Pitt Panthers: Will Fans See Dave Wannstedt's Dazed Look This Season?

Will Pitt fans catch a glimpse of the bewildered Dave Wannstedt in 2010? Outplanned, outcoached, and outfoxed? The season opener against Utah? How about Miami a couple weeks later? Pitt hasn't beaten the 'Canes since 1997.

Will Brian kelly confound and confuse the 'Stache again like he did in a 28-21 win over the Panthers in 2008 and a 45-44 comeback win last season?

Which opponent on Pitt's 2010 schedule will pull a Ohio '05, UConn '06, Louisville '07, Rutger's '08, or North Carolina State '09?

The dumb losses add up and they hurt.

Wannstedt is going to miss old Charlie Weis. He was able to build a 2-1 record against the deposed Irish coach by winning in quadruple OT in 2008 and holding off an Irish rally last season. With Brian Kelly at the helm, the Panthers face a much more challenging assignment against the Irish this season.

In Pittsburgh, he has managed to quell the calls for his removal by posting an unranked 9-4 season and an underwhelming 10-3 record last year.

Tony DeFazio of Pittsburgh Sports Report describes Wannstedt this way, "He’s not won any titles as a head coach, he’s been fired at the highest level – twice – and he’s stubbornly tied to his system."

Bear fans will never forget the Death Spiral engineered by the 'Stache.

Roy Taylor of BearsHistory.com recalls. "Beginning in the Spring of 1997, Wannstedt's mistakes began to intensify, leading to the 'Wannstedt Death Spiral' of '97 and '98."

ESPN's Skip Bayless describes why the 'Stache has achieved opportunities in coaching that seemed to exceed his ability, "Only now am I sorting out what I always wanted Dave to be, and what he really was. As I got to know him that first summer at Dallas Cowboys camp in 1989, his interior was so surprisingly different than his exterior. He was so approachable and likable -- so down-to-earth, unassuming, good-hearted -- that I ignored the truth.. that he was never cut out to be a head coach."

In the annals of great coaches, Wannstedt will never make the grade.

Then of course there's his less than stellar record at Pitt in his first three seasons as head coach.

Unlike two predecessors Johnny Majors I and Walt Harris, the 'Stache took a ranked team in 2005 coming off the school's only Big East Championship in 2004 and BCS appearance and trashed it to an 0-3 record, including a loss to Ohio University. 

Johnny Major I shocked the nation by rousing his squad to a huge upset 7-7 tie with Georgia. Walt Harris' first year was a rabble-rousing success with wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia, and a Liberty Bowl appearance.

With the best talent in the Big East and a potential Heisman candidate, the 2010 Panthers should be a top 10 team. Pollsters and fellow coaches are well aware of the Wannstedt choke. No one is calling for the Panthers to go 12-0. No preseason rankings have the Panthers in the Top 10.

Satisfaction at Pitt with a couple levels above mediocrity - achieving good but not great - is why Wannstedt will coast on. He will lose a game or two when his team is favored by 10+ points, and he will be out-coached by a competitor in a high stakes game.

Many Pitt fans are so grateful a "Yinzer" is in charge of their beloved Panthers.

Wannstedt's innate nice guy persona, his stature, his warmth, have combined to make him one of Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg's favorite people and AD Steve Pederson's best recruiter.

The Pitt administration doesn't really care how far he goes as long as the team is respectable and makes a bowl game. After all, they are not prepared to spend the big bucks needed to maintain a one or two loss football program every season.

Chris Dokish, in his Big East Report, addresses what makes a program great and how teams with Pitt's conference affiliation (BCS), tradition (Two AP National Championships), recruiting base (Western PA) and ease of access to a BCS game (Big East is only eight teams) should be able to reach the elite level.

Pitt under the 'Stache will not be elite. Why?

"The answer, quite simply, is the head coach. It is, by far, the single biggest indicator of how good, how mediocre, or how bad your program will be. Not recruiting area, not tradition, and not conference affiliation."

But does Wannstedt really care about the criticism? At his age and experience, why should he?

DeFazio writes, "The guy’s been through just about everything – he’s been fired on the grandest stage of all by two of the NFL’s most storied programs. He doesn’t sweat that stuff any longer."

Can the coach who only won one playoff game put it all together this year?

Will he reach the apex of his career in his third head coaching stint after descending into the abyss at Chicago and Miami?

Pitt fans hope this is the year Wannstedt finally pulls a masterstroke and his words are prescient through the grueling 12 game schedule, which includes three ranked teams in the first five games:

"In the past, we said we could be good... Now it's not just words. There is proof. And there is a belief that we can keep getting better." (Tribune Review)