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Brian Batko's Pitt football chat: 10.3.18
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Brian Batko
2:00
Good afternoon. No, scratch that: Great afternoon. I'm here to chat with you about Pitt football, Pitt basketball, life, whatever you'd like.
Chris
2:01
Hi Brian. Quite simply: is Narduzzi in danger of losing the team? In other words, do you get a sense that this will get to a point where the players are no longer buying in?
Brian Batko
2:02
Not really more so than any team will have those troubles if its record dips to a certain point. I asked senior defensive end Dewayne Hendrix yesterday if Narduzzi's demeanor or approach changes during a slump like this, and he said, "Not really. He’s been really consistent with us. We've  just got to be more consistent for him." That doesn't sound like a situation where the players are unhappy with the head coach, but you never know.
The Stache
2:02
I like Narduzzi, but the talking has to stop. He isn’t winning and they look bad. I believe he can turn this around but it gets annoying with all the guarantees and excuses!
Brian Batko
2:04
Well, Stache, he's not just going to stop talking. It's part of his and any head coach's responsibilities to meet regularly with the media to discuss their team and players. When you're 2-3 and have lost games the way Pitt has, what is the right thing for Narduzzi to say? I'll agree that he's probably not answering every question as best as he can, but there's no right way to spin this season so far.
Charlotte John
2:04
Can Pitt ever win the state recruiting battle with Narduzzi?
Brian Batko
2:05
Doubtful, unless something really turns around in terms of on-field success. Penn State already has more national cache than Pitt to begin with, and now James Franklin is winning big up there. Tough to compete with, but not much different than for many past Pitt coaches.
H2P
2:05
The new Defensive Coordinator doesn’t seem to be working!
Brian Batko
2:07
The new defensive coordinator wasn't hired to overhaul Pitt's defense. Now, you can certainly disagree with that, but it was made pretty clear from the start that Randy Bates was brought in to teach the defense. And you can absolutely argue that he might not be doing that well enough through five games.
Keith
2:07
Hello Brian! What do you know another week and another loss by the Panthers! Observing the last few games our strong safety position has been terrible in run defense and pass defense, but most noticeably is the tackling or lack there of by SR Dennis Briggs and RSSO Phil Campbell! At what point does Narduzzi convert Ford back over to Strong safety? If those two guys are that bad what harm can it be to move Paris back over?
Brian Batko
2:09
Hello, Keith. I think you make a great point that it's a position of weakness right now in Pitt's defense, and Paris Ford does project as someone who could play that spot, at least to me. Narduzzi explained a few weeks ago though that as a redshirt freshman, Ford isn't far enough along in the mental aspect of the defense, so the staff wants to get him out on the field as soon as possible by playing corner. Not really sure that experiment has worked out great thus far.
H2P
2:09
What happened to A J Davis and Paris Ford?
Brian Batko
2:11
Yeah, both played at least a little last week at UCF. That was the first we'd seen of Davis since Penn State, but no real reason to stray from Qadree Ollison and Darrin Hall in my opinion. Ford was on the field a lot against UNC and gave up the go-ahead touchdown to the Tar Heels, so I doubt that did anything to move him up the pecking order in the secondary.
SOMD Panther
2:11
If I had a nickel for every game that Pitt primarily played nickel coverage against spread offenses over the past 4 years, how many nickels would I have?
Brian Batko
2:12
I don't know, a dime? But in talking to strong safety Dennis Briggs today, he made it sound like Pitt will rely heavily on that five defensive back formation again this week vs. Syracuse, which seems smart.
Jeff
2:12
Where does Kenny Pickett's first half performance rank among Pitt QBs over the last 4-5 years?
Brian Batko
2:15
Not great, Jeff. Much as I didn't think Tino Sunseri was a particularly good QB, his numbers his senior year were quite solid and mistake-free under Paul Chryst. Tom Savage had that one massive game down at Duke. Nathan Peterman, especially his senior year, was fantastic. Pickett hasn't been a huge upgrade over the Max Browne/Ben DiNucci combo from last year so far.
Doug in Erie
2:16
Now that Narduzzi changed his defense, do you think we'll see it again or a 3-3-5? He likes to stop the run, but you have to keep SU's scoring low enough that we have a chance.
Brian Batko
2:17
Hi Doug. I'm not sure a 3-3-5 would be the way to go, given that Pitt is struggling to get much pressure even with four linemen. And even in the nickel, opposing teams are still picking on Pitt's two linebackers. It's entirely possible that Pitt's personnel on defense still just simply isn't where it needs to be to really compete with top teams, but Narduzzi would get crushed for saying that, if that's the case.
Pitt
2:18
Being a Pitt fan in PSU country is brutal! My only saving grace is for Franklin to blow it in the 4th quarters.
Brian Batko
2:18
Well, you got your wish Saturday night. That was a great game.
Everyone enjoying their presidential text alert? Boy, that was weird. Now back to your regularly scheduled chat...
No Longer Optimistic
2:19
Pitt has seven football games remaining. What are the chances of one (or more) games getting cancelled by weather?
Brian Batko
2:19
Very low! Unless you know something about the impending forecasts that I don't.
Imma Man! Im 40+!
2:19
To get to a bowl game, Pitt must not only beat the remaining teams it should (ahem), but also beat at least one team it has no business beating to make up for losing the UNC game that it had no business losing: Notre Dame, VA Tech, or Miami.  Which of those three teams do we have the best shot to take down?  Maybe VT since it's home?
Brian Batko
2:21
Mike Gundy, is that you? I'm not sure there are any remaining teams that Pitt "should" beat. In fact, Pitt likely won't be favored the rest of the year unless something really changes. Of those three, yes, I'll say VT for a couple reasons: 1, it's at Heinz Field, where Pitt won a game it had no business winning last year against Miami. 2, VT lost to Old Dominion, which, I mean, yeah.
Brian Coley
2:22
Given that his recruiting is relatively poor so far, and the number of pipeline players he's lost, is it safe to safe to say Narduzzi is not well received by WPIAL coaches?
Brian Batko
2:23
I'm not sure I'd go that far, Brian. I haven't heard of any specific rifts, really. Are there WPIAL coaches who probably wish Pitt would recruit their school harder, or at all? Most likely. But Pitt can't just show love to certain programs or players if they don't think they're ACC-caliber talent.
Jim Lobe
2:24
Will Pitt ever play RMU or Duquesne in football?
Brian Batko
2:25
Narduzzi didn't seem opposed to this when I asked him during training camp, so I'll say yeah, eventually one of those will replace your Albany or Richmond as Pitt's annual FCS walkover. WVU scheduling the Dukes could be a good jumping off point for other power five schools to consider them.
Wedz4heizman
2:26
I have a theory that has proven well over the years. Every problem in college football can be traced back to Joe Paterno. I'm struggling to make the connection between him and Pitt's poor play this season. Help me connect the dots.
Brian Batko
2:27
I'm struggling, as well, at least for a direct result. But hey, you can always fall back on the belief that Paterno building Penn State into a national power has cast a shadow on Pitt ever since, and has kept the program from gaining traction both in Western Pa. and the state at large. Not saying that's true, but you can, if you want.
H2P
2:27
I don’t understand how a defensive “genius” minded coach can’t adjust to modern day football. We can’t stop any RPO office, it has been that way for 4 years. I think in today’s college football you need an offensive minded coach to win!! Except Nick Satan of course.
Brian Batko
2:29
Differences in offensive styles between the B1G and ACC have not played out well for Narduzzi's defense, in my estimation. He philosophically believes in press man coverage, and McKenzie Milton's eyes lit up seeing that. Your final score: UCF 45, Pitt 14.
Keith
2:30
I'm a firm believer in consistency, but at what point does Heather start to ponder on looking for a new coach? This staff is out coached week in and week out, the younger players are not developing, and the recruiting is going south based on class rank and we have already seen one recruit leave? Not sure what the terms of the buy out are, but when does she put a fire extinguisher to this fire of a program?
H2P
2:30
What is Narduzzi’s buyout?
Brian Batko
2:32
I don't know. But I'd bet a lot of money that it's not $0 like it says in the USA Today coaching salary database released today. That information will always be incomplete for schools like Pitt, which aren't subject to PA's right-to-know law.

As far as making a change, I'm also a big stability guy. I think that's underrated in building a program or running a pro team. But then again, a fresh start can usually bring a great jolt to recruiting, fan interest, etc., as evidenced by Pitt's men's basketball team. And yet, how often has that worked for Pitt football in recent memory?
Charlotte John
2:33
Hi Brian. At the time I thought the Narduzzi hire was great. Now looking at the real possibility of missing out on another bowl season, consistent lack of top recruits, fan interest dwindling, and a signed extension...what is Heather Lyke to do?
Brian Batko
2:35
And I have to assume Lyke thought it looked good, too, after a couple of 8-4 regular seasons. This is why she makes the big bucks. In basketball, both coaching situations were pretty easy decisions to pull the trigger, and I think she did a good job in the two leaders she hired. As for this one? This is the most difficult situation facing her so far at Pitt, and she's only a little more than a year and a half into it. Like I said, I'm one to lean more toward stability, so I don't think it's time to pull the plug on Narduzzi just yet.
Prashutti
2:36
Is Pitt just being out coached or is it that the players are not up to snuff?  Some of the penalties and blown assignments at critical points in the games are mind numbing.
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