Rob Dowdy
- Thread starter Las Panteras
- Start date
That was posted/discussed last week. Someone posted the article for the WVU board that made it sound like he D committed from here and went there. A pretty hilarious article, actually.
What does that mean? Our new coaches didn't want to retain the top O lime prospect in this class? I don't think so. The guy's a stud.
He left Pitt because we changed coaches, his relationship was with Joe Rudolph amd that was the only reason we got him to begin with.
He left Pitt because we changed coaches, his relationship was with Joe Rudolph amd that was the only reason we got him to begin with.
According to many accounts, for whatever reason, the new staff was not recruiting this kid. I don't know why but I saw it a number of times as well.
He de -committed thinking there were going to be better option out there. I doubt WVU was first on his list. Oh well. I guess it was mutually beneficial.
Yep, I remember that too. Also, that really stuck out to me because Dowdy is an Ohioan and Peterson, the former Ohio State recruiting coordinator, surely has tons of contacts within the Buckeye State who would give him honest evaluations of the prospect on top of what he saw on film.
I am not someone who believes in blind faith but I do believe in trust and I think we have to trust the new staff on this one.
What also really jumped out at me was that Pitt offered two more OL after telling Dowdy they did not have room for anymore OL in this class. I think that was very telling about the new staff's evaluation of that particular prospect.
I think, like me, they don't really care about a kid's offer sheet or his star rating. I think they look at the player and trust their own eyes. I really liked that quality about the previous staff and I like that about the stuff too.
I don't know Doc. This guy had a lot of highly qualified eyes on him that apparently liked what they saw. Plus, it was that same prior staff that offered him to begin with. This idea that our coaches somehow have the special ability that other coaching staffs don have to identify under the radar talent is nonsense. It was said to excuse the lackluster recruiting of the last staff and it is already being said in the same context with the new staff.
Maybe he has a health or injury or other issue that hasn't been publicized. What strikes me is that he didn't follow Rudolph to Wisconsin.
Maybe he has a health or injury or other issue that hasn't been publicized. What strikes me is that he didn't follow Rudolph to Wisconsin.
Well in the case of the new Head Coach there's been some evidence of it. Many Sparty fans were on this board saying how many players Mich St had that turned out to be very good that weren't highly rated coming out of high school. As always, we shall see.
People always miss the point here. It is not that our staff has "special abilities" to evaluate talent that other staffs lack. It is that our staff has priorities that are unique to PITT. Obviously, they prioritized the other two OL in the class over Rob Dowdy. Also, they obviously prioritized other OL prospects and prospects at other positions over Dowdy.
Were they right in their evaluation/approach? Honestly, I have no idea - neither does anyone else. I will tell you in 3–4 years. However, that is clearly what happened here and to be honest, it makes all the sense in the world. Also, I think it would be suicide for any coach to choose one player over another based on who has the most impressive offer sheet. I think that is a very good way to be out of a job very quickly.
Also, I do not agree that the previous staff recruited poorly. That is a narrative that a lot of people have long pushed but one I do not subscribe to. I look at players, not offer sheets or stars and Pitt has a number of good young players on its roster. There are obviously some holes that need to be filled but not nearly as many as existed when Paul Chryst and company first arrived three years ago. I believe that Narduzzi is going to win quickly here for that reason.
H2P!
This post was edited on 1/31 11:10 AM by Dr. von Yinzer
IMHO, it's simple really--Limited ships and bigger need for defensive players in this class in the view of Narduzzi' and his staff. No need to over-analyze the Dowdy thing.
Ok-well the previous staff wanted the kid, the current staff hasn't worked together long enough to have a cohesive personnel plan, and we are unsettled on what we are going to do offensively right now. So I don't know that I subscrobe to the idea that Dowdy wasn't in the plans.
As for the previous staff, I'll continue to believe that they did a solid job recruiting offense with the glaring exception of the QB position,, and an abysmal, MAC level job recruiting defense. The good news is we now have a head coach who knows how to get the best out of what we have on defense. The last DC was in way over his head.
As for the previous staff, I'll continue to believe that they did a solid job recruiting offense with the glaring exception of the QB position,, and an abysmal, MAC level job recruiting defense. The good news is we now have a head coach who knows how to get the best out of what we have on defense. The last DC was in way over his head.
The vast majority of message board boaters would have no idea how to evaluate or grade out an OLs play. I never saw the kid play, so I'm not saying you're wrong, but a great HS OL prospect won't necessarily jump off the page at you in live game action.
If the best offer he received after decommitting from Pitt was WVU, then he is going where he wants to be. They want him, he wants to be there...great. New Pitt staff backed off..that is cool, too. There are many different color and style cars because not every driver wants the same thing...just like OL coaches. Good luck to him.
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