Torn between rage and apathy. Very odd sensation. At the moment, I’ve drifted back to rage.
Right now Pitt football is a complete mess. The offense has played 3 good halves in 5 games. The defense is being consistently shredded; and even when it shows moments of competence, it can’t stop stepping on its own dick. Special teams… whatever.
The thing that jumps out the most, though. The penalties. Right now, Pitt is 113th nationally in total penalties with 40, and 116th in total penalty yards (379). That’s out of 129 FBS programs.
On all facets, Pitt has committed dumb, moronic penalties. Not out of enthusiasm. Not out of just being too energized. It has been of the undisciplined type. Repetitive, same stuff. The penalties are the thing of poor coaching. Where the details are ignored or tuned out.
Pitt has played two top-15 teams this year. They weren’t even competitive. The offense produced a whopping 13 points in those games. The defense gave up 89 points. Special teams — I can’t even. But, again, penalties. Two games against the best teams to date and Pitt committed 25 (accepted) penalties for 241 yards.
Looking at the defense. I’m not sure how you don’t conclude that Randy Bates has been overwhelmed as a defensive coordinator. We heard all off-season how a career position coach was an excellent hire. How disciplined and hard working he was. Grinding and earning this shot.
We also heard, when Conklin was pushed out, how he wasn’t running the defense the way Head Coach Pat Narduzzi wanted it. That Bates was the man for the job. And to help ease the transition, Narduzzi would be a little more involved. Hell, with the addition of a 12th position coach, Narduzzi opted to put it on the side of the defense. Splitting duties in the secondary to a cornerbacks coach and a safeties coach.
The DC spot is especially galling because the options for hiring a really good DC were there. Randy Shannon (now UCF’s DC) was available. Plus, he is an excellent recruiter in Florida. Scot Shafer — a longtime friend of Narduzzi’s even — was a possibility. Hell, he even began following some Pitt defensive players after Conklin left for Wofford.
Here would have been the issue, though with hiring veteran, established DCs — they would expect to be able to run the defense as they wanted. Or at least do some things their way. Not as Narduzzi wants. That’s fine, to a point. Narduzzi is the head coach. He has every right to want things done a certain way. But, then he has to answer for it, when it is clearly not fucking working.
It’s funny in a grim sort of way. I (and more then a few other) thought the potential downfall for Narduzzi could come from the decision to hire Shawn Watson as the offensive coordinator. And let’s be clear. As an OC — and the quarterbacks coach — Watson hasn’t exactly made anyone think he’s doing much more then a slightly below average job. That said, the defense has been the joke.
I don’t know. Narduzzi has definitely lost the fans. We all believed that last year was a bit of a transition with all the QB issues. The team showed improvement in the second half of the season on both sides of the ball. Talking ourselves into the almosts. At Syracuse. The UNC game. At VT. Games Pitt shoulda, coulda won. But for the QB. A few bounces. Why, Pitt could have finished 8-4 instead of 5-7
Hell, I am as much a guilty party in this . I was sure that the defense was better. Now that the players were supposed to be in place. More depth. Everyone healthy. And the offense. Well, we were still feeling good about it all. I was convinced Pitt would be an 8-4 — maybe even 10-2 team. Sure it was possible that they could be as bad as 4-8, but no. Not really. Despite the non-con schedule, Pitt was going to be a better team.
Nope.
I still think Narduzzi survives this season. Not simply because of the extension. Remember how he was hired. It wasn’t a former AD. It was the Chancellor and an executive committee. People in power, even higher then AD Heather Lyke. They are still there. I don’t think they are ready to admit to being wrong.
That said, changes will have to be made. Watson is likely going to be gone at this rate. And it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bates gone after only one season. Too much on-the-field problems are very clearly stemming from the coaching. The players are consistently out of position. Beaten to spots. The play calling on both sides are a crap. So much will have to change.