2014-2015 Pitt Super Panthers Football Thread

[Dickie Dunn]

FIU linebackers coach Rob Harley following Josh Conklin to Pitt.

[newarenanow]

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/Pitt ... 1501120150" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nice article.

[Dickie Dunn]

All kinds of rumors that Narduzzi filled three more coaching positions last night after he tweeted "PITT IS IT!" three times last night, which he had done for each of the previous coaching hires. One is assumed to be Tim Salem who was recently fired as Illinois' special teams coordinator. Last night on Twitter he followed Narduzzi, Rob Harley, Chris LaSala, and the Pitt Football account. In addition to special teams, he has also been an offensive coordinator and coached running backs, tight ends, wide receivers, and quarterbacks.

The only two coaches are assumed to be Stetson DC Brian Young (who interviewed to be secondary coach) and Stetson OL coach Tim Holt, who was previously an assistant OL coach for the Bucs and then OL coach for the Bears.

Narduzzi is at a coaching convention, so its likely he interviewed other coaches and Young and Holt aren't the hires, but those are the only two names being rumored right now. If they are hired, that gives Pitt four coaches from Florida schools, which should really help with recruiting down there.

[columbia]

WERE BACK

[newarenanow]

Super panthers down to 10 recruits for the class of 2015.

[Pitt87]

Tino's biggest short coming was that he could never deliver when it mattered. Things like that ND game where they had under 20 yards of offense in the 4th quarter and OTs.

I'm not arguing for his merits, but I would argue that Chad Voytik does not appear to be much better despite a receiver that could be a high NFL draft pick, as well as the ACC POY in his backfield.

[Dickie Dunn]

Previous rumors were wrong. Akron OL coach John Peterson is Pitt's new OL coach. Has also coached at Miami (OH), UAB, and Arizona but the big bullet point on his resume is being Ohio State's TE coach and recruiting coordinator from 2004-11.

[slappybrown]

Well, he said he was committed to recruiting, and nearly every hire reflects that.

[the wicked child]

Tino's biggest short coming was that he could never deliver when it mattered. Things like that ND game where they had under 20 yards of offense in the 4th quarter and OTs.

I'm not arguing for his merits, but I would argue that Chad Voytik does not appear to be much better despite a receiver that could be a high NFL draft pick, as well as the ACC POY in his backfield.

I'm not sold on Voytik by any means.

[She'sTheFastest]

John Peterson from Akron is the new O-line coach.

[She'sTheFastest]

Tim Salem to most likely coach TEs.

[ulf]

Previous rumors were wrong. Akron OL coach John Peterson is Pitt's new OL coach. Has also coached at Miami (OH), UAB, and Arizona but the big bullet point on his resume is being Ohio State's TE coach and recruiting coordinator from 2004-11.

Akron fans aren't sad to see him go. Left the Zips for Miami of Ohio, came back to Akron, leaving again.. Probably will be gone before he learns the fight song

[Pitt87]

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/Pitt ... 1501120150

Nice article.

Some concurrent points here and some other items that I found interesting:

“Lots of times, there is a dance that the candidates and the hiring group go through as not wanting to tip their hand. Pat came in and said, ‘I want this job,' ” said Juhl, slapping a conference table for emphasis.
“That makes a difference. We want people who want to be here. And he repeated it, just in case we missed it.”

Thats a style I can get on board with.

http://triblive.com/sports/college/pitt ... z3OqnSRPjV

[Dickie Dunn]

Pitt alumnus and former NFL DT Tom Sims has been hired as DL coach. Sims was DL coach at Youngstown State and had previously coached at Western Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois.

Only two coaching spots left are WR and DB.

[youtube][/youtube]

[slappybrown]

Its really refreshing to see PITT put together a series of hires that reflect what the crazy people in this thread want. Its an excellent mix of experience at major college and pro levels, heavily weighted towards people with recruiting experience/reputation, includes someone like Sims who obviously can speak first hand to the future that you can have by playing here (the NFL), and still includes a young coach at a coordinator position with a growing X and O rep like Conklin. Genuinely a (seemingly) complete staff.

PITT ARE YOU SETTING ME UP IS NARDUZZI LEAVING ALREADY WHY ARE GOOD THINGS HAPPENING

[Dickie Dunn]

Coach Harley
‏@robharley34 Headed to North Jersey-Philly, tryin to find some playmakers that wanna hunt with the Panthers #H2P…

Not even announced as a coach yet and Rob Harley is out doing work. I feel so optimistic. Please Pitt, don't toy with my emotions yet again.

Coach Josh Conklin @CoachConklin
We have punched the time card in South Florida

It just feels weird having a coaching staff that actually uses Twitter, let alone publically sharing where they are currently recruiting.

[the wicked child]

[youtube][/youtube]

[Pitt87]

Coach Harley
‏@robharley34 Headed to North Jersey-Philly, tryin to find some playmakers that wanna hunt with the Panthers #H2P…

Not even announced as a coach yet and Rob Harley is out doing work. I feel so optimistic. Please Pitt, don't toy with my emotions yet again.

Coach Josh Conklin @CoachConklin
We have punched the time card in South Florida

It just feels weird having a coaching staff that actually uses Twitter, let alone publically sharing where they are currently recruiting.

Talk about a guy that is ready to be a head coach. Everyone started rolling from day one.

Where's my Alumni Season Ticket deal letter??

[cheesesteakwithegg]

This staff seems like night and day compared to the old regime, at least in terms to their approach to recruiting / interacting with kids / social media.

Chryst was a terrible closer when it came to recruiting. I remember seeing so many articles where I would just cringe at the things he would do according to recruits. A kid would be on a visit at Pitt, ready to commit, and he would tell them to make sure before they committed and to take all the visits they wanted to. WTF was wrong with this guy?

[Dickie Dunn]

I saw this posted yesterday. It's impossible to know the validity of the post, but the fact that it seems completely plausible (and likely) is enough of an indictment of the previous coaching staff.

[slappybrown]

I saw this posted yesterday. It's impossible to know the validity of the post, but the fact that it seems completely plausible (and likely) is enough of an indictment of the previous coaching staff.

Even better is that Chryst TOOK HOUSE WITH HIM! I know he demoted him, but yikes.

[Pitt87]

This staff seems like night and day compared to the old regime, at least in terms to their approach to recruiting / interacting with kids / social media.

Chryst was a terrible closer when it came to recruiting. I remember seeing so many articles where I would just cringe at the things he would do according to recruits. A kid would be on a visit at Pitt, ready to commit, and he would tell them to make sure before they committed and to take all the visits they wanted to. WTF was wrong with this guy?

He was routinely described as laid back. An old school approach that works for some players/parents, especially at the top tier. I think thats how Chryst saw Pitt. IMO, that's the demonstrable difference.

[Dickie Dunn]

I saw this posted yesterday. It's impossible to know the validity of the post, but the fact that it seems completely plausible (and likely) is enough of an indictment of the previous coaching staff.

Even better is that Chryst TOOK HOUSE WITH HIM! I know he demoted him, but yikes.

House ended up not going. Dude is currently unemployed and will probably remain that way if he's holding out for a defensive coordinator position. Inoke Breckterfield ended up as their DL coach.

Checked out a Wisconsin message board today. Apparently Chryst had a less than impressive press conference yesterday that has fans hoping he'll hire a public speaking coach. Enjoy it Badger fans!

[Stoosh]

I was a fan of Paul Chryst pretty much from day one of his tenure but this past year brought many of the issues that critics of him and his assistants to the forefront, and I wasn't sure it was going to get markedly better.

When the Wisconsin job opened up, I didn't immediately think, "Oh crap, not again," like I did when Bielema left Wisconsin a couple of years ago. I actually hoped he'd take the job because it would give Pitt an opportunity to bring in a coach who could maintain the offense and upgrade all the other deficiencies.

I just never thought Pitt would actually do it. At least to this point, it certainly appears that they're on that path with everything that has transpired since Chryst left. Smiley's gone. New chancellor and interim AD recognized the need for commitment with bigger budgets and followed through. Narduzzi got hired without the administration over-thinking it (as opposed to rumors of previous AD going after Charlie Weis). Narduzzi brings on assistants who can 1) coach and 2) like to recruit, and has them all over the country the day recruiting opened back up.

Good lord. Is this what it feels like to be a fan of a program that actually, you know...gets how a program is supposed to be run?

[IanMoran]

While it is entirely possible to put myself in the shoes of an elite 18 year old HS athlete, I honestly believe I'd prefer the "style" of PC. Even at a young age, I was always entirely put off by people that seemed to be selling too hard / come across as a little fake to me. That being said, PC's style didn't seem to work at all with most kids... I kind of agree that it probably would work in a "program sells itself" situation. Pitt isn't there.