Briefly interrupting the Pitt basketball lovefest for the obligatory update on the Pitt football quest to replace the offenseive coordinator. After it all appeared that Noel Mazzone was poised to be the new offensive coordinator, things have changed.
Not only does this hire have to be the right fit and have the right credentials and a track record of success, it needs to be someone who can generate at least some excitement and help sell tickets. And don’t underestimate that last part — there is no question the pressure is on Dave Wannstedt to hire a coach with at least some pedigree of success and a track record of quarterback development.
That’s why the latest guy Wannstedt’s radar — California offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti — is such an intriguing name.
Unlike Noel Mazzone, who has fallen way down (if not completely off according to several soures) on the list for a variety of reasons…
[Emphasis added.]
A stunning admission, even via sources, to Paul Zeise. What that says to me, is that Noel Mazzone was killed not by his track record or anything involving money or the interview. He was killed by the reaction to the leaked news of his impending hire.
It was a universally panned decision. When the closest thing to backing it was, “let’s wait and see” or “I trust Wannstedt,” well that isn’t support.
The credit, has to go to the fans and the often derided message board denizens for making this happen. They are the ones who wouldn’t simply accept being fed the sanitized resume of Mazzone without looking closer.
It is the fans that may force Wannstedt to have to hire outside of his comfort zone. To actually have to consider someone with an imagination and sees the offense as more than something to fear will put the defense in bad field position.
No, it won’t be Walt Harris taking over the offense. (A shame, but not surprising.) It also won’t be a mere NFL retread/crony.
its that news of the potential hire spread on message boards. Most likely, there were a large number of people threatening to drop season tickets as a result of this. I highly doubt that people were threatening to drop season tickets over one player seeing the field or wearing a helmet.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Stull is a poser and probably had his best days in HS, but shouldn’t we really be clammoring for not only a solid OC that can bring new life into our offense, but also someone that can smell some talent on the recruiting trail? Cross makes the current squad more interesting, but the plays designed for him are telegraphed to the opposing defense and playing him more often hardly seems to be the answer.
I’ll jump on the 20 snap bandwagon and even up it to say throw him in the lineup on atleast 20 of the some of the same plays as Stull. Mix it up. Put him out wide. Do whatever. Hell, I’m even for putting a cardboard cutout of McCoy out there to see if that could get us a first down.
As for Cross, well, I think the love really stems from fans being plain bored. I mean I think we all got real excited about the Wildcat even when it didn’t work.
He also took 2 snaps in the South Florida game for a total of 8 yds.
Wannstedt said. “We have a package for Greg – we’ve had it all year – and it’s just a matter of finding the right opportunity.”
Pitt unveiled our version of the “Wildcat” in the Notre Dame game. It is just that Shady takes/took the snaps in the Wildcat, not Cross.
I’d rather have Shady running the ball instead of Cross, besides Shady is a better passer.
Furthermore, who knows if Mazzone was even in the running? I don’t know for sure. All that crap we read on the boards, and even on Zeise’s blog, is ALL speculation that is mostly based off of rumor.
I have an easier time believing that Pitt is doing a thorough job in making the correct decision. I don’t buy this BS story that Pitt intentionally leaked Mazzone’s name to gather fan reaction and then act accordingly. That’s just absurd.
What makes more sense? How about they interviewed the guy and Pitt isn’t interested in offering him the job. If Pederson and Wannstedt thought that Mazzone was the right guy, they would have hired him. It’s that simple. Remember, Pederson hired Callahan at Nebraska… and at the time, do you honestly think one Husker fan liked that choice?
And as far as threats of people not renewing season tickets… come on. Pitt’s attendance is already a joke. If a few clowns stick to their guns and don’t renew their tickets because of Pitt’s choice of OC, the end result would be just a few more empty yellow seats that would blend in with the thousands of other ones.
Also note that when Shady ran the Wildcat this past year, it was just two plays … he would he either go right or left trying to pick his hole. Even the year before, they had Porter going in motion and a few times Shady handed him the ball for an end around — they didn’t even try the motion thing tis past year. The year before Shady completed a pass to Byham vs UConn — that wasn’t tried this year.
There was no imagination concerning the Wildcar this past year making me think Cav was over his head in designing plays and really didn’t want anything to do with it. (they didn’t even try it for 2 whole games after Cross made is 17 yd TD vs Iowa.)
to finish the above post — Cross didn’t play after he was tackled for the loss — he was injured on that play but was avilable for the balance of the games. It just seemed to me that Cav just couldn’t wait for Cross to fail so he could justify not using him again.
Note that the Wildcat was only used after that in desparation — against ND when Bostick had his 1st start and in the Sun Bowl. I would have to think that the Wildcat formation would be a perfect offense when Pitt is near the goal line, and all of ts options are used instead of only Shady right or left … or the fade pass to Baldwin
Cignetti was most successful serving as the offensive coordinator at Fresno State for four years from 2002 until 2006. In 2004, Fresno State’s offense ranked fifth nationally and seventh in 2005. In 2004 Fresno State became the sixth team in NCAA history to score over 50 points in four consecutive games. The 2004 team also led the Western Athletic Conference in average yards per carry and amassed 65 touchdowns.
another article from Cal when he was hired:
You can only hope that some high up have counseled Wanny of the need for more creativity on the offensive side of the ball. As someone stated above the goal is to score more points than the other team and you do that by having playmakers at OC and QB.
I also read in the paper today a new study has found that, in some people, the brain shrinks in volume as it gets older, yet it nevertheless grows heavier. Scientists are baffled.
