Pitt HC Jeff Capel Calls Out Media Coverage of ACC

The head coach of the Pitt Panthers thinks the ACC deserves more credit.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers had made life in the ACC look easy through four games, breezing past NC State, Syracuse, North Carolina and Virginia to notch victories in their first four games and rocket to the top of the league's standings. 

But after dropping back-to-back games against Clemson and Duke, the Panthers have been humbled by what head coach Jeff Capel calls a really good conference, one that gets routinely undersold, even by the people calling the games on television. It's a narrative the ACC's coaches tried to fight last season but Capel fears it is back. 

"I think our league is the most disrespected good league in the country and I hate when, especially the people doing our games, talk like it's not good," Capel said. "We heard that all last year and all we had were two teams in the final four and another team in the Elite Eight." 

With non-traditional powers like Clemson, Miami and Pitt leading the way so far this season, Capel believes those outside the ACC take the conference's parity as a decline in quality. He claims there is real depth that shows up when it matters most - the postseason. 

"It may not be as top-heavy as it was when I first took the Pitt job and you had three No. 1 seeds in the tournament, but it's a really, really good league and I wish people would really respect it across the country like we do as coaches," Capel said "There are really talented players, really good coaches, great home court environments, great, passionate fanbases and we go out and we win, especially when we get to the tournament. We've proven that year in and year out."

So he doesn't believe the fact that legendary figures like longtime Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and Carolina head coach Roy Williams has led to a worse league. Capel maintains there are still great coaches leading good teams in one of the country's best conferences. 

"I don't think we're recalibrating. It's different faces. Obviously, you don't have 'legends' like Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] or Coach [Roy] Williams but you have really good coaches that have been coaching in this league for a while - Coach Larrañaga, Leonard Hamilton, obviously Tony [Bennett] is a championship coach. So there's really good coaches, really good players and I think it's a very good year."

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