It is a risky thing to say that hiring an assistant coach for a team is ever a true slam dunk. There’s the learning curve. The expectations. Yet, in the case of Pat Narduzzi, the national media seems to be falling over themselves to praise Pitt’s hire of Pat Narduzzi. Especially in terms of “fit.”

Like the fit of Narduzzi at #Pitt. Good evaluator/recruiter/motivator. He helped build #MichSt back into a tough team. Can do that w/ Pitt.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 26, 2014

“@ajollybengali: what do you think of Pitt hiring Pat Narduzzi?”What a great coach. Knows the area well-Will hit western Pa/Ohio Valley hard

— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) December 24, 2014

I really like the Pitt/Narduzzi hire. Feels like a great fit for that city/program, and Narduzzi is someone who'd actually stay a while.

— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 26, 2014

Reports in that Pitt has hired Mich St DC Pat Narduzzi. Very good hire, good program fit. Will be fun to see him install his D there

— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) December 23, 2014

Yes, it was a theme.

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Alright, we have dissected, diagnosed and disagreed for the past week on Paul Chryst’s tenure as the HC at PITT over the last three years.  We’ll keep doing so I’m sure but the last thread was 400 comments and trying to keep a decent conversation we can all follow with that many is impossible.

So, here is a new thread and what I’d like to see is our opinions and hopes about what Pat Narduzzi will bring to the PITT table given what we know about him, his track record as the DC at MSU and what he is stepping into in a few day at PITT.  What is he getting in terms of player’s talent, experience and potential, perhaps the most important of all considering he’ll almost surely be here at least three years, and what he can do on the recruiting trail from now until LOI Day?

Is the lack of a new AD for perhaps months, maybe even into the spring, going to impact his start here?  Will we really put out the big money for staff?

What do you see our play like in 2015 given our returning starters, our opponents and the fact that we’ll have a new coaching staff (I still think Rudolph goes to Wisconsin after the bowl game).

This will be fun and remember that we save all these comments so when Narduzzi departs in three years to be the DC at YSU we’ll have our opinions to look back on.