Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Pitt Football Thoughts

First and foremost, everyone needs to relax a bit.

* The Pitt Football Program is bigger than any one football season at the school. Paul Chryst should not be judged on his first 2 games. He should not be judged on his first season.  He was brought in to be a football coach and to re-build a football program. Give him time. Remember the players on this team are dealing with their 3rd head coach in 3 seasons.  That means 3 different styles and systems that these kids have learned in that time.  And for those of you doubting his ability and his offensive gameplan, ask Wisconsin if they miss him.  The Badgers snuck by D-1AA Northern Iowa in week 1, 26-21 and lost this past weekend against Oregon State.  They didn't score against the Beavers until there was 91 seconds left in the game.  This, one season removed from Chryst leading Wisconsin's offense last year to a 35-0 win against Oregon State and never scoring less than 29 points in a game.

* 6 coaches in under 3 years matters. Since December of 2010 there has been 6 different coaches to hold the title of HEAD COACH of the Pitt football team.  That has absolutely killed recruiting the past 2 years and it shows in the lack of depth on this team. In 2011, Todd Graham scrambled around and signed 21 players, Chryst signed 16 this past February.  That is 37 players in 2 years. And of those 37 players, some of them aren't Big East quality players and brought in just to help with numbers.  When other schools are signing 25-30 players a year, that is going to catch up with you.  This team has a serious issue with both talent and depth.

* Tino Sunseri is the best option for quarterbacking this football team. I know many Pitt fans don't want to hear that, but it is true.  It makes no sense for Chad Voytik to be pummeled for the season to "gain experience" as so many people want. Think about this for a second. In all likelihood Tom Savage is the quarterback at Pitt next year, so why have Voytik blow his redshirt this year to be a back-up next year?  If you redshirt him next year you almost certainly force incoming freshman Tra'von Chapman into back-up duties, thus burning his redshirt.  I would feel much more comfortable for the betterment of the program to have Chad redshirt this year, be the primary back-up next year and play when the opportunity presents itself.  That gives him 5 years in the system and puts him in position to be a 3 year starter.

* Steve Pederson is the AD, deal with it! Has he screwed up? YES! Has he made some terrible hires? CERTAINLY! Does he do a very good job raising money for the athletic department? Yep! He has also greatly improved the facilities for nearly every sport the university has, as well as making sure Pitt moved to the ACC and didn't get stuck in the Big East.  I could think of 100 reasons why Steve Pederson could and/or should be fired, but it ain't gonna happen. The only way he goes is if donors stop giving the university money. If that happens then, yes he might get fired, but that will only lead to a new AD who will want to bring in his own coach and then we have ANOTHER coaching change. Sorry, I'll pass on that!

Don't get me wrong, I have been disappointed with how this season has played out to this point. But as long as the team continues to improve week to week, game to game, season to season under Chryst I am going to be completely content as I wait and see what is to come for this program under the guidance and leadership of Paul Chryst.
HAIL TO PITT!