Pat Narduzzi says NFL scouts are 'awful happy' to visit Pitt
After practice Tuesday, Pat Narduzzi defended Pitt’s treatment of NFL scouts in light of a Sports Illustrated story that mentioned Pitt among schools that “aren’t always easy to visit.”
The story, written by SI senior writer Andy Staples, used information from anonymous scouts because they weren’t authorized by their teams to speak publicly. That anonymity irritated Narduzzi.
“Who do you trust? It comes down to that,” he said. “Maybe that guy (who criticized Pitt) is not trusted very much. Obviously, he won’t put his name on it, so he’s probably not trusted very much.”
Narduzzi said the criticism “sounds like one guy’s assessment.”
“I think there are a lot of scouts that are awful happy when they come in here and get a lot of work,” he said. “They make no mistakes on our guys. They get plenty of time to look at what we have.”
There have been 10 Pitt players drafted in the four years Narduzzi has been coach, including seven in the fourth round or later, where the best players aren’t as easy to identify.
Pitt held its Pro Day March 20 at its indoor practice facility, and most NFL teams were represented. Thirteen departing seniors participated. Pitt passed out a pamphlet that included information on each player and the 12 seniors on this year’s team.
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Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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