Yogi Roth

[mike412]

If he is interested, which I doubt, he would be a great assistant as WR/QB coach. Pete Carrol tried to get him for the Seahawks and Sarkassian offered him the QB coaching position at USC, but he wasn’t interested. He told me that the only place he would consider coaching would be Pitt.

Even though he is doing broadcasting now for the PAC-12 network, he still works with QBs as part of the Elite Eleven staff and he is one of the evaluators who determines which QBs, WRs and DBs get invited to the Elite Eleven. He is a hell of an evaluator of QB talent. He pushed to get Jamiess Winston into the Elite Eleven when some others thought he would be a college WR and Winston ended up as the MVP. Without disclosing names, I can tell you that his private evaluations of how QBs will do in college and whether they will be good pros are probably right 80 to 90% of the time — and that is based on evaluating them in 10th or 11th grade.

 

[Pantherguy4]

Yogi is a great guy and a true Pitt man. He would be a great addition to the staff.

 

[Pitt79]

Just curious? He was a WR, right? Why is he a good QB coach?

 

[Mikefln]

Never met him, let alone know him. With that said, why would he want to give up his cushy gig for a college positions coach?

 

[wicker]

Watched him throughout his high school career. His HS QB is on Carroll's staff now. Yogi's quite the guy. After reading his book I'm not sure he has the personality to commit to the rigors of coaching. Seems to be always looking for some new adventure

 

[mike412]

Walt never played QB either. He was a DB at U of Pacific. There probably are a number of excellent QB coaches who didn’t play the position. Carrol thought Yogi could be a QB coach in the NFL and Sarkasian thought he could be a QB coach at USC.

He is one of the most unique people I ever have met. A true Renaissance person. A voracious reader. He loves to take spur of the moment vacations to unusual places. Went to Vietnam and Cambodia with no reservations. I think the only vacation he has taken in the past few years that was planned well in advance was when he walked the length of the Camino de Santiago (the Walk Of St James). There are a number of variations on where the walk begins. He took one that started in Portugal. The only reason he planned that trip was that his father was joining him for the final leg.

He loves his life. Lives right by the beach. But, he has said more than once that he would seriously consider coaching at Pitt — but nowhere else.

I think he will get bored with his PAC-12 gig at some point, and at that point he might decide to do something that will provide him with roots, like coaching. But, if we could get him now, I guarantee you he would be an excellent coach and an even better recruiter.

 

[DiehardPanther]

Walt never played QB either. He was a DB at U of Pacific. There probably are a number of excellent QB coaches who didn’t play the position. Carrol thought Yogi could be a QB coach in the NFL and Sarkasian thought he could be a QB coach at USC.

He is one of the most unique people I ever have met. A true Renaissance person. A voracious reader. He loves to take spur of the moment vacations to unusual places. Went to Vietnam and Cambodia with no reservations. I think the only vacation he has taken in the past few years that was planned well in advance was when he walked the length of the Camino de Santiago (the Walk Of St James). There are a number of variations on where the walk begins. He took one that started in Portugal. The only reason he planned that trip was that his father was joining him for the final leg.

He loves his life. Lives right by the beach. But, he has said more than once that he would seriously consider coaching at Pitt — but nowhere else.

I think he will get bored with his PAC-12 gig at some point, and at that point he might decide to do something that will provide him with roots, like coaching. But, if we could get him now, I guarantee you he would be an excellent coach and an even better recruiter.

I like the idea.

 

[TempleBAPittMPA]

Walt never played QB either. He was a DB at U of Pacific. There probably are a number of excellent QB coaches who didn’t play the position.

Heck, Charlie Weis and Todd Haley never played football.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

An ability to read a defense seems intrinsic to both positions .

Of course a wr can coach qb- identifying the soft spots and anticipating how the wr will dissect the coverage makes all the sense in the world .

But we don’t need a qb coach - we hired whipple

 

[McKee Place]

Heck, Charlie Weis and Todd Haley never played football.

Charlie Weis not athletic? That's astonishing!

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

We could do a lot worse than hiring Yogi Roth. Great personality would really help recruiting a lot of contacts built throughout the years.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

Sounds like a good idea. It’d be nice to bring him back to the program.

@mike412 do you know if Narduzzi, or any Pitt head coach, has ever pondered this idea or reached out to him?

In all seriousness I’d ask whether Narduzzi even knows him - or knows of him...? We might assume that he does, but maybe their paths never crossed.