Pittsburgh lands 3 bigtime transfers

[CoachCB]

2 D-lineman, one from Tennessee one from Michigan State:

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...unces-additions-of-former-vol-sparty-players/

Two players previously attached to a move to Pittsburgh have officially been added to that ACC program’s roster.


Pitt announced Friday that first-year head coach Pat Narduzzi has added three players to his 2015 squad, including defensive endDewayne Hendrix and defensive tackleMark Scarpinato. The former is transferring in from Tennessee, the latter from Michigan State.


Hendrix will be forced to sit out the 2015 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules, but will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2016. As a graduate transfer, Scarpinato will be eligible to play immediately in this season.


Back in mid-December, UT head coach Butch Jones announced that Hendrix was one of two Vols planning to leave the program. A search for a greater opportunity at meaningful playing time was part of the impetus for the decision.


A four-star member of UT’s 2014 recruiting class, Hendrix was rated as the No. 5 strongside defensive end in the country; the No. 3 player at any position in the state of Illinois; and the No. 78 recruit over all by Rivals.com. He played in seven games as a true freshman last season.


Hendrix is the second former UT player to transfer to Pitt in the past two months,joining quarterback Nathan Peterman.


The third addition announced Friday was JUCO All-American wide receiver Rafael Araujo-Lopes. He will be eligible to play in 2015 as well.

 

[MackDonald]

It will be interesting to hear what "Roll Tide" has to say about these transfers to the Panther Roster.......

 

[rolltide]

well, Pitt needs bodies. They have talent but missing overall depth. Fans (all 3 or 4 of them) whined and bitched that he only took in something like 14 recruits this year but his explanation was pretty simple....why schollie-up kids that he thinks are a reach for D1 prospect? So this is a way for him to add some #'s and maybe even a bit of talent especially on defense where they are really thin, figuratively and literally. I believe it's either 4 or 5 of their top 6 defensive ends are <235 pounds and playing a 4-3 that means as many as 4 or 5 of your front 7 weigh less than some team's quarterback.

I think Narduzzi is the real deal and kids want to play for him. The Peterman transfer was a good one because he is a legit D1 player and I'm not sure any other QB besides Voytik can claim that designation. Unfortunately as he must sit out this year if Voytik, a scrambler, gets injured they are pretty much screwed. Not much needs to be said for Boyd and Conner as they are the conference's best WR and RB and the Oline is excellent. A big need was a true 3rd WR (Boyd #1, Ford #2) so makes the Araujo-Lopes transfer a nice snag.

Defense has talent but just missing numbers and at least Scarpinato is an extra body. Hendrix has to sit a year but will pretty much walk into 2016 as their best lineman though part of that is Chryst and staff had no clue how to recruit d-line. From what I read Scarpinato was in the two-deep in MSU's #1 ranked defense but has gone through 4 surgeries in last 5 years. Obviously as a med student he's going to the right place since UPMC is the largest employer in PA and his field of study, Ortho, is rated top 15 in country. so a great fit it seems.

All good things under Narduzzi. Obviously they need to stay away from defensive injuries this year but their offense should be tremendous and defense can only improve under Nard & Conklin. Btw Conklin used to coach Safeties at UcheaT in case you are wondering the connection b/w Tenn & Pitt

 

[CoachCB]

Pitt did well w/ these transfers. Peterman is from the same area as Tebow (he went to the rival HS) and is a legit QB. He was injured his entire time at UT...and they had a crap OL, so he never got a fair shot. The JUCO WR was a big pickup. I'm surprised he was still available, honestly. Narduzzi is going to need a year or two to recruit, but he should do well.

 

[RunLeeRun]

Really good move to slow play the short recruiting class. The last thing you need is to bring in useless bodies to eat scholarships. Being short at spots creates opportunities for top talent interested in playing right away. He can parlay that with the "1st year coach recruiting boom" and he might get a pretty nice class. Then he can fall into his system where they know exactly what kind of kid he wants at each position, recruiting stars be damned. At least defensively, he's going to show that he can scout better than the recruiting services.

 

[cloverleaf]

It's hard to recruit when you have a revolving door with head coaches. Since the fall of 2010, Pittsburgh has had 5 head coaches and 3 interim coaches in Bowl games.

If Narduzzi will stick around for awhile and bring some of the toughness to Panther defenses the way he did for Michigan State, then no reason Pitt can't be successful. The defense ranked 103rd in sacks and 118th in tackles for loss last year. That has to get better.

 

[cloverleaf]

Really good move to slow play the short recruiting class. The last thing you need is to bring in useless bodies to eat scholarships. Being short at spots creates opportunities for top talent interested in playing right away. He can parlay that with the "1st year coach recruiting boom" and he might get a pretty nice class. Then he can fall into his system where they know exactly what kind of kid he wants at each position, recruiting stars be damned. At least defensively, he's going to show that he can scout better than the recruiting services.

Just an example of why some of old Bama guys read RLR's posts on a regular basis...there's more to this character than he let's on.

 

[groundhog11]

Isn't the next 2 yrs, the western pa d-1 players picking up?

 

[rolltide]

Isn't the next 2 yrs, the western pa d-1 players picking up?

yes and no. yes they are picking up but no they are not looking at pitt...yet

#1 player in the state will certainly be PGH city kid, RB Sanders. He's probably 75% shot to State Penn and maybe outsider heading to Bama.

central catholic (marino's hs) kid damar hamlin might be 2nd best player in state but i think he's also heading to creepy valley

the only top 30-40 player in the state pitt has wrapped up so far is Ford who is thought to be a marginal power 5 prospect.

full trust in Narduzzi though unlike all of his predecessors starting with Mike Gottfried. western PA high school football is still a good ol boy network and if you can't get the high school coaches trust they don't pave the way for their kids to go to Pitt. It wasn't a coincidence that Wanny recruited well...he is well liked in the region with a lot of great contacts. Unfortunately head coach was always going to be a level above his ability so while he got them to Pitt they still lost. Narduzzi has a lot of great connections in western PA and eastern OH so I expect a great 2016 & 2017 class even if he is starting from scratch.

The worst thing a Pitt supporter can ever be is optimistic but after 30 years of Bama-like coaching carousel (shula, dubose, price, fran, ugh) hopefully this hire will do for Pitt what the Saban one did for the Tide. That's the plan anyway....

 

[CoachCB]

RT, you don't think Narduzzi would leave if he has some success and gets a "better" offer?

 

[rolltide]

RT, you don't think Narduzzi would leave if he has some success and gets a "better" offer?

without a doubt

 

[groundhog11]

I think he will leave too...I think Pitt needs to get back a on campus stadium....it seems like coaches get tired of dealing with stuff at Heinz...I do think narduzzi wins at Pitt...