Despite being in the midst of a nightmare season, Pitt’s worst since 2008, and coming directly off one of Pitt’s most embarrassing games in many seasons, the head coach had one of his typical moments this afternoon.

Considering he pulled quarterback Christian Veilleux because of poor play, Narduzzi knew that he’d be asked about that, and specifically, who would start Thursday against Boston College.

Instead of answering the question in a direct way and realizing that in the grand scheme of things and considering where Pitt sits at this point of this season, it’s not that big of a deal, Narduzzi couldn’t help himself.

Q. Who’s going to be your quarterback on Thursday?

Narduzzi: “I don’t talk injuries. I don’t know.”

Q. Are they hurt?

Narduzzi: “I don’t know. Are they?

Q. You tell me.

Narduzzi: “I don’t know. We’ll see Thursday night.”

Well, Pat, maybe most people won’t considering the football game, since Pitt men’s soccer hosts James Madison at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Thursday night in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, and it might have a higher attendance than the football crowd at Acrisure Stadium.

At 2-8, on pace for the worst season in decades, it’s time to read the room and assess the severity of the situation. Pitt is one of the biggest disappointments in college football this season, one of the worst teams in the ACC, and still Narduzzi can’t help the snarky answers.

At this point, why not just be honest (which, admittedly, is rare at these press conferences) about the current situation and give your honest thoughts on Veilleux and Nate Yarnell? It’s not like Pitt or Boston College are playing for anything on Thursday.

Also, considering offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr.’s vanilla play-calling, does it even matter if Boston College knows who’s starting at quarterback? It’s not as if Veilleux and Yarnell are different-style quarterbacks.

Instead of trying to be cute, all that needed to be said was one of two things:

1.) “I have an idea, but I really want to see how practice goes the next couple of days, and then coach Cignetti and I will make a decision that not only gives us the best chance to win but also is in the best interest of Pitt football.”

2.) Explain who really is going to start and explain exactly why that quarterback has earned the opportunity to do so. If it’s Veilleux, explain why you’re sticking with him despite what we’ve seen to this point. If it’s Yarnell, talk about wanting to give him a shot and what the coaches have seen from him over the last couple of years.

Seriously, press conferences are supposed to be informative for everyone involved. Everything doesn’t have to be top secret and endless mind games like Narduzzi has made it over his tenure at Pitt.

It’s not as if asking who the starting quarterback will be is so difficult a question either. So, when he gets a chance to talk about that quarterback situation, like who’s going to start at quarterback in the 10th game of a lost season, that’s one he should answer.

If his bosses continue to see performances like the one put on at Yankee Stadium much more, Narduzzi is going to be forced to answer some real tough questions, and they won’t be coming from the media or about the starting quarterback.

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Where do I begin? The unexplained wasting of both Rodney Hammond Jr. and Gavin Bartholomew, the underperforming offensive line and the underutilizing of young talent such as Samuel Okunlola, and Jimmy Scott and young wide receivers, namely Kenny Johnson.

I could also bring up the lack of a role or development for players such as Nahki Johnson, Elliot Donald, Derrick Davis, Sean FitzSimmons, Jordan Bass, and the list goes on, but why nitpick?

But no question, the biggest disappointment that will follow this season is the fact that Pitt will enter the 2024 season with no clue of what they have at quarterback and if they have a quarterback that they can build with.

I’m not saying that either Christian Veilleux or Nate Yarnell isn’t good enough. However, because of the ineptitude of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr and the poor play of the offensive line, we weren’t able to learn enough about either.

In terms of Veilleux, I see a gunslinger with a good enough arm who can and likes to get the ball downfield. He’s had moments that get you excited and lead you to believe that he can be the guy for the next two years, but would I lay a bet on it? No.

No one, including the coaching staff, has any idea of what they have in Yarnell. He looked good and played well enough in his only start last year against Western Michigan, but that’s it. He’s only had mop-up duties in games that were already decided since.

Pitt does have two games left but because of the current state of Pitt football, we’ll learn nothing about Yarnell that will answer questions for next season.

With that being said, I know there’s talk about giving Yarnell a chance to start and Narduzzi didn’t rule it out following the game, but Veilleux needs to start the last two games.

Making a quarterback change at this stage would be ridiculous but then again, that would be par for the course for this wasted season.

Veilleux is a young quarterback with just five career starts, which is obviously not enough time to form a true conclusion on a player. So, regardless of how he ended the Syracuse game, Veilleux should get the start against Boston College. Any young player needs on-field, live game reps and that’s certainly the case with Veilleux.

The scary thing for Pitt is that heading into 2024, quarterback will still be a question mark. Instead of having a quarterback to step in when Kenny Pickett graduated, Pitt was forced to use the transfer portal and struck out with both Kedon Slovis and Phil Jurkovec.

The verdict is still out on Veilleux, who came to Pitt after transferring from Penn State.

In my opinion, Pitt needs to resist the temptation of looking into the portal for the third straight season. It’s time to decide on one of their own quarterbacks and develop them. That means Veilleux, Yarnell or even Ty Dieffenbach.

The first order of business should be finding a new offensive coordinator and making sure he’s able to develop and install a modern system that will allow any of these quarterbacks to have success.

Until they do this and have a quarterback and system that they can win with, the struggles of 2023 will be a recurring theme.

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Well, two weeks later, whether it’s a coincidence or not, fans saw one of the most uninspiring, heartless, embarrassing games that a Pitt football team has played in many, many years.

If you think that’s harsh, it’s not — it’s actually kind. The Pitt athletic department should personally apologize to every Pitt fan who made the mistake of spending money to travel to New York for that putrid performance by both the players and coaches.

What fans have been subjected to can no longer be chalked up as one or two bad performances. Pitt has a major problem on its hands.

How many times this season has Narduzzi apologized in his postgame press conference for certain aspects of his team’s performances and taken accountability only to once again apologize for it the following week? Too many times.

The major question now is whether anyone is capable of fixing it or if the CEO is a large part of the problem, too.

Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. has been under fire for months, but it’s become very apparent things go much deeper than Cignetti himself.

Since winning the ACC championship two years ago, this Pitt program has become stale, predictable and boring. It makes you wonder if some of these issues were there two years ago but were covered up or overlooked by a first round quarterback. I’ve raised that question before and still feel as though it’s a valid question.

Kenny Pickett covered up a lot of things and made his head coach look a lot better than he was. I can tell you that Narduzzi wouldn’t be under contract till 2030 without that ACC championship.

That night in Charlotte, N.C. seems like a million years ago, and it’s time that Pitt, Heather Lyke included, realizes that this isn’t close to a championship program and major changes need to be made.

Here are three major concerns as we are now — mercifully — near the end of this season:

1.) How will this disaster impact 2024 season ticket sales? Good luck marketing and getting fans interested in spending money on this product.

2) What will this do to recruiting — high school and transfer portal — in 2024 and 2025?

3) Will Pitt players be running towards the transfer portal? Players may not have forgotten what Narduzzi said following the Notre Dame loss.

While that might sound extreme, it’s really not. There are serious questions for the Pitt coaches and the Pitt administrators to think about as Pitt spirals toward the worst season in decades — coming off the best two-season stretch in 40 years.

Honestly, after what I’ve seen this year in terms of on-field performance, undisciplined play, coaching decisions and talent evaluation, nothing should be off the table. Nothing.

While I’m not suggesting Narduzzi should be fired, I will say that he has to be willing to make major changes to his coaching staff (more than just getting rid of Cignetti), along with hiring an offensive coordinator with a 2023 approach to offense or Pitt might need to be in the market for more than just assistant coaches.

2024 starts now, and Narduzzi cannot wait until the calendar changes.

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“I don’t try to think too far in the future,” Means said Wednesday after practice. “Actually, we started taking the mindset — C’Bo, he’s actually one of our captains right now, he gave us this little — I guess he changed the team mindset to 1-0 every week. At first, we were breaking it down on ACC championship, and he was like, ‘Bro, we’re looking too far ahead, we just gotta look at every Saturday,’ and then he said, ‘Matter of fact, you don’t even need to look at Saturday, you look at today, you go 1-0 in every rep that you do today, then you get 1% better. So that’s how I look at it.”

He’s not alone. Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt coaching staff have echoed those sentiments all season long, throughout all the struggles, and that’s fair. You can’t come out and say you’re playing for next season. The Panthers need to do all they can to finish the season 5-7.

But even Narduzzi has said that the opportunity to get his true freshman into the games in a way that isn’t just throwing them into losing scenarios late in matchups.

It isn’t just the true freshmen that should get reps though, or even the redshirt freshmen. It’s the young players across the lineup who are waiting for a chance to break out behind the older veterans. So, let’s take a look at what I want to see from the young guns.

Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Kenny Johnson (2) September 23, 2023 David Hague/Pittsburgh Sports Now

Continue to Start the Young Players Already in the Lineup

This one is more of a “keep doing what you’re doing” for the Pitt staff. BJ Williams and Kenny Johnson have been starting for a handful of weeks now, and that shouldn’t change anytime soon.

Williams, through the ups and downs, cracked the starting lineup incredibly young. There are very, very few offensive linemen who have worked into the rotation, let alone started multiple games — including each of the last four. There will be ups and downs, but he needs to learn as he goes.

Johnson has shown even more flashes, looking like a player who could be a difference-maker out wide, catching nine balls for 95 yards and a touchdown — adding 43 yards on seven carries, with the jet sweep a favorite of Frank Cignetti Jr.’s. And he’s added an additional 282 yards and a touchdown on 10 kick returns.

Ryan Baer and Terrence Moore, to go along with Williams, shouldn’t leave the lineup either, even if players like Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic are healthy. There are a lot of young offensive linemen and wide receivers who should make an impact down the stretch for the Panthers.

Braylan Lovelace, Jordan Bass and Kyle Louis should continue to rotate heavily with the linebackers, and Rasheem Biles should only get more involved down the stretch. Ryan Manalac has brought quite a few talented young linebackers to Pittsburgh over the last couple of seasons.

I’ll touch upon Ryland Gandy and the young corners a bit later, but Javon McIntyre, P.J. O’Brien Jr. and Donovan McMillon have really grown into their own over the course of the season, and all three can return next season — McIntyre and O’Brien have multiple seasons of eligibility remaining.

Samuel Okunlola Should Start 

Pitt is tied for 21st in sacks, ninth in tackles for loss, across college football this season. It’s been a solid season, but not the usual heights achieved by Charlie Partridge’s unit.

Samuel Okunlola received 38 snaps, continuing to be that No. 3 defensive end behind Dayon Hayes and Nate Temple, and over the last couple of games, he hasn’t been all that far behind Temple.

Hayes doesn’t have the numbers, but he’s actually had an impactful season off the edge. Temple and Bam Brima, for all their veteran experience, haven’t made the impact Okunlola has. And obviously there’s more to football than the splash plays, especially when it comes to run fits and fulfilling those defensive keys.

But Okunlola is the future of the defensive line. There’s a chance that none of Hayes, Temple or Brima return next season (I’d imagine Hayes and Brima return), but that leaves a young unit.

It’s time for Sammy O, who is tied for the team-lead with four sacks, to go along with 13 tackles (six solo), 4.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble and recovery, to lineup opposite Hayes consistently.

And it’s not just Okunlolal, but Jimmy Scott — who has received an uptick in snaps over the last two weeks — who should receive a heavier workload. The second-year freshmen — along with Nahki Johnson, who has played just 54 snaps this season — are the future of the line.

And when it comes to the interior, it’s time to see if Sean FitzSimmons and Elliot Donald can hold their own against ACC competition. With Devin Danielson, David Green and Tyler Bentley all moving on following the season, it creates opportunity for FitzSimmons and Donald to rise.

FitzSimmons is just a second-year freshman, who has been hampered by injuries this season, but it will be Donald’s fourth season in the program in 2024.

Continue to Increase Ryland Gandy’s Role

M.J. Devonshire, Marquis Williams and A.J. Woods have played a lot of football for Pitt this season — recording 1,262 snaps between them.

Only Ryland Gandy and Tamarion Crumpley have taken snaps at cornerback outside the starting trio, and Crumpley received the majority of those in garbage time against Notre Dame. Gandy received some against the Fighting Irish, too, but he was active again against Florida State, recording 10 more against the Seminoles.

Gandy recorded a pressure, made a tackle and wasn’t targeted by the Florida State quarterbacks. In nine games this season, he’s recorded six tackles (five solo) and served as a special teams ace — knocking a ball lose as a gunner.

“First of all, he’s done one unbelievable job on special teams,” Narduzzi said. “You saw the big hit. The things that people don’t notice is sometimes him running down on punt team, and the other thing they don’t notice is what he’s doing to their gunners on our rangers unit, our punt block team, whatever you want to call it.

“Nobody, nobody shut down their gunners all year of running down the field. No one touched them. They just kind of ran by whoever was out there covering them every snap, and if you go back and watch the videotape and you talk about effort, he’s wiring them up at the line of scrimmage. It’s like, whoa. No one blocked them all year, and he did.”

The coaching staff talked three weeks ago about how the defensive coaches maybe waited just a little bit too long to get Gandy going. He mentioned that there’s always some level of fear when it comes to inserting young players into the lineup. But, of course, coaches can’t be afraid.

Gandy, Crumpley and Noah Biglow are the future of the cornerbacks’ room, along with young guys like Shadarian Harrison and Jesse Anderson, but Gandy appears to be the next guy in the room. Narduzzi and the defensive staff can’t be afraid to give Gandy the chance to learn on the job.

Pittsburgh Panthers running back Montravius Lloyd (15) September 2, 2023 David Hague/PSN

Is There Room for Montravius Lloyd or Derrick Davis Jr.? 

I’m conflicted on this one. Rodney Hammond Jr. is the most effective running back on the Pitt roster in what has been a head-scratching season of running back usage.

Flemister, who was named a captain before the Florida State game, has served as the lead back in a few games this season. Daniel Carter received his fair share of reps early in the season. It’s just been confusing.

And if Hammond doesn’t get the carries — I’m 100% saying he should — then it’s time to see what Derrick Davis Jr. and Montravius Lloyd have to offer. The pair have received offensive snaps in just one game this season, the opener against Wofford. And that’s because Davis is learning how to be a running back at the college level, and Lloyd just got to the college level.

The Pitt coaches love Flemister and Carter, and while both are solid runners, you know what you have in the pair. There’s loyalty there. But Davis and Flemister have that untapped potential that one day will need to be explored.

We’re at the point in the season where it is about figuring out what you’ve got coming back, as was the case for the Pitt defense against UCLA in the Sun Bowl last season, and Flemister will be gone next season. Hammond is the type of runner, it appears, will need a good complement.

And while he’s not a running back, Izzy Polk is due for some snaps down the stretch, too. The talented Bay Area native hasn’t played since the first couple of weeks of the season.

The post Ludwig: How I’d Like to See the Young Pitt Players Used appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

That’s tough on the seniors because that’s obviously not how they wanted to finish their Pitt career. Still, that doesn’t mean the last three games of the regular season are meaningless. That’s far from the case.

Pitt actually has some important things that they can accomplish, in terms of talent evaluation, and it’ll be interesting to see how the coaching staff handles this. Unfortunately, looking at his track record, it’s doubtful head coach Pat Narduzzi will go down this road and instead, he’ll be loyal to his seniors. On one hand, that loyalty as a coach is commendable and important, but in this situation, he needs to look towards the future.

In the past, Pitt has been able to use their extra practices for their upcoming bowl game to continue to evaluate players and, in some cases, give them playing time in that bowl game. That won’t be the case this year, so these final three games against Syracuse at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Boston College at home next Thursday and then Duke on the road on Saturday, Nov. 25 will serve as crucial moments for the coaching staff to develop their young talent.

The biggest question mark on this team remains the quarterback position and unless something dramatically changes in the next three games, that’ll remain the case heading into the off season.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, they still don’t know who their quarterback of the future is, which should come as troubling to the fan base and the coaching staff. Uncertainty at that position, along with a very poor offensive coordinator, hurt the Panthers last season and killed them again this year.

For a number of reasons, former quarterback Kedon Slovis wasn’t the answer in 2022 and the same thing this season with redshirt senior Phil Jurkovec, who transferred from Boston College.

The only difference in these situations is that Narduzzi has refused to admit his mistake and stuck with Slovis for the entire season. Even Narduzzi wasn’t stubborn enough to end the Jurkovec failed experiment and turned things over to Penn State transfer redshirt sophomore Christian Veilleux.

That was an obvious move, however, through these last three games, question marks still surround the most important position on the field.

It’s damn near impossible to truly evaluate any quarterback considering the abysmal/archaic system they’re playing in under Cignetti, but that still doesn’t answer the question as to if Veilleux is someone that can lead Pitt for the next two years and if they can win with him.

Has Veilleux improved as the signal-caller since his first start? Sure, but not enough to prove that he’s the answer long term, even if Pitt brings in a new offensive coordinator during the offseason.

Could redshirt sophomore Nate Yarnell answer those questions? Maybe. But once again, with him playing so little over these past two seasons, it’s tough to tell.

Pitt should completely open up their passing game to end this season. Scrap all the underneath patterns, along with the wide receiver screens and let the quarterbacks truly air things out. Let Veilleux or Yarnell play as “actual” quarterbacks and use a vertical passing game instead of the garbage 1980’s NFL Pro-style offense Pitt fans have suffered through the last two years.

Along with more aggressive and imaginative play-calling, these last few games are an opportunity to really take a look at some younger players. The redshirt juniors and the fifth year and sixth year seniors that aren’t getting the job done have had their time and the underclassmen should have the chance to prove themselves.

Freshmen like running back Montravius Lloyd and the four upcoming wide receivers in Kenny Johnson, Zion Fowler-El, Lamar Seymore and Israel Polk have the talent to succeed at this level but need the opportunity to show it.

Some other players on offense, such as redshirt sophomores in offensive lineman Terrence Enos Jr. and LSU transfer running back Derrick Davis Jr., and redshirt freshmen in track-star wide receiver Che Nwabuko, and Cal transfer offensive lineman Jackson Brown also should receive more snaps to end 2023.

The defensive line is filled with young, burgeoning stars like redshirt freshmen in Samuel Okunlola, Jimmy Scott, Sean Fitzsimmons, as well as redshirt sophomores in Nakhi Johnson and Elliott Donald. There are also three freshmen linebackers, Jordan Bass, Rasheem Biles and Braylan Lovelace who already burned their redshirt, giving Pitt no reason not to increase their snaps. Freshman defensive back Cruce Brookins made his debut against No. 4 Florida State last Saturday and is another freshman that has the potential to serve as a main-stay in the secondary.

Burning redshirts is something that Pitt shouldn’t care about. In this new age of the transfer portal, saving players with a redshirt is meaningless because the percentage of players that stick with a school for all four years is low. If they’re really good, they’re likely heading to the NFL and if they are unhappy with their situation, they’ll transfer.

No disrespect to the older players but they had a couple years and, in some cases, two-plus years to show what they can do, now it’s time for Narduzzi to look ahead to 2024 and beyond. Don’t waste these last three games. Take a risk and start the on-field talent evaluation for next season starting this Saturday against Syracuse.

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Cignetti has made many stops on his collegiate and professional coaching journey, often pointing out that he’s worked alongside — and with — some of the greatest names in the game. He’s an overwhelmingly positive presence who, by all accounts, wants the absolute best for his players on and off the field.

“We got an unbelievable group of players in this football program,” Cignetti said Wednesday after practice. “Coach Narduzzi’s done an unbelievable job building this culture, not only Christian and Phil in this situation, but our guys give us everything they have. And when you’ve gotta make a tough decision like that, what you love as a coach is that this team loves each other and they compete with each other and they root for each other.”

That’s great. It’s great to love and respect the guys in his room, to come to work every day with a smile and the desire to make a difference on his players, but now more than ever, college football is a business.

When Cignetti got his start, working under his father as an offensive assistant at Indiana (Pa.), he said he used to be consumed by the idea of schemes and fundamentals and techniques and all the details of really making an offense hum. By his own admission, he prioritizes more than just what occurs on the field these days.

“As I’ve gotten older, and obviously through experience I understand those aspects better, I think more about the leadership,” Cignetti said. “Every day I drive in here, I think about how can I stand in front of this team or this offense and make a difference as a positive leader because it’s our job to inspire, it’s our job to teach, it’s our job to really put these young men in a position to be successful on and off the field.

“So, as a coordinator, I love the leadership aspect of it, trying to inspire these young men and really these teaching moments that we have right now, hey, we’re going through adverse times right now, but we’re gonna learn how to fight through adverse times by believing in yourself, believing in our teammates and staying positive and working hard.”

If Cignetti wants to mold his players into outstanding young men who persevere in the face of pressure, it better pay off on the football field, too. And it just hasn’t. If anything, Pitt has regressed offensively this season.

He preached the importance of continuity after practice Wednesday, especially when it comes to Christian Veilleux and the quarterbacks, but it it’s a ‘what have you done for me lately’ kind of environment now. And it’s not as if there’s been any sort of consistency established over the last two seasons now.

You don’t have three years in college football anymore. You’re lucky to get one. And when Cignetti claims that it all starts with coaching, himself and the offensive staff, but execution still isn’t where it needs to be, that’s an indictment on either the players brought in or the system itself. And with the way Cignetti lavished praise on his players, that leaves himself in the crosshairs.

Pitt is on its third quarterback of the Frank Cignetti Jr. era, and it’s just not working. The Panthers are way, way down in scoring, racking up fewer yards than ever (especially on the ground) and there hasn’t been any level of consistency.  It’s not unfair to say it’s one of the worst offenses in college football — certainly in the ACC.

“It’s hard, whether you’re in the NFL, college football, high school, getting the execution, it’s not easy. But every day we go out there and strive to do it better,” Cignetti said. 

The effort is admirable and the love is commendable, but it has to result in something positive.

It’s not as if the Pitt players are without fault this season, but I think it’s pretty clear that — while Cignetti may be instilling knowledge and wisdom in his players — the system isn’t conducive to success on the field for a variety of reasons. And that success, especially on the heels of the most successful two-season stretch in decades, should be paramount.

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Duzz has a bad habit of putting his foot in his mouth at press conferences due to how emotional he is and because of a lot of what he says doesn’t seem thought out.

That could have been the case last night when answering a question about how Pitt is in this position (2-6 record). His response drew the reaction of both the fans and also his players. It even forced Narduzzi to re-issue a statement no doubt because of how his players were reacting on social media.

Surprisingly, the reaction from Pitt fans has been more split than I would have thought. Half the fans are ripping Narduzzi for throwing his players under the bus, while the other half are criticizing Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pitt beat writer Noah Hiles for only originally posting part of Narduzzi’s statement and excluding the part where he says, “Again, it starts with me.”

My take is, let up on Noah, this is all on Narduzzi for a variety of reasons and is deeper than just a 5-second quote.

First of all, the part that Narduzzi says, ‘Again, it starts with me. I didn’t do a good enough job coaching today. Put it on me’. Blah, blah, blah, that’s all bullshit and coaches speak.

Any and every coach worth his salt says this after a loss. Every single coach. Just go back and check the tape. Do they really mean this? Probably not but they say it for the public perception that they’re taking accountability.

That’s certainly the case with Narduzzi and this statement. He attempted to back up his original point of the team lacking talent with the meaningless ‘starts with me’ BS.

Here’s the deeper issue, if that statement about talent is correct (and I don’t necessarily believe it is), there’s only one group to blame- Narduzzi and his coaches.

This isn’t professional sports where teams have a general manger and scouting departments, in college, it’s all on the head coach and his assistants. So, if Pitt’s roster is lacking talent, Narduzzi needs to look in the mirror because he’s the CEO.

To me, it’s astonishing that just two years from winning the ACC championship, Pitt is on its way to having their worst record since 1998. I don’t care who you lost to graduation or the NFL the previous year, they shouldn’t have fallen this much. It’s inexcusable and someone needs to address for this disaster. Throwing your players under the bus publicly is a very bad look for Narduzzi and any criticism he gets, is deserved.

Pitt is in this current situation for one of two reasons: 1) IF the talent isn’t good enough, that’s an indictment on Narduzzi and his coaches for their talent evaluation, both in high school scouting and also through the transfer portal. I’ll tell you this, if Pitt continues to struggle bringing in impact portal talent, they’re doomed. To this point, they’ve struggled mightily, which is quite concerning for the future. 2). The bigger reason for this 2-6 record might just be that this current staff isn’t capable of putting the talent that they do have in a position to succeed.

IMO, Rodney Hammond, Kenny Johnson, Che Nwabuko, Konata Mumpfield, Daejon Reynolds, Malcolm Epps, Derrick Davis and Gavin Bartholomew have had a season of eligibility thrown down the drain because of an offensive coordinator that’s incapable of doing his job anymore. Bartholomew only having 17 receptions and Hammonds only 66 carries in 8 games should be a fireable offense. Davis, Epps and Nwabuko are freak athletes, and this offense coordinator has no idea how to get them the ball.

After what we’ve witnessed the last two years at the quarterback position with Kedon Slovis, Nick Patti and Phil Jurkovec, does ANYONE have any confidence that Cignetti can properly develop Christian Veilleux, Nate Yarnell or the whomever is quarterback for Pitt in 2024?

The fact that Frank Cignetti, Jr. is still employed is inexplainable and something that Narduzzi should have to answer for.

Today will be an interesting day over at the South Side as the Pitt team meets and Narduzzi will no doubt try and explain his comments and smooth things over.

Will it work? I’m sure he’ll get a majority of the players to understand what he was saying, while some will still not appreciate what was said.

This firestorm will end publicly within the next 24-48 hours, but the true impact will be seen at the end of the season. By that I’m referring to the NCAA Transfer Portal. To his credit, aside from the loss of Jordan Addison, Narduzzi has been able to keep this program together and Pitt’s roster hasn’t really been torn apart by transfers.

Between his comment about Pitt’s talent not being good enough and the current record, this could and likely will be an active year with player movement.

The long-term question now is whether this was a one-year blip on the radar and if not, is Narduzzi and this current coaching staff capable of a rebuild?

Narduzzi got them in this position, can he get them out?

The post Vukovcan: Pat Narduzzi’s Problems Go Way Beyond Putting Foot in Mouth appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

Actually, for both Matt Canada and Cignetti, the criticism has dated back to last season, as both Pitt and the Pittsburgh Steelers offenses have struggled with both moving the ball and scoring points.

The darts have been out for Cignetti for a number of reasons, namely the poor play of his quarterbacks, questionable play-calling, lack of imagination with his offense and personnel usage. Other than that, Pitt fans are totally ok with the work of the offensive coordinator (sarcasm).

During his weekly Monday press conference today, Pat Narduzzi had at least one comment that got my attention and it had to do with his running backs.

“C’Bo has stepped up as a leader when Matt Goncalves went down. He plays his tail off. He’s played hard. Rodney didn’t start, but Rodney’s good too. Gotta go with the hot hand. We’re going to play the hot guy. Maybe Rodney rushes for 150 yards this week.”

Ok, where do I begin.

First off, this isn’t an attack on Flemister, who from all accounts is a great kid and has been a nice addition to Pitt since transferring last season from Notre Dame.

The job of a coaching staff is to play the guy who gives your team the best chance to win and someone with the best skillset to produce not the player who’s the best leader and guy who plays his tail off.

That player is clearly Rodney Hammond and not C’Bo Flemister. It’s not even close.

Since arriving at Pitt, Hammond has been a playmaker and has only been stopped by injury and having Izzy Abanikanda as a teammate.

In 2021, Hammond carried the ball 102 times for 504 yards (4.9 yards per carry) and 5 rushing touchdowns. The following season, Hammond rushed 109 times for 459 yards (4.2 yards per carry).

With Izzy off to the NFL, many thought this would be the season for Hammond to showcase his skills but that hasn’t happened. Despite this Pitt team desperately needing a playmaker on offense, Cignetti and Narduzzi have not given Hammond an opportunity. Quite honestly, as has been the case with many of his decisions, I have no idea what Cignetti is doing or even thinking.

Through Pitt’s first seven games, Hammond has just 60 carries all season, which averages to about 7 carries per game.

Hammond’s Carries Per Game:
Wofford- 5 carries, 25 yards
Cincinnati- 6 carries, 21 yards
West Virginia- 14 carries, 49 yards
North Carolina- 14 carries, 83 yards
Virginia Tech- 7 carries, 18 yards
Louisville- 11 carries, 50 yards
Wake Forest- 3 carries, 1 yard

At today’s press conference, Narduzzi said you “gotta go with hot hand.” Well, it’s hard to get the hot hand when you’re not getting the chance to get hot, despite showing the ability to do so in the past.

Come to think about it, Hammond’s two most productive games this season were when he had his most carries. The funny thing is that in both of those games after running well on the opening drive, Cignetti quit giving Hammond the ball.

Opening Drive vs. West Virginia: 7 carries for 41 yards. The rest of the game, Hammond received just 7 carries.
Opening Drive vs. North Carolina: 7 carries for 31 yard and a TD. The rest of the game, Hammond received just 7 carries.

Because real answers are never given at the Monday press conference and the offensive coordinator rarely, if ever speaks during the season, it’s impossible to know the real story behind this mystery.

To be honest though, this shouldn’t surprise anyone because for two years, Cignetti has ignored one of if not his best pass catching weapon in tight end Gavin Barthomew.

This along with a bunch of other offensive decisions make any sense and is a big reason for Pitt’s embarrassing 2-5 record. And a big reason why Pitt could be in the market for a new offensive coordinator at the end of the season.

The post Vukovcan: ‘Hot Hand’ Doesn’t Explain Pitt RB Mismanagement appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

Yeah, did the ref completely blow that call, which technically cost Pitt the game? Yes. But I’m not going to have tunnel vision and ignore everything else that allowed that game to come down to that single play.

The truth is that was a really bad Wake Forest team that was using a 3rd string quarterback and someone that had never taken a college snap. That game should’ve never come down to the last series of the game, but it did for a variety of reasons and that’s on Pat Narduzzi.

This Pitt team is now 2-5 and while some might say they’re just a bad team, I disagree, and believe they’re underperforming and are a product of the bad coaching and the stale environment Narduzzi has fostered.

Many thought that benching Phil Jurkovec was going to be the magic wand to putting Pitt’s 2023 season back on track. And while that certainly was the right move and the first step in the right direction, this Pitt offense had more issues than Jurkovec. Mainly the person in charge of calling plays and deciding on personnel.

To be blunt, Frank Cignetti has been a complete disaster and yet another failed offensive coordinator hire by Narduzzi. Despite being referred to as a tremendous quarterback coach, the quarterback position and the passing game has been a complete failure since he was hired. The only reason Pitt was able to move the ball and score points last season was Izzy Abanikanda, someone Cignetti inherited.

Pitt’s passing game prevented them from winning more games last year and is once again causing them to underachieve this season.

This offense should be better than it is but it’s not because of Cignetti and his lack of creativity and proper personnel usage. Someone needs to tell Cignetti and Narduzzi this isn’t the 1990’s anymore and offenses are meant to win you games and you’re allowed to be creative. I include Narduzzi in this because this is the exact style of boring offense that he endorses and something that he’s looked to run since coming to Pitt. The only year we didn’t see this was Pitt’s most successful year with Kenny Pickett and Mark Whipple. We saw what happened to Whipple at the end of that year.

Here’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about with Cignetti and the way he calls plays.

For the first time this season, Pitt has a quarterback that looks capable of throwing the ball in Christian Veilleux. Instead of believing in him and trusting in what everyone is seeing, Cignetti, in typical fashion, stays boring and predictable.

Here was Pitt’s 2nd half play calling on 3rd and short.

3rd and 3, Hammond 0 yards.
2nd and 3, Flemister -2 yards.
4th and 1, Flemister 0 yards.
3rd and 2, Flemister -1 yards.
3rd and 3, Flemister -1 yards.

This is relevant because Veilleux was 10-of-14 on 3rd down and those 10 completions accounted for 8 first downs. How did Pitt do when they tried to run for a first down on a 3rd down play? They didn’t convert a single one.

Here are some other things that have me scratching my head and wondering what in the hell Cignetti is doing.

*In Pitt’s 7 games this season, Rodney Hammond has 11 carries or less in 5 of those games. He’s been completely wasted and underused.
*Tailback Derrick Davis, the former Gateway star and LSU transfer, is a freak athlete and has touched the ball 2 times all season.
*Tight end Gavin Bartholomew doesn’t have more than 3 catches in any game. The way Cignetti has ignored his obvious talent for two years is a crime.
*Despite having offensive skills and athleticism, fellow tight ends Karter Johnson and USC transfer Malcolm Epps have been wasted.
*Che Nwabuko is the fastest player on the roster. Has Cignetti done anything to get him the ball? He has 2 rushes all season.
*Kenny Johnson was the talk of camp and projected to be a big playmaker this season? He has 8 catches all year, 4 of which came yesterday. He had 3, including a TD on the first drive, and then just one for the remainder of the game. SMH!

The bottom line with all of this is that college football play calling has advanced from the 90’s and early 2000’s and unfortunately Cignetti hasn’t. In order to attract and keep top talent, you need to be a lot better at your job and think differently than Cignetti does.

At one point, Cignetti might have been a good offensive coordinator, but that no longer is the case.

If Pitt football wants to turn things around for the future, they need a different vision and person in charge.

Unfortunately, Frank Cignetti, Jr. is not that guy.

The post Vukovcan: Don’t Allow Controversial Call to Overshadow Pitt’s Biggest Issues appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

The 2023 season has already been supremely disappointing, sitting at 2-4 (1-2 ACC) even with an upset win over then-No. 14 Louisville, but context is key. There still — despite struggles offensively and defensively — hasn’t really been a game where Pitt has been completely out of it.

Pitt has lost four games this season, and there’s probably only one where it’s like, ‘Okay, yeah. Yeah, they got us.’ There wasn’t anything the Panthers could’ve done to stop Drake Maye and North Carolina.

But the other three losses? Could Pitt have beaten West Virginia if Phil Jurkvoec didn’t turn the ball over three times? 100%. WVU backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol threw for 60 yards. 10 points directly off of two of Jurkovec’s picks. 211 yards of offense for both teams. Average quarterback play is the difference.

Cincinnati was bad then, and it looks even worse now. Inexcusable. Virginia Tech isn’t as bad, especially not coming at night in Blacksburg, Va., but it’s still pretty bad.

If Pitt wants to not just reach for its new-look end-of-season goals but show that the Panthers have any sort of juice, a loss to Wake Forest cannot occur. A bowl berth would be nice — and it is the goal — but this is a Pitt squad that wants to show it has reached a certain level of consistency. That hasn’t been the case so far. But it can start Saturday.

Wake Forest is 0-3 in the ACC, with losses to Clemson, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, and the Demon Deacons have fallen quite far from where they were in 2021.

Sam Hartman is now at Notre Dame, and Mitch Griffis — returning to the starting lineup after being benched against Virginia Tech last week — leads the way. And he has not inspired much confidence. His QBR this season is comparable to Jurkovec’s, for reference.

Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Christian Veilleux (11) October 5, 2023 David Hague/PSN

The Demon Deacons offense is scoring just 23.5 points per game this season (13th in the ACC). It dips to just 13.7 points per game in actual ACC play, and the Deacons haven’t exactly played murderer’s row this season.

I think it’s fair to say that Wake Forest isn’t a very good football team this season.

Counting Wake Forest, Pitt has to win four games over its next six to become bowl eligible. And when it comes to the remaining schedule, there are — what appear to be — tough games ahead.

Notre Dame is up next, on the road in South Bend, Ind., and that’s a very difficult environment to play in, but Florida State will be even tougher the following weekend. But then it opens up into Syracuse (at Yankee Stadium) and Boston College.

Syracuse and Boston College have won one ACC game this season. Combined. But even then, the regular season finale comes on the road against a solid Duke squad, which should have a healthy Riley Leonard by then.

Pitt’s remaining opponents, after Wake Forest in this case, have a 24-9 (7-5 ACC) record entering Saturday. There are certainly some bad losses mixed in there, but Pitt isn’t without bad losses of its own this season either.

A 6-6 regular season would be a disappointment considering the expectations entering the season, but with all that’s transpired over the first month and a half of the season, that would be a major success for both the coaching staff and the players. It would mean wins against some good opponents and tangible growth shown with players who will be around for a while.

There’s a new quarterback, injuries across the lineup and underclassmen making an impact at just about every position, and a 6-6 season will do nothing to quell the doubt from a national audience, but it will show that Pitt battled. This isn’t a team lacking talent, but there won’t be many “easier” games left this season than Wake Forest.

The road back begins with the Demon Deacons, and Pitt cannot afford to trip up at the very beginning.

The post Ludwig: Pitt Cannot Afford Loss to Wake Forest appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

As most people know by now, Narduzzi is a stubborn man and will continue to do something almost to the point of defiance.

A year ago, even someone without much football knowledge could see that Kedon Slovis wasn’t getting it done at quarterback and a change was needed. Despite how obvious it was to everyone, Narduzzi refused to make a change. It was almost as though; Narduzzi didn’t want to be viewed as being wrong in bringing in Slovis and was going to stick with him no matter what.

There was some deja vu in 2023.

Pitt brought in former four-star recruit, Notre Dame and Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec. He was viewed by most as a good, safe addition that would make the offense better and an improvement over Slovis.

Wrong.

If we’re brutally honest, Jurkovec’s five-game stretch has to be one of the worst in the 133-year history of Pitt football. His final stat line of 57-of-112 attempts for 803 yards and six touchdowns and three interceptions doesn’t accurately tell the story. Admittedly, he was far from the only issue on offense, but Jurkovec wasn’t good. He showed zero accuracy with short, intermediate or deep patterns. Countless times when not under pressure, he skipped or threw passes at receivers’ feet. Honestly, the only thing he consistently did well was run the football.

Even after the embarrassment at Virginia Tech, Narduzzi defended Jurkovec and continued to cite other issues on the offense.

“Phil was under pressure the whole game,” Narduzzi said following the loss. “He got sacked four times, even when we had a completion, he’s getting hit. Every time. That is not an easy situation to put anybody in, and I still feel that’s the guy back there making the plays. He had one ball that was not good in the flat, I don’t know if it slipped out of his hand or what, but other than that he made some nice throws. He’s under pressure all day. You can put Dan Marino in there, Dan Marino is not gonna do anything, period.”

While those comments seemed to be Narduzzi’s way of saying Phil isn’t the issue and he’d continue to be Pitt’s starting quarterback, we learned today that’s not the case. According to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the team was informed today that sophomore Christian Veilleux will be starting next Saturday against Louisville.

Whatever led to this decision, and there can be many theories on what those could be, Narduzzi deserves credit for pulling the trigger with this much-talked-about move.

I’m already receiving messages that this was done three games too late, and it cost them their season, and while that probably is true, at least he recognized Jurkovec was a mistake and Veilleux will still have seven games of on-the-job experience and to showcase what he can do. Even if this season isn’t salvageable, the long-term upside of this is Pitt will get a real look at Veilleux and it works, they still have him under center for two more seasons.

A reminder though to Pitt fans: just because a quarterback change was made, that’s not going to fix all the problems.

Do I think Veilleux is a better option than Jurkovec, of course, but that doesn’t mean everything will get better, it just means they’ll have a better opportunity to succeed.

The biggest question moving forward is whether this move leads to a change in the way offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, Jr. calls plays. If not and things stay boring, conservative and with no imagination, Pitt’s struggles will continue.

If those struggles do continue for the remainder of the season, with Jurkovec no longer an option to blame, the heat will continue to rise on both Cignetti and Narduzzi.

Come to think about it, you really have to wonder if this move was really made for long-term job security. If the losing continues, Jurkovec might not be the only person on Pitt getting canned.

The post Vukovcan: Pat Narduzzi Deserves Credit For Making a Change appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

The Panthers are currently 1-4, their worst start to a season since 2005. This features losses to rivals Cincinnati and West Virginia along with an 0-2 ACC record, with losses to then ranked No. 17 North Carolina in Week 4 and a 38-21 loss to Virginia Tech on the road last weekend.

It’s not that Pitt has been competitive in these games either, as awful offensive performances have kept this team from making any comeback. Terrible offensive execution, particularly from the quarterback position, along with the horrendous scheme of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. and poor offensive line play has made for some of the most uninspiring and pathetic performances from a Pitt offense that fans have ever seen.

The Panthers, on offense, are last in the ACC in total yards and passing yards per game, respectively, and second lowest in both rushing yards per game and offensive efficiency. Redshirt senior quarterback Phil Jurkovec has only completed 50.9% of his passes, second worst in the FBS, and has made Kedon Slovis, someone who threw for only 10 touchdowns last season, look like a far better option if he had stayed at Pitt.

The ACC Championship that came with a fantastic 2021 season, for Pitt fans, feels as if it happened more than a century ago. This is one of the worst Pitt football teams in the 21st century and with the games coming ahead, which feature four ranked teams and two in the top 10, a 1-11 finish might not be too outlandish.

This is dangerous territory for the program to be in for many areas, but especially with fans. Losing happens with every team and Pitt fans understand that, but when they are looking at maybe the worst season in their lifetime, it’s easy to become quickly disinterested.

Pitt fans have every right to feel disgusted with the performances so far and they’ve shared them at games with booing, on social media and elsewhere. Still, there are so many great fall sport programs at Pitt, and with the winter teams starting up soon, there is no need to let football ruin their lives.

Volleyball, which is coming off of three straight Elite Eights and back-to-back Final Fours, is great this season, once again. They rank No. 7 in the country, are 13-2 overall and 4-0 in ACC play. This includes a seven-match winning streak without dropping a set and losses to good teams in No. 5 Oregon in five sets at home and No. 10 BYU in four sets in the season opener in Montana.

The Panthers face a great test this Friday at 7 p.m. in the No. 11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, who come to Fitzgerald Field House. This is one of the most important matches of the season for the Panthers, which will feature as a decider not only for the ACC title, but also in their goal to host from the First Round through the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. With a bye week for football, there is no reason why fans shouldn’t make this a sell out.

Men’s soccer is also continuing to play well, despite losing eight starters from the previous season. They are 4-3-3 (W-L-T) overall and 1-1-2 in the ACC, with wins over then ranked No. 19 Denver on Sept. 25 and No. 9 Wake Forest on Sept. 9.

Head coach Jay Vidovich helps to schedule some of the best teams in the country and also with ACC play, Pitt will once again look to make not only their fourth straight Elite Eight, but their third College Cup in four seasons too.

They have three home matches left in the regular season, which includes Virginia Tech this Friday, the “City Game” against Duquesne on Tuesday, Oct. 17 and No. 14 Duke for Senior Day on Saturday, Oct. 21. Many great opportunities to support a top team, before the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, with a fantastic atmosphere at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Women’s soccer, which made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and all the way to the Sweet 16 last season, is still one of the better teams in the ACC. They have a 9-1-2 record, but the United Soccer Coaches Rankings only have them receiving some votes instead of a ranking.

The ACC for women’s soccer is by far the best conference in the country and Pitt will take on some great opponents the rest of the month. They face No. 22 Duke on Thursday and then No. 17 Wake Forest on Sunday, Oct. 8, both at home, before facing Syracuse, No. 2 Florida State and No. 9 Clemson on the road, before ending the regular season with Virginia Tech back at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Randy Waldrum is in his sixth season as head coach of women’s soccer. An attack featuring fifth year forward Amanda West, leading goal scorer in program history, junior forward Sarah Schupansky, North Allegheny alum and team leader with eight goals this season, along with a number of other players who have helped the team average 2.75 goals per match makes this Pitt team a threat that has the chance to prove they are one of the best in the ACC and the country.

Winter sports are also on the way and men’s basketball headlines, as fans are excited to see them back at the Petersen Events Center. After years of poor play, the Panthers turned it around in head coach Jeff Capel’s fifth year after a 1-4 start and made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, into the Round of 32 after starting in the First Four.

Wrestling, led by Keith Gavin in his seventh season at the helm, produced its first NCAA Champion in Nino Bonaccorsi at 197 pounds, the first to do so since Gavin himself at 174 pounds in 2008, as they both finished their seasons undefeated.

Pitt features nine wrestlers that earned a placement in the preseason Intermat rankings, showing the strength of the squad as a whole. Redshirt senior Cole Matthews at 141 pounds and redshirt freshman Dayton Pitzer at heavyweight are two Pitt wrestlers that have the ability to challenge for a National Title this season.

Women’s basketball is under a new regime with Tory Verdi, who has had success building up programs at Eastern Michigan (2012-16) and UMass (2016-23) into consistent winners. The team only returns four players from last season, with three freshmen and five transfers, which will make for an interesting first season for Verdi and the program as well.

Pitt athletics has shown itself to have great teams that fans can watch. While it is easy to fall into despair as a Pitt fan when watching the football team play each weekend, there are so many great sport teams this athletics department have to offer.

They are worthy of your time and effort. They’ve shown up this fall so far and the winter teams should look to do the same. The fall programs have received solid fan turnout so far, but the the hard-working student-athletes and coaching staffs always appreciate greater support, especially later in their respective seasons when the competition means much more.

With those programs competing in their respective postseasons, Pitt fans have a great opportunity to show up to those teams’ games/matches.

The days of Pitt only functioning as a “football and basketball” school have stopped a while ago, but it’s easy to forget if you haven’t paid attention to the other great programs recently.

So don’t lose hope Panther nation. Use that energy that you were going to worry about the football team with to support those programs and you might just play a role in the first National Title in 47 years.

The post Campbell: Don’t Forget About the Rest of Pitt Athletics This Fall appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

Instead of entering this week of recruiting on a positive, Pat Narduzzi’s program sits at 1-4 with serious question marks as to how many wins they’ll be able the rest of the way.

The bottom line is that Pitt’s struggles in 2023 come down to two factors: poor play at quarterback and as equally as bad job being done by offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, Jr.

We know that Phil Jurkovec won’t be returning in 2024 and with the job poor job he’s done since being hired last year, it’s becoming impossible to imagine a scenario in which Cignetti returns.

The post Die-Hards: Pat Narduzzi Has No Other Choice But to Make a Change on Offense appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

In times like this, people tend to overreact to the current situation, but this is no overreaction- this is the low point of the Pat Narduzzi era at Pitt. This is the first time Pitt has started 1-4 since 2005, Dave Wannstedt’s first season at Pitt. Following that 1-4 start under Wanny, that team went on a 3-game winning streak, trust me, this 2023 Pitt team isn’t doing that.

Unfortunately, it’s become evident that this team isn’t that good. Once again, they’ve misevaluated talent, this team doesn’t have that ‘Dude’/leader on it, the program as a whole has become stale and the direction from the top has been awful.

Other than that, Pitt football is in great shape.

This has become the biggest challenge of Narduzzi’s coaching career and I’m not confident that he can or knows what to do to turn things around.

To start with, for some God forsaken reason, he’s anchored himself to quarterback Phil Jurkovec.

I have no idea why he’s showing so much loyalty to a player he’s coached for less than a year. It’s not as though he’s a program player, Jurkovec rejected Pitt years ago and only came this year because things didn’t work out at both Notre Dame and Boston College. It would’ve been nice if Narduzzi would’ve shown this sort of loyalty to Nick Patti last season, instead of being stubborn and refusing to replace Kedon Slovis.

The way he’s coddled Jurkovec is mind blowing, treating him as a true freshman instead of the 5th year senior that he is. Jurkovec isn’t a kid, he’s grown man, it’s time to start treating him like one.

The fact that Pitt hasn’t made Jurkovec available to the media during the week or for postgame interviews since the Wofford game is laughable. During good times and bad, Kenny Pickett spoke to the media every week before games and during postgame interviews. Pitt didn’t hide him like they are Jurkovec. If Jurkovec can’t handle difficult questions, that probably tells you all you need to know.

All the good will Narduzzi developed with the winning and the ACC Championship is slowly vanishing with the way he’s handling this offensive disaster- both with the quarterback and offensive coordinator.

Narduzzi’s bending over backwards last night to defend Jurkovec, even bringing up the name of Dan Marino was laughable. No one, including the players on the Pitt team (if they’re honest), want to keep hearing excuses about why the quarterback can’t produce. Despite the million excuses that Narduzzi makes, the bottom line is that Phil Jurkovec has stunk this season and isn’t going to get any better.

It’s time that Narduzzi uses this bye week to deal with reality instead of latest nonsensical answers and BS that he continues to spew.

In their next game against Louisville, Christian Veillux or Nate Yarnell need to start, or someone’s job should be on the line. If Frank Cignetti, Jr. makes that decision like Narduzzi said a couple of weeks ago (no way do I believe that), the next two weeks of practice should be with Pitt’s new quarterback going forward.

If Cignetti is unwilling to do that, then Pitt should be in the market for a new offensive coordinator. Maybe they should be thinking about that anyway considering they’ve scored just seven touchdowns in 4 games this season against FBS teams. I don’t care what excuse you want to make, that’s just embarrassing, and needs addressed.

Narduzzi has always been someone that isn’t afraid to talk tough to the media. The question now is will Duzz be able to make and act upon some upcoming tough personnel and potentially coaching decisions.

While this 2023 season is lost, the remaining seven games still are important, and they need to start setting the foundation for the future, which obviously doesn’t include Jurkovec.

This is obviously not what Pitt environed for 2023, but it is what it is and starting today, they need to start dealing with reality.

That starts with the head coach. Let’s see if he’s up for that challenge or if he’ll continue to wear blinders and refuse to deal with reality.

The post Vukovcan: Now Comes Biggest Challenge of Narduzzi’s Career at Pitt appeared first on Pittsburgh Sports Now.

No doubt, Phil Jurkovec’s play this season has been under the line, but so have many Pitt players, position groups and coaches.

Unfortunately for Pitt, when so many players aren’t playing to their potential, or maybe they are and they’re just not talented enough to compete, it will result in struggles and that certainly has been the case this season with Pitt.

To make matters worse, injuries have started to pile up for Pitt. Matt Goncalves and Ryan Jacoby, two members of Pitt’s starting offensive line, are now out for the season. Linebacker Bangally Kamara missed Saturday’s game, as did Sean FitzSimmons, and Jurkovec himself sustained a first half injury and didn’t return.

With the upcoming schedule getting more difficult, unless things turn quickly, this could be a very long season for Pat Narduzzi’s crew.

Pitt’s obviously not of that mindset and will try and get back on track this Saturday night at Virginia Tech.

The big questions are, what can they do to get things turned around? Does this current roster have the personnel to start winning?

Personally, I believe they do, but the coaching staff has to be willing to make some changes to the lineup. Personnel usage isn’t the only issue, but it would be the first step to turning things around this season and for the future.

Five Things Pitt Should Do Going Forward

Replace Bub Means 

This move is long overdue. The coaching staff has talked up Means since his arrival last season, but unfortunately, he hasn’t been productive. When you look at him, he has the size and speed that would intrigue any offensive coordinator, but it’s resulted in zero productivity. He’s been a starter for two seasons and someone that both Kedon Slovis and Jurkovec have targeted, but he’s just not a playmaker or someone who should be a starter at Pitt. In four games this season, Means has just six catches, despite being targeted numerous times. It’s time that Frank Cignetti Jr. replaces Means with Kenny Johnson or Zion Fowler-El. The future should be now for those young wideouts.

Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Bub Means (15) September 24, 2022 David Hague/PSN

Feed the Tight Ends 

For the second consecutive season, it’s mind-blowing that Gavin Bartholomew is a non-factor in Pitt’s offensive game plan. For the last two seasons, Bartholomew has been the most talented pass catcher in this offense but is rarely targeted. I can’t explain it, and to be honest, it’s been a huge failure in Cignetti’s second tenure at Pitt. Last season, Bartholomew had just 21 receptions and in four games this season, Gavin has just nine catches, which have been for an average of 24 yards per catch. Bartholomew is the top weapon in this offense and should be thrown to 10+ times per game. In fact, with how inconsistent the wide receivers have been, Bartholomew, Karter Johnson and the other tight ends should be targeted a lot more. Since we haven’t seen it in two years, I doubt it’s going to change, so unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until he plays in the NFL before we see how good Bartholomew can really be.

Pittsburgh Panthers tight end Gavin Bartholomew (86) September 9, 2023 David Hague/PSN

Don’t Ignore Rodney Hammond Jr. 

I feel the same way about Bartholomew as I do about Rodney Hammond Jr. Bartholomew is Pitt’s best pass catcher and weapon, and Hammond is Pitt’s most talented running back. Assuming he’s healthy, Hammond should be getting the majority of the carries, the same way that Izzy Abanikanda did a season ago. In another offensive game plan that is hard to explain, Hammond has just 39 carries in four games. It’s inexcusable for a team’s best running back to be averaging just 10 carries per game. Like they did against West Virginia, Pitt got Hammond involved early but then ignored him. Against North Carolina, Hammond rushed the ball 14 times, nine of which came on the first two drives (which both resulted in touchdowns). Over the rest of the game, Hammond received just five carries. As I said, assuming he’s healthy, this usage makes zero sense and needs to change.

Pittsburgh Panthers running back Rodney Hammond Jr. (6) September 23, 2023 David Hague/Pittsburgh Sports Now

More Snaps for the Young Defensive Linemen 

Pitt fans have been both spoiled and fortunate to watch some really talented defensive linemen over the last handful of seasons, many of whom have gone on to the NFL. This group of players has led all of college football over the last few seasons in sacks, which is a major reason for the success Pitt has enjoyed. Unfortunately, the Panthers lost a lot of talent from their 2022 defensive line, and this season, the productivity isn’t what we’ve become accustomed to. It’s not been bad, but it also hasn’t been game-changing as in years past. Fortunately, Pitt’s last few recruiting classes have brought in plenty of highly-rated talent into the program. I think the future should be now for some of these players. Let’s get a lot more snaps for Nahki Johnson, Isaiah Neal, Samuel Okunlola and Jimmy Scott. Johnson seemed to be the talk of camp, poised to have a breakout season, but where has he been? Although he hasn’t gotten much time, Okunlola seems to be around the ball and making plays when he’s in, find ways to get him more snaps. If the injury to FitzSimmons is long-term, let’s see Neal. I appreciate and respect what some of the seniors have given this program, but we know what we have with them, it’s time to explore the potential of the younger players and to see if their time is now.

Pittsburgh Panthers defensive lineman Samuel Okunlola (8) September 2, 2023 David Hague/PSN

Make it Easy on the Quarterbacks 

It doesn’t matter who it is, whether it’s Jurkovec or Christian Veilleux or Nate Yarnell, Cignetti has to be able to scheme up ways to give his quarterbacks easy throws. Quick, easy throws that get the ball out of the quarterbacks’ hand, utilizing the running backs and tight ends more, establishing the run game and allowing the quarterback to run play action. It’s been like pulling teeth with the quarterbacks this season, and the playcalling hasn’t helped. It’s seemed like as Pitt ran its offensive script over the first two drives or so of the last two games, the offense has had success, but it’s fallen off as the game has worn on — whether that’s been because of poor quarterback play or injuries or both. Cignetti’s offense simply hasn’t been good enough this season, and that needs to change.

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