RIP WPIAL recruiting

[TD_6082]

Just win baby! When you go 3-9 and 7-6, sh*t happens.... The local recruits see this up close and personal every week...

They see a team in 2023 sending out a QB that obviously couldn't play (4-star local recruit, Jurkovec) and then replaced by another QB that couldn't play (Veilleux), when all the time the best QB you did have was sitting on the bench (Yarnell). How many games did that cost them?

Then in 2024, you go 7-0 and lose the last 5 regular season games. Then they send out a walk on QB (Lynch) for the bowl game when they couldn't figure out that their best option was to start Duggar....

Sorry I had to vent.... Yes the WPIAL kids are overrated for the most part, but a lot of Pitt's problems are self inflicted by the staff...

Yarnell wasn't going to help Pitt win any games. The only game I can see where Pitt might have won by starting Yarnell is the Syracuse game, where Veilleux totally pissed down his leg. The reason they started Veilleux over Yarnell is because CV could throw better deep ball, and the 2023 offense was so abysmal, the chances of connecting on a deep throw were a lot better than actually sustaining a drive and hitting paydirt. I can't blame the staff for going in that direction. Where Duzz & co. failed was not having a capable QB anywhere on the roster. They defaulted to the guy with experience and knew the offense the best. That team couldn't run the ball either.

 

[pbrad]

Timmons went with Cignetti

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

at this point, I have to wonder if Narduzzi even cares anymore. When 3-star run of the mill players pick a program like Indiana, what's the point of even trying to recruit locally

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Losing a local kid to Indiana is hilarious. I know some of you will say this kid isn't any good but sometimes WPIAL guys turn out to be players who could help Pitt. And we get very close to 0 of them.

 

[forbesfield]

I'm confused. If all of the WPIAL's best players are overrated and suck, then why do so many other programs seem to be willing to recruit them?

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I'm confused. If all of the WPIAL's best players are overrated and suck, then why do so many other programs seem to be willing to recruit them?

It's a defense mechanism. Just because guys go to PSU and sit for 5 years, doesn't mean they couldn't have been good for us. Look at Petrishen. Plenty of WPIAL guys would have done well for us.

 

[PittPharm2002]

I love Pitt
If my kid gets an offer from Stanford , he’s going there without a second of thought

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

at this point, I have to wonder if Narduzzi even cares anymore. When 3-star run of the mill players pick a program like Indiana, what's the point of even trying to recruit locally

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Indiana was in the CFP last year.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Indiana was in the CFP last year.

we would have been in the playoffs in 2021,

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

we would have been in the playoffs in 2021,

It's 2025.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I love Pitt
If my kid gets an offer from Stanford , he’s going there without a second of thought

I hate to say it but I probably agree. I'd probably say the same thing if my kid was a blue blood recruit. Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Stanford. Man would it be tough to turn down that Stanford degree/networking. And that's why I think Luck has a chance to get Stanford back to being a Top program. They should be getting the types of kids that Notre Dame gets. They are punching below their weight. Football seems to have an inordinate amount of middle class, upper middle class, rich kids who would value the heck out of a Stanford degree. And Palo Alto is an awesome place to live if you have money. Beats Tuscaloosa and Athens, GA.

I like what their new bball coach said. He said the Stanford basketball job is the best job in the country.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

It's 2025.

my point is one year in the playoffs doesn't make you a superior program.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

I love Pitt
If my kid gets an offer from Stanford , he’s going there without a second of thought

Stanford is all in on football, they have a GM and a remodeled stadium. Unless you are talking Bob Shilken, kids aren't playing P4 football for the academic opportunities in 2025

 

[pittmeister]

I'm confused. If all of the WPIAL's best players are overrated and suck, then why do so many other programs seem to be willing to recruit them?

If you looked at the results of the WPIAL players over the last 15 years, you wouldn't be confused... Results matter. Lots of coaches recruit the area based on stars and reputation of the WPIAL over the years. Most are decent players, but the difference makers are few and far between


In the case of Indiana, they're local coaches (Cignetti, Shanahan) recruiting local players.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

It's a defense mechanism. Just because guys go to PSU and sit for 5 years, doesn't mean they couldn't have been good for us. Look at Petrishen. Plenty of WPIAL guys would have done well for us.

Petrishen was okay for us. I'm sorry but getting up in arms about run of the mill type players whether they're local or not is ridiculous.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

And that's why I think Luck has a chance to get Stanford back to being a Top program. They should be getting the types of kids that Notre Dame gets. They are punching below their weight.

Stanford is the one school that requests a transcript prior to even talking with the coach or player. No one does that at the D1 level. I've had Notre Dame, Duke, Vanderbilt, and Northwestern offer kids who were 3.0 students - 1000 SAT with no AP/Honors courses. Stanford doesn't operate like that.

Unless Luck is going to have the admission policies changed at Stanford, each of those players has to be admitted into the University prior to a scholarship being extended. Stanford has the smallest recruiting net in P4 football. You have to have an incredible hit rate to be consistently competitive at Stanford because you're not able to extend many scholarships under their current policies.

 

[Hilton Head Panther]

With HS recruiting, really not that complicated. Due to NIL, school location, and negative local media, we cannot get 4 star players from Western Pa. They all flock to ND or the BIG. A southern 3 star ( FL or GA ) is typically much better anyway so concentrate on getting them. I like Pitt’s approach here. I don’t care where they come from.

 

[pittdan77]

If you looked at the results of the WPIAL players over the last 15 years, you wouldn't be confused... Results matter. Lots of coaches recruit the area based on stars and reputation of the WPIAL over the years. Most are decent players, but the difference makers are few and far between


In the case of Indiana, they're local coaches (Cignetti, Shanahan) recruiting local players.

Well, also, a lot of people were throwing around the idea that Indiana went big on NIL last year and attributed that to some of their success. Historically speaking, they're not a football school but I don't really think history matters. Going forward, NIL is a game changer. A lot has changed since Pitt's last good season and none of it has to do with Pitt having the money to throw at kids.

 

[pittmeister]

not familiar with that handle, pretty sure it is snerd/H2Pzoo. Since this board is pretty much unmoderated now trolls can run free.

Yeah, I know about Fred Snerd. He's a serious sick man. His obsession with Pitt is sad and pathetic. He lives in the Charlotte area.

https://x.com/hail2snerd

https://x.com/hail_2snerd

https://x.com/FredSnerd

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-snerd-3886832a?trk=people-guest_people_search-card

 

[Guyasuta Genac]

Yeah, I know about Fred Snerd. He's a serious sick man. His obsession with Pitt is sad and pathetic. He lives in the Charlotte area.

https://x.com/hail2snerd

https://x.com/hail_2snerd

https://x.com/FredSnerd

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-snerd-3886832a?trk=people-guest_people_search-card

What a fvckin loser lmao

 

[pittdan77]

Yeah, I know about Fred Snerd. He's a serious sick man. His obsession with Pitt is sad and pathetic. He lives in the Charlotte area.

https://x.com/hail2snerd

https://x.com/hail_2snerd

https://x.com/FredSnerd

https://www.linkedin.com/in/fred-snerd-3886832a?trk=people-guest_people_search-card

He seems like the kind of guy that would happily pick a kid up and drop him off at Jerry's house. I wouldn't even be surprised if his basement is the same as Jerry's.

 

[djbpitt]

If you can't close on kids like this & Gompers last year, there really isn't much hope. I know, some of you will say "Stanford". Well they are a conference foe now and how many are truly making a decision based on academics these days.

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If a kid is going to Stanford, football is not his #1 priority. (And that's not a bad thing.)

 

[cbpitt2]

If a kid is going to Stanford, football is not his #1 priority. (And that's not a bad thing.)

Maybe it's that rich ACC tradition Stanford has.

 

[cbpitt2]

The kid is overrated. Slow AF.

Wanny would have been able to get him to run faster.

 

[PittPharm2002]

If a kid is going to Stanford, football is not his #1 priority. (And that's not a bad thing.)

Why not ?
Their athletic department is light years ahead of ours .

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Why not ?
Their athletic department is light years ahead of ours .

exactly, they hired Andrew Luck as football GM, they are all in. I don't think there are many Bob Shilkens out there playing P4 ball who are academics first. If so they would be in the Ivy league

 

[steelcurtain55.]

exactly, they hired Andrew Luck as football GM, they are all in.

"all in" how?

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

"all in" how?

Well paying for a GM is a start, and a name guy like Luck

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

It's a defense mechanism. Just because guys go to PSU and sit for 5 years, doesn't mean they couldn't have been good for us. Look at Petrishen. Plenty of WPIAL guys would have done well for us.

At some point, you would think these guys would look at how locals typically fare when they attend Pitt versus other schools. I get that guys bet on themselves, but the statistics have to be pretty one-sided.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

I love Pitt
If my kid gets an offer from Stanford , he’s going there without a second of thought

Yeah, tough to argue. In a day and age where the scholarships are like a secondary (if that) bonus, that one actually both carries a ton of merit and is quite an expense to have taken care of.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Well paying for a GM is a start, and a name guy like Luck

And he's a "real GM." The HC answers to him. Not like just about every other GM, which is more or less just a secretary who answers to the HC

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

I hate to say it but I probably agree. I'd probably say the same thing if my kid was a blue blood recruit. Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Stanford. Man would it be tough to turn down that Stanford degree/networking. And that's why I think Luck has a chance to get Stanford back to being a Top program. They should be getting the types of kids that Notre Dame gets. They are punching below their weight. Football seems to have an inordinate amount of middle class, upper middle class, rich kids who would value the heck out of a Stanford degree. And Palo Alto is an awesome place to live if you have money. Beats Tuscaloosa and Athens, GA.

I like what their new bball coach said. He said the Stanford basketball job is the best job in the country.

It's honestly tough to tell what Stanford is. They've spent some seasons at both ends of the spectrum. A lot of their fans will tell you that they'd have folded their football program if the Big 12 was their only option. But then I know USC used to complain that Stanford was getting all the west coast offensive linemen because they all cared so much about the education. That was a heck of a run by Harbaugh and Shaw. So many o-linemen and tight ends.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

It's honestly tough to tell what Stanford is. They've spent some seasons at both ends of the spectrum. A lot of their fans will tell you that they'd have folded their football program if the Big 12 was their only option. But then I know USC used to complain that Stanford was getting all the west coast offensive linemen because they all cared so much about the education. That was a heck of a run by Harbaugh and Shaw. So many o-linemen and tight ends.

And they need to get back to getting top tier offensive linemen by selling the degree. And its not like those kids won't make any NIL at Stanford. With rev share, you figure they can pay top-tier linemen about half as much as Bama. So let's say $1 million for 4 years PLUS a Stanford degree vs $2 million for 4 years and a Bama degree. The $1 million you made at Stanford is still good and you have that degree now to make more assuming you don't make the NFL.

 

[pittdan77]

If there is one school that has been worse about NIL than Pitt, it's Stanford, and financial support for athletics has been bad enough that they nearly cut a butt load of sports a few years ago. They've been losing some of their best athletes over NIL funding so it's not like the prestige of the degree is even keeping kids at home. They're saying a lot of nice things but let's be honest, they're not going to reemerge as some powerful force in revenue sports.

 

[WpialHSFB]

Ignoring the bias in my name, the WPIAL is certainly an above average football area. It’s obviously not what it once was, and there are absolutely many areas that consistently produce more talent. That said, there are way worse places to be based as a college football team. On a per capita basis, I’m guessing it stacks up relatively well. It just ended a 32 year streak of players getting drafted into the NFL. That’s not dogshit. Aaron Donald didn’t do too bad as a WPIAL alum…. The bigger issues is probably population decline and overall aging of the area. Those trends will probably level out soon, if not already.

Pitt should recruit the WPIAL like any team recruits their home area - get what you can with the great players, have a great presence with the coaches etc, but go national as well.

 

[PittPharm2002]

Yeah, tough to argue. In a day and age where the scholarships are like a secondary (if that) bonus, that one actually both carries a ton of merit and is quite an expense to have taken care of.

I’ll happily retire , relocate , and drink wine in NorCal !
Let my kid visit if he wants to

 

[pittmeister]

PG article.... Nothing earth shattering. Timmons comments were interesting....

Prep Talk: For various reasons, Pitt no longer gets many WPIAL football recruits

Two of the top football prospects in the WPIAL Class of 2026 made commitments to colleges on Tuesday, and it was two more players who said no to the hometown...

www.post-gazette.com

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

PG article.... Nothing earth shattering. Timmons comments were interesting....

Prep Talk: For various reasons, Pitt no longer gets many WPIAL football recruits

Two of the top football prospects in the WPIAL Class of 2026 made commitments to colleges on Tuesday, and it was two more players who said no to the hometown...

www.post-gazette.com

Mr. "big-time". He'll probably hit the portal sooner rather than later.

 

[pittdan77]

Ignoring the bias in my name, the WPIAL is certainly an above average football area. It’s obviously not what it once was, and there are absolutely many areas that consistently produce more talent. That said, there are way worse places to be based as a college football team. On a per capita basis, I’m guessing it stacks up relatively well. It just ended a 32 year streak of players getting drafted into the NFL. That’s not dogshit. Aaron Donald didn’t do too bad as a WPIAL alum…. The bigger issues is probably population decline and overall aging of the area. Those trends will probably level out soon, if not already.

Pitt should recruit the WPIAL like any team recruits their home area - get what you can with the great players, have a great presence with the coaches etc, but go national as well.

Who is the next all-pro from the WPIAL? I think when Cam Heyward hangs it up, there won't be any active players who have been named all-pro from the WPIAL. Okay, maybe Luke Rhodes from Hollidaysburg, if you want to count that. Heck, who is even the next NFL starter? There aren't even that many right now. And really, the whole state isn't exactly producing elite talent anymore. It's a pretty large state and it trails behind North Carolina and Alabama for the number of active NFL players.

It's not that the WPIAL sucks. Right now, it's probably only slightly better than most places at turning out very average talent. We can all look around and see that there just aren't that many highly rated 4-stars. Most of them are closer to 3's, anyway. There are a ton of colleges in PA so yeah, it's a lot easier to get to the next level compared to other places but that doesn't mean the talent is elite. The writing is on the wall.

When you look at it that way, it's pretty easy to see why Pitt is struggling and why the priorities aren't always in their backyard. And yes, Duzz isn't the master recruiter. Even if he was there still wouldn't be a huge influx of WPIAL players to Pitt.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

Well paying for a GM is a start, and a name guy like Luck

Let's be honest, this doesn't even move the needle even at place like Stanford. They have serious revenue issues, insane academic requirements, they play in a 2nd rate conference a million miles away from home, and are now going to try to attract top flight coaches who have to report to a GM? At the end of the day how do you create serious revenue at a place like Stanford where no one outside a few alums cares about football at Stanford? Sounds like PITT..

Going "all in" is what you saw with SMU the past 2 years. They would cut off their left hand to be a national player. Unless Stanford makes some serious institutional changes and finds a way to create money, they're an afterthought on the national stage.

PITT has a much more relevant alum in AD who is around the program and the area all the time. Kids don't give a crap that PITT produced AD or Revis. They aren't sacrificing large sums of money and playing with better facilities, coaches, league, etc to play at PITT. Stanford has a unique angle of a top 10 degree - sure and that will always attract some top notch athletes but the overwhelming majority are going other places.

 

[steelcurtain55.]

I think when Cam Heyward hangs it up, there won't be any active players who have been named all-pro from the WPIAL.

Heyward played in Georgia