In-Between Practice Notes #4
Pitt Spring Practice #4, March 21, 2015, Scrimmage Highlights
Video: Saturday scrimmage highlight package
Here some plays, and thoughts on them, that caught my eye as I watched the tape. Some will be talked about by the coach and players in the interview below. Every time the #1 Offense was out there it was against the #1 Defense. From watching the short video and listening to the interviews it sounds like Chad Voytik is completing a large amount of his attempts and that OC Jim Cheney has him starting to air out the ball a bit more than the last staff, but that is an inference on my part.
A reverse by Boyd – he was trapped for what looked like a Tackle for Loss (TFL) but worked his way out for a positive gain.
Looks like WR Dontez Ford is making a real play for that open #2 WR position; he had a TD catch in the right corner of the end zone on a 20+ yard pass.
WR Zach Challingsworth was shown with two catches one of which was a longer TD.
WR Chris Wuestner had a couple of big plays – a fade and the 40+ yard reception.
Boyd caught a nicely thrown intermediate pass at the five and went in after beating the defense down the sideline.
DB Terrish Webb intercepted a pass on a tipped ball.
WR Jester Weah had a long TD catch at the end of the scrimmage to put the Offense ahead for the 77-72 win (unknown scoring rules).
Coach Pat Narduzzi on the scrimmage: Video: Coach Pat Narduzzi
“We talk about game day is game day. You can have a good practice; I’ve seen guys that come out and have great practices and then come into a scrimmage and don’t do so well. I think when it’s game day, you need to prepare. I think our coaches did a great job of getting our guys out there. (We) really prepared for a game. That’s what we tried to do and the kids came out with great emotion.
(They) came out and played hard. There are little things that we can clean up as coaches. Anytime there is a big play, I always say it’s a player and it’s a coach too. There were some big plays on offense, which as a head coach I’m kind of in a different spot.
There are big plays on offense, that’s great for the offense but then you feel bad for the defense. We’ve got to correct them…there were a lot of big plays made on both offense and defense. “I think the kids had a lot of fun and that’s the important thing.”
On the deciding play in the scrimmage:
“It was a big pass given up on defense. The offense made a big play and the defense didn’t make the play and it was a touchdown. Jester (Weah) caught the big touchdown at the end to win the game. It was excitement and the defense was all mad, but that’s good. That’s why we have next week to come back and get the blue jerseys (awarded to the winner). We play for the blue jerseys. The defense wore them last week and the offense will wear them this week.”
On running back James Conner:
“Tell you what, he’s a good player. James had a big run early that opened it up early. That run right there was probably 65 yards. (It was) blocked well, not defended very well. But a little adjustment, again I blame that on us as coaches. It was probably more us than the kids, over coached.”
Quarterback Chad Voytik on the first scrimmage of spring drills: Video: Quarterback Chad Voytik
Voytik was asked about if we would use the TEs more and he replied that at this point that really isn’t the case so far. There are a few specific plays for TEs and he passed to Holtz today but it came back by penalty.
His favorite plays from the scrimmage were the 2-minute drill where they went downfield for a TD and Dontez Ford’s back of the end zone tiptoe catch for a TD. Also, he singled out completing a fade route to Chris Wuestner from our own end zone moving the Offense out of danger…
Hardest part with the new staff is getting the terminology and concepts down. When asked if that would be completed by the end of the Spring Practices (WTH???) he looked taken aback and explained that that was what fall camp is for and spring is about learning and personnel competition.
Mentioned that in the first three practices the emphasis was all instituting plays and not anything against the Defense in particular. Today’s scrimmage was different.
Asked about Dontez Ford ‘stepping up’ he said Ford was playing well and that they were roommates over the spring so became closer and that’s been the case in practices also.
Asked about the protection from the right side of the OL he stated it was ‘great’ and allowed him time to complete passes… Bookser ‘played well’.
Voytik’s words:
“It was a lot of fun, finally some game tempo. The competitive juices come out and it was fun. We were successful today on offense, but still some things to improve on. I think as a team we had a lot of energy and had a good time.”
On the offense’s performance:
“I feel like we scored and moved the ball. We got first downs and when we were in backed-up situations, we got away from our own end zone. I feel overall we did pretty well.”
On his scrimmage highlights:
“I really enjoyed the two-minute drill. We were down by seven and we drove down and scored. I threw the ball to Dontez (Ford) and he caught it, tip-toed in the back of the end zone. That was probably my highlight. There were some big plays. Backed up in our own end zone, I threw a fade to Chris Wuestner and that’s big when you are in a game situation to get away from your own end zone.”
Linebacker Matt Galambos on the opening week of spring drills: Video: Linebacker Matt Galambos
“It has been awesome. It’s been a great first week. It really went by fast. We have learned a lot and put a good amount in. It’s good to be running what we have so far and being out there (playing).”
On what he wants to show this spring:
“I am going to be a junior now, which is crazy to believe. I feel like I was just here. Just through experience, (I want) to lead by example a lot of times and be more vocal. That is one thing I definitely need to work on, on and off the field.”
On if the defense is simplified compared to last year:
“Definitely, I think 100 percent. We are just playing football. Obviously we have our certain schemes and everything, but at the same time they (the coaches) want us to play fast and just fill the gaps.
Defensive Lineman Khaynin Mosley-Smith on the high energy of the new coaching staff: Video: Defensive Tackle K.K. Mosley-Smith
“If Coach (Pat Narduzzi) wants high energy, that’s what we have to give off. I feel like we are doing a good job. We know what he wants and we are here to give him what he wants. It’s definitely high energy. (There is) great enthusiasm and the players are on board and we are just ready to work.”
On the progress of the defensive line:
“We are definitely coming along, but we are far away from where we need to be. If we keep working, we will definitely get there.”
On the competition with the offense and shared progress:
“I feel like we make progress on both sides of the ball. We just basically have to keep working as a group, as a unit and getting each other better. The offense is going to win and the defense is going to win. I feel like that’s how the game should be played.”
Here is the Web Link for the PITT official Coach and Player Transcripts
Here are some other tidbits. Jenn Menendez of the Post-Gazette (the attractive women reported who we were wondering who it was, she normally covers the Penguins) has a nice piece on Matt Galambos and his thoughts on the scrimmage and the role he expects to play as a starting MLB (almost assured by the looks of the early practices) and as a leader on the team.
“This defense, Galambos said, is a simpler one.
(LB Coach) Harley explained earlier this week that the defense will line up the same around 80 percent of the time, and only make minor adjustments based on what the offense shows.
“They can only be in a handful of different alignments, that’s it,” Harley said (speaking of the defense) “So once they learn the nuances … we’re not going to change up defenses, say it’s third down, we’re going to run this. It’s going to be one thing and we’re going to get really good at.”
That simplification, Galambos said, has translated to an ease of understanding so far.
“I think 100 percent it’s simpler right now. We’re just playing football,” Galambos said. “First few days there’s going to be errors, there’s still going to be mistakes at practice but I think we’re going to limit them each time.
“Really we’re going to run what we run. It’s not like if this formation comes out we’re going to line up this way. It’s like we’re going to be the same every time. This is us, this is our defense. You’ve got to stop us. We’re going to dictate the game.”
DiPaola of the Trib writes about the physicality of the Panthers this year. This is an interesting bit from there:
“Narduzzi is proud of the strong defenses he developed as defensive coordinator at Michigan State the past eight seasons, but he is equally pleased with how they became that way.
“We definitely did hit a lot,” he said. “I think we hit more (in practice) than most people do.”
Asked why he did it that way, he almost didn’t understand the question.
“Because it’s a physical game,” he said. “To me, you play like you practice. If you practice like you’re playing soccer, you might go onto Heinz Field and play like you are playing a soccer game, not a football game.
“That’s been our equalizer. We are going to be tough. The only way you can be tough is to hit people.”
Like most coaches, Narduzzi mixes tackling-to-the-ground drills with what he calls “Thud” sessions when players make hard contact, but try to stay off the ground.
I absolutely love what DiPaola says in his blog, titled From behind closed doors: Pitt’s first scrimmage of the spring”, about the way the media is being cut out of the practice sessions under this staff:
Any day I can say hello to Woodland Hills coach George Novak is a good one, and that was one of the highlights (for me) from Pitt’s first scrimmage of the spring. Media was escorted out of the indoor facility before the action got started, but not before Novak reminded me that five of his former players are lining up for Pitt:
Senior cornerback Lafayette Pitts, senior defensive end Ejuan Price, senior defensive tackle K.K. Mosley-Smith, junior linebacker Mike Caprara and junior safety Jevonte Pitts.
On the field, there seemed to be a lot of action (I was told). Here is what I found out through some diligent reporting that consisted mainly of sticking a tape recorder into a lot of faces. (Emphasis mine)
You tell them Jerry! Not that it will change anything, but from the time the announcement of the media restriction soon before the practices started DiPaola has been the only formal PITT football beat writer who has actually come out with skepticism and some discontent about this really restrictive policy.
We wrote about it right on The Blather afterward also and it is the sole reason I didn’t make that 9 hour round trip drive to see 25 minutes of… well, nothing really. The media couldn’t watch any of the actual scrimmage so that they could, heavens forbid, tell loyal PITT fans what their team’s players and staff were doing out on the field.
There is a a lot of wonderment about what this staff is actually trying to accomplish with this policy. It appears to me that the super controlled way in which Narduzzi and his coaches go about business is working against what this program really needs. We all like the change in leadership in the program and think Narduzzi is a good choice to bring consistent winning football back to the university. However, if you look back to what they have done in ‘reaching out’ to the fan base they are hired to compete for you see that it was little more than flashes of small bits of emotional puffery with a lot of exclamation points behind them.
As Gertrude Stein once said about California “There is no there there.” Meaning that what we are led to believe about something or somewhere is not as advertised. Such was the huge social media push in Narduzzi’s first month on the job. He and his staff used lots of ‘emotional and exciting’ (quickly becoming 2015’s catchphrase) words in telling us how great things were going then all of a sudden they turned off the information tap.https://twitter.com/coachduzzpittfb
“We got a great roster of kids!!!” says ”@CoachDuzzPittFB” on twitter, but when it comes to offering a chance to see for ourselves how the staff is working with those same players or to see how the players are actually responding to the new staff by the player’s actual actions on the field, that is a completely different (non-)story.
He has brought back the Spring Game (yea!! says “@ReedForPulitzerPrize2015”) and let’s hope he treats it not just as a last practice as the previous coaches did (when it wasn’t cancelled) but he takes it as an opportunity to really showcase the players and give us fans and media types a look at what five weeks of practices has resulted in.
It would be best if he decides to do what the other PITT head coaches did with the more important fall camp which was to have open practices and scrimmages up until the last week of camp which is also the ‘prepare’ week for the first game . I think anyone would be happy with that and the PITT football administration would still be able to get the message across to fans and strive to keep us excited about this staff going directly into the 2015 season.
After all, don’t we all want to see if Tyler Boyd is still doing this during this spring session, or if James Conner has lost his ability to do this? (Check out his walk down the sidelines after a TD run at the 00:13 mark of the video).
I can see if the coaches are more comfortable without the media at the regular practices, at least until they get settled in…
–I was hoping someone would have asked Chad whether they had any designed runs for him during the scrimmage (probably not – but I’m curious)…
–Challingsworth looked pretty big in that highlight video – wonder what his numbers are now.
Go Pitt.
Just beat YSU and Akron and no one will question anything.
Would have enjoyed seeing some big hits from the D.
Great write up Reed.
To be fair, the video “highlight” is a misnomer. It’s really just a sales and marketing piece put out by the athletic department. Might as well be a ticket sales video.
While we all are curious as to how Narduzzi will be affecting change on the defense, even most SportsCenter highlights are of offensive plays, big gains, TDs, etc. Defensive highlights are big hits and turnovers which is basically what we got.
I wouldn’t expect to see much different as we move forward unless the media gets access to create videos and those stories to go with them.
Both Challingsworth (6’2″ & 190) and Wuestner (6’2″ & 205) have put on only a little a bit of weight in their time at PITT since their recruitment. Challingsworth w/ 6 lbs and Wuestner w/ 5 lbs. Wuestner and Challingsworth are both faster than one would think also. Wuestner saw some playing time and has had some receptions with the offense last two seasons and Challingsworth played on special teams after also redshirting his FR year (along with Jester Weah).
One player that I noticed looked pretty good was Jeremiah Taleni who, despite his Hawaiian/Samoan heritage, isn’t just a huge body run stuffer in the middle of the DL. At 6’2″ & 295 he’s pretty mobile for a bigger guy. I’m hoping he gets better playing time this year under the new staff – he stated in the Bowl Game as a rsFR and got some other PT prior to that last season.
As far as the media “brownout” goes one of the reasons I don’t like it is that it puts a huge burden on the Athletic Dept’s Media Relations team in that their job is to drum up interest and generate excitement and sales among the faithful fans. They did a great job plastering the media with info about the new hires when they were made – BTW using Twitter was approached a couple of years ago also but Chryst didn’t want to use it – and then things come to a screeching halt just when they have the opportunity to really tout the players themselves to the fans.
When you are 4th or 5th down on the local sports media totem pole you really do need to do things to bring attention to your team and PITT is missing that opportunity IMO. It’s ironic that at The same time they are making a huge push for new and renewed season tickets the HC is sequestering the team so that no actual news comes out. I;m sure the lead sportswriter for PITT football, Jerry DiPaola of the Trib wants to write about more than his meeting an old friend who coaches local HS football… but there is no substance available for him to do so AFTER THE TEAM’S FIRST SCRIMMAGE!!.
Truthfully I don’t think Narduzzi really understands the way PITT football is behind the eight ball here in Pittsburgh. I think he’s stuck in his old school’s dominance of East Lansing, MI where MSU had a lock on the sports & fans attentions because they were the only real show in town. 70 miles to Ann Arbor and 90 miles to Detroit tends to keep people attending and paying attention to the local school. It sure as hell isn’t like that with PITT.
It isn’t enough to say “just beat YSU and Akron”, PITT needs the hearts and minds of the alumni AND the casual football fans (of which PGH has tons of) to make it a legit draw in Western PA. So far and in the past 30 years it has been just another school with just another team.
Anyway, I’ll back off this issue as the policy isn’t going to change any time soon, but I feel very strongly that opening the fall camp’s practices and scrimmages would do wonders for the program and the attention it receives as well as give the media the opportunity to write actual news and opinion pieces about Narduzzi and his impact on the team before the season starts.
8. Brandon Ford, Upper St. Clair
6-foot-6, 285 pounds, offensive line
Ford hasn’t started many varsity games, but Pitt and a few others see potential in the two-star recruit and offered him a scholarship.
Here is a good article on Ford from Chris Peak of Rivals.com.
While we are at it here is another detailed piece by Peak on our first recruit for 2016, DB Tony Butler. Also, here is how good recruiters snag kids:
“Butler also got to watch Pitt’s first scrimmage of spring camp on Saturday, but he had a rather unique perspective on the event: he got to watch it with the defensive coaches on the catwalk above the Panthers’ indoor practice field.
“I was the only recruit up there with the coaches, and that was pretty cool,” he said. “I got to hear their terminology and see how they do things. They actually let me call a couple plays. I called a blitz and they got a tackle for loss on it, so I guess I did pretty good.”
… And then, just by coincidence I’m sure, “We were about to leave and taking a final tour and Coach Narduzzi walked past and invited me in his office. We talked for 10 or 15 minutes and then I committed. He was really excited.”
Good job with that one!
H2P
I see Reed’s point about media access, maybe there can be some compromise, but willing to give Narduzzi the benefit of the doubt. One less thing to distract him from doing his job which is to win football games.
Look at it this way, when you eat at a renown restaurant, you anticipate the meal without regard to the Chef’s preparation of it back in the steamy kitchen. That being said, the Spring game better look like a 100% full contact competitive contest between the O & D, rather than a just a glorified scrimmage, to accomplish that analogy.
Myself, I’m seeing a very “controlled” media presentation that is being orchestrated by the HC. I’m hearing words like “competition” & “energy” repeated again and again by various players and coaches. There is a plan in place here. Narduzzi is in his initial stages of changing the culture of this team and is getting to know his players, an essential ingredient in establishing the future two deep, during this Spring and apparently he wants to proceed in this process mainly behind closed doors without contributing personally to the white noise of the media speculation about that process.
What we’re being fed as the fans & media on the outside is prepared to comply with that process, IMO. Now the results, THEY are important. Hopefully we will all appreciate the fruits of that month long labor by team and staff at the Spring game. At least we HAVE a Spring game to look forward to this season which is a lot better PR right there than the Cheesehead Paulie decision to eliminate it from the Spring agenda altogether.
I’m still a firm believer in results. I agree with the previous commenter, beat the tar out of YSU & Akron by fielding a team that is prepared, motivated, acting with the energy produced when you have the goal in mind of winning every game that you play in from the moment that you take the field will be enough for this city’s knowledgable casual fan base to fill those empty yellow seats down the road.
The results are what matters, just win baby WIN.
Plus, by not getting updates constantly, it’s going to make the spring game more exciting because it will be most of our first times getting to see the new team and staff at work.
The truth is, we can’t judge this coaching staff or team until they’ve played a game. They have a different philosophy than the previous staff. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong or right. It’s just a different perspective. Which Pitt absolutely needed.
This is the very first time Pat N. is the (a) Head Coach. He’s never done this, he has a zillion things going thru his head and maybe, just maybe, he eliminated one more complication by allowing himself to settle into a new job before he allows the media to turn every rock over.
My guess is as soon as he has all the kinks out of being a first time HC he will be better prepared to deal with the media and be prepared to use the connection to his advantage for the team. It’s early, real early – let’s give him some time to settle in.
Reed: best info on Pitt Spring Pracice. Exciting to read
about the offense until it occurred to me the O was being defensed
by our D. Looking for a huge year from CV….he is the total package for
A college QB….adequate speed and arm strength and most
importantly brains. Also very strong work ethic.
Go Pitt.
Funny……..sad…….thoughts?
Watch these 2014 highlights and then argue with me that this kid isn’t a winner.
Hail to Pitt!
I truly don’t believe he has a firm grasp of what he has stepped into at PITT from anything other then the Xs and Os of the team and I believe his actions are showing that.
I remember very clearly the continued complaints about Paul Chryst’s demeanor, as bland as it was, and his not “projecting” the value of the PITT football program to fans and the media… you guys were on him for not being personally aggressive in advertising the program from the get go… “It isn’t enough to just win games, you have to sell the program also”, I heard all the time a few years ago also.
Now its “Just win and they will come”?
Well, the bald truth is that you have to do both, especially at PITT. Think back to the mid ’70s to the early ’80s during our glory days. How many sellouts did we rack up back then? Very few and we were winning much more than we are now. Also, for PITT it isn’t just selling (or giving away tickets), it is getting live human beings to actually attend the games. You have to drum that business up and this time of the year, when the Steelers and Pirates aren’t playing gives PITT a much better shot at being front page sports news… if there was anything to write about.
I am both a Pitt fan and an MSU fan and I follow both closely since I am a graduate of the former and a former employee of the latter. So I am either surprised by (1) Narduzzi closing practices to the media except for the first half hour or (2) that it is an issue that he does this. What I am getting at is that I have never heard of this being an issue during the eight years that Mark Dantonio has been the head coach at MSU and I thought that Coach Duzz would follow the practice on this matter of his mentor, Coach Mark. But maybe I am wrong. Do you know whether Narduzzi is doing something different here than what Dantonio does at MSU or whether Dantonio also does this but it is not an issue for the media that cover MSU?
No different from a seasoned political campaign, there is a message being communicated by the organization that is very succinct and directed in a manner that makes it boringly simple for those reporting on the team. “Stay on message”. At this point in the process however, “boring” isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I’m seeing this staff expending their efforts remaining focused on the task right now, and that task has little to do with promoting ticket sales right now. This staff will present the message the way that they feel is in the best interest of the organization during this formative period, when the team and coaches are sorting it all out. I see little to be gained from adding the media’s spin to whatever drama that they perceive is occurring currently on the day to day process of reorganizing this team into the fighting machine that Narduzzi envisions as his version of Panther Football in the next six months.
Even without complete transparency, there is more hype and excitement surrounding this current group than I’ve seen in a long time for Pitt Football. Anyhow, you have advantages over the regular beat sports reporter who just rehashes out the information supplied to him from interviews, etc. You can write on your OPINIONS and speculate on all kinds of team dynamics and such. What a luxury. Go at it and have fun with it. You can do that irrespective on whether team practices are opened or closed to the media.
I bet we see a difference in the process come Fall camp, after everybody has settled in and hopefully we have an AD in place helping to coordinate the entire process of advertising, promotion and publicity.
All of that is window dressing anyhow without the most important ingredient to the recipe for success, WINNING. That is what Narduzzi is focused on already, he stated as much in his first practice news conference, winning and Conference Championships, give him some slack to get down to the daily grind of the business necessary to accomplish both during these first few critical weeks, without micromanaging his decisions at this point.
When the time is right – he may open it up – but for now – HCPN is establishing himself with the people who are the most important – the players.
We Blatherites are the ones who lose out.
H2P
Another possibility, if your eligibility is not used up, would be to show up as a walk on. You’re tall. Maybe somewhat quick on your feet. Strap a GoPro cam inside your helmet and try to stay out of trouble.
Granted, you might get hurt. But, it is for the Blather “team.”
H2P
1. There certainly is something to write about. You guys have been hanging on every word I have written in these “In-Between” reports and they are complied almost exclusively by the tiny bits of info that, as you say, has been so closely controlled. However, can you imagine what the reports written by guys who can really put down as many words as they want to, like here on the Blather or at Rivals.com if we were able to understand things through our eyes and not other peoples. We before have always have been able to watch how the players interact with the staff, each other, and how players, who they are now mentioning broadly in 10 word sound bites, are doing.
For example, I sure would like to see how guys like Adam Bertke have progressed as he may be a critical piece of the puzzle, same with Bradley and Grigsby, are they grasping what is needed to be full time players? Go back just two practices ago and refresh your memory as to what CNorwoodAZ had to say, in 19(!) solid paragraphs after (sneaking in) and attending only one hour of a practice. Seriously, here is the link: Now compare that info to what I was barely able to squeeze out of some manufactured press releases and close-mouthed interviews. It is Night and Day and that is the type of quality info I was giving you guys, and may I add, over no less than 5,000 other viewers per article day who don’t comment. When the media can get up there and watch, listen and have conversations on the sidelines everyone benefits. I wholeheartedly believe that.
2. I’ll also disagree that these articles up on the Blather during spring and fall camps are nothing but opinions. They are factual as hell when there are factual things to report on. The 90% opinion stuff is for the football doldrums, not for when there is actual football info to impart as there is in 15 practice sessions. Don’t fall into the trap that just because I don’t get paid I don’t present actual and truthful stuff on here – I try to do that everytime I sit down. Go back and read some of my articles, and Justin’s also, from previous HC’s practices and scrimmages.
It is way different than writing as an opinion or as an essayist which I also often do on here. If all I did was sit back and regurgitate info with adding some things you won’t get from the local media I would never put the effort, or the disappointment, into being able to attend the practices or not. BTW – over the years you have read stuff on here that wasn’t in any other media articles because I had some info to pass along. So let’s not denigrate what Chas and Justin and I do on here. It is as thought out and, in the past, has been written with much the same sources of info the more formal media types have. In all the time I have been writing on here, and put forth some pretty controversial stuff that I believed to be true, I have gotten not one call correcting what I had written. Zilch, nada, none. I had been, in conversation afterward, enlightened to some smaller points of the article but it was minor stuff which I also passed on.
3. As to the misconception that having the media and guests at open practices will distract players, I can see how one would think that but I disagree. I can tell you from 1st hand experience that attending on the Southside it is much like being at church when we are on the sidelines at a practice. We all talk in hushed tones, stay completely out of the coaches and players way and don’t interrupt the flow of the practice or have interaction in any way with anyone directly involved in the practice.
So that “benefit” of a closed practice is strictly in the eye of the beholder and while the HC might think it has to be stopped, the fans shouldn’t think that an open practice creates distractions for either the staff or the players at all. That is true especially with all these players who have been in the system for at least one year and have been through this rodeo before – there are no new ‘virgins’ to college ball in the Spring. No one’s attention is drawn away by a few guys on the sidelines.
I could go on forever but I’ll leave with one last thing – we just had a HC who tried to “control the message” by his direction alone, Todd Graham, and that was a complete and abhorrent disaster for PITT. He also closed the practices because he was “teaching new things” or “didn’t want misunderstandings” and we all knew it was ego-driven.
I’m not saying Narduzzi is 100% like Todd Graham, heaven forbid and he is not, I don’t think there is a non-genuine bone in his body, but in this case of closing The Iron Curtain he pretty much is doing what Graham tried to do. That attitude on Graham’s part began an alienation of the media that blossomed into negativity soon afterward. Again, I respect the right for the HC to do what he feels best for the team but I can certainly disagree with the way it is being done. So I think you are wrong in comparing Narduzzi and Co. to a Board of an industry in controlling the message.
I have been doing this for some long time and I can tell you the furthest thing from Narduzzi’s mind right now is how the public and the media view the staff and team. But what he is missing, and it is crucial, is the fact is that PITT has whole departments who do nothing BUT control the messages and put forth info to get the public and media involved, interested and writing about things that actually happen vice speculations. PITT has a top notch staff for just this reason but they need to have something substantial to work with and Narduzzi is depriving them of that.
In all the time I have been attending practices and writing on here not once have I received any blowback at all from PITT or anyone involved in the program. And I’ve put up some pretty critical things over the years. Not long ago I relayed the story of my taking very detailed voice notes during a scrimmage and then publishing them the next day. That was the only phone call I got from PITT ever asking me to modify something and it wasn’t because there were mistakes on the field or that coaches were yelling at players (which happens all the time and no one cares) but because I was giving out too many actual details of plays so close to the actual season… so I edited the article to remove those super-specific things, and did so very willingly because I had been given 100% access and had not had any restrictions placed on me at all – just the exact opposite in fact.
So PITT does “control the message” by making sure what is written about the program is well founded and experienced first hand by the writer. That was why EJ Borghetti called me at home years ago and offered that great media credentials and access to the program. As he stated it so well – ‘If you are going to be writing about PITT football and if thousands are reading it we want you to know exactly what you are talking about.’ I or Chas didn’t reach out to PITT to get me access, PITT reached out to me because they knew it was in their best interest… and not everyone who does reach out to PITT and wants media access gets it.
That is how business should be done.
When I read those words I think of a writer putting out a negative spin on something and magnifying it for some personal reason. I think that even the media writers who aren’t strictly bound by journalistic standards (blogs, message boards, recruiting sites) are very even and balanced when it comes to writing about the PITT football program and issues associated with it. Those writers are the most believable because they have license to look past the first layer of things and put them out for public discussion.
If there is actual negative issues, and sometimes there are, they should be truthfully discussed and I think PITT actually wants that to happen – as long as there is a real basis for it.
Let’s be real here also – PITT is a pretty clean and boring football program when it comes to juicy negative stuff. There isn’t a lot of ‘investigative reporting’ needed to ferret out misdoings with PITT – what you see is pretty much what you get and it is mostly positive, other than losing football games that is.
@ Joeknew – you may be 100% correct with your No AD theory. It would help a great deal to have a boss suggest working things out so that it is a win-win for everyone. I know the Media staff has really pushed effort to get things opened up but it isn’t the same as a push from above.
BTW – I am not referring to you or Chas my comments are about the Trib and PG.
Both times, the records at the schools reflect very closely to what he’s inheriting at Pitt. Very similar situations. Remarkably in fact.
You may not think the media is a distraction, but the coaches apparently do. They want to be able to coach them up without worrying what the media sees or hears. I have zero issues with that in this social media day and age. All they need is something to blow up that would be a non-issue if people weren’t present.
PN and Dantoni had a successful routine at MSU. He’s bringing it to Pitt. That’s all there is to it. Like I said, I completely understand your frustration. It’s something you enjoy doing and us Blatherites enjoy reading, but this goes beyond that. This is about re-establishing Pitt as a brand and that’s going to come with winning and winning only. What happens at spring practice will have zero bearing on attendance or interest in 6 months. Just right now, in the moment. Come training camp this summer whether these practices were open or closed will not be in the memories of 99.9% of Pitt fans.
Here’s the thing, PN is projecting the value of Pitt. You really need to get on Twitter to see how active he is (the entire staff actually) even after signing day. He was the first tweet I saw after the wrestling match. He was the first to congratulate Suzie. This guy is all in at Pitt and beyond football. He and the staff were present at every Pitt men’s bball home game.
He’s firing up the fan base every day and keeping Pitt active in the digital world … where most of the students are as well as anyone who have graduated in the last 15 years.
Not sure how you can project more than that. If you’re looking at just spring practice, sure I get how you can question him projecting Pitt. But he is. And he’s doing incredibly well at it.
You discount your own personal insight when you feel obligated to adhere strictly to the old TV show’s “Dragnet” mantra, “just the facts”. Many in the sports news industry make a good living spouting out their “editorials” that are more fabrication than facts. I feel you could never imagine such fantasy BS let alone transcribing into print.
Your opinion therefore counts, just like everybody’s else’s who comments here on the Blather, yours just carries more weight most of the time because it is based more on first hand factual information to begin with. Keep up the good work.
‘They’re not giving the level of access at spring practice that I think they should’ doesn’t necessarily mean that Narduzzi doesn’t understand Pitt’s place in the region’s sports hierarchy.
It might, though. It also might mean nothing more than a bit of disappointed Pitt fan hyperbole coming out. That happens a lot too.
0:28 Pittsburgh Timeout
Women cut it to 4 with 28 sec left but could not get it done. Congrats on maintaining the fight!!!
H2P!!!!!
If the men had shown the same intensity they might still be playing.
Thanks dino 71
Congrats to the women hoops team. Our family will be going to see them at UVA next year.
Its wonderful that the ‘message’ isn’t being controlled on this site. Wonderful that criticism is welcomed and not banned. Wonderful we can face the truth and have opinions and not be called idiots. Wonderful we can support Pitt without becoming members of some nefarious cult or having our thoughts censured by the Pitt secret police.
The step up will probably occur the year after (2016-17) IMHO.
And I expect “Next Year” to continue right on thru BB season! H2P
You gotta HITT to play at PITT
Ben Howland has been hired by Mississippi State.
Agree with you about the women’s team. Suzie has really raised expectations – but they only have 4 players who played this season coming back. They have to work in 5 incoming freshmen and 2 relatively inexperienced players who sat out this season with injuries (Bubbles and Gordon).
The team will be very young next season and will not have a veteran like Brianna Kiesel to rely on. If Pitt makes the NCAA again next season, then Suzie really is a hoopgurlz magician.
Go Pitt.
How did this Bozo become a Pitt expert anyway? He’s not a newspaper writter nor is he ever on TV…and he gets his inside info from following Rich Waksh on Twitter. I don’t get it…
My vote goes to the best BB coach at Pitt…
I liked that.
New FB article up this morning, 3/24
Reed – agree – it’s “Pitt”. Is there a reason (other than SP) why Duquesne is the only school sponsoring the hoop regionals? Why not both Pitt and Duquesne?
And the New River Gorge is beautiful, too. Last I checked there wasn’t a mad rush of people moving from California to West Virginia.
But I do not believe Ms. Menendez is the woman with the microphone from a few days ago.