#TurnOnTheL19HTS

[kma0043]

If he does end up being 5’10 215 or whatever it’s all about how he’s used in a scheme that matters (considering he maintains his speed). Think the way Peppers was used at UM (similar size). Not saying he will be as impactful as Peppers, but let’s wait to see what he grows into and how he’s used in the defensive scheme before we discard his recruitment. Prob won’t be able to judge if he was worth recruiting until 2021 or 2022 anyways.

 

[sappycrease]

I think Narduzzi is just trying to get on the board at this point. He’s been getting some heat over the past month about the lack of a recruiting class.

I’m not really sure how else to judge this one? He’s undersized, ranked low, and no P5 offers - let’s hope he turns out to be a diamond in the rough.

 

[pittdan77]

Yup! Fire Narduzzi and staff and bring in Saban...

I'll put you on ignore now and leave you to your misery...

LOL.....Good luck burying your head in the sand.

 

[pittdan77]

I think Narduzzi is just trying to get on the board at this point. He’s been getting some heat over the past month about the lack of a recruiting class.

I’m not really sure how else to judge this one? He’s undersized, ranked low, and no P5 offers - let’s hope he turns out to be a diamond in the rough.

Pretty much exactly how I see it.

 

[4upmc]

I think Narduzzi is just trying to get on the board at this point. He’s been getting some heat over the past month about the lack of a recruiting class.

I can see if the kid was just offered but he was offered 2 months ago.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

I can see if the kid was just offered but he was offered 2 months ago.

For what it's worth, you are responding to a PSU troll.

 

[Jpripper88]

I think Narduzzi is just trying to get on the board at this point. He’s been getting some heat over the past month about the lack of a recruiting class.

I’m not really sure how else to judge this one? He’s undersized, ranked low, and no P5 offers - let’s hope he turns out to be a diamond in the rough.

He would be a diamond in plain view, who everyone else missed.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

This entire conversation is silly.

We’ll land the kids we can.
Our results will tell us if we recruited we’ll.

If we stink- the coaching staff will change.

 

[4upmc]

For what it's worth, you are responding to a PSU troll.

Thanks. Have not payed attention enough to realize it was a PSU troll.

 

[Mikefln]

Absolute lol at this list. Most (essentially everyone except O'Neil) of the players were pedestrian, at best. Some are kickers and walk ons. A lot of these guys couldn't even play for some awful Pitt teams and position units.

I think you need to look at that list again if you think only O'Neil was the non pedestrian at best player on that list. James Connor is on that list. I think your negative view point on the current recruiting situation to cloud your judgement.


Araujo-Lopes, Rafael - nothing special
Aston, George- good player
Blair, Rori- a great get too bad his head was elsewhere
Blewitt, Chris- really we are going there?
Briggs, Dennis- a nice depth guy, the problem was he was relied on as a starter
Caprara, Mike- Serviceable
Conner, James- Home run without question
Dintino, Connor- serviceable
Idowu, Oluwaseun- Left a lot to be desired at first, but came on strong and is a good player
Jackson, Dane- Very good player
Jarrett, Tyrique- good player
Motley, Phillipie- ?
O'Neill, Brian- Great player
Taleni, Jeremiah- what could have been
Weah, Jester- just couldn't put it all together
Webb, Terrish- Asked to do too much without enough support
Winslow, Ryan- really we are going there?
Wirginis, Quintin- This will be the year we find out for sure. Looks to have the potential to be a good

DW had a lot of them too. Here are a few:

Alecxih, Chas- Great player
Mustakus, Gus- Great player
Romeus, Greg- Great player

 

[PhPanther2]

Pitt should continue to pursue high level recruits and the fans should trust that the staff knows more about the kids they're offering than any message board poster.

Check with me in December about the recruiting class.

I’m not telling you to listen to a message board poster, i’m telling you to listen to the other P5 coaching staffs out there who tell you there is a high probability that this kid will not succeed.

If you think that the perception of a recruiting class all through out the year doesn’t matter, then you are sadly mistaken. This coaching staff needs to kiss up to 16-18 year old kids, and kids care about how things look TODAY not in december.

 

[pittdan77]

I think you need to look at that list again if you think only O'Neil was the non pedestrian at best player on that list. James Connor is on that list. I think your negative view point on the current recruiting situation to cloud your judgement.


Araujo-Lopes, Rafael - nothing special
Aston, George- good player
Blair, Rori- a great get too bad his head was elsewhere
Blewitt, Chris- really we are going there?
Briggs, Dennis- a nice depth guy, the problem was he was relied on as a starter
Caprara, Mike- Serviceable
Conner, James- Home run without question
Dintino, Connor- serviceable
Idowu, Oluwaseun- Left a lot to be desired at first, but came on strong and is a good player
Jackson, Dane- Very good player
Jarrett, Tyrique- good player
Motley, Phillipie- ?
O'Neill, Brian- Great player
Taleni, Jeremiah- what could have been
Weah, Jester- just couldn't put it all together
Webb, Terrish- Asked to do too much without enough support
Winslow, Ryan- really we are going there?
Wirginis, Quintin- This will be the year we find out for sure. Looks to have the potential to be a good

DW had a lot of them too. Here are a few:

Alecxih, Chas- Great player
Mustakus, Gus- Great player
Romeus, Greg- Great player

You're right about Conner and a couple others but you also made his point with the "serviceable" or "nice depth guy" tags from a hand chosen list of "exceptions".

 

[pittmeister]

I’m not telling you to listen to a message board poster, i’m telling you to listen to the other P5 coaching staffs out there who tell you there is a high probability that this kid will not succeed.

If you think that the perception of a recruiting class all through out the year doesn’t matter, then you are sadly mistaken. This coaching staff needs to kiss up to 16-18 year old kids, and kids care about how things look TODAY not in december.

Dear Troll (another one on this board):

On one hand you say kids care about the perception of a recruiting class all through out the year and then you say kids care about what goes on today and not December. So which is it???

Kids make their decisions TODAY, but change their decisions tomorrow and sign with a different team on the dotted line in December. So it doesn't matter TODAY, It matters when they sign on the dotted line!!!

Any ideas on how the staff can start landing 5 star recruits????

I didn't think so....

I'll add you to my ignore list as well...

Stay miserable!

 

[Mikefln]

You're right about Conner and a couple others but you also made his point with the "serviceable" or "nice depth guy" tags from a hand chosen list of "exceptions".

I count 7 guys who I would rate good or better,10 if you count the 3 Wanny guys'. 2 guys are kickers/punters so they never should have been listed. That means 7 out of 16 that I would rate good or better. Of the remaining 9 guys 2 of them were in-completes because of off the field issues. They had the talent but not the brains. Wriggins has shown flashes in the past but off field issues and injury has prevented it so we will see. 4 Guys are serviceable. They played their roles and did OK. That leaves 2 absolute jobbers.

The problem lies with the term serviceable. You view that as a negative. I don't necessarily do. Outside of at most 6 teams in this country, the rest of D1 has players starting/getting a lot of PT who are just serviceable. The problem with Pitt is too many starters are just serviceable, they need to get more kids who are good or better than good. Basically when a serviceable type player does have to start, it isn't such a weakness if the other talent around him is good or better. For example, let's say Mike Capara (who I was a fan of) went to Mich St. instead of Pitt. If he had to start at Mich St where there is other great talent to offset he weaknesses, he would have been viewed as better than he was for that reason alone. Now compared that to being here at Pitt where he was one of the top 3 players on D during his time here.

Obviously a kid with multiple P5 offers will have a better shot at producing at a higher level than the kid with no P5 offers, but that list provided was better than just O'Neil, that was my only argument.

 

[PhPanther2]

Dear Troll (another one on this board):

On one hand you say kids care about the perception of a recruiting class all through out the year and then you say kids care about what goes on today and not December. So which is it???

Kids make their decisions TODAY, but change their decisions tomorrow and sign with a different team on the dotted line in December. So it doesn't matter TODAY, It matters when they sign on the dotted line!!!

Any ideas on how the staff can start landing 5 star recruits????

I didn't think so....

I'll add you to my ignore list as well...

Stay miserable!

You’re the one who thinks we should only care in December what a recruiting class looks like. This staff needs to be concerned with how their class looks from a perception standpoint every day.

You’re right, 50-60% of recruits fail, but our only parameter on if a kid will succeed is whether or not Narduzzi offers him? C’mon man, you have to be smarter than that. Recruiting is the same as gambling, you play the percentages and then after you have met your needs, you throw out some long shots to try and hit it with little effort. You don’t walk into a casino and start playing long shots right off the bat.

 

[Jpripper88]

I think you need to look at that list again if you think only O'Neil was the non pedestrian at best player on that list. James Connor is on that list. I think your negative view point on the current recruiting situation to cloud your judgement.


Araujo-Lopes, Rafael - nothing special
Aston, George- good player
Blair, Rori- a great get too bad his head was elsewhere
Blewitt, Chris- really we are going there?
Briggs, Dennis- a nice depth guy, the problem was he was relied on as a starter
Caprara, Mike- Serviceable
Conner, James- Home run without question
Dintino, Connor- serviceable
Idowu, Oluwaseun- Left a lot to be desired at first, but came on strong and is a good player
Jackson, Dane- Very good player
Jarrett, Tyrique- good player
Motley, Phillipie- ?
O'Neill, Brian- Great player
Taleni, Jeremiah- what could have been
Weah, Jester- just couldn't put it all together
Webb, Terrish- Asked to do too much without enough support
Winslow, Ryan- really we are going there?
Wirginis, Quintin- This will be the year we find out for sure. Looks to have the potential to be a good

DW had a lot of them too. Here are a few:

Alecxih, Chas- Great player
Mustakus, Gus- Great player
Romeus, Greg- Great player

The DW guys I don't even count because we weren't a P5 school then. We weren't even a P5 offer, if you aren't going to count Rutgers, UConn, etc.

Guys who play a year or two for us because we have absolutely no talent at their position are nothing more than pedestrian. Kickers and punters don't even begin to count for this discussion. Neither do walk ons.

That list has Conner (flat out missed him on there) and O'Neil as flag bearer examples. That is it. The rest are almost entirely players who played in front of guys who stunk and played because we didn't have anyone better. Seriously, the next best players are Jarrett and Jackson. Jarrett was a solid player, but nothing special. Jackson played good football last year. The list is ridiculously thin. Most are reasons not to be recruiting those players and the flop list is much, much longer.

 

[SUPERTODD]

I count 7 guys who I would rate good or better,10 if you count the 3 Wanny guys'. 2 guys are kickers/punters so they never should have been listed. That means 7 out of 16 that I would rate good or better. Of the remaining 9 guys 2 of them were in-completes because of off the field issues. They had the talent but not the brains...

That last part is what should be kept in mind. Lots of kids are not big time recruits because they lack the brains, discipline or decision making ability to be highly rated. When multiple DI programs offer a kid it is a pretty big clue a kid has the talent AND has been vetted.

 

[Delpanther]

It's funny that Pitt has averaged 34th in recruiting over the last 3 years. People act like he's not bringing in talent and recruiting is stagnating.

What does a 34 ranking at season’s end get you.... a crappy bowl in a lousy locale and a third year record below.500.... your suggestion that such a recruiting ranking is something to crow about or is somehow acceptable is BS.

 

[Mikefln]

The DW guys I don't even count because we weren't a P5 school then. We weren't even a P5 offer, if you aren't going to count Rutgers, UConn, etc.

Guys who play a year or two for us because we have absolutely no talent at their position are nothing more than pedestrian. Kickers and punters don't even begin to count for this discussion. Neither do walk ons.

That list has Conner (flat out missed him on there) and O'Neil as flag bearer examples. That is it. The rest are almost entirely players who played in front of guys who stunk and played because we didn't have anyone better. Seriously, the next best players are Jarrett and Jackson. Jarrett was a solid player, but nothing special. Jackson played good football last year. The list is ridiculously thin. Most are reasons not to be recruiting those players and the flop list is much, much longer.

I agree about kickers that is why I took them off. Not sure how you don't count walk ons like Ashton as this type of thread epitomizes the point.

Again you seem to be missing the point. Outside of 6 or 7 teams at most every other team has players like that starting for them. The problem is too many of the Pitts starters are just serviceable and not better than that.

 

[joeydavid]

Who has been applying "heat" to HCPN over his recruiting in June?

I think Narduzzi is just trying to get on the board at this point. He’s been getting some heat over the past month about the lack of a recruiting class.

I’m not really sure how else to judge this one? He’s undersized, ranked low, and no P5 offers - let’s hope he turns out to be a diamond in the rough.

 

[RaleighPittFan]

Who has been applying "heat" to HCPN over his recruiting in June?

PSU trolls.

 

[joeydavid]

You don't think little to no Senior leadership has more to do with Pitt's struggles last than the freshmen/redshirt freshmen who mostly weren't playing?

What does a 34 ranking at season’s end get you.... a crappy bowl in a lousy locale and a third year record below.500.... your suggestion that such a recruiting ranking is something to crow about or is somehow acceptable is BS.

 

[Delpanther]

You don't think little to no Senior leadership has more to do with Pitt's struggles last than the freshmen/redshirt freshmen who mostly weren't playing?

I do think that had something to do with it but look how close we came to winning 7 games with the talent we had....had we recruited better the previous 2 years, we probably win 8 games last year which would have created a whole lot more momentum this year for both recruiting and for the coming season. We had no WRs, a mediocre running game, a so so OL and a porous pass defense....all comes back to talent.

 

[PhPanther2]

Not everybody is a star. Not everybody will turn out to be an all conference player. You need guys who will be backups and be special teams standouts.

The problem is when you take those guys at the beginning of your recruiting year, instead of at the end.

 

[Jpripper88]

I agree about kickers that is why I took them off. Not sure how you don't count walk ons like Ashton as this type of thread epitomizes the point.

Again you seem to be missing the point. Outside of 6 or 7 teams at most every other team has players like that starting for them. The problem is too many of the Pitts starters are just serviceable and not better than that.

Why would you not count walk ons? Because we didn't think enough to offer them. They aren't some great finds. They are guys we passed on. We didn't choose them over someone else and beat other schools to land them.

No, the point was pittmeister posted that list like it was proof Pitt coaches scout circles around our competition and find diamonds in the rough who turn into players who are much better than their ranking suggests. In reality, the list was pathetic and didn't even address the far larger list of complete misses. A guy starting in one of our terrible position groups for a year or being a decent backup is not a "hit" but a sobering reality of the lack of talent we have had in a lot of spots. RAL is a perfect example of that. He shouldn't be in the top 4 WRs for a decent P5 team. For good P5 teams he shouldn't be on the roster. The fact he plays for us doesn't mean he was a "hit" but that we whiffed at the position for 3 years.

 

[pittdan77]

Obviously a kid with multiple P5 offers will have a better shot at producing at a higher level than the kid with no P5 offers, but that list provided was better than just O'Neil, that was my only argument.

Well, that is THE point. There's no chance at double digit wins and challenging for the division until Pitt elevates its recruiting.

 

[pittdan77]

Any ideas on how the staff can start landing 5 star recruits????

Chryst managed one. I mean, you make it sound like Pitt should just give up and relegate itself to bottom feeder status.

 

[Jpripper88]

Chryst managed one. I mean, you make it sound like Pitt should just give up and relegate itself to bottom feeder status.

It is a thing that continually confounds me: Homers defend to the point they basically call for Pitt and Pitt fans to just accept mediocrity. Anyone who wants and expects better for Pitt is a troll and not a real fan.

 

[pittdan77]

I do think that had something to do with it but look how close we came to winning 7 games with the talent we had....had we recruited better the previous 2 years, we probably win 8 games last year which would have created a whole lot more momentum this year for both recruiting and for the coming season. We had no WRs, a mediocre running game, a so so OL and a porous pass defense....all comes back to talent.

You could also argue that Pitt was equally close to only winning three games. It took an upset and OT against a FCS team to get to 5 wins. Your point is correct but last year was so close to being a disaster.

 

[pittmeister]

I do think that had something to do with it but look how close we came to winning 7 games with the talent we had....had we recruited better the previous 2 years, we probably win 8 games last year which would have created a whole lot more momentum this year for both recruiting and for the coming season. We had no WRs, a mediocre running game, a so so OL and a porous pass defense....all comes back to talent.

We played much better towards the end of the season when Pickett was inserted as the starter. Had we inserted him earlier, we might have won a couple of more games.

The talent was there, but the reluctance to use these young players that Narduzzi recruited cost us a couple of games.

QB IS EVERYTHING. Ask Wannstedt...

Our best seasons since 2009 have come in 2015 & 2016 when Peterman was the QB...

 

[Las Panteras]

It just occured to me.....

That Jovanny Ward....he of cult like, mythical proportions on this board....

Also went to Northwestern.

The end

 

[pittdan77]

The talent was there, but the reluctance to use these young players that Narduzzi recruited cost us a couple of games.

QB IS EVERYTHING. Ask Wannstedt...

Our best seasons since 2009 have come in 2015 & 2016 when Peterman was the QB...

Holding up 8-5 seasons as Pitt's "best seasons" where the squad finished unranked is a pretty sad argument for "the talent is there".

 

[Delpanther]

We played much better towards the end of the season when Pickett was inserted as the starter. Had we inserted him earlier, we might have won a couple of more games.

The talent was there, but the reluctance to use these young players that Narduzzi recruited cost us a couple of games.

QB IS EVERYTHING. Ask Wannstedt...

Our best seasons since 2009 have come in 2015 & 2016 when Peterman was the QB...

The over all ciaching and use of personnel last year was below average....the staff didn’t do a very good jobs....that’s even more of a problem for a staff that’s having problems attracting top fligh tslent

 

[Delpanther]

You could also argue that Pitt was equally close to only winning three games. It took an upset and OT against a FCS team to get to 5 wins. Your point is correct but last year was so close to being a disaster.

Yes, you are right...the staff did a poor job last year....game planning, in game decisions, use of personnel...these were all issues.

 

[Jpripper88]

We played much better towards the end of the season when Pickett was inserted as the starter. Had we inserted him earlier, we might have won a couple of more games.

The talent was there, but the reluctance to use these young players that Narduzzi recruited cost us a couple of games.

QB IS EVERYTHING. Ask Wannstedt...

Our best seasons since 2009 have come in 2015 & 2016 when Peterman was the QB...

Pickett wasn't the starter until the last game, against Miami. We lost the two games immediately before that.

 

[Jpripper88]

It just occured to me.....

That Jovanny Ward....he of cult like, mythical proportions on this board....

Also went to Northwestern.

The end

Who?

 

[pittmeister]

Pickett wasn't the starter until the last game, against Miami. We lost the two games immediately before that.

Pickett didn't start the VT game but he played the second half. That was a winnable game where the damage had already been done in the first half. If he had played in the NC game and the whole Syracuse game instead of one play, it could have made the difference.

 

[Las Panteras]

Who?

You mean.....you dont know the legend of Jovanny Ward????

He was the playmaker on defense that was going to take walt harris and the panthers to the promised land

 

[Jpripper88]

Pickett didn't start the VT game but he played the second half. That was a winnable game where the damage had already been done in the first half. If he had played in the NC game and the whole Syracuse game instead of one play, it could have made the difference.

I quoted your post. You said:

We played much better towards the end of the season when Pickett was inserted as the starter.

Pickett was the starter for EXACTLY one game.

BTW, the "damage had already been done" in the VT game? We were down 10-7 at halftime. Guess what the 2nd half score was...10-7. In fact, Pickett came into the game for the last 4 drives of the 1st half when it was...10-7 and the rest of the game VT beat us by a score of...10-7. Pickett was, by far, the better QB, but he threw a pick, which lead to a VT short field TD, and the only points we score with him in the game were a fake FG TD pass by our punter.

 

[pittmeister]

I quoted your post. You said:



Pickett was the starter for EXACTLY one game.

BTW, the "damage had already been done" in the VT game? We were down 10-7 at halftime. Guess what the 2nd half score was...10-7. In fact, Pickett came into the game for the last 4 drives of the 1st half when it was...10-7 and the rest of the game VT beat us by a score of...10-7. Pickett was, by far, the better QB, but he threw a pick, which lead to a VT short field TD, and the only points we score with him in the game were a fake FG TD pass by our punter.

So what's your point? That DiNucci was better QB? That Pickett would not have made a difference in any game? Did you watch the VT game? DiNucci couldn't move the ball, that was the biggest problem (the damage). If Pickett plays the whole game we have a shot.

I'll put you on "ignore" as well....