Now is the time to fulfill these expectations! Hail to Pitt!

We’re number one! Sort of. In a, you know, meaningless preseason poll of a particularly bad year for a conference with only limited prestige.

Yay!

wanny just wet his pants. stull in corner in fetal position. yes, i’m still bitter about the sun bowl disaster.

I do NOT understand the continuous negativity and cynicism by the posters on this site, and especially appalled that Chas is one of them. So we’ve lost McKillop & McCoy; have you seen the losses by the other schools?? WVU lost White, UConn lost Brown, RU lost Teel and its receivers, UC lost almost its entire starting defense … the fact is that Pitt returns more starters than anyone else from a team that finished 2nd last year and won 9 games. Sure, Pitt is not a prohibitive favorite but they have as much right to be the favorite as anyone …. yet, Pitt fans on its own blog site are shocked!

I guess this proves what everyone else (non-Pitt people) have been telling me for years … that Pitt easily has the most negative and cynical fans.

Sure, I wish we had the program to where it was in the late 70s, but for the fan base to react so negatively towards a favorable pre-season rating certainly tells loads.

w Bill, i was at the sun bowl. stop blowing sunshine up my ass! wanny and stull have used up any good will i had for them. hopefully they’ll both be pleasant surprises this year, but i’m not going to hold my breath. and i’m done drinking the kool-aid. year 5 for wanny…how bout winning something!

Amen Bill

wilk is just another of (apparently) thousands who are totally tainted by the Sun Bowl … and of course it is all the QB’s fault (no one remembers that by the 2nd quarter, Pitt was playing with 3 back-up OL) … and apparently no one is even positive enough around here to at least wait and see what the new OC will do.

There is no agenda here for the media voting for Pitt … it is a collective vote from different areas with some measure of obejctivity.

Sure, Pitt can well fall flat and make all of you people very happy … but can’t you at least wait and possibly think that this team may also turn out to be pretty good?

I have said for years that WE have the most cynical fans. That really is a pity, but not a surprise. Burgers tend to equate the Panthers with the Steelers. Many cities with both pro and college teams have that problem. Pittsburgh fans should realize 18 – 22 years olds don’t have the ability to perform like experienced 23 – 29 year olds. Most of the collegians some of us encourage will not be playing for rediculously high salaries on Sundays. So when you sophisticated customers go to Heinz Field to see good ,solid college ball please don’t expect to see polished showmen. Go Pitt. Go collegians. George

God forbid I pile on this debate by saying anything about Bill Stull incompetancies…to rile up the Stull apologists, I digress..

Seriously, I think you guys are painting a VERY BROAD stroke to lump all Pitt fans as cynical. We are no more cynical than any passionate fan base. I would say the majority of people that come to Chas’ site are REALISTS. We realize that system will never allow for us to contend every year for a BCS; however, we do realize that we have enough facilities, talent and supposed coaching schemes to win 9-10 wins consistently and contend for bigger pies ever 5 or so years…

After suffering through 3 to 8 win seasons with Walt, and now bumbling around mediocrity sans last year, we are realistically expecting more but are being a little more cautious…

I think if you ask all Pitt fans this…

Would you take a FB team that:
1) Wins ALL games against non-BCS competition (i.e. MAC schools)
2) Wins ALL games at home
3) Wins MOST road games ( say >50%)
4) And have a shot for a magical (say, undefeated ) season every 7-10 years…

I think most would take it… that would mean we win 9-10 games every year, probably play in a good bowl game (some BCS games), and possibly have a shot to win it all every once in a while.

We are NOT close to that point by the play & coaching of the past two regimes.

Bottom line.

To used the most overused cliche on the book,
“It is what it is.”

Take it for what it is: a preseason opinion poll.

That doesn’t mean the vote is useless, if the PG and Trib can use that angle to hype the team in the next few weeks hopefully we can turn out more than 42,000 for Youngstown State. The Sept 5th opener and Navy on the 19th are both played on the same day as Pirates home games. I’m hoping that Pitt’s early season positive press will attract some eyeballs from PNC park.

I am not shocked by the prediction. We have a solid FB team coming back. One that could be very good if the new OC can generate some more results from our passing game. I never saw the losses of the starting RB and MLB as death blows to the program. Anyone notice that Pitt now has several former LB’s playing in the NFL? And while Shady was top notch, he played in a system that was built to showcase his talents…so will his replacement. I see progress in the Program from year to year. Yes, we need to see more results on the field. Yes we lost to the Ohio’s and Bowling Greens of the world. It’s not acceptable, but the fact is, it happens. In years past Mich lost to App St, PSU lost to Toledo, and I’m sure that I could find a lot of similar games. But for right now, the Program is far ahead of where it was five years ago. We have talent, and a lot of it. I think this team was really close last year to a BCS game and can make it one this year.

this is what i want for the Pitt football program:

* top 25 and a trip to a bowl game almost every year
* compete for BE title most years.
* win BE title and/or trip to BCS bowl every 3-4 years
* compete for a national title 1-2 times per decade

given pitt’s tradition, facilities, recruiting base and conference affiliation, not an unreasonable expectation.

Rev — Could be worse. We could give up on them like we have the Pirates 😉

The results of the media poll are a collective shrug of the shoulders by the press. They have no idea what to expect from the Big East this year. Personally, I think the upcoming season will be the Big East’s weakest showing in years. We’re falling back into the pack with the likes of the MAC and C-USA, and that’s a shame.

Math not adding up…

Can someone explain to me how there were 24 votes cast for first place but we only have 8 teams in the league? (I’m assuming three points for 1st place???)

how many of you cynics realize that in this decade, PSU has only two more wins than Pitt, and Pitt has actually appeared in one more bowl game?

Yes, even a program as stable as UPS which would draw a 100,000 versus Juniata, had a 3 win and 4 win season earlier decade (and 4 out 5 losing years) … and except for one year, PSU has ranked higher in the recruiting rankings every year of this decade! Sure, there was a ‘Joe must go’ push back then, but never ever did their fan base think that they were not going to compete the next season, but more importantly, when they did get out of their funk in 05, they expected better things to come … yet just about everone here seems to think that last year was an abberation and not a sign of things to come … you people are pathetic!

It was a media poll with 24 members of the media voting, not the 8 coaches.

Pathetic was:
1) Losing to a team in its first year in D1
2) Losing at home to lesser caliber teams
3) Losing on the road to lesser caliber teams
4) Barely wining games that are gimmes (i.e. Furman)
5) Back dooring into a BCS than getting smoked
6) Our coach’s agent publicly admitting Pitt was a hack school
7) Our current coach is a continuous punch line for national pundits jokes
8) A ridiculous uniform and logo change

Yeah, now those are pathetic. But guess what? I’m still a season ticket holder. I’m still going to the games. I’m still hopeful for a great season. I’m just not ready to proclaim early season polls as a harbinger for success or that we have turned the corner…

Pauly & the Pathetics, I will quit posting on this particluar subject with the following 2 statements:

1) many people here apparently think that last year was an abberation instead of a sign of good things to come, and

2) (note that the BE media are not the only ones who has picked Pitt to win BE this year) thus, many people outside of the program (non Pitt fans) apparently think much higher of the Panthers than do its own fans …. pretty much unprecedented.

I don’t know what else to say except I really don’t understand the continuous focus on the negatives … inlcuding even the uniforms or the public perception of the coach

Any chance that the ‘Pitt’ script will make its long-awaited, triumphant return on the 11th? I think the script with the current colors would be unbelievable. It would really get both the players and the fans excited and motivated. Lets quit fooling ourselves with the ‘Pittsburgh’ moniker or the block script: do what the Penguins did and use the logo you won with.

Dave in orlando, doesnt look like many have given up on the Pirates – they had 22,000 the other day to watch the Nationals!!! The only team worse than the bucs.

I am not surprised to see Pitt as a preseason pick to win the conference. Right now they have the most stability and a D that should be outstanding. And for the first time in a long time they do have some depth at key positions. We all know the only big question is shellshocked Stull and what he will do.

To those that say Pitt has the most cynical fan base you cant be serious. For as much love as the Steelers get, does everyone forget the Cowher – Kordell years? Did anyone listen to local Pittsburgh sports talk after this team won the Super Bowl – you might have thought they didnt even make the playoffs.

All fans are cynical. I feel like I think most Pitt fans feel, I am optimistic but always keep my guard up for the big let down. Remember last years slogan? “Prove It”….well thats exactly how I feel. Prove to me why I shouldnt be cautiously optimistic by actually winning something of significance.

I will approach this season with enthusiasm but I will also be waiting for the Bowling Green moment to come along and hope it never does.

lol @Dave

now the script talk is back, i would love to see those uni’s 1 home game a yr and use the new ones after that. use script for ND and WVU games. I dont see that being a problem considering they use 2 home unis now.

Maybe We should release a t-shirt proclaiming this momentous ocassion! (Sorry, couldn’t resist).

Go Pitt!

Amen to the script Pitt idea.

On another note, I don’t think it’s cynical at all to be questioning how Pitt is going to pull of 1st place in the LargeEastern conference with what we have in place. Wanny has worn most of us thin (and for good reason), while Stull has shown little to nothing. We had so much talent on the team last year, just to see it pissed away by horrible play calling and timid play at the quarterback position. Stull had his moments, but when he was off, he wasn’t anywhere near his target. I have never seen a cameraman so confused as to where a ball should have been as opposed to where it did. I do agree that Cav didn’t cater to his talent level very well.

If you are an apologist, ask yourself ‘Would ANY major program put up with this mediocrity?’ If what has happened to us over the past years started happening in southern california, toads would rain from the sky. Let’s not kid ourselves, Shady left because that voice in his ear was saying, ‘what are they possibly going to do for you next year?’ We were given a Sun Bowl victory before it ever started and managed fo f it up.

Yes, we did have some pretty cool moments last year, but let’s not forget that we’re trying to build something great. Like so many mentioned above, we have the facilities and the tradition to compete win ANYONE.

Pitt returns tons of starters from a team that won 9 games last year inspite of the starting QB having a serious mid-season injury. Pitt’s D-line will be sick and the o-line is more experienced and will be better. What is the point about being fan of a team if you are always going to be a hater. It seems like the hate builds upon the hate. Moreover, everyone is completely blowing the bowl game out of proportion. Yes Pitt did bad in the bowl game. But that happens sometimes in bowls all the extra time off does effect teams.

And Wanny haters, the reason Walt Harris was let go was because his recruiting was terrible. Wanny had to go out and get his type of players. And look last year Pitt won 9 games. Obviously he is doing something right.

this year will tell us a lot about wanny… a big step backwards like no bowl game… lets see what the staff says….
( personally i want the guy to succeed, he is die-hard for the program…)

greg romeus and john malecki wore pitt adidas polos to the big east event yesterday
link to photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net

Thanks for the Pic, Tony. It looks like I was wrong about wearing the old sponsors gear…

Also, I want to be the first to say that it was utter garbage that Pitt was not selected as one of the top forty teams in Nation as selected by ESPN. Here is the list….vent a little. Hopefully our players will see it and cause them to find a little chip on their collective shoulder this season. HTP!!!

1. USC Trojans, selected by Pat Forde
2. Florida Gators, selected by Mark Schlabach
3. Oklahoma Sooners, selected by Ivan Maisel
4. Texas Longhorns, selected by Pat Forde
5. LSU Tigers, selected by Mark Schlabach
6. Ohio State Buckeyes, selected by Ivan Maisel
7. Penn State, selected by Pat Forde
8. Alabama Crimson Tide, selected by Mark Schlabach
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, selected by Ivan Maisel
10. Georgia Bulldogs, selected by Pat Forde
11. Michigan Wolverines, selected by Mark Schlabach
12. Nebraska Cornhuskers, selected by Ivan Maisel
13. Virginia Tech, selected by Pat Forde
14. Florida State, selected by Mark Schlabach
15. Tennessee Volunteers, selected by Ivan Maisel
16. Oregon Ducks, selected by Pat Forde
17. Utah Utes, selected by Mark Schlabach
18. Wisconsin Badgers, selected by Ivan Maisel
19. Auburn Tigers, selected by Pat Forde
20. Boise State Broncos, selected by Mark Schlabach
21. Clemson Tigers, selected by Ivan Maisel
22. California Golden Bears, selected by Pat Forde
23. BYU Cougars, selected by Mark Schlabach
24. Miami Hurricanes, selected by Ivan Maisel
25. Texas Tech Red Raiders, selected by Pat Forde
26. Oklahoma State Cowboys, selected by Mark Schlabach
27. Iowa Hawkeyes, selected by Ivan Maisel
28. West Virginia Mountaineers, selected by Pat Forde
29. Mississippi Rebels, selected by Mark Schlabach
30. UCLA Bruins, selected by Ivan Maisel
32. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, selected by Mark Schlabach
33. South Carolina Gamecocks, selected by Ivan Maisel
34. Michigan State Spartans, selected by Pat Forde
35. Arkansas Razorbacks, selected by Mark Schlabach
36. Boston College Eagles, selected by Ivan Maisel
37. Missouri Tigers, selected by Pat Forde
38. Kansas Jayhawks, selected by Mark Schlabach
39. Texas A&M Aggies, selected by Ivan Maisel
40. Arizona State, selected by Pat Forde

Texas Christian? BYU? Colorado? Washington? Maryland? Illinois? Pitt?

byu is number 23 but i would think pitt should be on here

Notre Dame? what have they done lately?

not that surprising that Pitt is picked first in the Big East with the Defensive players they have coming back. It will all depend on QB play however. Nothing spectacular but overall a decent effort will get the job done. Pitt is selected in top 25 in several poles and also chosen to win the league by some magazines so its not to surprising that they were chosen there by the media preseason pole. Also, not in the top 40 is silly…

For real, brining the script back would bring so much more emotion and pride back into the team and the fanbase, it would be a great move both from an athletic standpoint and a marketing standpoint: pent-up demand for merchandise with the Pitt script would bring a ton of revenue and interest back into the program. Hopefully by switching sponsors Pitt will also switch up the logo.

When it comes to Wanny and the team itself, what kills me most is the disorganization/confusion that always seems to occur on the sidelines, which translates to stupid mistakes and blown assignments on the field (predominantly on offense, which can be attributed to Cav).

One more thing: Johnathan Baldwin better work on his hands. He dropped a TON of easy balls last year, or made many catches WAY harder than they had to be (Notre Dame game sticks out). He’s got fantastic size and speed but terrible fundamentals and catching technique. To live up to the enormous hype, he has to become more than just a deep/jump ball threat.

On a good note, I was really impressed with the entire defense last year, especially with the defensive line. Hopefully the success from last year will carry into this year to set the tone for the season. It starts with defense!

HTP!

ASU being within two continents of this list is an absolute joke

*Jonathan Baldwin, my apologies

That list was made by three guys with one hand down their pants and the other hand typing. They tried to celebrate recent success with some teams while keeping others high based on tradition. You can’t have it both ways. Before 5 years ago, did anyone realize that Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas had football teams.

And of course, any time BC is ranked in the Top 50 of anything athletics, you know it is a sham.

Note that Pitt was 3 and 0 last year against teams on that Top 40 list.

And Pitt is recently (i.e. from 2000 to the present) 7-4 the last time they met a team ranked in this top forty.
Wins:
ND
Penn State
A&M
West Virginia
Iowa
Virginia Tech
Boston College

Losses:
Miami
Nebraska (7-6)
Michigan State
Utah

note that Pitt is 6 and 0 against in its last 6 meetings vs Va Tech & BC

just in case you haven’t heard … 5 people dead including gunman and as many as 12 people wounded at LA Fitness in Brdigeville

Bill:
You gives PSU fans too much credit. I read their boards. They too are cynical. Without some critics and open debate, this board would be like the SEC ones: unintelligible gibberish that might be on topic. I always want Wanny to do his best for his school and fans. I hope that some day he will coach a team above its talent level. Remember Walt’s 1997 6-5 team? Walt coached above. I remember ND-Pitt 2005, Connecticut 2006; UConn 2007; Bowling Green 2008. See, each loss is painful. Being realistic deadens the pain. Yes, I hope we go 12-0 and surprise everyone!!

remember Pitt-Temple in 98, pitt-usf in 01, pitt-toledo in 03, pitt-UConn in 04, pitt-su in 04 … just a sample of Pitt’s losses tey should have won under Walt

A point I keep making is that in Wanny’s 1st 3 years, the following teams had the best years in the history of their entire programs: WVU, UL, RU, USF & UConn (only SU faltered …although in fairness, USF and UConn has very short histories)

add UC with back-to-back 10 win seasons to the list above

PITT is a program on the rise and the voters saw what it is. Get used to it and expect more. It’s all good! PITT was just one score away from beating Oregon St, going 10-3 and that was not all Stull’s fault. So suck it up and forget about it. Its a team game and this year’s PITT team will be good. Marino only won 9 games his Senior year and Stull (if healthy again) has an good shot at bettering that. Coaches are going to encourage all the QB’s to be the best they can be. A QB never knows when he is going into a game. Bostick has won some good games for PITT when needed, and will continue to get better, so why run him down? Tino and Gray have 4 years playing time ahead of them with plenty of time to learn the offense as they improve, so relax and enjoy a PITT team on the rise.

It is truly amazing to see how many wantabe coaches we have on these boards that know so much more than the PITT coaches.

They had to pick somebody, being ranked number one in this group is like being considered the smartest kid on the short bus. Every Big East team has major flaws and if Pitt can get adequate play out of Stull they should be able to win this conference based on their defense alone.

I think Pitt being ranked first says more about how bad the Big East is than how good Pitt is. In any other BCS conference, Pitt is a middle of the road team.

Iron man, the Sun Bowl was 75% Stulls Fault and 20% Cavs fault. and about 5% falls on the O line.

Hopefully the start of a new season will put that disaster behind us.

I will credit Cav for one thing (three straight fades to Baldwin) at Shit Bend last year. I was in the stands and people around us (ND fans) agreed it was the ballsiest call they have seen in a while. Although it was great play, it will never erase the umpteen million screen passes, and multitude of wasted opportunities to expolit teams with schemes. Cigs has a lot to do with Stull, but he can never be as lame dash o as Cav.

Looks like most of us are ready for Wanny to put up or shut up.

Dave: “pent-up demand for merchandise with the Pitt script”???

Have you been to the Pitt store recently, or even the website??
You can get dozens of itmes with the script on it. There is no “pent-up demand”.
You really think Pitt is going to want their two most high-profile games of the year (WVU and ND) to not feature our school colors and official logo? you’re insane

I like to look at a larger picture. DW is a Pitt man. He is now winning games. He recruits well. He appears to have the players interest at heart. He sets personal standards for the players and doesn’t put up with players that embarass the university, even if they are stars. Pitt may not win a national championship again, but being an old-timer, I am pleased with the present program.

I think I may echo alot of Pitt fans with this: We may not think Walt should have stayed but dont think Wanny is the man for the job. His success as a coach is questionable at best. He appears to have many of the same bad qualities that got Walt chased from the job (bad losses, not a great public speaker).

He is also not living up to expectations that he and Pitt are setting. He said in 3 years we would contend. Does he have to say things like that – yes. That does not mean he wont be criticized by it. All we also hear is how he has a “fence around WPA” and how great all of these recruits are. Whether its fair or not, when you make comments like that you are creating expectations that need to be met in some people’s eyes.

Are Pitt fans more critical then most other schools – I don’t think so. We are more intelligent football fans and are spoiled by great pro football.

an update on the uniforms: the online pitt store is offering nike gear (tees, hats, etc.). some pieces feature the block logo; others, the script.

link to shoppittpanthers.com

I live in B’more (unfortuntely) and they still want to hang Cav. I am hoping that he was the main problem at Pitt. Agreed, Wanny is as devoted a coach as we could find and not so good a field general….No more Bowling Green’s or O shut out’s and I will be happy. Did anyone see that Buffalo was only a 2 pt dog at UTEP? Very worried about our visit there.

If Ohio State can win a national title with Greg Krenzel, and have a tough D than I think we are most capable to win teh BE and go to a BCS bowl game.

Dont forget our two starting outside linebackers where out most of the year, our secondary was young, our QB started for his first year ever, and we had Cavanaugh calling plays.

Our D is going to be strong. If Ciggnatti can get an offense to score at least 20-24 points a game will succesfull. The key is to get the ball to Baldwin, Bynham, Dickerson, and Gross. I know our running game will be fine, its our QB thats the big question. He needs to get his head out of his but and play to his full potential. I think most of his problems our all mental. Dont forget Steve Spurier saw soemthing in this kid out of high school, and it was his first (really) year starting with Cav calling the plays. I like this years team.

Maybe there will be hope for a script pitt uni!

[…] Collier wonders how Pitt got picked to be first in the Big East. Didn’t we cover this last week? It’s because every contender has huge, gaping […]