No Respect, No Respect At All – Pat ‘Dangerfield’ Narduzzi

No Respect
Jim Quist, Will Ojanen, Chris Bond, Jim Bresnahan and Mike Lewis @accnation –

At first it was the kind of comments that you sluff off. There are thousands upon thousands of meathead fans out there and each has an opinion. So when we started seeing more than normal in regard to Pitt getting no respect, it was time to call a quick huddle. Is there something to this? Could the media be under-playing Pitt? Disrespecting their “Heisman Trophy Candidate’ quarterback, Kenny Pickett? Having more than one head involved in this process was definitely the way to go. Surely, there were stats, observations, video and history available to provide a clear picture. Everyone, other than Pitt fans had to be seriously wrong here, right?

Then Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi chimed in on Monday during his weekly news conference. Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette captured it perfectly when he asked, Did Pat Narduzzi really play the ‘Respect’ card? Apparently he did. You judge for yourself from this quote. “I still don’t see much respect for a 4-1 football team, which is fine, it’s something I’ll use.” Before we get any further into Starkey’s observations let’s find out how our group responded to Jim Quist’s email asking, “Anyone care to share your thoughts on why Pitt is being ‘disrespected’ by we media folks?”

One after another each responded – Western Michigan. That loss had a long-term impact upon how each of our staff views Pitt. Add to that a sketchy history under the direction of Pat Narduzzi and, well, you are beginning to see the picture. You see, after seven years at the helm when your team has no Power 5 wins this season and gets skunked by Western Michigan one can and should have some doubts.

No Respect

So here’s how things lay out at present. Just when you think we’re going to rip into you some more and make light of Pat Narduzzi we’re going to point out some positives. If the Panthers can take out the road block awaiting them in Blacksburg it comfortably puts them in the driver’s seat of the Coastal. Can they do it? Oddsmakers say yes as Pitt is a -5 favorite. Our guys think that if you pull off a solid win here you’ve locked in a seat among the Top 25. But, like everything in life, you’ve had to earn it. You’ll have to earn it all the way down the line. Fair?

The team isn’t getting any respect? How about being the highest ranked ACC team (not named Clemson) in ESPN’s FPI? This Kenny-Heisman thing? Probably not going to be seriously on anyone’s lips until you grab the division and then an ACC Championship. But is it more than just a pipedream? Time will tell.

As Starkey points out in his piece. This team has had opportunities slip through their fingers one too many times. When they begin to take advantage and write checks that they can cash, maybe then, there will be some respect in the gift bag.

No Respect