Signing Day Thoughts

[pittdan77]

Kind of weird it slipped past the board without much fanfare. Guess there wasn't much to complain about or there wasn't any drama since the class was more or less done in November.

Depending on who you like to look at, Pitt finished between between 22 & 26 after the dust settled. Bigger class helped raise the overall rank. While not a magically big improvement, the trend is still moving the right way. The talent still leans towards the defense but it is notable that there are a handful of big OL-men are in the class.

Compared to the rest of the ACC, they finished 5th on 247. Miami and UNC bettered them in the Coastal. Virginia was right there with Pitt. Of course none of this matters if you keep winning 6-8 games a year but it's noteworthy that Pitt had a "good" recruiting year.

 

[cashisking884]

It’s interesting looking at the amount of classes below 20 commits for total class size and how many teams didn’t oversign. Bama, ND, and BC look like the only teams in the Top 40 that went above 25. A lot of teams just saved the ships for next year and/or the transfer portal.

Pretty decent average recruit ranking. 86.6 isn’t the stuff 10 win seasons are made of, but it helps to at least raise the floor I think. Especially with a class of 23 commits. Smaller classes should have average recruit bumps since there is less filler and you can concentrate more on the best. Larger classes you’d expect the ranking to be pulled down a little because you are taking more filler. Last year’s class was relatively small, and yet, this year’s improved the average recruit ranking despite being a lot bigger. One can argue that says something about the quality of last year’s small class, but still, it’s nice to be able to maintain at least a solid baseline of quality with a class of 23 kids.

But as you kind of mentioned, the issue in the Coastal is that Miami and UNC have kinda elevated their recruiting the last two cycles. Recruiting improved but we actually lost ground to teams already above us.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

I'm happy with the class. My only concern is that the top 6 rated players are on all on Defense. That's good for the defense, but isn't helping the offense which needs more athletes. I assume they'll look to add a transfer or two on offense.

 

[pittdan77]

But as you kind of mentioned, the issue in the Coastal is that Miami and UNC have kinda elevated their recruiting the last two cycles. Recruiting improved but we actually lost ground to teams already above us.

That's the most disappointing aspect of this class and it was sort of what I was thinking. We've watched Miami pull good classes and underperform. I don't think that's a given and UNC is in good hands right now. Pitt MUST do better to challenge for the division title regularly.

You also mentioned transfers. I think they are becoming a big part of the equation. Guys like DJ Turner can help your program when you have holes to fill. It would be silly to ignore the impact guys like that can have.

 

[pittdan77]

I'm happy with the class. My only concern is that the top 6 rated players are on all on Defense. That's good for the defense, but isn't helping the offense which needs more athletes. I assume they'll look to add a transfer or two on offense.

I think kids that play defense see Pitt as a great place to learn the game and get attention at the next level. That's easy to sell when you see the bright gold helmets all over the field in a senior game and the draft projections are loaded with Pitt players. Not a bad thing. Offense needs to step up but they are brining in OL-men in bigger numbers so they're addressing an area of need. Need to make them into players. A running game would do wonders for the program.

To @cashisking884 's point, if the offensive recruiting catches up, the class average should also go up. If you had three 4-star players on the offensive side of the ball in this class, suddenly it's is in the same neighborhood with UNC and Miami. Close, at least.

 

[cashisking884]

I think kids that play defense see Pitt as a great place to learn the game and get attention at the next level. That's easy to sell when you see the bright gold helmets all over the field in a senior game and the draft projections are loaded with Pitt players. Not a bad thing. Offense needs to step up but they are brining in OL-men in bigger numbers so they're addressing an area of need. Need to make them into players. A running game would do wonders for the program.

To @cashisking884 's point, if the offensive recruiting catches up, the class average should also go up. If you had three 4-star players on the offensive side of the ball in this class, suddenly it's is in the same neighborhood with UNC and Miami. Close, at least.

I will say this though. While the gap between us and the top is maybe growing, our position in the middle is probably solidifying.
VT’s recruiting has bottomed out to the point where they have some really harsh talent years coming up and that’s without the inevitable transition class after Fuente is fired. And Duke has collapsed as a program. Maybe GT gets it turned around as their recruiting took a step up and they probably have the third best class in the Coastal this year when you factor in transfers, but I’m not impressed with their coach on game day.
It really looks like a battle between UVA and us, and I’m not sure I see us falling below that in the upcoming years.

 

[Parkview57]

Until Whipple is gone, gonna be hard to persuade offensive talent, not impossible, just harder..........

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Until Whipple is gone, gonna be hard to persuade offensive talent, not impossible, just harder..........

Easy to blame Whipple, but the issue predates him. Best offense in school history in 2016, and the recruiting class included the following 14 offensive players:
Pickett
AJ Davis
Sibley
Warren
Houy
Van Lynn
Drexel
Carrigan
Street
Butler-Jenkins
Michael Smith
Sear
Reeves
Drake

Needless to say that ain't cuttin it.

For reference, the defensive recruits were:
P Ford
Twyman
Pinnock
Mathis
Bright
Alexandre
Tucker
Nunn
K Carter

 

[cashisking884]

Until Whipple is gone, gonna be hard to persuade offensive talent, not impossible, just harder..........

You can either sell or you can’t. Who do you think is coming after Whipple is gone? Someone so far removed from him that it shakes everything up? Why would anyone believe that based on the other OC hires?

Whipple obviously needs to go, but better recruiters on that side of the ball are needed.

 

[Parkview57]

Who do you think is coming after Whipple is gone? Someone so far removed from him that it shakes everything up?

Actually, Whipple seems like the choice that shook everything up with the turn away from running the ball, not sure exactly what HCPN likes about the offense, but if the recruiting continues as is, it is gonna be very difficult for the next OC at the start....

 

[HailtoPitt]

Meet the new class. Same as the old class.

 

[WannyandWalt]

Meet the new class. Same as the old class.

This, good for 6, 7 wins! One more year I pray

 

[RaleighPittFan]

Pitt finishes 2021 recruiting cycle with top-25 class

Pitt's 2021 class is ranked 22nd in the nation by Rivals and is the program's highest-rated group since 2006

www.cardiachill.com

 

[WannyandWalt]

Pitt finishes 2021 recruiting cycle with top-25 class

Pitt's 2021 class is ranked 22nd in the nation by Rivals and is the program's highest-rated group since 2006

www.cardiachill.com

Is that a ranking based in quality or quantity? I hear both, here it's all 5 stars great kids all of them , nationally I hear 25 3 stars avg

 

[cashisking884]

Is that a ranking based in quality or quantity? I hear both, here it's all 5 stars great kids all of them , nationally I hear 25 3 stars avg

Weighed more towards Quality. Rivals is kinda odd in that they stop counting recruits after 20. I get why they do it, and it helps account for things like a kicker pulling down your average recruit ranking. But I’d still prefer to just take the class as is in class rankings.

 

[joeydavid]

Is that a ranking based in quality or quantity? I hear both, here it's all 5 stars great kids all of them , nationally I hear 25 3 stars avg

 

[DC_Area_Panther]

All these classes just reflect Pitt treading water. If you want a top 10 team you need to be averaging closer to 3.5 stars per recruit than only 3.0 stars.

 

[cashisking884]

Wanny’s classes were better when you factor in star inflation.

 

[cashisking884]

Anybody see that Texas State didn’t sign a single high school recruit? They were so young and with last season not counting towards eligibility, they used their entire small class on transfers.

 

[pittdan77]

Anybody see that Texas State didn’t sign a single high school recruit? They were so young and with last season not counting towards eligibility, they used their entire small class on transfers.

Interesting strategy. I imagine it won't be long until we see a bigger school try to become a transfer destination.

 

[cashisking884]

Interesting strategy. I imagine it won't be long until we see a bigger school try to become a transfer destination.

Only problem would be with initial counters. They could get away with it because they were so young they had less than 15 scholarships available.
But the NCAA doesn’t have any kind of transfer exception to the IC number. You take a large number of transfers, probably largely grad-transfers, they leave after one year, and now you have a large number of roster spots you have to fill, but you still only get 25 counters to do it with.

Ideally, anytime a player transfers out, it should open up a transfer spot for you that doesn’t count towards the 25 limit.

 

[pittdan77]

Only problem would be with initial counters. They could get away with it because they were so young they had less than 15 scholarships available.
But the NCAA doesn’t have any kind of transfer exception to the IC number. You take a large number of transfers, probably largely grad-transfers, they leave after one year, and now you have a large number of roster spots you have to fill, but you still only get 25 counters to do it with.

Ideally, anytime a player transfers out, it should open up a transfer spot for you that doesn’t count towards the 25 limit.

New staff position: Transfer Manager.