Charles Colton may be best known for the phrase “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Pittsburgh’s new coaching staff in western Pennsylvania must be fond of the way James Franklin conducts his recruiting efforts, because some sales pitches coming across social media this week shows some familiar pitches from Pitt coaches.
Take a quick look at the Twitter feed for Pittsburgh offensive line coach John Peterson. First, Peterson brags about how Pittsburgh “dominated” in the state of Ohio. If I didn’t know better, this was a subtle shot at James Franklin’s “Dominate the State” mantra he has been selling since the day he was introduced as Penn State’s head coach.
Great day recruiting in Ohio.. DOMINATED CINCINNATI and getting ready to DOMINATE CLEVELAND tomorrow AM! #OnTheProwl pic.twitter.com/nShP7YqwQE
— john peterson (@coachjpete) January 21, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsPittsburgh currently has one recruit committed from the state of Ohio, although it is a good one. Four-star running back Darrin Hall out of Youngstown chose the Panthers over a number of options, although Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin did not extend offers according to Rivals. But speaking about Franklin’s “Dominate the State” recruiting pitch, Peterson has another not-so-subtle response…
#H2P pic.twitter.com/OHRuE3oJdY — john peterson (@coachjpete) January 22, 2015
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As previously reviewed, Pittsburgh is not exactly lighting things up with the top recruits within the state, but when it comes to recruiting you always have to act as if you are. The facts sometimes get in the way though.
“Pennsylvania’s premier program” has just one 10-win season since 1981. Penn State has 11. “Pennsylvania’s premier program” hasn’t had a top 10 finish since 1982. Penn State has had 10. “Pennsylvania’s premier program” just blew a 20-point lead in the final six minutes of a bowl game to turn a blowout victory into a bitter loss. Now, truth be told, this coaching staff at Pitt was not a part of any of that. In fact, somebody at Wisconsin spruced up a piece of recruiting material by claiming Paul Chryst was the former head coach of Penn State, instead of Pittsburgh.
It is not just Peterson with these tweets either. Pittsburgh Assistant Director of Player Personnel Mark Diethorn shared this tweet…
Fire it up! (S/O to whoever made this, that’s really cool) #PITTisIT #H2P pic.twitter.com/NeC0in0S8P
— Mark Diethorn (@MarkDPitt) January 22, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js… which may or may not be taking aim at a recruiting tweet that has become common on the feed of Evil James Franklin…
Wait, are you waiting for me to confirm? pic.twitter.com/B2OEcE4Umw
— Evil James Franklin (@JamesFrankwin) January 8, 2015
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Penn State and Pittsburgh renew their in-state rivalry on the field on September 10, 2016 at Pittsburgh. The build-up will be plenty of fun.
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