Worst in-game decisions for most recent Pitt coaches...

[UPitt '89]

In honor of Pete Carroll, here are my nominees for worst in-game decisions by Pitt coaches over the past decade or so.


Paul Chryst:

2014: Not setting up his kicker in the center of the field for a game-winning kick against Duke.
2015: Coaches hired by Chryst decide to put four linebackers on the all-hands team against onside kicks... twice.

Todd Graham:

2011: Continuing to run the hurry up offense against Iowa and blowing a 27-10 lead with under 10 minutes to go.
2011: After moving to the edge of game-winning FG territory against WVU, calls plays that result in three straight sacks by Sunseri and a 21-20 loss.

Dave Wannstedt:

2007: Going for TD on 4th and goal at the 2 yard line against Navy in OT when down by 3. Not only that, trying to complete a fade Pattern in the corner of the endzone instead of running Shady McCoy, who had run for 165 yards in the game to that point.
2009: In the defacto BE championship game and with the Orange Bowl on the line, kicking to all-world returner Gilliard of Cincinnati, allowing a touchdown that took all the momentum away from a Pitt team that had dominated Cincy to that point.



What are your nominees for Pete Carroll-ish moments by recent Pitt coaches?

 

[OH Pete]

Wlat using Fitzgerald as a "decoy" in the Tire Bowl against Virginia

Here we arguably had the greatest receiver in the history of the game and Wlat used him as a decoy in our Tire Bowl loss.

I also recall Wlat using Antonio Bryant as a punt returner against East Tennessee State - Bryant gets hurt and we start the season at 1-5 in our inaugural season at Heinz.

 

[OH Pete]

Thought of 1 more - using Jay Junko to punt against VaTech instead of Lee

Also, how about Wannstedt calling timeout before deciding to punt instead of letting the clock roll against UConn?

And who can forget the swinging gate against Texas A&M?

 

[paulbl99]

wanny v Navy is as bad as it gets....

Had McCoy and Collins wasn't it and drew up two nearly impossible throws back to back

Surprising because don't think Jimmy would have done that....

 

[LeftCoastPanther]

2000 - bowl game versus Iowa State when Walt came out passing instead of running Barlow. The Cyclones' run defense ranked near the bottom in all of college football that season. The game prior Barlow ran all over WVU.

 

[P1TTFAN]

Hands down it was Walt.
bowl game in Charlotte against Virginia. 1st and goal from the 4 he had the best player in college football stand next to him for 4 straight downs. Pitt failed to score. he did what no one else could do that year...stop Larry Fitzgerald. Walt explained afterwards it was "a package that Larry wasn't part of"...of course, the runner up to that is the Miami game where Larry's consecutive game catch streak ended when Pitt failed to include Larry in the game plan...after Walt explained that "Miami was expecting Larry to be featured".

 

[runshadyrun]

Re: I have two

worse than that, Wlat had Fitz on the bench when inside the five yard line at that Tire Bowl.

Similar head scratcher, James Connor tearing it up against Duke, Chrsyt pulls him for Craig James to start the second OT...

 

[load1079]

Re: Thought of 1 more - using Jay Junko to punt against VaTech instead of Lee

Originally posted by OH Pete:
Also, how about Wannstedt calling timeout before deciding to punt instead of letting the clock roll against UConn?

And who can forget the swinging gate against Texas A&M?

In defense of my man Jay, he had punted pretty well up to that point in the season. It wasn't like that was his first game, though that might have been the worst punt I've ever seen outside of Lavar Arrington shanking one for -3 yards in a WPIAL playoff game his senior year.

That being said, you do have to wonder what the coaches were looking at if the back up punter was Andy Lee who is probably the best punter in the world. Once he took that job, he never looked back.

 

[thebadby2]

Not gonna get into much discussion on this subject and I don't mean to nitpick your post, but Graham "continuing to run the hurry-up" against Iowa was not a "coaching decision. " we ran a no-huddle spread, the whole thing is predicated on tempo-getting to the LOS as fast as you can, calling the play at the LOS, and running as many plays as you can in 60 minutes. It's a system. Same thing Oregon does. You don't see them go into a huddle and into a pro set when they have a lead. That's just not how it works.

As for Chryst, many of his most head scratching decisions were not of the spectacular sort that you remember months later. Suffice it to say he made his share of bonehead and inexplicable mistakes in nearly every game. Some really hurt us, most were buried in the drive charts in some of our wins and blowout losses. We only remember the ones that cost us in close games. I don't believe his decision to try to get a first down and TD against Duke was a bad one. Even from the right hash a right footed kicker should be able to make a 20 yard chip shot 95% of the time assuming the snap and hold was properly executed and the D doesn't get a hand on the kick or kicker. Blewitt choked and that was reflected in his work the rest of the season. He was never the same after that, even his makes didn't look right. He may have needed this offseason more than anyone else on the team.

As for the bad hands team, that isn't a "coaching decision" either. Onside kick recovery is part of special teams practice every week, and the "hands team" is chosen in fall camp before the first game is played. If we didn't have the right guys on the hands team, that's haut poor coaching as opposed to one time bad decision. Obviously our special teams were poor in all 3 years under Chryst, so it was more of a systemic failure than a one off decision.

Not sorry to see Chryst and his ragtag troupe pull out of Pittsburgh. I'm going to hold off on anointing Narduzzi the next Jackie Sherrill just yet, and I'm glad PC stocked up the offense and left it in pretty good shape (it would be in much better shape if he'd have brought in 2-3 more QBs), but I dont think he showed much promise as a head coach.

Onward, and hopefully, upward.

 

[goat123]

The Cinny Pitt game for the Big East championship.

Kelly let Pitt ( Dion Lewis) score so Cinny would have time to come back with a TD to win the game.

Wanny should have told his team if we ( Pitt) have a chance to score take a knee at the one inch line so Pitt could run off some time, score and leave Cinny ( Kelly ) with no time!

That's the story ! You heard it here!

Signed: The Goat!

Go Pitt!

This post was edited on 2/2 9:28 PM by goat123

 

[Pghfan]

Originally posted by thebadby2:
Not gonna get into much discussion on this subject and I don't mean to nitpick your post, but Graham "continuing to run the hurry-up" against Iowa was not a "coaching decision. " we ran a no-huddle spread, the whole thing is predicated on tempo-getting to the LOS as fast as you can, calling the play at the LOS, and running as many plays as you can in 60 minutes. It's a system. Same thing Oregon does. You don't see them go into a huddle and into a pro set when they have a lead. That's just not how it works.

As for Chryst, many of his most head scratching decisions were not of the spectacular sort that you remember months later. Suffice it to say he made his share of bonehead and inexplicable mistakes in nearly every game. Some really hurt us, most were buried in the drive charts in some of our wins and blowout losses. We only remember the ones that cost us in close games. I don't believe his decision to try to get a first down and TD against Duke was a bad one. Even from the right hash a right footed kicker should be able to make a 20 yard chip shot 95% of the time assuming the snap and hold was properly executed and the D doesn't get a hand on the kick or kicker. Blewitt choked and that was reflected in his work the rest of the season. He was never the same after that, even his makes didn't look right. He may have needed this offseason more than anyone else on the team.

As for the bad hands team, that isn't a "coaching decision" either. Onside kick recovery is part of special teams practice every week, and the "hands team" is chosen in fall camp before the first game is played. If we didn't have the right guys on the hands team, that's haut poor coaching as opposed to one time bad decision. Obviously our special teams were poor in all 3 years under Chryst, so it was more of a systemic failure than a one off decision.

Not sorry to see Chryst and his ragtag troupe pull out of Pittsburgh. I'm going to hold off on anointing Narduzzi the next Jackie Sherrill just yet, and I'm glad PC stocked up the offense and left it in pretty good shape (it would be in much better shape if he'd have brought in 2-3 more QBs), but I dont think he showed much promise as a head coach.

Onward, and hopefully, upward.

this is idiotic.. It isn't that hard to NOT snap the ball with 20 seconds left on the play clock. Ditto with calling a run play too.. Being up 3 TDs in the 4th quarter and continuing this up tempo was the worst mistake I can recall by a pitt coach in a long time..

 

[OH Pete]

The system isn't about snapping the ball asap

No huddle offenses are about putting pressure on the defense. Going no huddle accomplishes that in a number of ways. 1 is to go as quickly as possible and run as many plays as possible. This tires the defense out and allows for limited opportunities to adjust. Another way it puts pressure on the defense is to see how the defense aligns before calling your play. And the third way it puts pressure on a defense is that it limits their ability to make substitutions. So basically, there is no rule in the Todd Graham system that says "thou shalt always snap the ball with as many seconds left on the play clock as possible". In fact, good no huddle teams, like a good major league baseball pitcher, vary the speed to keep the defense guessing. Sometimes going "ludicrous speed", sometimes sitting at the line until there are 3 seconds left on the play clock, and every variation in between. So basically, TG could've still run the system and milked the clock at the same time. If the defense trys to make a substitution or moves to a formation that gives you an advantage, snap the ball, but otherwise just let the clock roll until the last second.