Okay, the Tyler Boyd drama was about the only issue of the day. But in the end it was a lot of empty drama.
At the time of his verbal to Pitt, Boyd said that he planned to take official visits to both Michigan State and Tennessee. However, Boyd cancelled both visits and appeared to be set on Pitt.
But Boyd surprised many by making official visits to West Virginia and Tennessee on back-to-back weekends at the end of January. Boyd did not make his final decision until Tuesday afternoon and chose to be a part of Paul Chryst’s second recruiting class at Pitt.
He created a fair amount of angst with Pitt fans. Especially with tweets that cast more confusion in what he was thinking.
Boyd had every right to reconsider. It’s his decision. It’s his future. It’s his life. Just glad he made the correct call.
There’s no question that Pitt’s decision to offer his teammates played a role. Howard was offered — and committed — in June. Webb late in the recruiting cycle.
“I want to stay with my brothers,” said Boyd, who was joined by teammates Terrish Webb and Titus Howard, who also signed with Pitt on Wednesday morning.
This story on Rachid Ibrahim running under the radar because he went to a start-up school.
As is the case with the Black Knights’ practices and games, Ibrahim and Veii’s journey began off the Avalon campus, at Richard Montgomery in Rockville. In the fall of 2009, Veii was a sophomore varsity starter at the school while Ibrahim, a freshman, played several positions on the Rockets’ junior varsity and varsity teams. But with hopes of making his mark at a powerhouse like DeMatha or Good Counsel, Ibrahim decided to transfer. By the end of the summer, those plans fell through, leaving Ibrahim to choose between Richard Montgomery and Avalon, a small six-year-old independent school.
“I had come to Avalon to meet Coach [Jerry] Sarchet, who was the coach at the time, but I wasn’t too high on going here,” Ibrahim said. “I was young and focused on how it wasn’t the big school I wanted.”
Yet after some prodding from his mother, Ibrahim enrolled at Avalon, just in time to join the football team for its preseason practices.
“When Rachid came, he broke the ice,” said Shields, who took over as head coach in 2011. “He stuck his neck way out and took a lot of heat from people within Montgomery County and on message boards, but he didn’t listen to it. To have that kind of fortitude is unusual for a kid that’s 14, 15 years old.”
He started impressing in some camps after people dismissed the programs winning record and numbers the players put up because of the competition. Pitt was able to get him first, and he stayed with them.
Final recruiting rankings will come later, but at the moment ESPN.com has Pitt outside their top #40. Scout.com says, #20. Rivals.com and 247Sports.com both peg the class at #32.
Pitt goes 9-3 the next season. Coach Chryst starts to field calls about bigger programs and for all intents and purposes, he is gone. We are back at 2010. You don’t wait for success, you make success happen! You cannot be afraid of making mistakes, ever! If you know what you are doing as an AD and trust your own abilities, you make decisions!
If you are a results oriented person as you write, you would understand that the results of the Pitt Administration over the last 30 years has been underwhelming. You should want them to be proactive instead of reactive. Getting out in front of things and making them happen, versus playing catch up once they happen. Sorry Ward, I gotta disagree with your management style on this one.
Pitt’s Administrative style just hasn’t worked because our AD can’t think about success because he has never experienced success. When you experience success, you make bold moves. So I ask again. If you don’t act without seeing results first, how does that benefit Pitt in this circumstance. Please let me know how this has worked for our AD and the athletic department in general?
Pitt has been used as a stepping stone for a number of coaches as they ascend to larger jobs. My preference is to make strong moves proactively and try to control my destiny. If you believe in the guy, you reward the guy. NOW! Managing from behind or when required by an opposite force does not promote loyalty.
Have you ever quit a job, only to be offered a substantial pay raise on a counter-offer? I left a firm 10 years ago and was counter offered by the partnership group with a larger offer than what I was going to receive at the new firm. My response was this ” if you thought I was worth it today, why didn’t you make the offer yesterday”. It actually caused resentment on my end because I then felt abused for all my prior efforts. Same principle applies, except that you have all of your competitors bashing Pitt’s history and lack of stability to recruits. So yes, when you believe in what you are doing and trust your judgment, you pull the trigger and extend. Conversely, if you don’t, you live with the consequences. Pick a winner chicken dinner.
