I have been lurking on these boards long enough to understand that seeing this is my first post will raise red flags for some, so allow me to present my bona fides. I have a degree from Pitt, which I cherish. More relevant here, perhaps, is I have been a Pitt football season ticket holder for 49 years. I have gone to the games with my father, then my son and, if the fates should so favor me, I very much look forward to the opportunity of going with my grandson (or granddaughter).
Everyone is enthusiastic about the start of the Pat Narduzzi era. There is nothing unusual about that. Fans are always excited by a new coach. Hell, I was excited when Carl DePasqua replaced Dave Hart. I soon learned the wisdom of the “wait and see” approach. So when Pitt hired a coach with a losing record from Iowa State I could only shrug my shoulders and wonder what he could do. But Johnny Majors turned out to be a great coach, though at the time of his hiring no one could have foreseen that within four years he would deliver a National Championship. You never know.
Conversely, it was widely anticipated that the Pitt Head Coach position would be Dave Wannstedt’s last job, that he would become almost a fixture on the Pitt campus, much like some much beloved, long-tenured professor. It didn’t happen. I freely admit I like Dave Wannstedt. Frankly, I don’t see how anyone who ever met the man could not. He is affable, unpretentious and polite. I have never heard even his harshest critic accuse him of putting his own interests ahead of those of his players or the University in the performance of his duties. And even to this day, after all that has happened, he is still not bashful about expressing his affection for his alma mater. However, his teams consistently underachieved, or at least failed to meet expectations. His purported deficiencies as a head coach have been presented and debated here ad nauseam and need not be repeated. I believe, though, that had he won even a single outright Big East championship and led Pitt to its long overdue appearance in the Orange Bowl he might still be our coach today. Of course, his conflicts with the administration, especially the athletic department, were well known even at the time. I don’t think it is fair to lay all of the blame on him for the player arrests leading to the infamous Sports Illustrated cover story, but it did make Pitt look bad. Accompanied by shrills from the local media and a chorus of “Tsk-Tsks” from our friends in Centre County, he was fired. A local car dealership, a frequent advertiser on Pitt’s flagship station, used one of its commercials to openly advocate the hiring of Tom Bradley. The clear implication was that Pitt could, in some small manner, adopt the righteous approach of the “Penn State Way.”
While I wrote above that everyone always is excited by a new head coach, Michael Haywood is the exception that makes the rule. Never have I seen a coach, in any sport, either professional or college, make a worse first impression with the fans, media and his new team. Players actually left rather than play for the man. Fortunately for Pitt, in my opinion, the hiring was aborted before it came to term when Haywood was arrested for assaulting his child’s mother. I guess he wasn’t the beacon of truth and virtue the University was looking for. As we all understand that when it comes to matters of family, people will act emotionally and are,
Everyone is enthusiastic about the start of the Pat Narduzzi era. There is nothing unusual about that. Fans are always excited by a new coach. Hell, I was excited when Carl DePasqua replaced Dave Hart. I soon learned the wisdom of the “wait and see” approach. So when Pitt hired a coach with a losing record from Iowa State I could only shrug my shoulders and wonder what he could do. But Johnny Majors turned out to be a great coach, though at the time of his hiring no one could have foreseen that within four years he would deliver a National Championship. You never know.
Conversely, it was widely anticipated that the Pitt Head Coach position would be Dave Wannstedt’s last job, that he would become almost a fixture on the Pitt campus, much like some much beloved, long-tenured professor. It didn’t happen. I freely admit I like Dave Wannstedt. Frankly, I don’t see how anyone who ever met the man could not. He is affable, unpretentious and polite. I have never heard even his harshest critic accuse him of putting his own interests ahead of those of his players or the University in the performance of his duties. And even to this day, after all that has happened, he is still not bashful about expressing his affection for his alma mater. However, his teams consistently underachieved, or at least failed to meet expectations. His purported deficiencies as a head coach have been presented and debated here ad nauseam and need not be repeated. I believe, though, that had he won even a single outright Big East championship and led Pitt to its long overdue appearance in the Orange Bowl he might still be our coach today. Of course, his conflicts with the administration, especially the athletic department, were well known even at the time. I don’t think it is fair to lay all of the blame on him for the player arrests leading to the infamous Sports Illustrated cover story, but it did make Pitt look bad. Accompanied by shrills from the local media and a chorus of “Tsk-Tsks” from our friends in Centre County, he was fired. A local car dealership, a frequent advertiser on Pitt’s flagship station, used one of its commercials to openly advocate the hiring of Tom Bradley. The clear implication was that Pitt could, in some small manner, adopt the righteous approach of the “Penn State Way.”
While I wrote above that everyone always is excited by a new head coach, Michael Haywood is the exception that makes the rule. Never have I seen a coach, in any sport, either professional or college, make a worse first impression with the fans, media and his new team. Players actually left rather than play for the man. Fortunately for Pitt, in my opinion, the hiring was aborted before it came to term when Haywood was arrested for assaulting his child’s mother. I guess he wasn’t the beacon of truth and virtue the University was looking for. As we all understand that when it comes to matters of family, people will act emotionally and are,
