Louis Riddick imparts wisdom to Pitt football players

It’s no secret ESPN football analyst Louis Riddick loves Pitt football.

He doesn’t hide it: He boasts about the Panthers any time he can to his colleagues and on social media.

The 1991 Pitt graduate was the guest speaker at the Pitt Football luncheon Friday at The Westin, where he talked to the squad about what to expect when the Panthers play rival West Virginia on Sept. 16 in Morgantown.

“I know Coach (Pat) Narduzzi doesn’t like to look ahead, but I do,” Riddick said. “That was the site of my most memorable game.

“When the bus pulls up to Mountaineer Field you feel the hatred from their crowd. There is nothing else like it. The atmosphere is intense.”

Riddick was on the call for last year’s Backyard Brawl. It was the first time he had come to a Pitt game in 32 years. It was something he’ll never forget.

“It was, as far as broadcasting is concerned, calling the Super Bowl and playoff games in one thing and obviously in the NFL level you’re talking about the very highest level.” Riddick said. “But it terms of emotion and how personally invested you are in a broadcast, when M.J. Devonshire returned the pick-six, it was very emotional.

“I had to step back for a minute. If you noticed and replay of the broadcast, we all kind of went silent because the camera crew panned down to the student section and it was a mob of blue and yellow. That was something you haven’t seen here … I don’t know if ever, especially of that magnitude in terms of how many people were in that stadium that day. It was raw emotion that was coming out that day.”

And yes, his Pitt bias came through during the broadcast.

“It was very hard for me to remain neutral in that game,” Riddick said. “I got a lot of flack on Twitter from the West Virginia fan base about me being too partial. I tried my best, and I thought I did a pretty good job of remaining pretty neutral.

“But there were moments that it was hard. To actually come back for a game and for it to be that game and that team in particular and that crowd, it made me think about 1989 when we went down there.”

In that game, between top-10 teams, West Virginia led Pitt, 31-9, with nine minutes left. Somehow, Pitt rallied to tie the score.

Riddick remembers it as the most emotional game he played in his career. He remembers walking off the field that night crying.

“Marc Spindler kind of put his arm around me and said, ‘This is why we came here to play in games like this.’

“I could see that same emotion last year, and that’s what college football is all about. That is what we need to preserve about college football,” Riddick said. “Those are the games that produce those kinds of moments. The powers to be need together and make sure they do.

“Preserve the rivals in college football. It’s why we love college football: the pageantry, the history and the memories. College football, to me, is about those traditions and about that history.”

Riddick voiced concern that college football is getting away from the rivals and thinking more about the money.

“Right now, I don’t know where it falls in the pecking order in terms of importance,” Riddick said. “Right now we know what’s at the top of the list in the pecking order — it’s money and making sure we are in a position to compete both now and in the future for as long as we possibly can and a lot of that is driven by money.

“The more money that you can make, the better facilities you can have, the more kids with NILs will want to come to your school.”

Riddick said the system needs to be fixed. He doesn’t blame the kids for trying to maximize their earning potential in college because that’s what universities are doing.

He’s not in favor of all the conference realignments.

“College football needs to be regulated and uniformed, and certain things need to be preserved about the game or they are going to wind up ruining it,” Riddick said. “I don’t necessarily care about seeing Pitt play Cal or Pitt play Stanford or Stanford play Florida State. I want to see Pitt play Penn State, Pitt play West Virginia, Ohio State play Michigan.”