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Featured Fanpost: Assessing the Program in Narduzzi's first year

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After wasting my time reading a pessimistic article by Ron Cook about the program, I would like to take the opportunity to do my own assessment and give a little background to some of the snippits that Cook threw out there. I won't post the link because it really isn't worth reading.

In the article he talks about how far the program has to go based on the attendance that showed up for a Friday home game a day after Thanksgiving.

When the demise of Pitt football occurred could be argued. Was it getting rid of Wannstedt and the horrible string of coaching hires that happened after. Was it before that... all the way to Paul Hackett that killed the program. I think it is a little bit of both. I think the lack of interest started to wain after Sherrill and the team seemed to lack investing in the ballclub. It had a few bright spots under Gottfried, Harris and Wannstedt, but it also had numerous losing seasons and Pederson capped that off by not investing into the south side complex and signing a deal with Heinz.

Interest came back to some extent under Wannstedt, as they had a nationally ranked and well received team. They did however play in the Big East and not only weren't we able to judge how good the team actually was, we played a string of unimportant uninteresting games each year. You don't bring excitement back to a program by playing Temple and Boston College. Not after spending the past 2 decades giving fans a reason not to support a team that lies in a pro sports town.

Then you skip ahead to the current team. Everyone is well aware of the coaching debacle that has made Pitt a laughing stock and thankfully cost Pederson his job. Wannstedt recruited our senior class which held on once he left and sat through Haywood and then signed on with Todd Graham who finished off the class. He then changed the pro offense to a spread. He had his players losing weight much the same as Kelley has done in Philly. He finished off the class with less talented players who fit the spread style and he taught the kids a completely new play book. He then worked on implementing that style with his next recruiting class before he jumped ship. The move eventually saw top recruits from the 2012 class (Rippy, Shell, Davis twins) head elsewhere. Next Paul Chryst comes in and trys to provide some stability and he actually did a decent job in two years. The problem was he did a fairly poor job bringing in decent recruits outside of lineman and RB's, he did an especially horrific job bringing in defensive recruits who would want to play under the clueless defensive mind of one mr. House.

So in comes coach Narduzzi, who inherits a team that has no sense of identity, lacks talent, hasn't been recruited to fit his style of play and has support dropping off more and more each year.

So he is tasked with completely reshaping the program. He has the luxury of a new AD and the much appreciated support of former staff and players.

In his first year he took a team that should at best be 6-6 and won 8 games so far. He has provided the team with an identity and is building a program that people can get behind. Boosters feel more comfortable throwing money, fans who care and would care regardless find themselves even more engaged. Fans who were fence riders before found themselves going to the games, but it will take a few years of stability in the program to bring back fans who were jaded over the years and bring in new fans who haven't seen a Pitt team that they were truly proud to watch. Sure there were players like fitz and Revis and Donald that you felt lucky to watch and knew it was something special, but when was the last time there was a team on the field that people really got behind. In 2009 they were ranked as high as 9th, but that was more likely aided by playing in the Big East(which they ended up losing to WVU and Cincy). They had a good team in 2004 but losing to Utah really took the air out of the sails. Long story short, their are generations of kids out there that know nothing of Marino and Dorsett and the history of Pitt football that stood up their with the great programs in the country.

So it will take time to win back support and bring a new generation of Pitt fans. The first steps have been laid as long as Coach Narduzzi stays in Pittsburgh. Stability and sense of identity. These are the things that are going to bring in recruits and make kids, players, and fans comfortable with a program. The fact that the hard nosed hard hitting style resonates with the city is a bonus.

The next step is getting players into play that fit the style of play. Narduzzi has gotten the most out of this team, but they just aren't very deep talent wise. Not only talent wise, but the specific talent to fit and be molded by coach Narduzzi just isn't there. He is pretty much throwing out lesser cards when he should be throwing out Aces and hoping the results hold up. For the most part things have worked out well as this team has over achieved, but there are times when you can just see that the talent isn't as good. Miami jumped out to a decent lead against Pitt because they are just more talented than Pitt. Some times they decide not to show up, but they did show up against Pitt and the receivers were too fast and too big and too strong. Kaaya was too talented and the Miami secondary was too athletic for Pitt to overcome.

Each year you will see that gap change, starting with next year. The defensive line alone will be stronger and faster than this year and able to get more pressure on the ball. The linebackers will be faster and the secondary will be deeper.

The better the team plays, the better recruits they get and the more fans will come. Unlike a PSU team that can sell kids on a huge fan base and slick willy bringing the kids in but is unable to coach them, Pitt has a formula in place for sustainable success. That doesn't mean there wont be let downs along the way, but this program is on the rise and there is absolutely no reason to believe that the rise wont continue.

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