Vukovcan: Time for Big Changes at Pitt

These last five months for Pitt fans has been absolutely horrendous.

While there certainly have been specifics games that can be brought up, I’d challenge Pitt fans to name a year in which both the football and basketball teams have disappointed as much as this season.

It starred with football program starting 7-0 and then completely going into the tank by losing their final six games. While the fanbase won’t buy it, at least Pat Narduzzi had the legitimate excuse of major injuries to use as a crutch. Regardless of the reasons, winning a combined five ACC games the last two seasons, which Pitt has done, is not acceptable, especially considering the salary that Narduzzi is taking in.

Switching over to the basketball program, I’m at a loss of words for what we’re seeing and what fans have had to endure the last two months.

The bottom line is that this season has been a complete failure and embarrassment.

After bitching and moaning a year ago about not getting an invite to the NCAA tournament, this program added some pieces and were viewed as a good bet to earn a selection.

Instead of preparing for a solid run in both the ACC tournament and then the NCAA tournament, this Pitt program is now getting ready for an offseason filled with plenty of questions and possible turnover.

Yesterday’s embarrassing effort against a bad and shorthanded Notre Dame team is just the icing on the cake for this team of underachievers. Even with how horrendous they’ve performed over the last couple months, with how mediocre the ‘Bubble Teams’ are this year, albeit slim, Pitt still had a path to the tournament. After what happened in South Bend, that no longer exists.

This inexcusable season can be blamed on many things namely the coaching staff and the star players.

Aside from Ish Leggett, who has been Pitt’s only reliable player this season, players such as Jaland Lowe, Zack Austin, Cam Corhen, Guillermo Diaz Graham and Damian Dunn all underperformed, which is the reason for this mess.

I didn’t mention players like Papa Kante, Amsal Delalic and Brandin Cummings, because they were mis-used and underplayed and that’s 100% on Jeff Capel.

With an eight or nine man rotation, Pitt was playing their best basketball of the season but when mid-January, Capel decided to shorten the rotation to just six players and it’s been a complete failure.

Speaking of complete failure, that’s a perfect way to describe the Panthers offensive system, if that’s what you want to call it. Most games, it’s been difficult to make any sense of what they’re trying to do offensively. The end result most possessions has been Lowe firing up a desperation shot from 3-point range or another starter playing hero ball by just taking his player one on one.

Because of this, Pitt will be sitting home and not participating in March Madness for the eighth time in the last nine seasons and for the seventh time in eight years of Capel’s tenure.

Yeah I realize that Capel took over a program that was literally at rock bottom but that was eight years ago. That’s no longer an excuse.

Do you notice what’s going on in Louisville? After a horrid stretch of being arguably the worst team in the ACC, Pat Kelsey has completely turned things around in just one season.

Pitt still has a chance to win 20 games, which would be their 3rd consecutive 20-win season. The last time that’s happened was 2011-13, but a successful season is making the NCAA tournament, not a 20-win season.

Over the years, I’ve been very consistent and haven’t laid the mess on Capel, but at some point, you have to look at the head coach, his assistants and their actual coaching.

Same goes with Narduzzi and the football program. That’s why I have a bigger issue with the results of the football program because when you’re taking in the salary that Narduzzi is earning, a lot more wins should be expected.

I realize that NIL funds play a role in all of this but you can’t expect fans, donors, alumni  and corporations to hand over money for this underachieving product.

Imagine how hard it must be for Alliance 412 to try and raise money off of what we’ve seen over the last few years? Can’t be easy.

New athletic director Allen Greene has some big time decisions to make. The Olympic sports can’t be the only programs in the department that produce.

Narduzzi and Capel are both signed to long-term contracts and would take a lot of cash to buy them out. However, how much longer can fans and the university put up with a mediocre product?

My patience is about up, let’s see about Greene and Chancellor Gabel.