Another quote from Dave Wannstedt on Steve Pederson

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Because you misinterpret the story. Nordy wasn't asking Dave his opinion. He was telling Dave that Steve was coming back, and since Nordy was so disconnected from sports reality, he expected Dave to respond with "Wow! The great SP is coming back. We are so fortunate!"

No
It was his way of telling him the first 3 years weren’t good enough and changes were coming

It was always painfully obvious

 

[dave97]

There very well maybe something to this. People are still unhappy that it went down the way it did. Wonder if ol Mumbles and Wanny ever met/ get along.

Dave was given an extension BEFORE the 13-9 game.

Hail to Pitt!

Dave

 

[dave97]

Well, I don't badmouth Pitt every time I get the chance to on national television, nor have I ever whispered in the players ears to not buy into what the current coach is teaching.

So by default, I've done more.

Wanny badmouths the program? I thought he has been gung ho Pitt ever since we fired Stevie?

 

[HailtoPitt]

No
It was his way of telling him the first 3 years weren’t good enough and changes were coming

It was always painfully obvious

Lol. And then he have Dave a contract extension.

At least 90% of Pitt fans understood that bringing Steve back was idiocracy. But that move was par for the course for Pitt.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Lol. And then he have Dave a contract extension.

At least 90% of Pitt fans understood that bringing Steve back was idiocracy. But that move was par for the course for Pitt.

It was a countdown clock
Which resulted in 3rd place big east finishes and second and third tier bowl games

 

[Las Panteras]

Paco and Souf, thanks for your comments about Nordenberg. Let me throw my hat into that ring as well. To begin with, I agree with all the comments about Pederson. My view is that of a donor and also someone who was in sales his entire career. It's easy to pick out the disingenuous types or more simply stated, the phonies. The best thing about Pederson was he was smart enough to put his wife out front. She is a gem. I never could understand how Pederson could get hired, not once but twice. Was that a mistake by Nordenberg? On the face of it, yes. What we don't know was who convinced Nordenberg to make that choice. I sincerely doubt he made that decision on his own. He is way too smart a man. It pains me to read the comments on here villifying Nordenberg. What a gem of a guy. He wrote me personal notes of thanks, went out of his way to meet my family at sporting events and, yes, did one helluva job as Pitt's chancellor. Pitt is by far a better institution because of him.

Nordenberg ABSOLUTELY made the decision on his own.

Steve Pederson wasn't unemployed for 24 hours when Nordenberg said come back.

 

[HailtoPitt]

It was a countdown clock
Which resulted in 3rd place big east finishes and second and third tier bowl games

That's like hiring the Hamburglar because Grimace isn't doing a good enough job.

 

[BTisinDC]

And what makes them cheap. Maybe an administration that is all hat and no cattle when it comes to that front porch. Talk is cheap. Pitt fans don’t throw good money after bad. Nerdball has no business acumen and his knowledge of sports is not past the 6th grade level. I truly feel sorry for those who think he’s some sports savant. Including you Paco. Go back to your chemistry set.

The Pitt football fans don't throw money period.

 

[ERICCARTMAN]

Nordy was not the key to PITT's success during his tenure. Look again at the professionals directly involved with the school of medicine and the monumental expansion of UPMC at that time. He rarely gave a speech without touting PITT's high ranking in National Institute of Health funding. Others deserved the credit.

And I'm not sure why he still feels compelled to be so visible and directly involved with the university. It's odd.

 

[Jakey_John]

Dave was given an extension BEFORE the 13-9 game.

Hail to Pitt!

Dave

Not sure what one has to do with the other so ok.

 

[pittchagg]

Nordy was not the key to PITT's success during his tenure. Look again at the professionals directly involved with the school of medicine and the monumental expansion of UPMC at that time. He rarely gave a speech without touting PITT's high ranking in National Institute of Health funding. Others deserved the credit.

And I'm not sure why he still feels compelled to be so visible and directly involved with the university. It's odd.

The student quality under Nordenberg increased significantly, too, IIRC. It wasn’t just medicine. Gallagher has continued that.

 

[ThePanthers]

Nordy was not the key to PITT's success during his tenure. Look again at the professionals directly involved with the school of medicine and the monumental expansion of UPMC at that time. He rarely gave a speech without touting PITT's high ranking in National Institute of Health funding. Others deserved the credit.

And I'm not sure why he still feels compelled to be so visible and directly involved with the university. It's odd.

Why is it odd.?

 

[CrazyPaco]

Nordy was not the key to PITT's success during his tenure. Look again at the professionals directly involved with the school of medicine and the monumental expansion of UPMC at that time. He rarely gave a speech without touting PITT's high ranking in National Institute of Health funding. Others deserved the credit.

And I'm not sure why he still feels compelled to be so visible and directly involved with the university. It's odd.

wha

Why is it odd.?

It is not odd at all, and it certainly isn’t very visible.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Nordy was not the key to PITT's success during his tenure. Look again at the professionals directly involved with the school of medicine and the monumental expansion of UPMC at that time. He rarely gave a speech without touting PITT's high ranking in National Institute of Health funding. Others deserved the credit.

And I'm not sure why he still feels compelled to be so visible and directly involved with the university. It's odd.

No one person deserves all credit. Thomas Detre, Arthur Levine, Jeff Romoff all played their roll, as did Nordenberg, because UPMC would not have been able to expand and grow into the nation's largest academic medical system unless Pitt, the university, helped craft the unique relationship that turned it into an independent system free of the university's financial and legal concerns. That also doesn't get done without Nordenberg's leadership on the university side, because what was created had no precedent in academia and what was overcome was a myriad of fiefdoms.

There is no one person more integral to the university's success the last 20 years than Nordenberg. Part of that leadership was letting other leaders and experts do their thing. He's also the primary reason Pitt is still considered a power athletic program. But absolutely there are others that deserve credit any success you can name, as he would be the first to tell you.