Stars Matter (and enough of them)
- Thread starter crharris8892
- Start date
Ground breaking stuff. Here is another one. Great players + Great coaching = Great team
Like duh.
PSU is recruiting like crazy and nobody thinks Franklin is some mastermind. What does this mean? They will go 11-1 or 12-0 at least once in the next 4 years. They already won 7-8 games based on recruiting.
PSU is recruiting like crazy and nobody thinks Franklin is some mastermind. What does this mean? They will go 11-1 or 12-0 at least once in the next 4 years. They already won 7-8 games based on recruiting.
They will still lose 2 games. Head Coaching is still something they don't have. I hate his smug public attitude, but the man does something right with recruiting. I would venture to say that the hostess program is in effect.
They will have better players than 10 teams. Significantly better players than 8. And their players will be equal to OSU and Mich.
They have an automatic 8 wins.
Would be 7 point favorites in 2 more
Toss-up games vs OSU and Mich
That's what recruiting does
The article has one glaring omission though..... how many players on these teams were 0.1 away from being blue chip recruits
Soft OC Schedule + Great players + Great coaching = Great team.
Or for a lot of teams...
Soft OC Schedule + Cheating + Great players + Great coaching = Great team.
Or for a lot of teams...
Soft OC Schedule + Cheating + Great players + Great coaching = Great team.
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A post combining recruiting and attendance? Must be a nitter..... LOL!
Nobody ever said stars don't matter. The main point is you can win with a bunch of 3 stars as opposed to 4 stars since the talent level isn't necessarily that much different.
It is obvious that talent like Alabama and Georgia and schools like that have will allow them to compete every year with at least a chance to go to the playoffs. Very few schools in the upper half of the U.S. can bring in that amount of talent every year.
Stars matter. Yes. But so does schedule. Coaching. Injuries and many other things.
As an aside, doesn't Franklin look ridiculous when he comes out of the tunnel locking arms with his players. i swear to God he looks terrified like a man being drug to the gallows.
They will win 8 games a year simply based on schedule.
Jimmy Franks recruiting line: Hey kid, don't worry about an education, winning comes first here at PSU.
You want to win don't you? In fact, we're so committed to winning that we would even cover up a staff member who is a serial pedophile and have the approval of our BOT and 107 thousand cult status fans!
You want to win don't you? In fact, we're so committed to winning that we would even cover up a staff member who is a serial pedophile and have the approval of our BOT and 107 thousand cult status fans!
Really? Would Pitt win 8 games with their schedule? If the answer is no, then recruiting matters.
Pitt used this formula to become a national power in the late 70's and early 80's
Great players + Soft schedule + Great coaching = Great teams.
Their Schedule was made up of a bunch of cupcakes at the time (Army, Navy, Rutgers, Temple, Louisville, Cincinnati, Syracuse , Boston College, U of Miami, WVU). Out of those, we were able to schedule 8 guaranteed wins.
We then had PSU along with another high profile team as our only real tough opponents; ND, TN, FSU, FL, Washington, North Carolina, etc... Plus our bowl game and....
Poof! We were a national title contender...
There is also a misconception that most of the players Sherrill and Majors brought in were 4 Star talents. They were not... Doleman and Maas were under recruited. Only Temple offered a scholarship to both. Green had one other scholarship offer besides Pitt. Ricky Jackson was recruited as a TE. Russ Grimm was a QB in high school...
We have NEVER consistently recruited high end talent at Pitt for the same reasons we don't today... Small attendance, weak schedule, hard to compete with ND, OSU, Michigan, PSU, etc...
We only really got some real top end talent when Foge took over... But three things happened; Foge was not as good of a coach as Majors or Sherrill, the schedule became more difficult , and the cupcakes we used to beat up, got a lot better.
It takes a combination of a few things to happen at the same time to win at a high level if you are not a P5 land grant school (See UCF as a perfect example)...
Case closed....
Great players + Soft schedule + Great coaching = Great teams.
Their Schedule was made up of a bunch of cupcakes at the time (Army, Navy, Rutgers, Temple, Louisville, Cincinnati, Syracuse , Boston College, U of Miami, WVU). Out of those, we were able to schedule 8 guaranteed wins.
We then had PSU along with another high profile team as our only real tough opponents; ND, TN, FSU, FL, Washington, North Carolina, etc... Plus our bowl game and....
Poof! We were a national title contender...
There is also a misconception that most of the players Sherrill and Majors brought in were 4 Star talents. They were not... Doleman and Maas were under recruited. Only Temple offered a scholarship to both. Green had one other scholarship offer besides Pitt. Ricky Jackson was recruited as a TE. Russ Grimm was a QB in high school...
We have NEVER consistently recruited high end talent at Pitt for the same reasons we don't today... Small attendance, weak schedule, hard to compete with ND, OSU, Michigan, PSU, etc...
We only really got some real top end talent when Foge took over... But three things happened; Foge was not as good of a coach as Majors or Sherrill, the schedule became more difficult , and the cupcakes we used to beat up, got a lot better.
It takes a combination of a few things to happen at the same time to win at a high level if you are not a P5 land grant school (See UCF as a perfect example)...
Case closed....
By saying that they win at least 8 games a year "simply based on schedule," implies that their schedule is easy, or that everyone can do it.
Yes, they can win at least 8 games a year, but it's because they have far better athletes than at least 8 teams on their schedule.
In fact, I would argue that they have better athletes than at least 10-11 teams on their schedule, which is why they've won 11 games each of the past 2 years.
Yes, they can win at least 8 games a year, but it's because they have far better athletes than at least 8 teams on their schedule.
In fact, I would argue that they have better athletes than at least 10-11 teams on their schedule, which is why they've won 11 games each of the past 2 years.
Gottfried brought in two top 5 classes back to back. At one time we had 4 high school all Americans in the same back field. That’s not including the many all Americans he brought in on the defensive line and linebacker
He never got to coach that talent in their 3rd and 4th years because Pitt once again found a way to fire him and sabotage the program.
Had he stayed and Darnell Dickerson didn’t get the boot he would of won a lot more games than that
Gottfried has nobody to blame but himself for losing to Temple and other inferior teams. That is coaching. The admin. did screw up by hiring Hackett and implementing higher academic standards.
I doubt they will..
PSU never had problems getting talent... the biggest reason they had 2 good seasons in a row was Joe Moorehead.
I hear all the time how a coach needs 5 years to formulate a opinion whether or not, he is going to be a good coach. Had Gottfried gotten those 5 years. There’s no doubt in my mind he would of won A LOT of games. The way he was recruiting
I feel the same way, but eventually he was going to get busted for recruiting shenanigans.
At this point I don’t think anyone believes we were clean in the Gottfried or Chipman eras.
Lots of talk about SOS. Pitt 27th. PSU 37th. Guess what happens if Pitt and PSU switched records? The SOS is basically even if not PSU having a harder schedule. Thanks for screwing up our SOS with your crappy record. Young Team? PSU had a younger team last year and won 11. Yes lost to Pitt but got better as the year went on which is what happens with good young teams. Lose the OC. Guess what new OC who learned under Morehead puts up over 600 yards and 35 points on the number 5 Defense in the country. Sorry all the excuses in here are BS and the intelligent posters know it. Stop grasping at straws. You blame stuff on Chryst yet he magically excells elsewhere. How is your old Bball coach doing at TCU? Nope can't be Pitt or Narduzzi. Its the OOC schedule, youth, left over players, other schools cheat, other schools cover up crimes to keep players eligible(nice Suspension for the stud OL hit and run fiasco lol), media out to get you etc etc. See you at Heinz. Try not to make too many excuses when you lose.
You are right. Pitt athletics have made a lot of mistakes, but we never allowed a pedophile to rape boys and then tried to cover it up.
At what starting positions was PSU "young"? How many 4th and 5th year guys were starting? How many 3rd year guys?
Not sure the 4th or 5th year question. Losing a lot of defensive starters with young depth at corner and DE.
Young OL with lots of young depth.
You aren't addressing the question. You said PSU was younger and I asked a simple question. I don't care who is sitting on the bench. I care about who is playing.
The PSU starting roster is predominantly upper classmen. They weren't young by any stretch of the imagination.
PSU had upper classmen on their defense this past year. From their offense, they only lose one starting offensive lineman, plus Gesicki, Barkley, and Hamilton. Not big in numbers, but those are big shoes to fill. The guy that will be the hardest to replace will probably be Gesicki, based on who's behind those guys. Barkley's the obvious huge talent, but Sanders will do OK next year, Slade will play as a true freshman, and they are loaded with skill guys at WR.
Different story on defense. They lose both starting safeties, both corners, the MLB, and two defensive tackles. The guys who will fill those positions are all 4 and 5 star guys, but that will be a young secondary and linebacker core. Their best corner missed all of last season with an ACL, so that will help.
Nowadays, all good teams are young, since players leave early regularly. Which is why recruiting better than 3-star guys is so important, because the 3-star guys aren't ready to play early.
Different story on defense. They lose both starting safeties, both corners, the MLB, and two defensive tackles. The guys who will fill those positions are all 4 and 5 star guys, but that will be a young secondary and linebacker core. Their best corner missed all of last season with an ACL, so that will help.
Nowadays, all good teams are young, since players leave early regularly. Which is why recruiting better than 3-star guys is so important, because the 3-star guys aren't ready to play early.
You can also have Great players + average/below average coaching = Great team.
You never have average to below average players + great coaching = Great team.
But it is necessarily that much different. That's the entire point of "stars matter." That extra star always matters.
I agree that most of the elite teams are always young, but I'd still much rather be young on offense than defense.
I also agree with those above that say schedule matters. While I think their defense could struggle under normal circumstances, I just don't know how many of those Big Ten offenses are going to take advantage of a young 4 and 5* defense?
I'm not a betting man, but I think Penn State will take a step back this year because of the young defense. They are fortunate that they have OSU at home, plus MSU, and later in the year. However, 2019 will be a better year for them. I think.
Agree with above poster that this past year's PSU defense cannot be called "young". Nope.
I guess the question is, when does a young defense reach the point where they are no longer be considered "young"? Is it halfway thru the year? The end of the year? Or not until the next year? I guess that is a coaching issue.
The other issue is, at what positions does it matter most? I mean, it matters at all positions, but I think at MLB it's a big deal. That guy calls the plays on that side of the ball, and somebody inexperienced is going to make big big mistakes. Obviously you'd like to have experienced corners, but I think at free safety (is that boundary or field nowadays?), experience is also huge.
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According to the general gist of this post State Penn with their clearly superior star ratings should have no problem blowing Pitt off the field next September. After all they will have superior ratings at practically every position.
As for me I don't think that is going to happen.
Corners have the highest recruiting hit % of any position on defense.
You can survive being young at corner, provided you're loading up with 4 and 5* recruits.
