OT: D1

[Fightingscot82]

Haywood ran a tight ship at Miami. Cut a ton of fat from the roster after a lifeless coach. I think he was a great hire for Pitt.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Well ... remember the state of the program under Wanny. Sports Illustrated called it the dirtiest program in America. Over a 5-year run Pitt had more arrests than any program in D1.

As for those 6 a.m. practices ... you can't be out until 3 a.m. and make practice.

Haywood got a poor reception from the delusional Pitt faithful. Anybody would have. Firing Wanny ... the Prince Yinzer ... wasn't popular.

Wanny put a lot of stars in to the NFL. He could really recruit. He just couldn't win when the lights got bright.

The infamous Cincinnati loss ultimately sealed his fate.

That was far and away the best Pitt atmosphere ever at Heinz. PSU Part 1 was second.

They were so close under him to becoming a powerhouse. But, the inmates can't run the asylum.

I still say that they should of kept the 'Stache. I assume that you are referencing that Pitt-Cincy game from Dec. 2009. Yeah, that was a major heartbreaker there. But Cincy was a great program whose coach was on the precipice of one of the very big jobs in all of college football folklore---Notre Dame. I didn't think it was shameful to lose to them. Frustrating yes.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That is a shame that a nice guy like Haywood (just going but what you guys are saying) had to suffer that type of fate. I know Pitt fans were not that happy with the hire, or probably more accurately---not at all pleased with the firing of the 'Stache, It really did set up some silly and plain crazy times in Pitt football.

The one thing that I seemed to recall about Haywood was that he had planned to institute early morning practices (like 6 AM or so). That seemed a bit odd to me.

Well ... remember the state of the program under Wanny. Sports Illustrated called it the dirtiest program in America. Over a 5-year run Pitt had more arrests than any program in D1.

As for those 6 a.m. practices ... you can't be out until 3 a.m. and make practice.

Haywood got a poor reception from the delusional Pitt faithful. Anybody would have. Firing Wanny ... the Prince Yinzer ... wasn't popular.

Wanny put a lot of stars in to the NFL. He could really recruit. He just couldn't win when the lights got bright.

The infamous Cincinnati loss ultimately sealed his fate.

That was far and away the best Pitt atmosphere ever at Heinz. PSU Part 1 was second.

They were so close under him to becoming a powerhouse. But, the inmates can't run the asylum.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

That is a shame that a nice guy like Haywood (just going but what you guys are saying) had to suffer that type of fate. I know Pitt fans were not that happy with the hire, or probably more accurately---not at all pleased with the firing of the 'Stache, It really did set up some silly and plain crazy times in Pitt football.

The one thing that I seemed to recall about Haywood was that he had planned to institute early morning practices (like 6 AM or so). That seemed a bit odd to me.

[Fightingscot82]

I actually personally know Mike. I thought it was an excellent hire. He had Miami (OH) rolling. His first year (he inherited an awful program) they went 1-11. Second year they went 8-4 and won the MAC East, and then won the MAC Title against Northern Illinois. What transpired -- and what made the media -- were very different things. I think he would have done very well at Pitt. After he sued Pitt for his termination, he eventually settled. And, the word 'settled' starts with a $. Pitt was put in a tough spot due to the charges (felony battery) -- and they reacted extremely quickly. All charges were eventually dismissed.

Unfortunately, the whole ordeal pretty much sealed his fate at the P5 level. He ended up taking the head job at Texas Southern. He resigned after three seasons.

If he wanted to give it one more dance ... he'd be an excellent D2 coach. He's only in his mid-50s so I suspect he'll surface somewhere here shortly.

If you go back in time, he had an excellent resume when Pitt hired him. After a run working his way up, he had stops at LSU, Texas and Notre Dame (offensive coordinator).

He's actually a good person, too. Unlike that jabroni Todd Graham (who came next).

Fun coincidence - I used to know Mike too. We were neighbors in his first year at Miami, which was my last. He was a nice guy and I planned on reaching out to him when he was hired at Pitt. Then all hell broke loose.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I see that yesterday was the ten-year anniversary of the infamous Pitt hiring of Michael Haywood as their next head football coach. How did that work out?

I actually personally know Mike. I thought it was an excellent hire. He had Miami (OH) rolling. His first year (he inherited an awful program) they went 1-11. Second year they went 8-4 and won the MAC East, and then won the MAC Title against Northern Illinois. What transpired -- and what made the media -- were very different things. I think he would have done very well at Pitt. After he sued Pitt for his termination, he eventually settled. And, the word 'settled' starts with a $. Pitt was put in a tough spot due to the charges (felony battery) -- and they reacted extremely quickly. All charges were eventually dismissed.

Unfortunately, the whole ordeal pretty much sealed his fate at the P5 level. He ended up taking the head job at Texas Southern. He resigned after three seasons.

If he wanted to give it one more dance ... he'd be an excellent D2 coach. He's only in his mid-50s so I suspect he'll surface somewhere here shortly.

If you go back in time, he had an excellent resume when Pitt hired him. After a run working his way up, he had stops at LSU, Texas and Notre Dame (offensive coordinator).

He's actually a good person, too. Unlike that jabroni Todd Graham (who came next).

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

I see that yesterday was the ten-year anniversary of the infamous Pitt hiring of Michael Haywood as their next head football coach. How did that work out?

[Fightingscot82]

BIG DAY for Pitt. Not only is Pickett returning but almost the entire class of verbals officially signed today on National Signing Day. There's one holdout as of now.

This is far and away Narduzzi's most hyped up class -- and will likely be a Top 18 national class per the experts.

I really love the TE they will have next year. He's an older kid (did a Morman mission for two years). He's a monster and Day 1 starter.


As of now, the 2021 schedule is as follows:

UMASS (blowout)
@ Tennessee (tough trip)
Western Michigan (not an easy MAC game)
New Hampshire (should be easy)
@ Duke
@ Georgia Tech (without question the 'rival' Pitt has developed in the ACC)
Clemson
Miami
North Carolina
Virginia
@ Syracuse
@ Virginia Tech



Tennessee may have a new coach and a rebuild so who knows how that goes. Clemson is all but a guaranteed loss.

I'd say:

Wins: UMASS, WMU, New Hampshire, Duke, GT, Virginia, Syracuse
Losses: Clemson, Miami

Season Make-or-Breakers: North Carolina, VT, Tennessee

I thought of you last night when I saw Pickett was coming back. You predict 7+ wins. I'd take that every day. You run through that third list of schools and you're 10-2 in the ACC. That's possibly top 25, a good bowl, and some recruiting residuals.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

BIG DAY for Pitt. Not only is Pickett returning but almost the entire class of verbals officially signed today on National Signing Day. There's one holdout as of now.

This is far and away Narduzzi's most hyped up class -- and will likely be a Top 18 national class per the experts.

I really love the TE they will have next year. He's an older kid (did a Morman mission for two years). He's a monster and Day 1 starter.


As of now, the 2021 schedule is as follows:

UMASS (blowout)
@ Tennessee (tough trip)
Western Michigan (not an easy MAC game)
New Hampshire (should be easy)
@ Duke
@ Georgia Tech (without question the 'rival' Pitt has developed in the ACC)
Clemson
Miami
North Carolina
Virginia
@ Syracuse
@ Virginia Tech



Tennessee may have a new coach and a rebuild so who knows how that goes. But, many average SEC teams would be very good ACC teams. Clemson is all but a guaranteed loss.

I'd say:

Wins: UMASS, WMU, New Hampshire, Duke, GT, Virginia, Syracuse
Losses: Clemson, Miami

Season Make-or-Breakers: North Carolina, VT, Tennessee

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Big news for Pitt in that QB Kenny Pickett has announced that he will return to the program next year! That is great to hear. Also a very smart move for himself.

Source: Harry Psaros

That is big news. If healthy The Duz should get to 8 wins (instead of his traditional 6).

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

Big news for Pitt in that QB Kenny Pickett has announced that he will return to the program next year! That is great to hear. Also a very smart move for himself.

Source: Harry Psaros

[IUPalum]

They will be a trainwreck soon. Same as the Pens. Total bebuilds.

Any other year I would guarantee they draft O-line early but this year is different. They have a ton of free agents after this season to try and sign to go with Ben's 41 million cap hit next year. It's going to be very interesting what they do this off season. This might be the last good run for a few years. Cleveland and Baltimore are definitely trending up with their rosters.

Free agents:
OL: Feiler, Villanueva, DeCastro (1 year left), Banner, Hawkins
WR: JuJu, McCloud
RB: Connor, Edmunds
QB: Ben (1 year left), Dobbs

DL: Alualu, Wormley
LB: Dupree, Ola, Williamson, Spilane,
CB: Sutton, Hilton
S: Allen, Dangerfield, Davis, Brooks


I only named mostly key cogs other than safety where it will be Fitz/Edmunds and that's it. No Depth!!! Could be a crazy offseason!

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

They may have a chance with Bud now. That ACL cost him a lot of coin. Ben's cap hit next year is enormous. Just thinking out loud instead of giving him $41m could you give somebody as you mentioned maybe $15m and invest the rest in other places? I know they won't get rid of him and he'll determine when he's done.

But, the downside of all those home runs in consecutive drafts is those rookie contracts don't last forever. Time to get paid. Here or somewhere else.

You are right---it is going to be tough signing all the talent they have. I guess they could technically franchise Dupree again or just make him a lucrative two or three year offer. I doubt they can sign both he and Watt to long term deals. You obviously would want to keep Watt above all else.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I'm not sure if I quite agree with that. Certainly one obvious thing that they MUST do is competently replace Big Ben when he hangs it up within the next few years. Do they want to find someone in the draft or maybe they want to try and roll the dice with a trade on one of these young highly drafted QBs like Sam Darnold or Carson Wentz who look to be on their way out of their respective towns. I have no answer on that.

They do have a very nice core of young and talented players----JuJu, Dionate Johnson, James Washington, Claypool, Dotson, Bush, Watt, Fitzpatrick, et al

But now they have to find a way to sign these players. It's great that they drafted well in 2017 but now the bill is about to come up due. Watt and JuJu could command very big contracts. Conner could probably be signed much, much cheaper if he chooses to stay. It would be great to keep Dupree but that is going to be real tough from a dollars standpoint. He is not only a beast on the field but everyone's best friend in the lockeroom. Guys like him are not easy to find. Probably the last one they had in that mold was Jerome Bettis.

They have offseason work to get done from a front office standpoint but there is certainly talent here if they can find a way to keep it intact. The need to find a quality replacement for Big Ben is paramount to future success. The Steelers failed to replace Terry Bradshaw (passed on Dan Marino) and spent over 20 years in the NFL wilderness without a franchise QB. They need to get someone in here.

They may have a chance with Bud now. That ACL cost him a lot of coin. Ben's cap hit next year is enormous. Just thinking out loud instead of giving him $41m could you give somebody as you mentioned maybe $15m and invest the rest in other places? I know they won't get rid of him and he'll determine when he's done.

But, the downside of all those home runs in consecutive drafts is those rookie contracts don't last forever. Time to get paid. Here or somewhere else.

[IUP CRIMSON HAWKS]

They will be a trainwreck soon. Same as the Pens. Total bebuilds.

I'm not sure if I quite agree with that. Certainly one obvious thing that they MUST do is competently replace Big Ben when he hangs it up within the next few years. Do they want to find someone in the draft or maybe they want to try and roll the dice with a trade on one of these young highly drafted QBs like Sam Darnold or Carson Wentz who look to be on their way out of their respective towns. I have no answer on that.

They do have a very nice core of young and talented players----JuJu, Dionate Johnson, James Washington, Claypool, Dotson, Bush, Watt, Fitzpatrick, et al

But now they have to find a way to sign these players. It's great that they drafted well in 2017 but now the bill is about to come up due. Watt and JuJu could command very big contracts. Conner could probably be signed much, much cheaper if he chooses to stay. It would be great to keep Dupree but that is going to be real tough from a dollars standpoint. He is not only a beast on the field but everyone's best friend in the lockeroom. Guys like him are not easy to find. Probably the last one they had in that mold was Jerome Bettis.

They have offseason work to get done from a front office standpoint but there is certainly talent here if they can find a way to keep it intact. The need to find a quality replacement for Big Ben is paramount to future success. The Steelers failed to replace Terry Bradshaw (passed on Dan Marino) and spent over 20 years in the NFL wilderness without a franchise QB. They need to get someone in here.