Pitt Football Can Create Its Third Era Of Excellence With The Right Coach

To those fans who say Pitt will never be a regular top-10 football program again, I say, "Enough!"

Pitt was great in the past. Pitt will be great in the future.

If the Wannstedt era has taught us anything at all, it's the critical piece the head coach and his staff play in creating a nationally ranked program.  Wannstedt got the PR and most of the recruiting right. His gameday preparation was lacking and his inflexibility kept Pitt from putting away lesser opponents and pulling out wins against the high profile ones.

I remember meeting Dave Wannstedt in 1972. We were both living in the Tower dormitories at the time and a group of us ended up in his room discussing Pitt football. The Dave Wannstedt I met would not have liked the Dave Wannstedt of the past six years.

Remember, 1972 was a dreary year in Pitt football. Carl DePasqua, another Pitt alum, was completing his fourth year and finished 1-10. After the Penn State game DePasqua was gone.

At the time no one could have predicted the sudden change of good fortune that awaited Pitt.

Johnny Majors was skeptical about taking the Pitt job because all he had heard from fellow coaches was, "You'll never win at Pitt."

But Majors looked around the city, traveled to the high schools in the area, and saw the W.P.I.A.L. playoffs. He knew there was plenty of talent in the area.

He also knew Pitt was a classy university with a terrific reputation in the sciences. He arrived at the time football fever was growing in Pittsburgh. The post-Immaculate Reception era had begun.

There isn't as much talent in Western Pennsylvania today as there was then, but there is still enough talent to use as a strong recruiting base. Wannstedt recruited well in the state of Pennsylvania and was beginning to own New Jersey.

The new coach can build upon Wannstedt's connections, but must add Florida and Texas to the mix.  The Big East is going to realize every team needs to play in Texas and Florida at least once every season. Central Florida and Houston additions to the league would make that happen.

Steve Pederson has been charged with the task of improving attendance at Pitt home games. He has done a good job, avoiding some of the bonehead decisions that former athletic director Jeff Long made by raising ticket prices above what the Pittsburgh market would pay.

The new coach has every reason to believe his team will play before 50,000-60,000 in each of the eight home games.

Let's stop comparing Pitt football attendance to Penn State or Ohio State. Pittsburgh is a pro sports city. Urban schools like Pitt that draw 50,000-plus for home games are taking care of business.

When I lived in Oakland back in the 1970s the area was highly urbanized and densely populated, and the odor from the steel mills waffed through the air from time to time.

Oakland now feels more collegiate as the university has expanded over a much larger area than it had 30 years ago. The University of Pittsburgh is a great place to be.

The new coach will have the Steelers name to use as a recruiting tool, sharing practice facilities and the home stadium. Teenage athletes revel in the kind of big dreams that association creates.

Although many of us had doubts about Chancellor Nordenberg's commitment to Pitt football, today's move to pressure Wannstedt to resign confirms that Nordenberg wants a football program that is equal to Pitt basketball.

Regarding Panthers' men's hoops, Nordenberg and Pederson have made all the right moves.

Don't discount Pitt's winning tradition. Even if you choose not to acknowledge the national championships Pitt won before the Associated Press poll began in 1936, Pitt won two undisputed national titles in 1937 and 1976. 

In the Big East, only two other universities can claim national championships: Syracuse and TCU. Despite the recent success of Pitt basketball, Pitt football has been more successful throughout its history. There is no modern era Pitt men's basketball title yet.

During the long era of success in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s, Pitt had the complete package: excellent facilities—Pitt Stadium opened in 1925 and was considered one of the elite stadiums in college football—excellent coaching personified by Jock Sutherland and the backing of the Pitt faculty and administration.

Pitt played by the rules of the day and won big.

In the early 1970s chancellor Wesley Posvar and athletic director Cas Myslinski hired Johnny Majors to return Pitt football to the glory days of the 1930s. They supported him in every way they could within the rules. Majors wanted upgrades to the Pitt football facilities and he got them.

Whoever Pitt hires will benefit from Nordenberg and Pederson's commitment to success. He will have state of the art facilities from the off campus center on the South Side to Heinz Field. He will have a united fan base ready to open their hearts and wallets to support Pitt football. He will have ESPN ready to tell a success story about Pitt football as they have so proudly done about Pitt basketball.

Pitt doesn't need to be Penn State or Ohio State to be excellent. Pitt just needs the right coach who will carry forward the momentum in recruiting and good will Wannstedt has created.  

Today is a great day for Pitt football. Hiring the right coach could make it the beginning of another great era.