That’s quite the motivational tactic, Coach!
Football is one of the closest things we have in this day and age to a gladiator sport (other than mixed martial arts, of course).
It’s a game where warriors lay it all on the line to gain an inch, and competitors on both sides will do whatever it takes to win.
Speaking of wins and losses, a wise coach once said, “You play to win the game.”
The man who uttered that quote certainly was not Pitt Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi, whose team is exceeding expectations this year but had some rather interesting thoughts at his Monday press conference about his upcoming home game against top-ten Notre Dame.
Imagine you are a player at Pitt.
You’ve been busting your ass all season and see a prestigious team like Notre Dame coming to town.
You have to be licking your chops at the opportunity to beat these guys on a national stage and announce yourself to the country.
Then your coach comes out in his Monday presser and says, “I don’t care if we lose by 100.”
That’s got to be pretty demoralizing, huh?
I get what Narduzzi is saying in principle, Pitt’s chances of making the ACC Championship game and, in essence, the College Football Playoff, are not impacted at all by their game against the Fighting Irish this weekend.
But maybe that’s the problem.
Playoff expansion alarmists (myself included) predicted this when it was rumored the CFP would be moving to a 12-team format with autobids for each power conference.
We’ve nerfed the regular season so much that Narduzzi’s proclamation of “losing by 100” could come true and his team could still make the big dance.
I hate it here.
Looks like the fine folks on X also had a field day with Narduzzi and his questionable comments.
It will be interesting to see how the Panthers respond on Saturday.
If they come out and smoke the Irish, then maybe Narduzzi is some kind of mind game master.
If they lose, however, and the score ends up getting out of hand, this press conference will get played on loop for a while.
It’s a bold strategy. Let’s see how it plays out for him.
