Official 2012-13 Pitt Football Thread

[Godric]

You aren't really arguing with the point that I was originally making, so I'm not sure how to proceed.

lol? Your point was "Western PA developes hardly talent"

false, imo

your other point was "People expect a **** ton from Pitt and they get much more critics than other programs because they think PA is a talent hotbed and they use NFL facilities"

I really don't think thats true at all

They get a lot of heat but c'mon a lot of teams do

[MRandall25]

We aren't talking about 5 or 6 (or 30) years ago. We're talking about the present. Fact is, PA recruits are nowhere near the level of talent that states like FL, TX, and CA have.

Hell, even between divisions there's a huge discrepancy. I kept hearing about how good some of these Clairton players were, but they'd be dwarfed by kids from AAAA. And those AAAA kids would be manhandled by out-of-staters.

[Godric]

We aren't talking about 5 or 6 (or 30) years ago. We're talking about the present. Fact is, PA recruits are nowhere near the level of talent that states like FL, TX, and CA have.

Hell, even between divisions there's a huge discrepancy. I kept hearing about how good some of these Clairton players were, but they'd be dwarfed by kids from AAAA. And those AAAA kids would be manhandled by out-of-staters.

lol what? gtfo... comparing Western PA to FL, TX and CA? c'mon man

Population and Wealth gap?

Hell, 4 NFLers came out of my home town in the last decade


edit'd for fix

[MRandall25]

We aren't talking about 5 or 6 (or 30) years ago. We're talking about the present. Fact is, PA recruits are nowhere near the level of talent that states like FL, TX, and CA have.

Hell, even between divisions there's a huge discrepancy. I kept hearing about how good some of these Clairton players were, but they'd be dwarfed by kids from AAAA. And those AAAA kids would be manhandled by out-of-staters.

lol what? gtfo... comparing Western PA to FL, TX and CA? c'mon man

Population and Wealth gap?

Hell, 5 NFLers came out of my School district in the last decade

That's not what the point of my or Troy Loney's post is. And it's completely irrelevant.

[Godric]

We aren't talking about 5 or 6 (or 30) years ago. We're talking about the present. Fact is, PA recruits are nowhere near the level of talent that states like FL, TX, and CA have.

Hell, even between divisions there's a huge discrepancy. I kept hearing about how good some of these Clairton players were, but they'd be dwarfed by kids from AAAA. And those AAAA kids would be manhandled by out-of-staters.

lol what? gtfo... comparing Western PA to FL, TX and CA? c'mon man

Population and Wealth gap?

Hell, 5 NFLers came out of my School district in the last decade

That's not what the point of my or Troy Loney's post is. And it's completely irrelevant.

I'm sorry, what then are we talking about?
I thought we were talking about talent in western PA

[MRandall25]

We're talking about the present. How many Western PA kids, right now, are making a difference on their D-1 football?

I'd wager the answer is "slim to none".

[MRandall25]

The original quote: "There are yokels that think Western PA is a NATIONAL hotbed for talent."

It simply isn't right now, and I don't know why you're arguing that it is.

[Godric]

We're talking about the present. How many Western PA kids, right now, are making a difference on their D-1 football?

I'd wager the answer is "slim to none".

I've been out the loop a little since I moved 3,000 miles away from home... but I'll come back with an answer for that

[Godric]

The original quote: "There are yokels that think Western PA is a NATIONAL hotbed for talent."

It simply isn't right now, and I don't know why you're arguing that it is.

I'm not arguing its a hotbed and I've think I articulated that.

I'm saying its far from being barren soil and that I don't think thats even what "yokels" think... .

[MRandall25]

We're talking about the present. How many Western PA kids, right now, are making a difference on their D-1 football?

I'd wager the answer is "slim to none".

[DudeMan2766]

You aren't really arguing with the point that I was originally making, so I'm not sure how to proceed.

lol? Your point was "Western PA developes hardly talent"

false, imo

No, his point was that Pitt gets a lot of heat because people believe Western PA is a national high school football hot bed and since they ARE IN western PA, Pitt should be a slam dunk to land these future NFL'ers. Also them sharing a facility with the Steelers should be drawing in Heisman candidates from all around the country. And thats just not true. Western PA had a lot of talent, but nowhere on the level of places like FL, TX, hell even OH. His point was people rip Pitt for not winning because of those inflated beliefs.

[Godric]

You aren't really arguing with the point that I was originally making, so I'm not sure how to proceed.

lol? Your point was "Western PA developes hardly talent"

false, imo

No, his point was that Pitt gets a lot of heat because people believe Western PA is a national high school football hot bed and since they ARE IN western PA, Pitt should be a slam dunk to land these future NFL'ers. Also them sharing a facility with the Steelers should be drawing in Heisman candidates from all around the country. And thats just not true. Western PA had a lot of talent, but nowhere on the level of places like FL, TX, hell even OH. His point was people rip Pitt for not winning because of those inflated beliefs.

All I'm trying to say is those people are retarded but I've never met any of them and that the talent pool in Western PA isn't an excuse because I personally believe its satisfactory

[ExPatriatePen]

You aren't really arguing with the point that I was originally making, so I'm not sure how to proceed.

lol? Your point was "Western PA developes hardly talent"

false, imo

No, his point was that Pitt gets a lot of heat because people believe Western PA is a national high school football hot bed and since they ARE IN western PA, Pitt should be a slam dunk to land these future NFL'ers. Also them sharing a facility with the Steelers should be drawing in Heisman candidates from all around the country. And thats just not true. Western PA had a lot of talent, but nowhere on the level of places like FL, TX, hell even OH. His point was people rip Pitt for not winning because of those inflated beliefs.

FL, TX, and OH are states. States with populations in the multiple-Millions.

Comparing W. Pa. to that is completely disingenuous.

Given the size of the number of schools in Western Pa. the area turns out more quality foot all players than does any other similar sized market. (with the exception of Miami).

I'm so tired of people talking about Texas football... Texas? really? Houston is twice the size of Pittsburgh, Dallas is even larger, Austin too, San Antonio, etc... of course they tuen out a lot of football players...DUH.

Same goes for Florida with Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando...

Do I really need to repeat that process for California?

Ohio has Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus... Hell even Toledo and Akron...

So we have a very small, but highly fertile area in SW PA, an area that's smaller than any of those others, of course it's not going to turn out enough recruits to power the local school to national prominence. But to say its not fertile ground is ignorant.

[Troy Loney]

So we have a very small, but highly fertile area in SW PA, an area that's smaller than any of those others, of course it's not going to turn out enough recruits to power the local school to national prominence. But to say its not fertile ground is ignorant.

So we're in agreement, because this is basically the point I'm making. If you lived around here you would understand what I'm talking about, people here think that this is the best high school football area in the country, your arguing that it's relevant, which I would agree with. But the handful of elite players usually go to the Big Ten, the belief that was prevalent as recent as Wannstedt was that if Pitt just did better recruiting locally they would be a national contender. People think that Pitt is bad because they don't do a good enough job getting the top western PA recruits.

[ExPatriatePen]

So we have a very small, but highly fertile area in SW PA, an area that's smaller than any of those others, of course it's not going to turn out enough recruits to power the local school to national prominence. But to say its not fertile ground is ignorant.

So we're in agreement, because this is basically the point I'm making. If you lived around here you would understand what I'm talking about, people here think that this is the best high school football area in the country, your arguing that it's relevant, which I would agree with. But the handful of elite players usually go to the Big Ten, the belief that was prevalent as recent as Wannstedt was that if Pitt just did better recruiting locally they would be a national contender. People think that Pitt is bad because they don't do a good enough job getting the top western PA recruits.

I agree with you.

With respect to Wanny, I think losing a couple of blue chip recruits, specifically Pryor, had something to do with it.

Look, I root for a team that gets almost ALL of its players from out of state. However, I grew up in Pittsburgh during the 'glory years from the late 50's (admittedly I was young young to remember much from the 50's) through the 60's (when my Dad took me to Pitt Stadium to see my first CFB game), through the 70's, and into the 80's when I actually had a class where I sat a couple rows from Dan Marino.

Back 'in the day', a local blue chipper like Dorsett or Marino wouldn't dream of playing anywhere else but Pitt or Penn State. Things began to change IMHO, back when Marc Bulger and Major Harris opted for WVU. Still, it was highly unusual for local Blue-Chip prospects to choose a Big Ten school.

Pryor marked a significant change, again, IMHO.

Still, I challenge anyone to name another local 4 or 5 star prospect who went to a school other than Pitt, PSU, WVU, or OSU. I'm sure they exist, but other than Ryan Mundy (who I believe was a 4-star who ended up at Michigan but played his final year of eligibility at WVU) I don't know of any.

[IanMoran]

Am I the only one that feels like one of Pitts BIGGEST problems is the stadium experience?

I've seen recruits walking around pre-game looking almost bored as they stare into a dead empty stadium with little enthusiasm.
Pitt has a lot going for it, but I just have to imagine that's swayed many kids to attend tOSU, WVU, and PSU many times.

Anyways..

Combine Eastern OH and Western PA and you have enough for a true powerhouse. That powerhouse in tOSU

[The Snapshot]

I am not reading the entire thread, but Pitt has some very good alums playing in the NFL right now. In College football, there are many programs that revolve around 1 star player, yet Pitt can't seem to win with some of the best Pros coming through their program.

As an outsider, it seems to me that the adminstrative side of things has as much to do with the results as the talent. They have had the talent to win in the Big East and haven't done it. I think it has been coaching and management.

[skullman80]

The experience at Heinz does suck for the most part. The stands aren't going to be filled unless its ND or WVU or some other big name team in town, and even then it will be 50/50 split fan wise.

Winning will help, but games against Youngstown St, Bowling Green, Garnder Webb etc.... those aren't gonna sell out no matter what.

Pitt isn't a crazy hotbed for college football like you see at OSU, or Happy Valley, or down in Texas etc... it just isn't. It's never going to be like that, that's just how it is. The atmosphere could would be better though if the team was winning. Against Cincy a few years ago in that heartbreaking loss the place was rocking, that game decided the Big East championship, ditto when they played Miami when Fitz was here... they got thumped that game too though.

I read an article recently how PSU attendance was down a bit, but they still averaged close to 100k a game, I wish Pitt had those issues. LOL.

[shafnutz05]

Yeah, PSU's attendance was down a bit. I loved the headlines on ESPN. The first one is "PENN STATE ATTENDANCE FALLS", and then after it, "Ends season 8-4".

[ExPatriatePen]

In College football, there are many programs that revolve around 1 star player

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree.

Sure, most Top 10 programs have a bonfide 'star', but they're surrounded by a cast of other top caliber players as well.

ND, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, LSU, OSU, none of those programs are centered around a single star player.

[IanMoran]

In College football, there are many programs that revolve around 1 star player

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree.

Sure, most Top 10 programs have a bonfide 'star', but they're surrounded by a cast of other top caliber players as well.

ND, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, LSU, OSU, none of those programs are centered around a single star player.

Agree... you always have the team that makes a glorious run off 1 star player - see Baylor, Auburn.. but the elite guys are insanely deep

[IanMoran]

The atmosphere could would be better though if the team was winning. Against Cincy a few years ago in that heartbreaking loss the place was rocking, that game decided the Big East championship, .

I was at that game... It was a really, really fun atmosphere BUT..... Half the stands were CINCI fans. C'mon, I get WVU, ND, PSU will take over stadiums... but CINCI?

[IanMoran]

I am not reading the entire thread, but Pitt has some very good alums playing in the NFL right now. In College football, there are many programs that revolve around 1 star player, yet Pitt can't seem to win with some of the best Pros coming through their program.

As an outsider, it seems to me that the adminstrative side of things has as much to do with the results as the talent. They have had the talent to win in the Big East and haven't done it. I think it has been coaching and management.

Pat Bostick, Bill Stull, and Tino Sunseri.. Can you think of a worse run of qbs?

I think Pitt could have had some very good seasons if they had a semi-competent qb.

2009 when Pitt lost 3 games by a combined 11 points... You put a good qb on that team and Pitt goes 12-0 in regular season rather easily imo.. That team was stacked with talent

Lewis, Graham, Hynoski, Baldwin, Dickerson, etc..

2008 could have been a magical year as well with Shady, LSH

Defensive side had Mustakas, Mckillup, Gunn, Lindsey, Mick Williams, Sheard, Berry, Romeus, etc.. those years. Really a missed opportunity
Qbs have just been AWFUL

[KennyTheKangaroo]

kenny the kangaroo cant figure out why ian moran continues to defend wanny yet seems to unknowlingly point out all of wannys incompetence. .


btw rutgers really sucks. how the hell are they 9-2?

[newarenanow]

kenny the kangaroo cant figure out why ian moran continues to defend wanny yet seems to unknowlingly point out all of wannys incompetence. .


btw rutgers really sucks. how the hell are they 9-2?

Look at their schedule.