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What's Holding Pitt Back? The Fans.

In a few weeks, Pitt will conclude what, by any measure, was a very successful season for the players and coaches when they take on Northwestern in the Pinstripe Bowl. It's a season that we may very well look back on as the year that the football program turned the corner. In just his second season, Pat Narduzzi has established Pitt as a national player who can compete with anyone and it's hard to overstate the massive steps forward the program took this year.

Take a moment to think about the accomplishments this year. Pitt beat their biggest rival on national television, which ultimately knocked the cow pasture school from the playoffs. Also on national television, Pitt knocked off number two Clemson on the road by shredding one of the top defenses in the Nation. At the time, Clemson had the longest home winning streak in the Nation at 21 consecutive games. Though Pitt did lose four games, they had the lead or were tied in the 4th quarter of three of those games. One 4th down stop against North Carolina and one stop of a fade pass against Virginia Tech and Pitt is a two loss team playing in a rematch against Clemson in the ACC Championship. For a program trying to take the next step, the on-field success was impressive.

This success was well rewarded with post season accolades. Offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, was named a finalist for the prestigious Broyles award for the Nation's top assistant. As many as four Panthers were named All Americans by various media outlets and nine were selected to the all ACC football team by the conference coaches. Not bad for Narduzzi and his "little Panthers."

The program also received significant attention at this year's College Football Awards. You couldn't watch for a few minutes without seeing Pitt. From Chris Blewitt's game winning kick over Clemson to the victory dance celebration in the locker room afterwards, Pitt highlights were everywhere. And of course the true highlight of the evening was James Conner receiving the Disney Spirit Award. In every step of Conner's amazing journey, he has represented the university with nothing but class, helping to elevate the public's view of, not only Pitt football, but the entire university.

Whether evaluating on the field or off the field variables, Pitt took massive strides in 2016. It's too bad there is one major thing that is holding this program back from being elite... The fans. More specifically, attendance at home games.

Despite a successful season which featured one of the top offenses in the country, Pitt's attendance was embarrassing. ESPN cameras worked hard to avoid showing the massive amounts of empty seats for the Thursday night game against Virginia Tech, a valiant effort that had zero chance of success. After Pitt's huge win against Clemson they were welcomed home to a half empty stadium. Surely senior day would bring out the fans to honor a group that made four consecutive bowls, right? Nice try.

Imagine being a top recruit and making your official visit for a game and seeing Pitt fans barely fill Heinz Field to fifty percent capacity. You arrived in a gorgeous city and were shown Pitt's first-class practice facilities and possibly even ran into Mike Tomlin or Antonio Brown during your tour. You were escorted through Pitt's new locker room and meeting rooms that are second to none. You saw images reminding you of the amazing talent that has come through Pitt including Marino, Fitzgerald, McCoy, and Donald. Everything was going great until five minutes to game time when you realize it's not a late arriving crowd... It's a non arriving crowd.

Make no mistake about it, many high school recruits want and need the game day experience that is offered in South Bend, Columbus, or Happy Valley. Pitt simply doesn't compare in this area. And that is a total shame as Heinz Field is a tremendous venue. The crowds versus Notre Dame, Florida State, and Penn State gave a glimpse at how great of a game day experience Pitt can offer.

Regardless of what some ignorant folks might think, it doesn't take 100,000 fans to create a great game day experience. Pitt doesn't even need to fill Heinz Field to capacity each game but they do need more than the 35,000 that turned out for each of the last two games. Or the 40,000 fans that showed up for a national TV game against a ranked Virginia Tech team. Think Pitt's defense could have used a lift from a capacity crowd to pull off a big third down stop against Virginia Tech?

To be clear, I am someone who feels an intimate, on campus, 45,000 seat stadium would suit the Panthers much better than the 68,400 yellow seats at Heinz field that show every empty seat. Having that discussion, however, is a waste of breath since Pitt has been clear that an on campus stadium will not happen. Instead, Pitt must continue to focus on driving attendance to Heinz Field.

Sure, the athletic department could improve their efforts to increase attendance but the real onus falls on us, the fans. Pitt fans have a nice presence online. We like to argue with our rivals about the state of our program but the fact is clear... Until we support Pitt like an elite team, we'll be kidding ourselves about the state of the program and that's a shame because the coaches and players have done their part.


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