Transformation At Temple
-Hartford Courant.
REVIVAL AT PITT
-Sports Illustrated. PittRevival
Aren't those nice? There has not been as much media attention on Temple, which surprised me a little at first. They are higher ranked than Pitt, greater degree of difficulty at Temple. But, Temple has sucked for so long and they play in a second-tier conference, there was far more national coverage when they beat Penn State. That will change. Temple plays Notre Dame in Philadelphia on Halloween. The game has been moved to 8 pm and will be nationally televised by ABC. Without fear of exaggeration that will be the biggest game in Temple football history. I cannot copy any of the content of the Courant article, only about half of which is on Temple so here is the link. OwlsHoot!Hoot!
Pitt's head coach, Pat Narduzzi, is an intense, high-energy, FUN guy. After Pitt's win over Georgia Tech there were two images that immediately popped up nationally. One was on ESPN and it was a video of the Pitt players singing their fight song. I have never, ever seen that before. (Warning: not to be used for instructional purposes. The boys don't sing too good. MoveOverSusanBoyle.)
The other was this still:
Excited bunch of young guys there! Here's Narduzzi from the SI article to provide some context:
The energetic Narduzzi wants his team to play with enthusiasm, which is why he encourages his players to go wild at the end of the third quarter.
"When the fourth quarter starts, we will win the fourth quarter," Narduzzi says. "We're going to finish, which wasn't their MO. We're going to win the game because of the way we finish in the fourth quarter. It's not going to be a funeral. It's going to be a party."
...
...Narduzzi's current players have embraced his high-energy approach. That's a big contrast from when he first gathered his team before the fourth quarter of Pitt's 45–37 home victory over Youngstown State in the season-opener.
"I think they thought were going to get their a-- ripped and scolded," Narduzzi says. "They had these big eyes looking at me."
Instead of laying into them, Narduzzi implored his players to celebrate as if they were at a party because they were going to win the fourth quarter. But they didn't respond, standing in near silence.
That is sad!
So Narduzzi made his plea again.
"Guys, it is the fourth quarter, we're going to win the fourth quarter!" Narduzzi bellowed.
...
Before the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh's 26–19 home win over Virginia two weeks ago, his players danced like they had just won the Super Bowl. They also squirted water bottles into the air, getting Narduzzi wet.
"It was like they had champagne bottles out there or something," Narduzzi says.
And that is awesome.
You never know in sports. Temple may lose to East Carolina this week and take some of the lustre off that Halloween match with the Golden Domers. Pitt may lose to Syracuse this week. Both would fall out of the top 25. I don't know Temple's program well, coach Matt Rhule has been there since 2013 and there is clearly new rule in Philadelphia. I know Pitt better and Pitt is coming. Pat Narduzzi, half way through his first season, has already affected a doozy of a change in Pitt football.
-Hartford Courant.
REVIVAL AT PITT
-Sports Illustrated. PittRevival
Aren't those nice? There has not been as much media attention on Temple, which surprised me a little at first. They are higher ranked than Pitt, greater degree of difficulty at Temple. But, Temple has sucked for so long and they play in a second-tier conference, there was far more national coverage when they beat Penn State. That will change. Temple plays Notre Dame in Philadelphia on Halloween. The game has been moved to 8 pm and will be nationally televised by ABC. Without fear of exaggeration that will be the biggest game in Temple football history. I cannot copy any of the content of the Courant article, only about half of which is on Temple so here is the link. OwlsHoot!Hoot!
Pitt's head coach, Pat Narduzzi, is an intense, high-energy, FUN guy. After Pitt's win over Georgia Tech there were two images that immediately popped up nationally. One was on ESPN and it was a video of the Pitt players singing their fight song. I have never, ever seen that before. (Warning: not to be used for instructional purposes. The boys don't sing too good. MoveOverSusanBoyle.)
The other was this still:
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
"When the fourth quarter starts, we will win the fourth quarter," Narduzzi says. "We're going to finish, which wasn't their MO. We're going to win the game because of the way we finish in the fourth quarter. It's not going to be a funeral. It's going to be a party."
...
...Narduzzi's current players have embraced his high-energy approach. That's a big contrast from when he first gathered his team before the fourth quarter of Pitt's 45–37 home victory over Youngstown State in the season-opener.
"I think they thought were going to get their a-- ripped and scolded," Narduzzi says. "They had these big eyes looking at me."
Instead of laying into them, Narduzzi implored his players to celebrate as if they were at a party because they were going to win the fourth quarter. But they didn't respond, standing in near silence.
That is sad!
So Narduzzi made his plea again.
"Guys, it is the fourth quarter, we're going to win the fourth quarter!" Narduzzi bellowed.
...
Before the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh's 26–19 home win over Virginia two weeks ago, his players danced like they had just won the Super Bowl. They also squirted water bottles into the air, getting Narduzzi wet.
"It was like they had champagne bottles out there or something," Narduzzi says.
And that is awesome.
You never know in sports. Temple may lose to East Carolina this week and take some of the lustre off that Halloween match with the Golden Domers. Pitt may lose to Syracuse this week. Both would fall out of the top 25. I don't know Temple's program well, coach Matt Rhule has been there since 2013 and there is clearly new rule in Philadelphia. I know Pitt better and Pitt is coming. Pat Narduzzi, half way through his first season, has already affected a doozy of a change in Pitt football.
