We're still monitoring a bunch of different things, but here's the latest that we've been hearing:
- No new names have emerged in the last 24 hours or so. We've got four that we have more or less confirmed as being connected to the search: Memphis OC Tim Cramsey, Boise State OC Bush Hamdan, Western Carolina OC Kade Bell and Georgia WR coach/pass game coordinator Bryan McClendon.
- I think Cramsey was pretty high on the list, but he took himself out of the search last week for personal reasons (which I've heard from multiple sources). We'll see what happens with the others, but I keep hearing some momentum with Bell. I get the impression Pat Narduzzi is pretty interested in Bell; obviously, the production at Western Carolina is impressive, and as a young coach who has called an offense that put up a lot of numbers with the run and the pass, he's a considerable departure from the kind of guys Narduzzi has tended to look at in the past (perhaps Cramsey would be the exception, since he was involved when Frank Cignetti was hired).
- I know it's a big jump from FCS to the ACC, and with this kind of jump, there will always be a concern about how the offensive scheme translates against a higher level of competition. But we've seen Narduzzi go with "established" Power Five play-callers basically since 2015; he seems to be looking outside the box a bit here.
- The timeline continues to be a question mark. I've heard from a few people that the search could or even should be wrapped up by the end of the week, but others have said that's not written in stone.
- I know it would be ideal to have the offensive coordinator on hand as soon as possible. For starters, he could get going on evaluating the current roster, and he could also work on evaluating portal prospects.
Here's the thing, though:
I think the decision has more or less been made that Pitt will pursue a quarterback in the portal. Should the OC be involved in that? It would make sense, but if you think about the NFL model, there is input from coordinators and position coaches on personnel decisions, but ultimately, they coach the players who are acquired by the general manager.
College sports are moving more and more in this direction. Texas Tech announced in August that staffer James Blanchard would take the title of General Manager; on the bigger scale, Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire said that Blanchard and the staff in the personnel department would be responsible for identifying targets, evaluating them and offering - taking that particular responsibility off the plate of the assistant coaches, who would be tasked with development rather than evaluation.
I'm not misrepresenting that; here's a quote from the press release announcing the move:
"Under both Blanchard and McGuire, Texas Tech has earned rave reviews for the structure of its personnel department that resembles more of an NFL front office. Blanchard and his team are responsible for identifying and offering every potential Red Raider on the roster, allowing Texas Tech's coaching staff to focus more on player development, especially during the season."
If the players are going to get paid and the structure of college football is going to more closely resemble the NFL, then college teams are going to start restructuring themselves to also more closely resemble the NFL.
- As we piece together a timeline, it's relevant to consider where Narduzzi is and will be this week. On Monday, Narduzzi was in the Philadelphia area for in-home visits with defensive tackle commit Jahsear Whittington and offensive line commit Adham Abouraya. On Tuesday, he stayed in Eastern Pa. and had an in-home visit with running back commit Juelz Goff. Today, he's expected to be in Virginia to visit with offensive line commit Moritz Schmoranzer and in Maryland to visit offensive line commit Mason Lindsay. And tomorrow, he'll be in New England to visit with wide receiver commit Cameron Monteiro.
After that, I imagine he'll be back in Pittsburgh on Friday for official visits over the weekend. We're working to put together a list of visitors, but I would assume they will be mostly transfers. That's just an assumption, although Julian Dugger and Jah Jah Boyd have both said they'll be taking their official visits next weekend - 12/15-17 - so it seems like that's when high school kids will be visiting.
That said, with the time crunch of just two weekends before Signing Day, Pitt will probably take any target who wants to visit and fit them in when it works.
- No new names have emerged in the last 24 hours or so. We've got four that we have more or less confirmed as being connected to the search: Memphis OC Tim Cramsey, Boise State OC Bush Hamdan, Western Carolina OC Kade Bell and Georgia WR coach/pass game coordinator Bryan McClendon.
- I think Cramsey was pretty high on the list, but he took himself out of the search last week for personal reasons (which I've heard from multiple sources). We'll see what happens with the others, but I keep hearing some momentum with Bell. I get the impression Pat Narduzzi is pretty interested in Bell; obviously, the production at Western Carolina is impressive, and as a young coach who has called an offense that put up a lot of numbers with the run and the pass, he's a considerable departure from the kind of guys Narduzzi has tended to look at in the past (perhaps Cramsey would be the exception, since he was involved when Frank Cignetti was hired).
- I know it's a big jump from FCS to the ACC, and with this kind of jump, there will always be a concern about how the offensive scheme translates against a higher level of competition. But we've seen Narduzzi go with "established" Power Five play-callers basically since 2015; he seems to be looking outside the box a bit here.
- The timeline continues to be a question mark. I've heard from a few people that the search could or even should be wrapped up by the end of the week, but others have said that's not written in stone.
- I know it would be ideal to have the offensive coordinator on hand as soon as possible. For starters, he could get going on evaluating the current roster, and he could also work on evaluating portal prospects.
Here's the thing, though:
I think the decision has more or less been made that Pitt will pursue a quarterback in the portal. Should the OC be involved in that? It would make sense, but if you think about the NFL model, there is input from coordinators and position coaches on personnel decisions, but ultimately, they coach the players who are acquired by the general manager.
College sports are moving more and more in this direction. Texas Tech announced in August that staffer James Blanchard would take the title of General Manager; on the bigger scale, Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire said that Blanchard and the staff in the personnel department would be responsible for identifying targets, evaluating them and offering - taking that particular responsibility off the plate of the assistant coaches, who would be tasked with development rather than evaluation.
I'm not misrepresenting that; here's a quote from the press release announcing the move:
"Under both Blanchard and McGuire, Texas Tech has earned rave reviews for the structure of its personnel department that resembles more of an NFL front office. Blanchard and his team are responsible for identifying and offering every potential Red Raider on the roster, allowing Texas Tech's coaching staff to focus more on player development, especially during the season."
If the players are going to get paid and the structure of college football is going to more closely resemble the NFL, then college teams are going to start restructuring themselves to also more closely resemble the NFL.
- As we piece together a timeline, it's relevant to consider where Narduzzi is and will be this week. On Monday, Narduzzi was in the Philadelphia area for in-home visits with defensive tackle commit Jahsear Whittington and offensive line commit Adham Abouraya. On Tuesday, he stayed in Eastern Pa. and had an in-home visit with running back commit Juelz Goff. Today, he's expected to be in Virginia to visit with offensive line commit Moritz Schmoranzer and in Maryland to visit offensive line commit Mason Lindsay. And tomorrow, he'll be in New England to visit with wide receiver commit Cameron Monteiro.
After that, I imagine he'll be back in Pittsburgh on Friday for official visits over the weekend. We're working to put together a list of visitors, but I would assume they will be mostly transfers. That's just an assumption, although Julian Dugger and Jah Jah Boyd have both said they'll be taking their official visits next weekend - 12/15-17 - so it seems like that's when high school kids will be visiting.
That said, with the time crunch of just two weekends before Signing Day, Pitt will probably take any target who wants to visit and fit them in when it works.
