The Pittsburgh Panthers lost star defensive end Dayon Hayes to the transfer portal on Tuesday. But perhaps even worse is that their reputation took a pretty big hit after Hayes had some not-so-kind parting words about the current state of the program.
After four straight winning seasons for Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi from 2019-2022, the Panther completely fell off a cliff last season, finishing with a 3-9 record.
That kind of a season doesn’t inspire much confidence heading into the 2024-25 season. And it was ultimately the reason that Hayes said he ultimately entered the portal.
“It’s just that I don’t believe we can win now,” Hayes told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I believe we (were going to) win games, but I believe we are (in) a developmental stage. And I just can’t do that right now.”
Christopher Carter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette further added some context to these comments, saying that close sources with knowledge of the situation said that Hayes was particularly about the talent on Pittsburgh’s offense.
Pat Narduzzi does seemingly want to completely overhaul things on the offensive side of the ball, hiring former Western Carolina offensive coordinator Kade Bell this offseason to be their new offensive coordinator.
Still, it is understandable that Hayes feels this way about Pittsburgh’s offense. The team finished dead last in the ACC in most statistical catagories this past season, including yards per game and points per game.
It’s a fair reason for Hayes to leave the program due to this concern. But truth be told, he probably didn’t need to voice this concern as publically as he did…