Without a campus or stadium and years of mediocrity at best, it was inevitable, the economy, ACC, new culture, etc. etc. etc?
All joking aside, why did pitt football die?
- Thread starter emrtmakesshiteup
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IMHO, when they ore down the old stadium and signed up to play at Heinz it was strike one. At the core of any college team, is the student section. I watch the student section as much as I watch the team at home games.
The next was when they fired Wanny. Here is a Pitt legend who was fired by a dufus AD and then he hired a dufus coach. That led to Phil Bennett, Todd Graham, Keith Patterson, Paul Chryst, Joe Rudolf and now the Duzzer.
I am not sure if Beenett, patterson or Rudolph even coached one game. Of those, the longest tenur is Chryst, 3 years, who left for Wisconsin.
The next was when they fired Wanny. Here is a Pitt legend who was fired by a dufus AD and then he hired a dufus coach. That led to Phil Bennett, Todd Graham, Keith Patterson, Paul Chryst, Joe Rudolf and now the Duzzer.
I am not sure if Beenett, patterson or Rudolph even coached one game. Of those, the longest tenur is Chryst, 3 years, who left for Wisconsin.
Firing wanny and hiring a series of mediocre coaches, not building an on campus stadium, and focusing their recruiting area on a part of the country that is seeing a downturn in football talent relative to the other teams in their conference.
Having such a poor turnout for home games. Empty seats is such a bad atmosphere.
When the NCAA passed legislation not allowing 100 or so assistant coaches that we player hs coaches or fathers with no coaching experience. It died with the exit of Jackie Sherril and his merry band of idiots..... let it all fall on Foge....
My opine is the slow downfall of the WPIAL. Pittsburgh is a great sports town but the WPIAL is not what it once was athlete wise.
The decline of the WPIAL has unmasked the lack of commitment of the Pitt administration. It used to be that Pitt could take a half-assed approach to football, because they had so many good players in their own backyard that wanted to stay home, but now that the numbers of truly good players is way down, that crutch is no longer helpful.
In order to attract non-hometown kids, you have to spend money on coaches, on stadiums, on image. Pitt has done none of that. And, they never will.
In order to attract non-hometown kids, you have to spend money on coaches, on stadiums, on image. Pitt has done none of that. And, they never will.
Scholarship limits and the end to the largess of the Golden Panthers were major contributions to their decline.
With the possible exception of Michigan and a few others, a school goes all-in on football or basketball, not both (see Penn State.) Pitt opted for basketball, which worked ok until the Stallings debacle. Pitt football exists to provide token opposition to Clemson, like the Washington Generals to the Harlem Globetrotters.
As someone else mentioned, the decline of the WPIAL has worked against them in the longer-term.
In the shorter-term, they've made some poor tactical choices. Tearing down Pitt Stadium was tactical error #1. A number of their coaching hires (Paul Hackett, Major Harris version 2.0, Walt) were significant tactical errors as well.
Honestly, Pitt football today is just an ACC-version of the Cincinnati Bearcats. Except UC actually still plays in their classic on-campus stadium.
A great what if --- what if Pitt was invited to the B1G instead of Michigan State in the early 1950s. It did almost happen. OSU was the big opposition to Pitt.
In the shorter-term, they've made some poor tactical choices. Tearing down Pitt Stadium was tactical error #1. A number of their coaching hires (Paul Hackett, Major Harris version 2.0, Walt) were significant tactical errors as well.
Honestly, Pitt football today is just an ACC-version of the Cincinnati Bearcats. Except UC actually still plays in their classic on-campus stadium.
A great what if --- what if Pitt was invited to the B1G instead of Michigan State in the early 1950s. It did almost happen. OSU was the big opposition to Pitt.
48-14 was certainly the beginning of the end for them. Had they won another national championship that year, and they most certainly would have, maybe things are different. They might have developed the necessary cache to overcome their other shortcomings.
In all fairness, the 12-0 game in 2000 (?) was a huge win for Pitt and an embarrassment for Penn State.
True, but we have survived. They have not.
That basketball coach was one hell of a good hire. I like their AD. I like her a lot more than our AD. Maybe we can steal both the AD and the basketball coach.
In reality, we had a final record of 5-7 that season while Pitt finished at 7-5 so calling it an embarrassment is an overstatment. It wasn't as if a winless Pitt beat a #1 ranked PSU.
Pitt football isn’t dead. Death conveys a finality. Instead they wander the fringes of major college football in a Zombie like state clanking hollow chains of past glory never to return.
Good Lord,
Horse cocky, when you start feeling embarrassed over a Pitt game you need to visit your maker.
If the question is serious, I think it's actually not the right question. The real question is "why was Pitt football ever good?" Pitt football has been mediocre in the modern era (post WWII) with the exception of a fluke period in the 70's and early 80's. They had a nice run then, but that was clearly the outlier in their history and otherwise they are what they always have been. Lots of schools can have a good run for a few years or decade, that doesn't make that the new normal.
The odd thing is people who think that 1970's Pitt was somehow a reasonable expectation of what the program "should be" or "is". It's fools gold for them to try to pursue that as some sort of attainable sustained standard.
The odd thing is people who think that 1970's Pitt was somehow a reasonable expectation of what the program "should be" or "is". It's fools gold for them to try to pursue that as some sort of attainable sustained standard.
Pitt football died because in November 1981, the people in power at Pitt weighed the decision to be a basketball school in the Big East or a football school in Joe's Eastern All Sports Conference. They decided to stab the other Eastern football schools in the back at the last minute, and made the conscious decision to select basketball.
They made their bed, and now they are sleeping in it.
What’s ironic, people talk at wakes.
C’mon, Penn State could not score that day with Stormy Daniels!
Pitt football is dead. We only play 1 more time. You handily won last year. But yet there are 0 threads about Michigan, Michigan St, Ohio St, Maryland, or anyone else that you should be concerned about on your board. Pitt is the only school you guys want to talk about. Strange.
I get the responses here, believe me, but always remember that a school is just one coach away from being successful. Or dreadful, but it just takes that one guy.
Nah - Pitt is dead. You guys need to turn your attention and focus to Ohio and UMass. I hear they say some goofy things on their message board. You better check it out.
This is why we need to steal their BB coach. Then they might be bad at both sports!
Why on earth would Jeff Capel ever leave Pitt and the ACC for a historically horrible Big Ten program. Outside of the state of Michigan Big Ten hoops isn’t very good. Pitt’s basket history has seen some good days. I’m assuming you were making a funny.
Sucks but true. I’m more into hoops sadly but the Pitt threads are monsters around here. I’m to young to give a shit about Pitt. I know one thing though. You’re AD hired a great coach. In 3 or 4 years from now, if you can keep Capel, you’ll have a top 30 hoop program.
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Indiana and Ohio State beg to differ.
Which begs the question...why on earth would you continually hang out on a Penn State board to troll about basketball?
You have over a thousand posts and every single one is trolling. Most trolls occasionally engage in conversation and bring some minimal value. You however are an effing troll with no purpose other than to cause problems.
What!!! You are the low standard on our site. WTF are you adding to the thread. Don’t project your troll crap on me. Franklin is great and Chambers sucks. Find one post that I beat up a player or a coach in any sport other than Chambers you site punk. Crawl back under your rock.
Really? You need to do some research before you post sir. Both of those teams are having a disappointing season to this point. Both are in the bottom half of the Big Ten at this point. Don’t get me wrong Big Ten is excelent but Maryland is behind the Michigans and they’ve beaten literally no one outside the Big Ten. UVA,
and Seton Hall were the only legit teams they played and lost to both of them. IU was a better argument but they’ve lost 5 games in a row.
Nothing happened to it; the program is what it has been for most of the last 75+ years. Since 1940, Pitt's winning percentage is .507 (432-420-18). They had a great run from early mid 70's to early/mid 80's, but aside from that they're no better than UMD.
I think it's pretty "Ironic" that you're over here trolling a Penn State football board.
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