ADVERTISEMENT

The reality is Narduzzi is a 7-5 coach without Pickett/Addison

Sean Miller Fan

Lair Hall of Famer
Oct 30, 2001
64,710
20,785
113
To his credit, though it took 5 years and the blessing of a pandemic to get an extra year, he was able to have a Top 3 all-time (at Pitt) QB and WR at the same time. There is a lot of luck involved in that but they were his players and they allowed us to go 11-2. Without that all-time great combo, which was worth 3-4 wins, we are back to 7-5.....probably for another 40 years until we luck into another great season. Narduzzi has developed an above average (but overrated) defense which is good enough but his recruiting on the offensive side of the ball (minus Pickett and Addison) had been abysmal. In 8 years, he has managed to recruit 2 P5 level QBs out of HS (Dinucci the other).
 
To his credit, though it took 5 years and the blessing of a pandemic to get an extra year, he was able to have a Top 3 all-time (at Pitt) QB and WR at the same time. There is a lot of luck involved in that but they were his players and they allowed us to go 11-2. Without that all-time great combo, which was worth 3-4 wins, we are back to 7-5.....probably for another 40 years until we luck into another great season. Narduzzi has developed an above average (but overrated) defense which is good enough but his recruiting on the offensive side of the ball (minus Pickett and Addison) had been abysmal. In 8 years, he has managed to recruit 2 P5 level QBs out of HS (Dinucci the other).
What does it matter if you recruit the QB out of high school or not? That's irrelevant.
 
You win with offense these days. You either have a brilliant offensive coach (nope) or you have an average coach (yep) who makes the right OC hire. It's no coincidence that out best two seasons were our best two offensive seasons. Our best defensive season (2019) yielded 7-5 and oodles of frustration.
 
What does it matter if you recruit the QB out of high school or not? That's irrelevant.
I am pointing out his HS recruiting on offense sucks. And it isnt like he is landing enough transfers to compensate. Slovis is average. Mumpfield is average to below average.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 303vND
Well, I got harangued when I pointed out that we have 5 o-linemen with basically Ivy League and MAC offers in this class.
He cant recruit offense. Its a gigantic problem and will eventually end his tenure here in 5 years or so. You cant go more than 7-5, maybe 8-4 with the offensive players he gets.....unless he lucks into another Pickett. Maybe there's another pandemic and Yarnell develops into a 1st rounder in his 6th year. That's the hope
 
Last year’s team with Cignetti as OC would not have won the ACC.
Yeah obviously, cause it took Pickett like 4-5 years to master it. Not knocking Pickett of course, just saying....

I don't know Narduzzi decided right now was a great time to move on from a philosophy that was actually working with his defense.

Now it's gonna take time to get Cignetti going with his guys. And hopefully Narduzzi doesn't getting irritated and turns into some toxic working relationship and "moves on" from
 
The offensive line just blows. Tech pushed sorry Jake Kradel into Slovis's lap nearly every pass play. Hard to play offense when your center is pushed into your qb all the time. Narduzzi is a turd tho. You get to play 12 games a season, to not be ready and play lifeless as they did tonight for any one of the 12, is inexcusable.
 
Completely agree - he is a 7-5 coach. This loss is horrendous and ruined any hope of a top 20 season. Team was poor in 1st half - even before the turnovers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pbrad
Completely agree - he is a 7-5 coach. This loss is horrendous and ruined any hope of a top 20 season. Team was poor in 1st half - even before the turnovers.
Had an unbelievable opportunity to win the terrible Coastal again and continue to build momentum but gets taken behind the woodshed against the worst ACC team in probably the last 10 years.....at home
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nashville Panther
This is a strange season. I don't think GT is as bad as some are making them out to be. It seems like the division champ will likely have at least 2 ACC losses. Every team on our schedule from now on stinks as bad as us. We're back to the old Big East days of playing meaningless games against middling teams. The only difference is that a conference championship berth is available to one lucky team that will get smashed by whoever comes out of the Atlantic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Phillypanther2
This is a strange season. I don't think GT is as bad as some are making them out to be. It seems like the division champ will likely have at least 2 ACC losses. Every team on our schedule from now on stinks as bad as us. We're back to the old Big East days of playing meaningless games against middling teams. The only difference is that a conference championship berth is available to one lucky team that will get smashed by whoever comes out of the Atlantic.
Well, yea, the Coastal Champ goes 6-2. It will be UNC. They will lose to like NC State and Wake but win the tiebreaker over someone
 
You win with offense these days. You either have a brilliant offensive coach (nope) or you have an average coach (yep) who makes the right OC hire. It's no coincidence that out best two seasons were our best two offensive seasons. Our best defensive season (2019) yielded 7-5 and oodles of frustration.
Yep. We all were too complacent about the Cig hire. We’d forgotten how dull and mediocre his offenses were the first time. But we still were glowing about the (first and last) conference champ and convinced Duz knew what he was doing. We should have read more into the spiteful departure of Whip, and his refusal to coach the bowl (which nobody shed tears over, but still should have raised a red flag). We knew Duz wanted to retrench, and the last time he did that after a dynamic OC left, we got garbage like Watson, which the awful Max Brown and DiNucci—and some of the worst offenses we’ve ever seen; those seasons were total waste of everyone’s time. And now we have to suffer at least two more years of the same thing.
 
The offensive line just blows. Tech pushed sorry Jake Kradel into Slovis's lap nearly every pass play. Hard to play offense when your center is pushed into your qb all the time. Narduzzi is a turd tho. You get to play 12 games a season, to not be ready and play lifeless as they did tonight for any one of the 12, is inexcusable.
Especially with all the BS that “the REAL season was starting”. If that’s true he should have had these guys whipped into a homicidal frenzy coming into this game, regardless of the opponent. But No. He saw their coach got canned, and got complacent and was soft and wussy, and they responded exactly that same way. Well, they paid for it, they got their asses totally kicked by probably the worst (until tonight) P5 Team. And it was a thorough beating, they were not competitive in the game; the game was over when it was 12-7, everyone could feel it. What a freaking disgrace. The only way he can come back from this is to run the table, win every freaking game. Every freaking one. That’s the standard now.
 
Especially with all the BS that “the REAL season was starting”. If that’s true he should have had these guys whipped into a homicidal frenzy coming into this game, regardless of the opponent. But No. He saw their coach got canned, and got complacent and was soft and wussy, and they responded exactly that same way. Well, they paid for it, they got their asses totally kicked by probably the worst (until tonight) P5 Team. And it was a thorough beating, they were not competitive in the game; the game was over when it was 12-7, everyone could feel it. What a freaking disgrace. The only way he can come back from this is to run the table, win every freaking game. Every freaking one. That’s the standard now.
I thought it was over at 9-7. I was just hoping our D could hold them and we could win 10-9.
 
I am pointing out his HS recruiting on offense sucks. And it isnt like he is landing enough transfers to compensate. Slovis is average. Mumpfield is average to below average.
LoL. No it doesn't. Let's not pretend Izzy, Hammond, Davis, Bartholomew suck. That Addison guy was pretty good. The OL isn't bad. It's certainly not bad, but it's not great either.

That's a complete overreaction.

The problem is that Pitt lost a shit-ton of talent at WR, including one of the best in the game that unforseen after spring practice. As a result, they are left with a unit that is very mediocre. That unit doesn't compliment Slovis's game very well. He can make most all the throws, but he needs playmakers around him. He's not a QB that can improv and make plays.

Its hard to have a really good offense when you have a whole WR unit that has no playmakers. And it was obvious in the WVU game, these guys just don't have it.
 
Last edited:
LoL. No it doesn't. Let's not pretend Izzy, Hammond, Davis, Bartholomew suck. That Addison guy was pretty good. The OL isn't bad. It's certainly not bad, but it's not great either.

That's a complete overreaction.

The problem is that Pitt lost a shit-ton of talent at WR, including one of the best in the game that unforseen after spring practice. As a result, they are left with a unit that is very mediocre. That unit doesn't compliment Slovis's game very well. He can make most all the throws, but he needs playmakers around him. He's not a QB that can improv and make plays.

Its hard to have a really good offense when you have a whole WR unit that has no playmakers. And it was obvious in the WVU game, these guys just don't have it.
There may be some validity to this with Slovis. I know he had Drake London @ USC, but I was looking at his USC rosters earlier this week actually and didn’t realize who all else he had to throw to in his time there. A few other NFL level WR’s and former 5* level talents.
 
To his credit, though it took 5 years and the blessing of a pandemic to get an extra year, he was able to have a Top 3 all-time (at Pitt) QB and WR at the same time. There is a lot of luck involved in that but they were his players and they allowed us to go 11-2. Without that all-time great combo, which was worth 3-4 wins, we are back to 7-5.....probably for another 40 years until we luck into another great season. Narduzzi has developed an above average (but overrated) defense which is good enough but his recruiting on the offensive side of the ball (minus Pickett and Addison) had been abysmal. In 8 years, he has managed to recruit 2 P5 level QBs out of HS (Dinucci the other).
I think you're being kind in your appraisal of the defense.
 
Especially with all the BS that “the REAL season was starting”. If that’s true he should have had these guys whipped into a homicidal frenzy coming into this game, regardless of the opponent. But No. He saw their coach got canned, and got complacent and was soft and wussy, and they responded exactly that same way. Well, they paid for it, they got their asses totally kicked by probably the worst (until tonight) P5 Team. And it was a thorough beating, they were not competitive in the game; the game was over when it was 12-7, everyone could feel it. What a freaking disgrace. The only way he can come back from this is to run the table, win every freaking game. Every freaking one. That’s the standard now.
They could run the table and still be ranked 25.
 
LoL. No it doesn't. Let's not pretend Izzy, Hammond, Davis, Bartholomew suck. That Addison guy was pretty good. The OL isn't bad. It's certainly not bad, but it's not great either.

That's a complete overreaction.

The problem is that Pitt lost a shit-ton of talent at WR, including one of the best in the game that unforseen after spring practice. As a result, they are left with a unit that is very mediocre. That unit doesn't compliment Slovis's game very well. He can make most all the throws, but he needs playmakers around him. He's not a QB that can improv and make plays.

Its hard to have a really good offense when you have a whole WR unit that has no playmakers. And it was obvious in the WVU game, these guys just don't have it.
Agree. WR cannot get separation and when they do they either drop the ball or get no YAC. Just another reason why it's a head scratcher taking Bartholomew out in crucial situations.
 
  • Like
Reactions: e-fresh
LoL. No it doesn't. Let's not pretend Izzy, Hammond, Davis, Bartholomew suck. That Addison guy was pretty good. The OL isn't bad. It's certainly not bad, but it's not great either.

That's a complete overreaction.

The problem is that Pitt lost a shit-ton of talent at WR, including one of the best in the game that unforseen after spring practice. As a result, they are left with a unit that is very mediocre. That unit doesn't compliment Slovis's game very well. He can make most all the throws, but he needs playmakers around him. He's not a QB that can improv and make plays.

Its hard to have a really good offense when you have a whole WR unit that has no playmakers. And it was obvious in the WVU game, these guys just don't have it.
That's what you got?

Izzy and Hammond are above average P5 RB's nothing special. Bartholomew was a nothing recruit from a 1A HS that he got lucky with but again, he's above average, not a true difference maker. Even the worst P5 teams have an Izzy or Bartholomew from time to time.

And the OL is horrible. I dont know what you're talking about. He cant recruit offense.
 
The problem is that just like Cowher and Tomlin, Narduzzi doesn't want to play modern offensive football, all the while that Kenny and Addison where lighting up the scoreboard for 40ppg, he was complaining about passing too much and scoring too fast as he won a championship. Now, with Cignetti he's secretly masturbating over the run heavy play calls as he loses to a bad GT =team. Yinzer Wet Dream=POUND THE ROCK/PASSING BAD
 
That's what you got?

Izzy and Hammond are above average P5 RB's nothing special. Bartholomew was a nothing recruit from a 1A HS that he got lucky with but again, he's above average, not a true difference maker. Even the worst P5 teams have an Izzy or Bartholomew from time to time.

And the OL is horrible. I dont know what you're talking about. He cant recruit offense.
So to clarify, only the "true difference makers" count as good offensive recruiting, except for the best ones you've eliminated from the discussion because they're too good, and except for the ones who were not rated correctly out of high school.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TD_6082
The return to the Shawn Watson offense is the problem. This will unfortunately last until enough time has passed to reduce the cost of firing Cig (similar to Watson). Then, Narduzzi has to be convinced / forced to hire a new OC who, if not innovative to the point of “sickening” Duz, is at least in touch with what offenses need to be in 2022, rather than what they were in 1922.
 
There may be some validity to this with Slovis. I know he had Drake London @ USC, but I was looking at his USC rosters earlier this week actually and didn’t realize who all else he had to throw to in his time there. A few other NFL level WR’s and former 5* level talents.
"NFL level WR" is selling those guys short. Amon-Ra St. Brown is an emerging star. Michael Pittman is a pretty solid lead WR. Drake London was a top 10 pick and has played like one so far. Slovis had it great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: str61166
The problem is that Pitt lost a shit-ton of talent at WR, including one of the best in the game that unforseen after spring practice. As a result, they are left with a unit that is very mediocre. That unit doesn't compliment Slovis's game very well. He can make most all the throws, but he needs playmakers around him. He's not a QB that can improv and make plays.

Its hard to have a really good offense when you have a whole WR unit that has no playmakers. And it was obvious in the WVU game, these guys just don't have it.

Yeah, Means letting that TD slip through his hands against Tennessee really changed things. Although to his defense, that really should have been a free play (Slovis thought it was) as the SEC ref pulled back the flag on an obvious defensive holding. But still an athletic WR would have made that catch.
 
LoL. No it doesn't. Let's not pretend Izzy, Hammond, Davis, Bartholomew suck. That Addison guy was pretty good. The OL isn't bad. It's certainly not bad, but it's not great either.

That's a complete overreaction.

The problem is that Pitt lost a shit-ton of talent at WR, including one of the best in the game that unforseen after spring practice. As a result, they are left with a unit that is very mediocre. That unit doesn't compliment Slovis's game very well. He can make most all the throws, but he needs playmakers around him. He's not a QB that can improv and make plays.

Its hard to have a really good offense when you have a whole WR unit that has no playmakers. And it was obvious in the WVU game, these guys just don't have it.

It's not correct that we have no play makers. They very well may be making a ton of mental errors out there. But Mumpfield went for 5 catches and 71 yards against WVU, and he was open all night. If they connected on that bomb, we would have had 150 yards. And Wayne is averaging like 88.5 yards/game.

This group has way more talent than 2016, which was a huge offensive year for us.

Again, that may very well be mitigated by the mental errors they're likely making. But to say they're not play makers isn't accurate.

My feelings are that the OC needs to do things to keep them more engaged. It's not exactly fun when you're mostly just blocking for 6 out of the first 8 halves of football we've played this season. Maybe if we open it up and run some tempo, guys will be more enthusiastic about their job duties.
 
We should've went after the Virginia's oc after Mendenhall left now he's at Syracuse there alot better and now look at ours and Virginia's offense there a shell of what they were last year
Why didn’t we hire Anae….????

A three-time nominee for the Frank Broyles Award, Anae’s offense has finished in the top-25 of 10 different NCAA offensive statistical categories a total of 56 times in his 15-year tenure as an OC, including 21 top-10 rankings.
 
I love people who are self loathing fans. How empty does their life have to be to troll the fan base they pretend to i be a part of.
I hope your comment wasn't aimed at myself as I know I'm relatively new to this board but I've been a Pitt fan most of my life
 
I love people who are self loathing fans. How empty does their life have to be to troll the fan base they pretend to be a part of.
The trolls on this site are just complete losers who have nothing better to do in their lives. They know who they are and we know who some of them are. Losers
 
Especially with all the BS that “the REAL season was starting”. If that’s true he should have had these guys whipped into a homicidal frenzy coming into this game, regardless of the opponent. But No. He saw their coach got canned, and got complacent and was soft and wussy, and they responded exactly that same way. Well, they paid for it, they got their asses totally kicked by probably the worst (until tonight) P5 Team. And it was a thorough beating, they were not competitive in the game; the game was over when it was 12-7, everyone could feel it. What a freaking disgrace. The only way he can come back from this is to run the table, win every freaking game. Every freaking one. That’s the standard now.
Lol "homicidal frenzy" I agree but beautiful use of the English language 👌
 
ADVERTISEMENT