Golden Panthers

[pitt90seven]

before my time but i've heard stories. anyone care to document the rise and fall? like, when did they truly get going? and then they stopped when the we got ncaa sanctions but boosters don't really go away. maybe they did.

i felt in the 90's, it was only baierl as a big donor.

 

[meadvillecoach]

I believe George barco of meadville gave Pitt 25 million in the 80s thus the name barco duratz for the facilty

 

[Panther Holla]

I'll let someone better informed than me explain the downfall of PGP. My take, as a non-alumnus booster, is PGP was an elitist organization that needed to be brought to heel. I thought it was a cabal with oversized influence on the athletic department. It certainly wasn't a "welcome-all-Pitt-fans" type of deal, which Pitt sorely needed.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I could tell ya, but then I would be killed.

 

[HOF Coach]

I could tell ya, but then I would be killed.

 

[drp1tt]

I could tell ya, but then I would be killed.

There is some truth to that. Lol. Let me just say that they got things done by by-passing a lot of the bureaucracy.

 

[pittmeister]

 

[pittdan77]

Maybe @CrazyPaco knows the answer but has there been any effort to form a new booster organization or would Pitt just prefer there not be a booster organization?

 

[CrazyPaco]

Maybe @CrazyPaco knows the answer but has there been any effort to form a new booster organization or would Pitt just prefer there not be a booster organization?

The booster organization is the Panther Club.

 

[pittizit]

Bob Heddleston..man..myth...legend

 

[CrazyPaco]

I'll let someone better informed than me explain the downfall of PGP. My take, as a non-alumnus booster, is PGP was an elitist organization that needed to be brought to heel. I thought it was a cabal with oversized influence on the athletic department. It certainly wasn't a "welcome-all-Pitt-fans" type of deal, which Pitt sorely needed.

The downfall really started with embezzling: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-10-13-9104020817-story.html

 

[W1np1tt]

I was a member of the Golden Panthers.....But I am sworn to secrecy!

 

[pittguy81]

The Golden Panthers were really rolling from the mid 70's through the 80's. Bob Heddleston was a grifter who used his Golden Panther connections and money to eventually become an Associated Athletic Director when the Killer B's tried to bring them to heel by adding the GP's into the Athletic Department portfolio.

Heddleston was a POS who ended up being fired after he was implicated in embezzlement.

 

[pitt90seven]

I was a member of the Golden Panthers.....But I am sworn to secrecy!

The Golden Panthers were really rolling from the mid 70's through the 80's. Bob Heddleston was a grifter who used his Golden Panther connections and money to eventually become an Associated Athletic Director when the Killer B's tried to bring them to heel by adding the GP's into the Athletic Department portfolio.

Heddleston was a POS who ended up being fired after he was implicated in embezzlement.

when did it get started. as in, chicken or the egg? did they get going in the mid 70's b/c the team stopped being garbage?

 

[Pizzaboy2]

I'm a Wvu fan Wvu and I can tell you stories you probably wouldn't believe about your Golden Panthers.As many know I coached, hunt,fish,play softball and drink with the starting OT on the 76 NC team.But it's just how it was back then and they did what they had to do to win a Natty,I'm jealous!

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I'm a Wvu fan Wvu and I can tell you stories you probably wouldn't believe about your Golden Panthers.As many know I coached, hunt,fish,play softball and drink with the starting OT on the 76 NC team.But it's just how it was back then and they did what they had to do to win a Natty,I'm jealous!

Hey, I lived in Morgantown. I saw things.....Chris Henry, who's family didn't have two nickels to rub together, drove around town in a decked out black Cadillac Escalade. Richie had the boosters bankrolling (Pat White chose WVU over a lucrative signing bonus in MLB)......

So it happens everywhere. The problem with Pitt then and now, is the price of being a contender has significantly gone up.

 

[pittguy81]

when did it get started. as in, chicken or the egg? did they get going in the mid 70's b/c the team stopped being garbage?

They were started by local business men in the early 70's and actually help Pitt's AD, Cas Myslinski, with the coaching search that ended up getting John Majors to come to Pitt in 1973

 

[joefromlancaster]

What ever became of Hackett?

 

[Panther Holla]

The downfall really started with embezzling: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-10-13-9104020817-story.html

I remember that; I was fuzzy on the facts so I didn't go there. Didn't Pederson scrap PGP for good?

 

[Panther_in_Kentucky]

before my time but i've heard stories. anyone care to document the rise and fall? like, when did they truly get going? and then they stopped when the we got ncaa sanctions but boosters don't really go away. maybe they did.

i felt in the 90's, it was only baierl as a big donor.

The reason the PGP were disbanded was because they were elevating Pitt athletics. The Egghead liberal dopes couldn't handle it.

Now before you start fabricating stories just look at what tO$U, be Pedophile State and WVU were and are doing.

Pitt run by the Dumbest People to walk the face of the Earth!

 

[jivecat]

Corporate Panther and his gang were up to no good.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

Well the Golden Panthers were a little before my time as I was in school as they were operating they were bad ass

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

Hey, I lived in Morgantown. I saw things.....Chris Henry, who's family didn't have two nickels to rub together, drove around town in a decked out black Cadillac Escalade. Richie had the boosters bankrolling (Pat White chose WVU over a lucrative signing bonus in MLB)......

So it happens everywhere. The problem with Pitt then and now, is the price of being a contender has significantly gone up.

I played in a softball tourney in WV. A DB from the Major Harris era played with us. He said he’d get money on the regular for playing with a booster’s kids and taking out the garbage. And he of course wasn’t alone.

And not picking on them. Just happened to be a 1st hand story I had. Happened at Pitt too I’m certain.

 

[pierre93]

I'm a Wvu fan Wvu and I can tell you stories you probably wouldn't believe about your Golden Panthers.As many know I coached, hunt,fish,play softball and drink with the starting OT on the 76 NC team.But it's just how it was back then and they did what they had to do to win a Natty,I'm jealous!

Wvcc later started paying too and the Miramar HS was a pipeline so don't think that your precious mounties are innocent. Even today I hear many stories on how wvcc gets recruits to morganhole. GM is a good guy been at Mapletown for years.

 

[pierre93]

Under Gottfried it was gaining steam then the administration stepped in again and didn't want us to be known as a football school. I know Gottfried didn't help matters and it gave the academic gurus a reason to dismiss him. I can tell some very interesting stories about recruiting during the Gottfried era. H2P!

 

[beiglepanther]

Under Gottfried it was gaining steam then the administration stepped in again and didn't want us to be known as a football school. I know Gottfried didn't help matters and it gave the academic gurus a reason to dismiss him. I can tell some very interesting stories about recruiting during the Gottfried era. H2P!

Umm ok so tell them

 

[PittMiamiRivalry]

The downfall really started with embezzling: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-10-13-9104020817-story.html

Thanks for link. I had forgotten about all of this.

 

[LeftCoastPanther]

What ever became of Hackett?

I remember a few years ago he “retired.”

Last job I remember him having was with the Raiders. When I read his quotes I picture that A-hole look and voice and I get a little perturbed.

 

[Macchiato]

Corporate Panther and his gang were up to no good.

We need Conjuncto to chime in...

 

[Macchiato]

I'll be serious for a sec. I met a guy who said they were trying to put together a band of boosters to help the program. I told him I would think about it. He left a hand written letter at my workplace a few weeks later. I ignored it.

 

[Pizzaboy2]

Wvcc later started paying too and the Miramar HS was a pipeline so don't think that your precious mounties are innocent. Even today I hear many stories on how wvcc gets recruits to morganhole. GM is a good guy been at Mapletown for years.

Where did I say the Mounties were innocent????I can tell stories about Wvu that rank right up there with your Golden Panthers.Believe me when I say the stories still fly at GMs house after Mapletown's games on Friday Nights.When GM puts his Pitt helmet on its time to shut down the bar.93 my HS bb coach was former Wvu player Buddy Quertimont and he was a big WVU booster and he had many good stories also.Remember in the 70s it was anything goes and my friends in low places in Motown rolled out the red carpet for players.I miss that shit.

 

[ameoba defense]

Reading that old article, wow! We were headed towards the abyss. Kind of makes the "competitive mediocrity" of the last 20 years not seem so bad.

 

[pierre93]

Where did I say the Mounties were innocent????I can tell stories about Wvu that rank right up there with your Golden Panthers.Believe me when I say the stories still fly at GMs house after Mapletown's games on Friday Nights.When GM puts his Pitt helmet on its time to shut down the bar.93 my HS bb coach was former Wvu player Buddy Quertimont and he was a big WVU booster and he had many good stories also.Remember in the 70s it was anything goes and my friends in low places in Motown rolled out the red carpet for players.I miss that shit.

Omg I played hoops against Quertimont's son. He was 2 years older and I started as a sophomore. His son was very good as well. Small world

 

[pierre93]

I'll be serious for a sec. I met a guy who said they were trying to put together a band of boosters to help the program. I told him I would think about it. He left a hand written letter at my workplace a few weeks later. I ignored it.

We desperately need Pitt to start their own slush club fund. The academic gurus have gotten a stranglehold of our athletic dept and that's why it's been mediocre on the football front. Pitt can still resurrect the football program but it will take additional $$$ that isn't college funded. It can be done again but it's more difficult to pull off especially in a city where news travels fast and with social media being king these days. JMO

 

[pierre93]

I remember a few years ago he “retired.”

Last job I remember him having was with the Raiders. When I read his quotes I picture that A-hole look and voice and I get a little perturbed.

Him and chancelor O'Brien were the demise of Pitt football in the 90's. Those 2 thought they could make Pitt the Stanford of the East. Total assclowns

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

chancelor O'Brien

J. Dennis O'Connor made such an impression on you that you don't even remember his name.

Or have you just done a good job forgetting that putz?

 

[pierre93]

J. Dennis O'Connor made such an impression on you that you don't even remember his name.

Or have you just done a good job forgetting that putz?

I want to forget his name and as well u putz.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I want to forget his name and as well u putz.

Just call me Tom.

Mission accomplished!

 

[TFBaum]

They were started by local business men in the early 70's and actually help Pitt's AD, Cas Myslinski, with the coaching search that ended up getting John Majors to come to Pitt in 1973

He is right it did start very honestly my dad was a founding member. Pitt started winning the came old Bobby boy. I remember asking my dad how could he afford a certain car. My dad by that point just gave his money to the math department. Pitt like SMU fell prey to the lack of the old guards like at Texas.

 

[TFBaum]

Him and chancelor O'Brien were the demise of Pitt football in the 90's. Those 2 thought they could make Pitt the Stanford of the East. Total assclowns

What is sad imho not being a Pitt grad but a fan is why don’t folks let Pitt be Pitt. It is a great university. It is the last, the last, eastern urban university still playing major college football. Not BC no tradition, not like Pitt. Name one other eastern urban school with Pitt’s academic’s and is playing big time football?