I thought things might be moving on, but Coach Wannstedt’s overall performance as Pitt head coach has continued to be a high topic of discussion. It is no longer about how effed up Pitt was against BGSU.
As has fairly been pointed out, the Falcons are a good team. They adjusted their game and beat Pitt. Pitt did not perform well on the field. There were some questionable decisions by the coaches. It does happen.
The issue, though, is not — and I don’t think it has been for the last couple of days — been about that game. It’s more that this is one more example on Coach Wannstedt’s shaky performance as a coach.
When Pitt released its game notes and depth chart (PDF), there was little change to it other than at linebacker where there are injuries.
Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said if starting linebackers Shane Murray (knee) and Adam Gunn (concussion) — both are listed as “day-to-day” don’t play against Buffalo, the Panthers will use either senior Austin Ransom or redshirt freshman Tristan Roberts for Murray at weak-side and redshirt freshmen Brandon Lindsey or Greg Williams for Gunn at strong-side.
This is it. Other than at his press conference reiterating that they need to get a couple guys some more time. Continually falling back on “it just didn’t work out/unfold/etc. that way,” excuse.
On playing time of freshmen Lucas Nix and Andrew Taglianetti:
Lucas will play for sure. We need to get him in the game. Last week we were looking for opportunities, and it just never came up the way the game unfolded. He will play this week regardless. We need to get him on the field and get him some playing time. (Andrew) Taglianetti was on field goal block, punt return, punt team, and kickoff team. He didn’t play any defense – I really didn’t expect him to play any defense. Right now we have Irvan Brown and Elijah Fields alternating in at the safety position. He’ll continue special teams and then we’ll go from there.
On Elijah Fields’ playing time:
We have packages where he’s a major player, where we think we can take advantage of some things. Just the way the game unfolded, we had three or four possessions of their normal offense and then they went to the swinging gate and the totem pole, two different offenses. One that I’ve never seen and one we use on field goal, and they hit a couple plays on us and because of some of the things they did it really didn’t give us a chance (to put Fields in defensively).
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On not playing Gregg Cross against Bowling Green in retrospect:I don’t know, it’s easy to look back and say maybe. We do have that ready to go, you’ve seen it work, seen it in practice. Even though we were behind and not scoring points, we felt like we had some opportunities to make some plays with what we were doing. To answer your question, that is a little package (featuring Cross) we do have. The situation just didn’t come up when we felt he would have made a difference.
Unbelievable. That set J Jones at Cat Basket off on a righteous rant worth reading in full.
The biggest indictment of the program and Wannstedt that has come out is the lack of change in the two deep. One position, right tackle, obviously needs to be changed but the official announcement is no change. Wannstedt has said that Lucas Nix needs to play this week no matter what but he has stated that before, remember his interviews before the Bowling Green game. Joe Thomas played the worst game of anybody on the offense but it appears that wasn’t enough to lose his starting job. This is indictative of Wanny’s entire reign here and I would expect not to see Nix unless we are in garbage time.
Make sure you go there to read the whole thing. He discusses the arrogance of Wannstedt. It’s a good point, because when Wannstedt says the things, he tends to do in a congenial way. A manner that is disarming, but is rife with condescension. He talks of his experience and how he has his way of doing things and how they have always worked (and then hopes no one realizes he’s talking 20 years ago or so).
If you have followed Wanny’s head coaching career in Chicago and Miami, then you should know this is the choppy point. Last year, the fan support was eroding — and then forestalled by the WVU win — but the media was still with him. Give him more time they said. Why? Because Wanny is so darn likable. Everyone wants him to succeed who is in contact with him.
Then this season has started with more of the same. Guess what’s happening to the media backing?
Make no mistake: The mess that was that game and the mess that is the Pitt program are on Wannstedt.
The man lost me Saturday. I really hate to say that because I’ve spent a lot of time and energy defending him. I eagerly endorsed his hiring — and Harris’ exit. I urged people to give him a fair chance through those first three tough seasons. I was convinced he was going to bring Pitt back and take it to heights Harris never could.
Not anymore.
What will be interesting to see is how many Pitt fans Wannstedt has lost.
Joe Starkey devotes his column to how Wanny is losing the fans.
Those weren’t samplers. Those were hard-core supporters, sick of watching Pitt underachieve under fourth-year coach Dave Wannstedt.
I asked Wannstedt on Tuesday if he thought the boos and heavy post-game criticism were justified or an overreaction to the first of 12 games.
I liked his answer.
“It was pretty justified,” he said. “I mean, let’s be real.”
I would, except there was no admission of responsibility from Wannstedt in the whole answer.
On whether or not the fan reaction was justified:
It was probably justified. I mean, let’s be real. We expected to go out there and play good and win the game, so when people are disappointed they are going to express it. And that’s part of the business you know, got to be able to handle that. You know how I feel about this school, I love these kids, and my focus now is getting ready for Buffalo. I believe in these kids, I know we have a good football team, I know we have good players. We just have to keep pressing forward.
Pressing forward. Just time to move on. These things happen.
Even in Buffalo, they have noticed as their team gets ready.
Wannstedt’s four years into his dream job and it’s been anything but dreamy. The Panthers have lost 13 of their last 18. Last Saturday they blew a 14-point lead in a loss to Bowling Green. This week’s game against the University at Buffalo amounts to a must win if Wannstedt’s to have any realistic shot at staying on the job despite signing a contract extension prior to this season.
The natives are restless. The Panthers are 13-point favorites. And if UB seems like the ideal foe for the moment consider that Bowling Green, its Mid-American Conference East brother, also went in as a 13-point underdog. Clearly Pitt’s in no position to take anything for granted.
Pitt’s Wannstedt era has rung discordant from the get-go. The Miami Dolphins were 1-8 when he “resigned†as head coach in November 2004. The Panthers quickly came calling but Wannstedt turned them away, unsure that he was ready to get right back onto the sidelines, even for his alma mater. He reconsidered soon thereafter and by Christmas was named the new coach. (One of the other finalists, by the way, was Bo Pelini, who beat out UB coach Turner Gill for the Nebraska job after last season. And Wannstedt once interviewed Gill for a vacancy on his Dolphins staff. Small world, coaching.)
It’s perplexing that Wannstedt has yet to have a winning season.
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Wannstedt makes it sound like Pitt’s in transition, or retooling after a successful run. Neither shoe fits. He’s been at it more than three years. He has the athletes. Now what he needs are wins.
Yup.
Paul Zeise takes the defense that there is still plenty of football to be played this season. Yes, there is, but this isn’t about one game. Trying to pretend that the anger and frustration all arose out of one loss is bull. This has been building. Yes, other teams have recovered.
Teams have rebounded from ugly early season losses in the past:
• Michigan last year lost to Division I-AA Appalachian State and finished the season 9-4 and beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl.
• Wisconsin in 1999 lost to a terrible (3-8) Cincinnati team but finished the season as Big Ten champions, went 10-2 and beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl.
• Florida State in 1989 lost to Southern Mississippi in its first game and finished 10-2 and destroyed Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.
• Northwestern in 1996 lost to an awful (3-8) Wake Forest team and rebounded to finish 9-3 and play in the Citrus Bowl.
• In 1995, Northwestern lost to Miami (Ohio) in the second game of the season – and finished 10-2, Big Ten champs and played in the Rose Bowl.
• In 1993, Boston College lost to a terrible Northwestern (2-9) team and finished the season 9-3 and went to the Blockbuster Bowl.
• And though it was five games in, who can forget Virginia Tech losing to the greatest team ever compiled … Temple (2-9) … in 1998 and finishing 9-3 including a destruction of Alabama in the Music City Bowl.
Here’s the difference. The coaches on those teams. Lloyd Carr, Barry Alvarez, Dave Barnett, Tom Coughlin and Frank Beamer were the coaches on those teams. Dave Wannstedt has never drawn comparisons (or success) to them.
Also, consider that these coaches were actually capable of making real changes to their game or approach (well, maybe not Carr) — even if they wouldn’t necessarily admit it. Frank Beamer, just this week after losing to East Carolina, scrapped plans to redshirt sophomore QB Tyrod Taylor and return to the two-QB system. Why? Because it helps the team and it is more important than pride and trying to prove he knows best.
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