OT: D1

[IUP24]

Interesting Pitt weekend.

1) Yesterday, Pat Narduzzi overhauled his offensive staff. Long time assistants Tim Salem (TEs), Dave Borborly (OL), and Andre Powell (RBs/Special Teams) were all let go. Salem was somewhat surprising, as he's been one of Narduzzi's top recruiters and has been the one to land many of the best Pitt players in the Narduzzi era. This likely signals that they are going in an entirely different direction offensively and Kade Bell will be hiring his own staff. That's nice to see and was needed.

2) Alabama quarterback Eli Holstein entered the transfer portal last week and took an official visit to Pitt this weekend. He announced his commitment to Pat Narduzzi today. Former 4-star QB who Alabama reportedly tried pretty hard to keep. Not sure the story of why he chose to leave Alabama, but I do know that he has a relationship with new Pitt OC Kade Bell. He redshirted this year as a true freshman and will have 4 years of eligibility.

[Fightingscot82]

Aliquippa will be in 6A by 2025 with an 18-man roster ... and probably still winning games.

It's basically like moving the PSAC champion up to the SEC for the following season.

1A to 5A is a joke.

It's a massive competitive disadvantage to play schools with 4 and 5 times their enrollment.

I know the argument is they just steamrolled 4A and won the PIAA gold. But, when is enough, enough?

The problem is the Quips are making a mockery of the WPIAL.

The lazy game plan will be to decimate their roster. Dirty and vile but you know it's on someone's mind. Happens all the time to the low end of single A teams. The one QB on the team goes down in week 7 and the season is effectively over. When you have hundreds of boys in each grade, there's always the off chance some unknown kid can get a physical and fill a spot.

[TheBigCat2192]

I'm reading that the reason Southern Columbia is getting around this whole transfer thing is because they have some "vocational school" distinction. If that's the case, that's hilarious.

When I was in high school our baseball team (a school on the A/AA line that wasn’t exactly a powerhouse) picked up a talented guy from a neighboring district. The nominal reason was that he was transferring for the FFA/ag program but the behind the scenes reason is the coach at his old school wouldn’t let him play the infield on days when he wasn’t pitching. Which was pretty stupid since he was an all-league IF for us twice on top of being a decent #2 pitcher for PA HS ball and helped our school make its first state playoff appearance in roughly a decade. I don’t think the PIAA or our league really looked into things too much because of the “ag program” explanation.

[Ship69]

Aliquippa will be in 6A by 2025 with an 18-man roster ... and probably still winning games.

It's basically like moving the PSAC champion up to the SEC for the following season.

1A to 5A is a joke.

It's a massive competitive disadvantage to play schools with 4 and 5 times their enrollment.

I know the argument is they just steamrolled 4A and won the PIAA gold. But, when is enough, enough?

The problem is the Quips are making a mockery of the WPIAL.

It was amazing the way they manhandled Dallas, a team that had knocked off two strong Catholic programs to reach the final.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Which is why, admittedly, I don’t understand the position that some on this message board have pertaining to these situations. I’m not sure how the same people who defend St. Joe’s can also say that we should look a little closer at Aliquippa, because maybe they are taking advantage of their situation. All the while, others just ignore whatever is happening with Southern Columbia.

Why is Belle Vernon moving up for winning back to back state championships with no transfers, but Southern Columbia isn’t when they’ve won seven in a row? I’m just not sure how they are applying the rules. And even if it was consistent, I’m not sure any of it makes sense.

Aliquippa will be in 6A by 2025 with an 18-man roster ... and probably still winning games.

It's basically like moving the PSAC champion up to the SEC for the following season.

1A to 5A is a joke.

It's a massive competitive disadvantage to play schools with 4 and 5 times their enrollment.

I know the argument is they just steamrolled 4A and won the PIAA gold. But, when is enough, enough?

The problem is the Quips are making a mockery of the WPIAL.

[Ship69]

I think winning earns you the more powerful microscope. If Aliquippa was making the WPIAL playoffs but not doing much beyond they clearly wouldn’t be looked at so closely. This is why the Southern Columbia situation is so baffling. I heard different things about why they’re left alone but I’m not going to pass along hearsay.

I coached at a Heritage Conference school for a while until a couple years ago. We had a kid that moved into the district at the start of the school year that based on the rules, wasn’t eligible for playoff competition. We appealed it and didn’t even have to put up an argument. They simply said, “Sure, no problem. Timmy can play.” I’m going to guess if we were a powerhouse program or if the kid was a stud athlete it wouldn’t have been the same conversation. It just feels like the rules aren’t the same for everyone.

The rules would seem to be confusing and perhaps unequally applied. There appears to be a lack of leadership at both the conference and PIAA levels. There need to be clear rules about what constitutes eligibility, what effects recruiting and transfers have on classification, etc. There are always those who will test the boundaries, and it's easier when there is no clear boundary.

[IUP24]

I think winning earns you the more powerful microscope. If Aliquippa was making the WPIAL playoffs but not doing much beyond they clearly wouldn’t be looked at so closely. This is why the Southern Columbia situation is so baffling. I heard different things about why they’re left alone but I’m not going to pass along hearsay.

I coached at a Heritage Conference school for a while until a couple years ago. We had a kid that moved into the district at the start of the school year that based on the rules, wasn’t eligible for playoff competition. We appealed it and didn’t even have to put up an argument. They simply said, “Sure, no problem. Timmy can play.” I’m going to guess if we were a powerhouse program or if the kid was a stud athlete it wouldn’t have been the same conversation. It just feels like the rules aren’t the same for everyone.

Which is why, admittedly, I don’t understand the position that some on this message board have pertaining to these situations. I’m not sure how the same people who defend St. Joe’s can also say that we should look a little closer at Aliquippa, because maybe they are taking advantage of their situation. All the while, others just ignore whatever is happening with Southern Columbia.

Why is Belle Vernon moving up for winning back to back state championships with no transfers, but Southern Columbia isn’t when they’ve won seven in a row? I’m just not sure how they are applying the rules. And even if it was consistent, I’m not sure any of it makes sense.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I have it that the schools have a deadline to provide documentation to the PIAA that each new name on the football roster was always a student in the district, and not a transfer student. The PIAA looks at the football roster from the prior year and compares it to the present year. If there are 3 transfers with competition points, the school moves up. The PIAA generally feels Southern Columbia should move up voluntarily.

The Columbia Montour Vocational Technical School serves 7 school districts with less than 700 students and a AAA football team.

I think winning earns you the more powerful microscope. If Aliquippa was making the WPIAL playoffs but not doing much beyond they clearly wouldn’t be looked at so closely. This is why the Southern Columbia situation is so baffling. I heard different things about why they’re left alone but I’m not going to pass along hearsay.

I coached at a Heritage Conference school for a while until a couple years ago. We had a kid that moved into the district at the start of the school year that based on the rules, wasn’t eligible for playoff competition. We appealed it and didn’t even have to put up an argument. They simply said, “Sure, no problem. Timmy can play.” I’m going to guess if we were a powerhouse program or if the kid was a stud athlete it wouldn’t have been the same conversation. It just feels like the rules aren’t the same for everyone.

[Bart]

I'm reading that the reason Southern Columbia is getting around this whole transfer thing is because they have some "vocational school" distinction. If that's the case, that's hilarious.

I have it that the schools have a deadline to provide documentation to the PIAA that each new name on the football roster was always a student in the district, and not a transfer student. The PIAA looks at the football roster from the prior year and compares it to the present year. If there are 3 transfers with competition points, the school moves up. The PIAA generally feels Southern Columbia should move up voluntarily.

The Columbia Montour Vocational Technical School serves 7 school districts with less than 700 students and a AAA football team.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Right.

I think the Aliquippa situation deserves more scrutiny. Everything I can find on the topic is just the reaction from Aliquippa. Is there an official statement from the PIAA? Aliquippa claims it's just because they are too good for their classification. Is that true?

Their actual classification would be 1A.

If they were in 1A, they would win weekly 100-0.

That said, 1A to 5A is quite the jump.

[iupgroundhog]

What I find hilarious is that they're just fine with leaving schools such as Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt, which blatantly recruits, in 4A. At least the Mid-Penn Conference has finally moved McDevitt into the upper football division in the conference, where it belongs, in the latest realignment.

Right.

I think the Aliquippa situation deserves more scrutiny. Everything I can find on the topic is just the reaction from Aliquippa. Is there an official statement from the PIAA? Aliquippa claims it's just because they are too good for their classification. Is that true?

[Ship69]

WHO is saying that?


I'm not assuming anything. I am suggesting that and I think there is a strong likelihood of it.

Doesn't seem like a bold statement to me.


Somebody probably does. If you dig deeper into the domicile history of the players versus non-players, given the "transient" scenario, I think it's conceivable that they are taking advantage of that environment.


Keep in mind that Warfield is the football coach.


I can remember great Aliquippa teams from the 1960's and '70's.

What I find hilarious is that they're just fine with leaving schools such as Harrisburg Bishop McDevitt, which blatantly recruits, in 4A. At least the Mid-Penn Conference has finally moved McDevitt into the upper football division in the conference, where it belongs, in the latest realignment.

[iupgroundhog]

How does this even make sense if they are saying half of their student population is like this?

WHO is saying that?

You're assuming that they are encouraging transient students who are athletes to be IN the district during football season?

I'm not assuming anything. I am suggesting that and I think there is a strong likelihood of it.

That's a pretty bold statement to make.

Doesn't seem like a bold statement to me.

Nobody has any idea what the home situations of some of these students are.

Somebody probably does. If you dig deeper into the domicile history of the players versus non-players, given the "transient" scenario, I think it's conceivable that they are taking advantage of that environment.

And to be clear, Warfield made clear that their "best players" are not transient students and said that he could prove that.

Keep in mind that Warfield is the football coach.

They've been good long before the PIAA got involved with handpicking who they wanted to promote/relegate among high school football classifications.

I can remember great Aliquippa teams from the 1960's and '70's.

[IUP24]

Pitt is unfortunately a non-topic even in Pittsburgh so I don't think you have much to worry about on that front.

But the number of players leaving the program via the portal were a topic here. So I'm just providing an update to give context.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Transfer portal update for many of you... I know many were quick to talk about the crazy number of Pitt football transfers...

One player (just one - that's not a typo) has transferred to a Power 5 program. The others are still searching or ended up in the Group of 5 or FCS. Two wanted to come back to Pitt and were denied by Narduzzi. Two others were welcomed back by Narduzzi.

So let's pump the brakes on creating a story about the mass exodus of good players leaving Pitt. With the exception of Sam Okunlola, the "good" players who you would want to come back, are coming back. As I told everyone when that became a conversation, it should have been a non-topic. No significant losses overall. They were 3-9. Let anybody leave that wants to leave.

Pitt is unfortunately a non-topic even in Pittsburgh so I don't think you have much to worry about on that front.