Pittsburgh Football: Offseason issues cost Panthers dearly

In a bombshell announcement Friday, Pittsburgh football coach Pat Narduzzi announced that three players have been suspended and one dismissed from the team.

The Pitt football program has already been struggling a bit in the ACC. Now, head coach Pat Narduzzi has stated that some key players have been suspended for several games and one player has been dismissed from the team entirely.

The initial announcement, covered in PGH Sports Now, announced that the coach had decided to discipline a handful of players due to some off-season antics.

Junior safety Jordan Whitehead and senior linebacker Quintin Wirginis will be suspended the first three games of the season. Junior offensive tackle Alex Booker will miss the first game of the season. Senior defensive end Rori Blair was dismissed from the program altogether.

So what does this mean for the program? The first game against Youngstown State is a cupcake, and Pitt should easily win that one with or without these players. It could get ugly pretty quickly because Whitehead is a terrific safety and his absence will be detrimental. In particular, his and Wirginis’ absence is going to put some serious holes in the defensive line.

Pitt’s early schedule has two possible top-10 teams with both Oklahoma State and Penn State on the books. Both teams were going to be a tough regardless, but now a win may be well-nigh impossible, particularly in light of the fact that both OSU and Penn State are noted for their speedy backs and an explosive passing game.

To be fair, Narduzzi is a bulldog and has pulled off upsets before. Do these suspensions hurt the young Panthers defensive line? Sure. But Narduzzi has changed Pitt from a problematic team into a team with depth and that could be a legitimate contender in the ACC. The team is young and there is a ton of great talent.

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Look for players like Saleem Brightwell, Chase Pine and Paris Ford to step up. While these suspensions are going to impact the team, they also show that Narduzzi does hold his players accountable.  Hopefully, these young men will learn from this and keep out of trouble.