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Vukovcan: Lack of Talent Wasn’t Biggest Pitt Problem This Season

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Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi.

I’m not breaking any news by saying that the 2023 season was a nightmare for the Pitt Panther football program.

The season got off to an embarrassingly bad start against a poor Cincinnati team and only continued to spiral all the way through today’s season finale loss against Duke.

The best thing about what we’ve been forced to watch the past three months is that it’s finally over and hopefully, it will prove to be just a blip on the radar. The hope is that the damage is fixable over the course of the offseason.

But in order to do that, as with anything that goes wrong in life, the root of the exact problem needs to be properly identified and taken care of. If you’re a Pitt fan, that’s something that might have you worried.

If there’s one thing that Pitt fans have learned about Pat Narduzzi, it’s that he’s a fiercely loyal man, almost to a fault.

The reason I bring that up is because, if you ask me, the reason Pitt finished this season 3-9 (2-6 ACC) wasn’t because of a lack of talent. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not implying that this team should be playing in the ACC championship game, but they should’ve been a hell of a lot better than they were. A lot better.

While some, as Narduzzi clumsily alluded to in his Notre Dame postgame presser, might blame it on a talent level, I completely disagree with that and believe the close of the season validates my point.

The reason Pitt finished with their lowest win total since 1998 wasn’t because of a lack of talent, it was because of poor coaching. It’s difficult when it comes to saying so, as there are a lot of good men on the coaching staff, but the coaching staff — led by Narduzzi — was not nearly good enough this season.

When you’re as bad as Pitt was this season, changes need to be made and more than just making one person a scapegoat. It’s been well documented that Pitt’s offensive game plan was lacking — and has been for two consecutive seasons — but the problems go well beyond calling plays. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Cignetti’s play calling/system might not have been the biggest problem with the offense this season. It might have been talent evaluation and usage.

After what we’ve watched the last two weeks, the question on everyone’s mind heading into the offseason will be what would Pitt’s record have been if Nate Yarnell was Pitt’s starting quarterback in week one? Seriously, how was Yarnell third on the depth chart? That’s a damming indictment on the coaching staff.

Although it was a small sample size, as he did last season, Yarnell looked the part, made tremendous decisions, showed touched, made all the throws he needed to and didn’t turn the ball over like the two quarterbacks before him.

The million-dollar question remains, why did it take two other quarterbacks underperforming to get Yarnell a shot? That’s a blackeye on Cignetti and one of the many reasons Pitt should be looking for a new offensive coordinator.

Want some more examples of misevaluation and misusage? How about running back Rodney Hammond Jr. being inexplicably ignored all season? The tight ends, Gavin Bartholomew and Karter Johnson were ignored all season long, too — and proved throughout the season that they’d be effective when used.

Kenny Johnson was someone we heard about all camp, but Pitt’s current system couldn’t find a way to showcase his talent. Same goes with Che Nwabuko. Despite being a track star and as fast as anyone on the roster, the staff did nothing to utilize that speed.

Former Gateway star Derrick Davis transferred to Pitt this past offseason and I thought he’d be a big weapon in the Panthers offense. Wrong. Instead of trying to get Davis, who’s as physically gifted as anyone on the Pitt roster involved, he sat on the bench all season while Narduzzi remained loyal to players such as C’Bo Flemister and Daniel Carter. Another poor decision by the coaches.

This misevaluation and lack of development aren’t exclusive to just offensive skill position players. How about the regression of some of the veteran players on the offensive line? I realize some of those guys were injured but when they were healthy, their performance was subpar and regressed from where it was in years past.

As we painfully witnessed today, Pitt’s punting situation is a disaster and has been for a couple of years. Who is evaluating the punters being brought into this program?

The strength of Pitt’s defensive line has been one of the staples of this program for years but this season, it was far from that.

In my opinion, the Pitt staff was too loyal to veterans instead of going with the more talented, players with more upside. Young defensive ends Jimmy Scott and Samuel Okunlola started to stand out as they were finally given the chance. What took so long?

Along those lines, where were Nahki Johnson and Sean FitzSimmons all season? Let’s hope they don’t get disgruntled, especially Johnson.

I can go on with more examples of poor coaching, but I think you get the point. If the talent on Pitt’s roster was properly utilized and put in a better position to succeed, we’d be talking right now about what bowl game Pitt would be heading to.

Instead, the question now becomes whether or not Narduzzi sees it this way or if he’ll balk at making wholesale coaching changes.

Part of me can see Narduzzi resisting this, but with so much evidence and criticism, hopefully also talking from his NIL team, he can’t be that stubborn and loyal and will do the right thing for the future of the program.

Sandy Schall, Coldwell Banker

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