In recruiting, Pitt, Penn State make 'social' commentary

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi left before dinner was served, but no one questioned his manners.

He was one of the speakers at Johnny Majors Night at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association in Oakland last Friday, but he explained he needed to return to campus to tend to recruits.

Before leaving, Narduzzi shook hands with the three high school standouts seated to his left, patting each on the shoulder. He approached the next speaker, looked him in the eye and shook his hand. It was Penn State coach James Franklin.

Later, Franklin ended his speech — it was equally well received — with, “There is enough room in this state for two great programs.”

The uneasy peace between Pitt and Penn State will be lifted Sept. 10, 2016, at Heinz Field, where the football teams will meet for the first time since 2000. But Narduzzi and Franklin inevitably will cross major battlegrounds before then, starting with letter of intent day Feb. 4.

The coaches not only are fighting for recruits, but they and their staffs also have engaged in a battle for social media supremacy, using catchy phrases, maps and unique hashtags to draw attention to their recruiting efforts.

That came to a crescendo Wednesday night when their respective offensive line coaches exchanged barbs directed at the other's school, a back-and-forth that gained national attention.

PSU ‘alpha dog'

Franklin, who previously said he wants to dominate the state of Pennsylvania, is winning on the recruiting front. His 20-man class is ranked 12th by Rivals.com, with 11 four-star players. Narduzzi, hired Dec. 26 to replace Paul Chryst, has a 13-man class with two four-stars. It is 61st in Rivals' rankings.

Only Central Valley cornerback Jordan Whitehead and Kittanning tight end Nick Bowers have Penn State offers among Pitt's commitments.

“In the hierarchy, Penn State is the alpha dog in-state,” Rivals.com recruiting analyst Mike Farrell said. “Pitt fans can yell and scream about that all they want, but that's the way it is. So Pitt has to protect their kids, more so than Penn State needs to worry about Pitt.”

Scout.com analyst Brian Dohn agrees.

“Other than Whitehead, I haven't heard a lot of kids saying, ‘I'm torn between Pitt and Penn State,' ” he said. “You want that rivalry to take place, but it can't be a rivalry until both sides win.

“When you go to Penn State, you have 100,000 people there. When you go to a Pitt game, you have a lot of yellow seats.”

For his first full recruiting class, Franklin has secured verbal commitments from four of the top five and six of the top 10 Pennsylvania prospects as rated by Rivals.com. Penn State had none of the top 10 last year.

Pitt has just one of the top 10, albeit the No. 1 (Whitehead).

“It's funny because we made that comment, ‘dominate the state,' and some people thought that was offensive or some people thought that was an attack on someone,” Franklin said. “It wasn't. When you're the state university, you better do a great job in your state. It's really that simple.”

While it wasn't the style of Chryst or his staff to engage Franklin, Narduzzi and his assistants have taken a different tact. They make liberal use of social media, tweeting maps that indicated where he and his coaches are looking for commitments.

In describing his travel plans, Pitt offensive line coach John Peterson tweeted, “DOMINATED CINCINNATI and getting ready to DOMINATE CLEVELAND.”

Peterson's next tweet was a map of Pennsylvania with the “PITT” logo across it with the phrase “The premier program in the state of Pennsylvania” across the top.

Soon after, Penn State offensive line coach Herb Hand responded by listing Penn State's advantages in 2014 record, home attendance and academic ranking, followed by hashtags of #PssstOurState and #WeAre.

‘James from State College'

Franklin has used traditional media as much as social media, going so far as making two unsolicited calls in the past year to the Pitt flagship radio station, 93.7 FM, introducing himself as “James from State College.”

Narduzzi isn't running from the competition.

When Narduzzi was a guest on Hines Ward's WPXI-TV show, Ward asked about Franklin's quest to dominate the state.

Narduzzi was quick to shoot back, referencing his former rivalry with Michigan when he was at Michigan State.

“I've been at a state where they thought they owned it,” he said. “They thought.”

Narduzzi also created what fans on Twitter are calling the “Pat Signal.” Almost immediately after a recruit commits, Narduzzi will tweet: “PITT IS IT. #H2P.”

Franklin uses “#We Are ... Better!” for the same purpose.

Such flashy use of social media runs contrary to how Chryst operated, but Farrell said Chryst and Narduzzi are similar in that they are more concerned with the player than the number of stars next to his name.

“I think Narduzzi is a guy who wants kids who want to play for him and makes them into football players and makes them into tough, physical guys,” Farrell said.

Still, Chryst was a passive recruiter in comparison to his successor. He made several positive impressions on local coaches, players and parents, but he was more concerned with finding the right fit than trying to create one that didn't exist.

Under Chryst, too many area stars left town, including Gateway's Montae Nicholson (Michigan State), Thomas Jefferson's Chase Winovich and North Allegheny's Pat Kugler (Michigan) and Baldwin's Sterling Jenkins (Penn State).

But Narduzzi isn't afraid to stretch borders. In the first two weeks of the open recruiting period, Pitt coaches were in Arizona, Texas and several ACC and Eastern Seaboard venues.

When Narduzzi was in Philadelphia recruiting defensive end Shareef Miller, he handed Miller his phone, and on the other end was Pitt chancellor Patrick Gallagher, Rivals.com reported.

“Narduzzi will be more aggressive,” Dohn said. “Knowing Narduzzi, they should recruit a lot harder. Kids think he's honest. They like his energy.”

Jerry DiPaola and Chris Adamski are staff writers for Trib Total Media. Reach them at jdipaola@tribweb.com and cadamski@tribweb.com.