Hopefully there won’t be much overlap between the end of Pitt-Rutgers basketball on ESPN2 and the BBBVA Compass Bowl game of Pitt-Ole Miss on ESPN at 1pm. And if there is overlap, it would be nice if it was the end of a Pitt blowout of the Scarlet Knights.
Good news! Pitt will play with 11 players on offense despite Arthur Doakes suspension. Coach Chryst says so.
Pitt coach Paul Chryst refused Thursday to name a replacement at right guard for redshirt sophomore Arthur Doakes, who has been suspended for violating a team rule and won‘t play in the BBVA Compass Bowl on Saturday against Ole Miss.
“We have a plan,” he said. “We are going to line up with 11 (players). I promise that.”
The plan involves shifting the line a little.
Chryst will deal with the loss of right guard Arthur Doakes by juggling the offensive line. Matt Rotheram, who has played right tackle all season, will move to guard, his natural position when he was recruited in 2010 from North Olmstead (Ohio) High School. Zenel Demhasaj will get the first start of his Pitt career at right tackle. Demhasaj, a redshirt junior who is not returning next season, has been at Pitt for the past two years after transferring from Nassau (N.Y.) Community College.
So, plugging in someone new and shifting one of the linemen from where he played all year. What could go wrong? Not saying there’s much of a choice. Just saying, that I’m not optimistic about what to expect from the line.
So, it’s just before his final game. A bowl game. A semi-big game. Let’s talk Tino Sunseri’s legacy:
As for how he will be remembered at Pitt, those assessing Sunseri’s legacy will have to juxtapose Pitt’s 20-18 record with Sunseri’s strong senior year numbers and elevated place in the school’s record books.
“I don’t know what [my legacy] is,” Sunseri said. “It’s whatever people make it. I have no control over that.”
Fair enough. But, there is some control. Play well and get the win in this final game, and the odds are he will have a better departing image than with a loss. The bowl games may have very little real meaning, but they really effect how players are perceived. Especially when they bomb. Think Bill Stull in the Sun Bowl. Or Rutger’s Gary Nova after the Russel Athletic Bowl.
The team feels better prepared than last year. Of course it helps to actually have a coaching staff to help prepare you.
No Def Coordinator… No Ray Graham.
This is the day Pitt shows it not “the same old Pitt”!
Today we earn our street cred’ as we enter the ACC!
Chryst has brought the best of Big 10 football mentally to a WPA school…
we had the talent to go 4Q+ with Notre Dame!!
Sunseri solidifies his legacy with a win..
Shell is a man among boys…
This team shows everyone today we are for REAL!!!
F%$^ Ole Miss and the SEC….
Let’s Go Pitt!!!
I’m sure that the Graham issue has been known about inside the team for days now. So its showtime for Mr. Bennett and Mr. Shell. Time to step it up and show what they can bring to the party. They are the future as of today.
Here is hoping that Tino plays a great game. Ole Miss has lost a few games in the fourth quarter. Nothing would be more bizarre than Tino bringing home a win from behind in the 4th Q.
Like I always say, this is why they play the games. Lets go Pitt!
HTP!!!
HTP
He has been fun to
watch. Hope he is successful at the next level.
will have to think of something else to
talk about. Thankfully b
Is Hendricks injured also? What the heck happened the past month
Sorry for the negativity….Drinking early now!
this might be one of those days, you should have rolled out of bed,….and immediately starting drinking.
Can you possibly play today ?
sIR Tino 4.4
Got the Bowl though 
No QB or single player in Pitt’s history in any sport has irritated me the way Tino has. He has an uncanny knack for mediocrity!
does this game count towards season stats ?
I think Buttgers was up by 14 in the 1rst half of that horrid affair.
3 Quarters
Hail to Pitt !
Or bought one for the game.
Malcolm Crockett
unbeknownst to ole miss
Hendricks !!
Who is he going to put in? You want him to burn Voytik’s RS for 2 quarters of an exhibition game?
Boyd…are you sure you meant to pick pitt?
I get that Tino sucks. But your solution is just stupid. You are an overemotional drama queen.
No other player has game experience.
Replacing Tino makes no sense. Grin
and near it. Tina’s last game. By the way
Tino’s ball lacks velocity compared to any
other QB. Also distance. Incapable of throwing
the long ball.
We got Boyd, more important than either game.
Maybe our luck will change.
haha
Off to the liquor store here!
But our D, definitely looks slow today. Need some plays from the big guy.
@Dallas Mike Are you sure about this?
Odds? I find it really odd that you would even think it could happen! LOL
Both games today we’re losing by 14 points at the half.
39-25 in hoops
24-10 in football.
Must be those pricks at ESPN .
Hey but we got Boyd !!!!!
pick me up a bottle of Bookers please.
Send me the bill 
Why does a guy commit and take two more visits?
Because he’s a high school kid and he can.
Hendricks playing well today.
If I had to rank in order of importance, it would be qb, attitude and speed. You either punch first or get hit.
My word, Tino is not quick in the pocket and he runs right into defenders. I think he takes sacks instead of throwing balls away so that his completion rate stays high. Just a thought.
The 2nd 3rd down plays are why we never see comebacks — when defenses start teeing off, we are helpless — the QB and especially the OL
but the key is that tino the incompetent is done!
When your O line sucks, you can’t be predictable.
But we are predictable.
over in spring. If the game was a boxing
match the ref would stop it.
down.
And the Blue and Gold Ball with Tino’s face drops further down the pole. An anxious cheering crowd adorned in Blue and Gold, full of anticipation waits at the bottom…I hear the cheering getting louder and louder! Only 15 minutes 42 seconds until joy breaks out in Pitt Nation!
We gained 3 yards on offense, thanks to the last 6 yard run by Shell and…
they only scored 7 points.
Not a D1 QB, never was one.
This game was lost in the first 10 minutes.
The first 10 minutes after Ray Graham pulled his hamstring.
Sorry I will miss the magic upcoming moment.
God Bless all of you and a Happy New Year to all.
Hail to Pitt!
lol so PC is the man !!!!
I know Western Pa.
I just couldn’t post the link, sorry. All should like it though.
Don’t worry we’ll give your regards to Sir Tino, at his ” We’ll call you, don’t call us party”
haha
This is a bad loss..bad for morale.
Watch the D give up 6 now.
Like last year.
Smart cookie.
Absolutely NO REASON NOT TO PUT IN ANDERSON NOW !!!
“Shell is slow, slow, slow.”
And does Tino ever throw to his receivers in practice? Or during the summer? Or before practice? Hard to imagine he can be so consistently off target.
Tino has been treated mire than fairly.
Not playing Anderson is a shitty move.
No street cred’ won here today as we enter the ACC…
Now we just have to get over it.
Still… A LOT of good players coming back and now Chryst gets another full off season with his recruits and his team!!
Hail Pitt!
Tino had a good year but he is just so limited. He looks like he is playing in syrup. Telling that down 31-10 in the 4th they are still running the ball on 1st and 2nd down. Like everybody else on here, I won’t miss him.
Really, the D didn’t play horrible, offense and specials put them in bad situations. Still worst beat down since Cincy. Actually a similar game.
Tough day to be a Pitt fan.
Anderson has given up a year of eligibility for 5 plays.
He has shown much more class than Chryst in this instance.
So yes, it is “shitty”.
your right about chryst inheriting a lousy qb, not his fault, but for me, I blame him for the team’s lack of emotion, and not ready for games this year. i am glad he stayed for stability, but I don’t see ANY fire from him or most of the team.
I wanted Anderson to play meaningful downs because he has been a consumate teammate and team player.
Shame on Chryst for not rewarding Anderson for his efforts.
Let’s stay positive and progress this thing forward. If we could only get a new AD and leadership that supports Pitt athletics. Commit to something special Nordy!
At least Pitt has only 3 problems today: offense, defense and special teams.
It’s going to be a long winter in Pittsburgh. Pitt disappoints again possibly in two sports, the Steelers are not in the playoffs and probably no hockey. Hopefully letter of intent day and draft day will be highlights. Optomist (Charlie Brown?)that I am I’ll undoubtedly be looking forward to spring practice, preseason practice and (dare I say it) spring training as will no doubt many of you. Keep the faith! HTP.
I don’t.
I will look at the flip side and say that Chryst earns a little more loyalty with his players letting the Seniors try to go out together.
And so it mercifully ends.
The era of the worst 3 year starting QB in Pitt History. The only Pitt QB EVER to lose to a D2 team and that would be in PITT history. (which is a real long time) Maybe they can include that in the record books.
Cheers and Sayonara Mr. Sunseri
Hail to Pitt !
And Sayonara Sir Tino !
Veritas et Virtus !
Glad I won’t be around when Sir Tino’s future kid shows up on Pitt’s doorstep with his legacy “don’t go to Jail, go directly to starting QB” card
You younger guys will have to endure that ! haha
I do think playing those few plays would have meant something. If they were meaningless for Anderson, they were irrelevant to Tino.
But both are gone.
Neither Tino nor Anderson will wear Pitt uniforms next year.
At least Tino played when burning his eligibilty: Trey got to watch!
What’s the story here?
Don’t know why he was suspended but no one has griped about it. That usually means serious stuff, especially since Saddler has been suspended for the last two games.
I have guesses, but they are nothing more than guesses.
But if you’re thinking about the future and trying to forget the past… then I get where you’re coming from.
Good Bye Big Least, Good Bye Tino.
so today Ole Miss stacks the line and attacks the run…
I say the defense did play well!! they just wore out with all the 3 and outs and short field.
emotion…? Like Holgerson at WVU slamming down his headset, yell, and starting a fight at a casino? Rex Ryan? His demeanor is good for the situation.
Chryst brings Big Ten, winning big boy ball here which is what we need. The man is working a game plan and is not phased by the ups and downs … ins and outs.
I say these guys always knew this year was a ‘throw away’ year but could not tell anyone/or players that. They just needed to get through this year and get their people in place for next…
Now we will see… and we will see good things!
Now the only good to take away from this game is realizing that last year Ole Miss was 2-10. Sooooo wait until next year! LOL
Glad to learn that Boyd will become a Panther though.
Looking forward to next season without Tino.
I’m pretty sure that the sun will still come up tomorrow, but right now it looks pretty dark outside.
Hail to Pitt, even though both teams today played like shit.
Hytche will announce in like an hour..hopefully we can snag him too so today wont be totally lost
@upittbaseball… all I’m saying is Wisconsin and Rose bowls are their experience and background… That is our style of football here in WPA… not Big 12, high octane or other bs…. but I get your frustration.
and they came into total dysfunction and a history of disappointment.
If they can’t change the course here, well then…
…but that is not going to happen because they are going to have Pitt Kicking A$$ next year in a division of the ACC we will be competitive in from day one!
All of those redshirts are going to kick tail and now all of a sudden we have a good, big recruiting class and some big, corn feed fellas up front.
yeah, I’ll take that.
1) zero energy on PItt sideline
2) Tino is really really bad (I don’t care what anyone says about his Pitt records)
3) O line was pathetic (DJ will be an upgrade in year or two)
4) Pitt fans numbers 7-10k and were vocal and supportive
6) Ole Miss folks really like to Booz it up before during an after the game (no wonder they lost the war)
8) appreciate the invite by BBVA but Birmingham is not a desirable destination
9) Bowl game lacked a bowl game environment
10) Pitt dbacks really struggled to cover. Playing 7 yards off WRs allowed Ole Miss to exploit the quick pass and no huddle (felt like I was watching that sorry fraud Graham offense again)
11) defensive line stayed home in Pittsburgh
12) Shell was a bright spot despite no O line blocking
13) Street is going no where folks. Single coverage today and he couldn’t get open. Boyd will help.
Overall the team showed little desire to play. Saw in on the sideline and on the field. They seemed to have quit. PC should have a lot of open positions next season.
Your assessment is 100% right on the money – top to bottom. One note to add – I’m glad that (since they lost) Tino didn’t go ahead of Marino in the record books.
As I said earlier, Pitt coaches in BB and FB have a lot of work to do.
Pitt FB needs a fast running back and BB needs a consistent scorer.
I’m patient. Year 3 with Chryst will be make or break. Heck, by then Stevie may be gone. That would be progress. And, already Tino is gone so it wasn’t a bad day after all.
Thank you Pitt fans who made the game. H2P!
Similar end to season with an emphasis on the O-line. We need a friggin blue collar, smash mouth line that can actually stand up to a d-line and move THEM backwards.
wonder what was going on in the locker room these past few weeks.
Darn on JH…
and goes to MS and foster changes his mind
and comes to pitt.
The other thing that bothers me are the numbers of injuries we continuously seem to have every game. Is this bad luck or poor conditioning? I tend to think it is conditioning.
Maybe Foster will change his mind. I hope Boyd doesn’t. Seems like this Cincy DB was offered by KY first and his family has ties to Dermonti Dawson per KY message boards.
Thank you all who attended the game and represented Panther nation. H2P!
Hell’s fire. Bear Bryant is their winningest coach.
The WPIAL is highly over rated. Sure there are a few very good players, but Cleveland is much better.
Tino starts out with a totally stupid interception.
Although Pitt Fan in Atlanta says the 7-10 thousand Pitt Fans in attendance were supportive, you couldn’t tell it on TV. It seems like the only geeked up fans are here on Blather.
It sounds like the players gave up because without Graham the game was in Tino’s hands. Other than Thomas and Hendricks didn’t seem like anyone cared. Donald was being double teamed.
Maybe you can blame the attitude on the Coach, but it seems to me at this level, motivation should come from within. Maybe I’m old school, but when your getting your ass kicked on the scoreboard, don’t you want to inflict a little pain to make them pay for it. All I saw was them hitting us.
Wait, of course my love of Pitt is the answer.
Let me re-phrase that. What in God’s name made me think that I would bolt the office early, to come home and watch rebound off of a terrible home loss on Monday, to smack Rutgers around by 10 or 15???
Then I would switch channels, to watch a fired up Pitt team hold on for an exciting 3 point win against Ole Miss of the SEC???
Why, why, why???? Why would I even lull myself into that kind of belief. I mean, I’m 47, I’ve been through this ad nauseum. What in my mind, would give me some kind of hope for an exciting Pitt day!!!!
I have to be off my rocker.
They should replace ‘Sweet Caroline’ with ‘What Kind of Fool am I?’.
l
.
GC, players as leaders also responsible for making sure team is ready to play. Not sure this team had those leaders.
Every coach can be fooled now an then, thinking the team is ready when they are not. Reality is, this was a meaningless exhibition between two 6-6 teams, Pitt was banged up, and were back in the BBVA for year #3. And maybe Chryst placed more value on the practices than the game? As a fan, I think this program needs every win it can get. Ole Miss sure looked like they were ready to play and excited to finish the season with a win. Before the game, I said I wouldn’t be disappointed if they lost but seemed motivated and didn’t get blown out. Well, I’m disappointed.
Pitt fans were between the 40-20 yard line to the right of our bench. Fans were very supportive as the PITT band kept us going (got to love the Pitt band). We were definitely way out numbered which was surely evident on TV but we were loud. Loved the time the Ole Miss band began playing “sweet Caroline” in the 1st Q and the Pitt fans high jacked the verses with “let’s go Pitt… Go Pitt Go Pitt”. The ole Miss fans seemed disoriented.
Overall a decent bowl but it was obvious that the team was distracted and disconnected from this game. Saw no one getting amped up. No coaches. No players. It had the feel of a long practice session with a bunch of players standing around watching the coaches run through a series of playes.
Just my opinion but it did seems like anyone wanted it today.
or better still why did they not make him stay.
whell it is all in the past now at least no more tino.
BUT now what kind of DC will we get a good one or one they can get on the cheap.
he has had time to think on it so lets hope it dont take a long time.
who ever it is i hope he can recruit in the south
say orlando FL and that part of the good old usa.
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecruiting/on-the-trail/post?id=28480
Great insights above from everyone, thanks. Sounds like this was a transition year for everyone. Now let’s see how they reload and fire off next fall.
Does anyone know how they organized their conditioning and strength training… how different from before? Sure hope they know how to get the guys up front strong…
Pitt will need to overall better team speed starting with QB, D line and O line. Our O line has size but slow feet. Very few lanes opened today.
WR and TE were matched step for step today. Not one could create separation. Route running needed to be superb given lack of separation speed. Ole Miss loaded the box on D as they realized we could separate and Tino could make the throws.
Tino looked pathetic. Slow feet. Slow decisions. Just slow. Without Graham he was our go to guy and he couldn’t deliver. The first INT occurred in slow motion. The do jumped the wr before the ball left Tino’s hand and he still threw it.
Special teams make bad chip ounce after bad choice. Fielding it inside the 19. Returning balls from endzone. Didn’t see much corrective coaching.
Coaching / play calling was limited to Shell which didn’t work. I wonder how much of letting the seniors time off played a role in performance. Did they see this game as a read and less an opportunity? Sure felt like it.
The only good thing about the game was the excitement and energy of the Pitt band. They seemed thrilled to be there. Maybe we should have suited up a few
There isn’t an overachiever in the entire department and Pedersons legacy of failure as outlined by Justinian haunts our football team.
As the mens hoops team sees it’s weaknesses exploited on the hardwood, so too will our entire athletic department.
It really does start at the top. And that is where we are weakest.
I would hire away an athletic director from Appalachian State or its FBS equivalent. Someone who has proven that they can lead, fundraise (Pederson can’t raise money with shit) and has achieved success.
Pitt has a small athletic department populated with small minds. No secret why we fail.
No way around it, we were simply outplayed and out hustled yesterday. Yes, the Pitt defense got beat but the Pitt offense just got decimated. The O gave us no chance to win this game, really bad.
As those who were at the game have confirmed, the focus and desire was on the Ole Miss sideline while Pitt looked unmotivated. I’m not sure if Chryst is ever going to be the guy that will wear his heart on his sleeve, providing motivation by getting in his player’s faces on the sidelines yelling and screaming, but really, SOMEBODY has to step into that role to provide some direction and leadership going forward with this team.
When I think of the current senior players, only a couple/three guys stand out as the go to, would be leaders of this group. Obviously Sunseri, Graham, then Jacobson, who has been there forever and then maybe Shanahan. IMO, none of those guys were showing any enthusiasm in this game yesterday. Graham was invisible on the sideline in fact.
I’m not saying that this lack of leadership and motivation was the reason we lost the game but going forward, irrespective of how good our recruiting class ends up or how well the coaching staff instructs the players or how intricate the playbook becomes, WITHOUT that spark provided by the leadership of the team, we will continue to be plagued by mediocrity.
College football is a game of emotion and momentum. If your head is not in the game, you are going to get it handed to you by the motivated guy on the other side of the ball everytime.
I hate to use Sunseri as the scapegoat, since he is such an easy target, but the QB of the team has to be the go to leader of the offense or else, IMO, the team is in trouble right out of the gate.
I don’t have a feel about Tom Savage’s leadership potential. But from all that I’m hearing, he is the anointed one to step into Tino’s role for next year. I could give a $hit about his game experience or his arm strength, etc. If I’m the HC, I’m looking for the guy going forward who is going to give this team the leadership that has so obviously lacked these last few years.
I hope that Chryst gives both Voytik and Chapman a good hard look in that regard, irrespective of their current raw abilities at QB. Either one can learn the positon on the job, in the heat of battle as far as I’m concerned. As long as they lead the team while doing so. That is one thing that Tino never got right and, IMO, has been one of the most blatant deficiencies that Sunseri possessed during his entire Pitt career. I sincerely hope that Chryst can get the next QB right and correct that glaring problem come next season.
If Terrish Webb ends up committing to Pitt also, it will be quite a pipeline that Chryst established out of Clairton for this year. I hope that they have more good gets from there available come 2014. With such great inroads that were established with this current class, Pitt should have the inside track on Clairton recruits come next year.
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/hssports/football/3239929-74/boyd-pitt-state#ixzz2HCpZAO4d
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I really wish that I could shake it, but ever since attending Pitt, I’ve always lived and died Pitt Football.
Hail to Pitt!
Women’s Basketball score from last night—-
Seton Hall 69 Lady Panthers 56
Stevie has an athletic department disaster on all
levels!!
Also, Syracuse’s Marrone interviewed with the Bills, however, many are saying that Lovie Smith has the inside track for the job. One thing for sure Wannstach’s putrid defenses will be changed.
Dave it’s time to hang ‘em up.
There are still good recruits undeclared out there. Pitt needs speed RBs.
PAC 12 4 – 3
B12 4 – 5
BE 2 – 2
ACC 4 – 1
B10 2 – 5
SEC 5 – 3
Maybe the answer is to tell Tyler Boyd to start bulking up with some protein powder from GNC?
The larger issue with Pitt is that Steve Pederson must go. Now, that person has no emotion. Google the AD’s from the top 20 programs in the country and Pederson would not even rank as an associate AD. Bar none, he is the worst. Pitt athletics is so far behind in all sports since he got here, not just football.
Say what you want about the support from Nordy, but if Pederson was worth his own weight and felt he needed more money for athletic funding, he would have REQUIRED the funds or put his own job on the line. He should have gone to Nordy and said this to appeal to the academic side of Nordy’s brain :
If you want an “A” program, I need the following. If you want a “C” program, I need the following.
If you want a “D” program, I need the following.
That is how it works in higher education. That is how it works at my institution, which year in and year out ranks in the top 20 in most all sports. Once the expectation and commitment level is established, the AD either performs and executes, or he must go. If you are confident enough in your skill set to get it done, you don’t worry about the expectations, you just execute. Simple, simple, simple!
I haven’t looked at the Orange recruits, however, this could be a very interesting development if some of the better talent decides to look elsewhere.
One thing Pitt has had is great runners, Dorsett, Walker, McMillan, Heyward, Gladman, Goldberg, recently McCoy, Lewis and Graham. I am sure I have forgotten a more than a few.
From what I have seen, I am not ready to annoint Schell as the next great one. I sure hope he is, and if he he works hard in the weight room, and stays healthy he could be. Hopefully the O line will be better next year.
He certainly does not have the flash and pass the eye test like the last three. We sure could use a couple with break-a-way speed.
And we still need linebackers.
Shell is a paradox because if he is that good it would be nice to see more ‘flash’ through the holes… yet I think his reputation is keeping other RB recruits away (why come here when the ‘next Doresett’ might be in front of you for 2-3 yrs).
I just focus optimistically on this new staff and really think this guy is a professional who is calmly working a game plan and has been at successful programs that focus on power football combined with some modern trends.
… because Nordenberg is not going anywhere soon, period…. and I don’t think P. is either…
BTW, an honest (not rhetorical) question to those that know a lot more than me… has the problem been Pitt’s inability to have a good AD in place over these years? Haven’t all the ADs for some time just been really bad? P. might be controversial, but the folks before him were not very good… and wasn’t Long weak too?
So if we dump P. who do we get? Isn’t this guy Cochran (I think) the V. Chancellor the guy behind the curtain and is he part of the problem?
For chanecellor, you replace nordy when he retires with someone who actually wants to excel in both academics and athletics and knows how this can be accomplished. I would chose Michigan, Stanford and Notre Dame as examples.
By not donating to athletic dep’t makes no sense if that is what you want to grow.
Also any talk about how Nordy isn’t a good Chancellor is insane. The improvement the University has made under him is amazing.
What does Wanny know about running an athletic department? All Wanny knows is how to be a bad football coach. I mean Wanny couldn’t even make bowl games some years at Pitt. Chryst a coach learning on the job to be a head coach with many growing pains made a bowl game this year.
Speaking of Chryst, his first season was not a success in my book. Blew lots of winnable games and the team didn’t show up for multiple games including the Bowl game. For all the talk about how Tino was improved, he wasn’t more successful at what actually matters winning games. So he barely threw any INTs. Big freaking deal. I’m pretty sure I’d rather have a qb who throws 4tds and 2ints over the qb who takes no chances and gets 1td no picks and lots of stalled drives.
PAC 12 4 – 3
B12 4 – 5
BE 2 – 2
ACC 4 – 1
B10 2 – 5
SEC 5 – 3
Comment by frank MD 01.06.13 @ 10:14 am
Thanks frank Md
Big East was 3-2 though.
L-Ville, Cincy & Cuse won. Rutgers & you know who lost.
Some of you really need to start seeing the player that’s there and what he brings as opposed to hoping he becomes something he isn’t geared to be. He’s not a shifty, open-field back like Dion Lewis or Ray Graham or Lesean McCoy, but that’s not to say he won’t eventually be as good or better.
In fact, he’s very much tailor-made for this offensive scheme. He has enough burst to get through the hole and into the second level of the defense, and then enough strength to make life miserable for LBs and DBs that have to finish the job. As he gets older, he will continue to add strength that will allow him to break more tackles at the line of scrimmage.
We need to remember we’re talking about a true freshman here. He’s a kid playing in some cases against guys who are 3-4 years older. Yet how many times this season did we see him rip off runs of 7 yards or 8 yards, dragging three or four with him?
Do they need a back to compliment him? Absolutely, especially someone who can work a little bit more out of the backfield and make defenders miss when they’re out in space.
But by the time he’s done here, I think we’ll see far more games out of Shell like what we saw against VT, gashing the defense for six or seven yards a carry and breaking them down to the point that they wanted nothing to do with him by the fourth quarter.
The Big Stench almost annually flops in bowl season so much so it’s an annually holiday tradition.
And now we have to put up with five (5) of their crummy games on New Year’s day. Oy Vey
This is one person WHO WON’T BE WATCHING.
p.s. agree wholeheartedly with Stoosh.
Maybe we get that RB from Florida to compliment Shell. Although Crockett did well yesterday in that role and then for some reason he didn’t get his number called again. Sad that Ray Ray ended his career with not being able to play. He was one of the most entertaining Pitt RB’s EVER.
What could have been in 2011.
With Duke & NC State losing.
And FSU, Clemson, GT, & VT winning.
At least we’re going to a conf. that we should be immediately competitive in. Other than FSU & Clemson, are the other schools are very inconsistent from one year to another. Just like us. And our biggest advantage will be:
We will be Tinoless !!!
And that makes today a Wonderful day in the Neighborhood !
Everyone thinks Savage, Voytik, Anderson will be better next year as QB — even Chapman maybe — but how much can we trust Chryst’s judgement after this frequently brutal year? Don’t know what to think really, but happy Tino and his never accept responsibility act is finally gone.
Yeah it wasn’t all his fault and we need upgrades and better performances from a bunch of areas, but I saw a better O line and more talent/speed than apparently some of you saw this year. Of course we’re not ‘Bama or Oregon but that was a 9-3 team talent wise in my book and we sorely underperformed this year…again. Sucks for the seniors but I think Chryst will be smarter next year — just hope he isn’t so loyal to his next QB if he underperforms and needs to ride the pine for a bit. Looking forward to the ACC.
He is a man among boys when he hits people.
I guess my main point is we need him to be a great back because his reputation is probably keeping aware RB recruits this year and probably next…
Next year will be a good year.
* A mentally challaged 8 year old would be a better athletic director than SPederson and put more energy into promoting Pitt and pleasing the fans and alums. What has happened to the enthusiasm, image and results of Pitt’s Football program under his watch is a travesty.
* A new HC has a learning curve. Chryst has had his. Enough. Let’s see some F’n results.
* Don’t remember the name of our QB from the last three years. Don’t want to remember…will not think or speak it again.
Get rid of Pederson.
Someone on this board slandered mentally challenged 10 year olds worldwide by saying they could do a better job than Pederson. Shame on you!! They would run circles around this ill humored clown!
1) Rushel Shell is a top back in the country end of story. Give him a decent OLine and he will rush for 1500+. Those who compare him to scat backs don’t know football. The kid runs down hill.
2) nordy has been the best thing at Pitt since Thomas Stargyl, Pop Warner, and Wesley Posvar. He single handedlu took a very good university and made it great (Posvar to a good university and made it very good). Nordy’s performance at Pitt has allowed us to consistently be ranked in the top 20 in many disciplines. Under his leadership our endowment has surpassed 2 billion (one of the largest for a public institution). Under his guidance we are now in the ACC and on more firm footing. Under his leadership the quality of student and graduate continues to rise. Nordy has been GREAT for Pitt!
Show me where he is successfully supporting the overall mission! How is our brand? Athletic success leads to academic awareness, creates a buzz amongst academicians! If academics were the end all, we should have applied to the ivy schools and given sports the back seat. This is where leadership has failed in my opinion. Explain to the donors what our brand is. Do we want to be known as an academic institution, an athletic institution or be emminent in both?
I dare ask the folks of the blather to respond. The leadership needs to provide clarity so we know and can set, the proper expectations.
my point is ….please show me where we have improved because of him in any sport, not in spite of him! Is anyone proud to talk to others about pitt sports?
Here’s what I want Steve Pederson to do. His f’n job!
My company was just purchased and we are putting out a new brand. While I am not CEO COO or CFO, I am on the Sales Management side of the business.
Starting at about 6:05AM tomorrow morning, it is my job to make every waking minute of my life about my company’s brand, making it a success, asking my clients about what they would like to see (there’s that “active listening” thing which I will get back to), and putting my enthusiasm, energy and life’s energy forth in trying to make my new company a success.
What in the hell does Pederson do all day. Someone else posted earlier about the state of Pitt Sports…all sports, tennis, badmitton, Women’s BBall, wrestling (the only sport that gets above a C). They are all a mess…Pitt’s Brand is a mess…different Uni colors, awful fundraising, a negative connotation every time any Pitt Sport is mentioned. Hell, two of our players did not even have names on their jersies Saturday!! On national tv…in a bowl game. Who the hell is responsible??
And I will not even get into Saturdays’ disiasters.
Did any one of you…any…have one moment of joy Saturday??? other than “what’s his name leaving at QB”? Someone wrote a post earlier talking about how hard it is to watch Pitt sports…well it sure F’n is!!
So Ward….what does Pederson do all day? Have any of you seen or heard from hi? When is the last time anyone from Pitt called you to ask an opinion, fill out a survey of what you like to see at Pitt?? And then…follow through. The next time will be my first!
And don’t get on me about the Pitt callers who beg for money. I give more money (as do all of you) to Pitt than to my church, charity’s and eartly pleasures (including scotch which I need to tolerate Pitt Sports) combined. As do all of you.
Hell, even Bob Smizek rippped into Pederson on his blog and I haven’t agreed with Bob on anything since they brought back Danny Murtaugh the second time.
We need change. We need a new AD, a national recruiter who will help “ALL” the sports coaches Make Pitt a professional looking operation.
Did any of you see anything “professional” in Saturday’s games? Our football team looked like a bad HS Team they way they handled themselves on the field. Our BBall team was as lost as Pederson.
Branding covers the whole gamut…it sets a tone for the university and permeates the sports atmosphere, win or lose, with a look of professionalism.
There, did I even mention the stadium or the colors or the script. I am furious with Steve Pederson who for all I know sits in his office doing crosswards all day. Bob Smizek hasn’t seen or heard from him, neither has my friend Jerry Mico. Have you???
A few years ago I took care of the owner for the company that makes Nittany Lion Franks.
‘Hey,’ I asked, ‘how much does PSU make from that?’
‘Six figures,’ I was told.
So I asked, “Anyway you would be willing to do a similar deal with Pitt?’
‘Why not?’ the guy told me. ‘Dogs is dogs and I am in business to sell as many as I can.’
So I called the athletic department that very same day. Gave them the guys name, number, and the whole story. They promised to get back to me and of course never did.
This was an easy score for Pitt. They had to do nothing but extend a licensing agreement, and Smiling Steve couldn’t even do that.
So, with that in mind, how on earth can any of us expect him to go out of his way to expand on the Pitt brand?
Bottom line: A new basketball arena is no reason to keep someone who is incompetent,
By the way…my music (which included the Heinz Chapel Choir and Men’s Glee Club at Pitt)has me singing at Carnegie Hall in NYC Jan 20th with the New York Philharmonic. God has been very generous! Now, if we could only get him on our side at Pitt!!
The “Pete” isn’t new anymore. It is now in its 11th basketball season. it is not “new”.
Listen, anyone who is any good in college athletcis has one thing in common….they get swamped with offers for other jobs.
What school in their right mind would hire this Bozo?
Pitt’s athletic department is filled with losers…sorry, but apart from EJ and the lady who really runs the show on football game days, the rest could not get a job at Mc Donald’s…
I don’t want to disparage McDonald’s employees, but the company hires alot.
Did anyone get the flyer from the athletic Department a few weeks back asking for increased pledges? I did.
Know what was missing? A plan. A statement that this is what we are going to use it for. When someone askes me to “give” them money, if they want it they need to tell me what they are going to use it for.
Not Pitt….they just stick out there hands and if any falls in, so be it.
they couldn’t run a cheerleader car wash!
Second fav, is calling Wannstead’s crew to help recruit an elite kicker out of Lynchburg. Sent them his tape and everything. After, no follow up or response of any kind and about 12 calls on my part, I was told we already had a kicker lined up for 2011-12. You Blatherites can watch Darryl Simms kicking for UVA for the next 3 years. I guarentee he will beat us at least once. He was making them off the grass from 55 in HS. He actually wanted to go to Pitt..imagine that. We could not even write him a cover letter saying thanks but no thanks.
And I could go on…and on…and on…all under Stevie P.
The point is that we have the wrong leadership in athletics. There is no plan. There is not a sport that has been really successful under Pederson’s rule. Pick one we can celebrate and let’s have Chas or Reed open a thread so we can do it! I never said we should compromise academics for athletics and we don’t have too. Stanford does not. Duke does not. Notre Dame does not.
Why do we allow our athletic leadership a pass. I wouldn’t allow this to go on if he reported to me, especially given all of our academic successes. The opportunity is to have an emminent institution. A complete university of excellence progressing towards emminence. Why do we settle for less when we have an opportunity to be the best? That is all I want answered and to date, have not heard an acceptable answer to me. Others may think this is fine and Pitt Dad, you may be one of those.
I want to be associated with the best in all things, not some things. We can get there if we have strong leaders in all areas, not some.
I look at the totality of the sports programs, not just mens football and mens basketball. I wouldn’t trade academic reputation for athletic reputation.
I am a firm believer that you can have both. I am hoping to be educated by someone who says we have both, but I just don’t see it. Maybe I am missing it and will gladly apologize if I missed something.
The ADs before Pederson were weak (I believe)… Long was between his SP’s two tenors and was weak as well. So when have we had a good AD?
My question gets to my concern that institutionally Pitt is incapable of getting good leadership in its sports programs… so we get rid of SP and get what? another lacky with no vision or balls??
… is it because this vice Chancellor ?Cochran? screws everything up? other? The good coaches we have gotten were really strokes of good luck.
…. that said I have been persuaded by the statements here tonight on the importance of good athletics to improve the recognition and view of institution — Pitt’s Athletic side has not caught up to its academic progress.
… just for the record the ACC picked Pitt because of academic reputation as much or more than athletics… if we were weak academically we would be screwed in the big east.
The best year for Pitt sports in recent memory was 2009, almost four years ago. Your terrific Nordy and smiling Stevie are moving backwards.
I have had numerous interactions with the Pitt Athletic Dept on a number of professional and personal levels. There are good people in that office that work hard, are responsive and proactive, and are positive contributors to the Dept and the university as a whole.
Steve Pederson is a very polarizing figure in that he is an outsider to an exceedingly xenophobic community, stripped the old guard fan of the Script and the Stadium which were the only tangible connection to the most successful stretch in the modern era, and has presided over some significantly head-scratching personnel decisions. But he also corrected a number of long time failings that the previous regimes perpetuated and exacerbated over several decades of mismanagement. Let’s not forget that when Pederson became AD the bell weather programs were playing horrific brands of their respective sports in dilapidated facilities in uniforms that were not…uniform. All of that put Pitt at a disadvantage in comparison to its peers.
Give credit to Pederson for having the vision, arrogance and will to break a few eggs in creating a culture change which resulted in a rebirth in the football product, the creation of a perennial nationally relevant basketball program and the addition of one of the most significant capital investments in campus history (The Pete and adjoining sports complex that just so happened to make Pitt a viable candidate for more prestigious leagues). Yes, the casting off of “Pitt” as a brand in favor of the marketing gimmick “Pittsburgh” was a very poor mis-step and the uniqueness of mustard yellow was a calling card (questionable as it may be)…but the other hard decisions and directions were necessary to make Pitt competitive in major D1 athletics.
With that said, I am of the belief that Athletic Administrators (ADs, GMs, Coaches, etc) have about a 10-12 year effective life span in any one position, with few notable exceptions. After that, the arrogance required becomes paralyzing and the message is no longer received. My guess is that Nordy has kept Pederson in place to maintain continuity as Pitt makes the move to the ACC and that once that transition has been completed, at change in the AD will be made.
During the fourth quarter of this year’s game, I simply took a nap. This isn’t worth getting upset about anymore because we are what we are.
What I would like to see, is a return to relevence with the football program. I do believe we have a good guy in place, as head coach, and I realize that there will be growing pains. I just hope that he is given the time and resources to be successful.
Otherwise, how could the basketball program have ever become the powerhouse it is today?
That is a brilliantly myopic perspective of the University’s billion-dollar universe.
I did not address the content of the character of the people in the athletic department as that is not my complaint with them. My complaint is with performance, including the critical role of development.
But moving Pitt from 1980 to 2000 was fine, but it is now 2013 and we are stuck at year 2000.
The personnel decisions are much more than “head scratchers”. They damn near proved to be fatal.
Simply put, Nordenberg has been a superb leader, but all leaders have their flaws and his flaw is that he has placed his relationship with pederson ahead of the interests of the university as a whole.
A university where, I will add, Pederson is among the highest paid employees.
Time for him to go.
… but my question above goes unanswered….
Pitt has demonstrated no ability to hire a good AD… When was the last good one?? Long was not, nor before SP?
so we get rid of SP and get who? a lacky most likely.
my concern is structural problems deep in the university (or people) who need to go as well… such as the Vice chancellor.
we need visionary, strong person… not a “pitt” person (which translates into won’t rock the boat or contradict anyone who has been around forever).
we do need outsiders who come in with fresh perspectives… but…
definitely yes/agree on the comments above about someone with strong marketing in terms of understanding that you have to engage and dialog with your constituents to understand them.
Sorry, I didn’t intend to infer that you were painting the entire Athletic Department with any particular brush…I was just giving my own perspective formed by my own interactions.
From what I gather from individuals much closer to the administration than I, it’s fairly well understood that Nordy will be retiring from his current position in the not too distant future. My guess is that he feels that the new Chancellor should have the privilege of hiring his own top administrators and is probably hesitant to make a significant change in the AD.
Also, as it relates to Pederson, I believe the same tragic flaw has aided in his poor personnel decisions, marketing mistakes, and general acrimony with many boosters. (And it has nothing to do with the frugality of the University’s senior administration.) He, and many who have been fed by his teat in the AD, believe they are always the smartest people in the room. That kind of mindset lends itself to a lot of blind spots and makes it easy to step in dung at many a turn. Pederson has plenty of dung on his shoes.
If Pederson is worth his salt, he is actively looking for somewhere to land in relative short order…though based on his personnel prowess, he will probably be caught flat footed.
