he didn’t get it… I’m sure Narduzzi has his side of the story…
Narduzzi is under a lot of pressure to win and he knows it. He doesn’t have time to waste on players who don’t perform, shows no desire to get better and think only of themselves. Those players get buried on the depth chart or kicked off the team.
They promise the recruit early playing time, a good education, etc…
His teammates like him and considers him a good guy, however he doesn’t perform to expectations. He lacks the effort to get better on the field, he smokes dope, he gets into squabbles with coaches and then develops a bad attitude. He gets thrown into the doghouse so many times his teammates laughingly start to call him Lassie…
When things get worse, Narduzzi finally kicks him off the team. He pouts and tells everyone that Narduzzi is a phony because he promised playing time and he didn’t get it… I’m sure Narduzzi has his side of the story…
Narduzzi is under a lot of pressure to win and he knows it. He doesn’t have time to waste on players who don’t perform, shows no desire to get better and think only of themselves. Those players get buried on the depth chart or kicked off the team.
BS....dress codes and code of conduct have absolutely nothing to do with calling someone a thug. Quit making excuses!
And yes it's a big deal.
