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POLL: Which of these Pitt coaches was the best?

Which of these Pitt head coaches was the best?

  • Foge Fazio

    Votes: 5 3.1%
  • Mike Gottfried

    Votes: 39 24.4%
  • Walt Harris

    Votes: 42 26.3%
  • Dave Wannstedt

    Votes: 31 19.4%
  • Paul Chryst

    Votes: 8 5.0%
  • Pat Narduzzi

    Votes: 35 21.9%

  • Total voters
    160
Narduzzi is TBD. Too early in his tenure, and PC wasn’t here long enough. It comes down to Walt, Wanny, and Gottfried.
 
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Gottfried???? Only Foge accomplished less with more....
inside-look-dave-wannstedt-1-18-16.png
 
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Gottfried frustrated the hell out of me...

In 1986 the team finished with a 5-5-1 record, losing to a 5-5-1 Maryland team, 6-5 Temple team, a 5-6 Syracuse.

In 1987 the team finished 8-4, he lost to a 5-6 BC team, a 6-5 Texas team, 4-7 Temple team

In 1988 the team finished 6-5. In fairness they played a super tough schedule but lost to a 3-8 BC team that later cost them a bowl game...

In 1989 the team had it's best (8-3-1) season since 1983... Although, he coached against 4 teams that finished in the top 25, losing or tying all of them...

Hete are some of the players he had on his teams:

Players that were drafted:

Tony Woods
Randy Dixon
Lorenzo Freeman
Marc Spindler
Tom Sims
Dean Caliguire
Alonzo Hampton
Chris Goetz
Roman Matusz
Bruce Grossman
Tom Ricketts
Mark Stepnoski
Jerry Olsavsky
Vernon Kirk
Craig Heyward
Quinton Jones
Jon Carter
Ezekiel Gadson
Gary Richard
Billy Owens
Ed Miller
Mark Gunn
Curvin Richards
Orlando Truitt
Louis Riddick
Sean Gilbert
Steve Israel
Ricardo McDonald
Jeff Christy
Keith Hamilton
Dave Moore
Alex Van Pelt

Not to mention other players that were good, but were not drafted...

John Congemi
Tony Siragusa
Charles Gladman
Chuck Scales
Reggie Williams
Nelson Walker
Adam Walker
Henry Tuten
Curtis Bray

A lot of those players on that list were high school all Americans. I've always felt we under archived based on the quality of players we had...
 
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Gottfried frustrated the hell out of me...

In 1986 the team finished with a 5-5-1 record, losing to a 5-5-1 Maryland team, 6-5 Temple team, a 5-6 Syracuse.

In 1987 the team finished 8-4, he lost to a 5-6 BC team, a 6-5 Texas team, 4-7 Temple team

In 1988 the team finished 6-5. In fairness they played a super tough schedule but lost to a 3-8 BC team that later cost them a bowl game...

In 1989 the team had it's best (8-3-1) season since 1983... Although, he coached against 4 teams that finished in the top 25, losing or tying all of them...

Hete are some of the players he had on his teams:

Players that were drafted:

Tony Woods
Randy Dixon
Lorenzo Freeman
Marc Spindler
Tom Sims
Dean Caliguire
Alonzo Hampton
Chris Goetz
Roman Matusz
Bruce Grossman
Tom Ricketts
Mark Stepnoski
Jerry Olsavsky
Vernon Kirk
Craig Heyward
Quinton Jones
Jon Carter
Ezekiel Gadson
Gary Richard
Billy Owens
Ed Miller
Mark Gunn
Curvin Richards
Orlando Truitt
Louis Riddick
Sean Gilbert
Steve Israel
Ricardo McDonald
Jeff Christy
Keith Hamilton
Dave Moore
Alex Van Pelt

Not to mention other players that were good, but were not drafted...

John Congemi
Tony Siragusa
Charles Gladman
Chuck Scales
Reggie Williams
Nelson Walker
Adam Walker
Henry Tuten
Curtis Bray

A lot of those players on that list were high school all Americans. I've always felt we under archived based on the quality of players we had...
He had some players..........

Gladman was one of the best running backs I ever saw at Pitt
 
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He had some players..........

Gladman was one of the best running backs I ever saw at Pitt

Again, this illustrates how important it is having a quality QB. It can make a difference in winning and losing. Gottfried's best season was his last and that's the year he started Alex Van Pelt. Before then, he had a lot of mediocre QB's besides the first year with Congemi...
 
Chryst's first year was easiest schedule this side of his schedules at UW. That schedule had 9 build in wins.

DW wasn't a good game day coach but averaged 9 wins his last 3 years and probably had his best recruiting class on the way when he got fired.

No doubt Narduzzi has had the most difficult opponents through his first 3 years- it's really not even close.

Wannstedt coached for 6 seasons and had the worst competition we ever had.
 
Gottfried frustrated the hell out of me...

In 1986 the team finished with a 5-5-1 record, losing to a 5-5-1 Maryland team, 6-5 Temple team, a 5-6 Syracuse.

In 1987 the team finished 8-4, he lost to a 5-6 BC team, a 6-5 Texas team, 4-7 Temple team

In 1988 the team finished 6-5. In fairness they played a super tough schedule but lost to a 3-8 BC team that later cost them a bowl game...

In 1989 the team had it's best (8-3-1) season since 1983... Although, he coached against 4 teams that finished in the top 25, losing or tying all of them...

Hete are some of the players he had on his teams:

Players that were drafted:

Tony Woods
Randy Dixon
Lorenzo Freeman
Marc Spindler
Tom Sims
Dean Caliguire
Alonzo Hampton
Chris Goetz
Roman Matusz
Bruce Grossman
Tom Ricketts
Mark Stepnoski
Jerry Olsavsky
Vernon Kirk
Craig Heyward
Quinton Jones
Jon Carter
Ezekiel Gadson
Gary Richard
Billy Owens
Ed Miller
Mark Gunn
Curvin Richards
Orlando Truitt
Louis Riddick
Sean Gilbert
Steve Israel
Ricardo McDonald
Jeff Christy
Keith Hamilton
Dave Moore
Alex Van Pelt

Not to mention other players that were good, but were not drafted...

John Congemi
Tony Siragusa
Charles Gladman
Chuck Scales
Reggie Williams
Nelson Walker
Adam Walker
Henry Tuten
Curtis Bray

A lot of those players on that list were high school all Americans. I've always felt we under archived based on the quality of players we had...
The guy could recruit, but was a bit crazy at times. Little control of his guys.
 
I picked Narduzzi by default.

Foge did less with more than anyone else...

Gottfried was a little better, but he had some baffling losses against weaker opponents with a roster full of good to great players...

Harris did a great job of rebuilding the program but his recruiting lacked depth at many positions and would some how lose to inferior opponents every year...

Wannstedt had a weak schedule and some very good players but had many head scratching loses...

Chryst? Losses to YSU and Akron...Case closed....

Narduzzi has done something a Pitt coach has never done...He beat two teams that ended the year in the top 7, including the national champion. That alone should put him at the top.

The teams he lost to are:

2015

#10 Iowa
#15 North Carolina
#11 Notre Dame
# 18 Navy
Miami (8-5)

No James Conner most of the year...

2016

#11 OKST
#16 VT
# 23 Miami
North Carolina (8-5)
Northwestern (7-6)

Nate Peterman graduates, and the shit hits the fan with the QB position...

2017

# 8 PSU
#14 OKST
# 23 NCST
# 25 VT

Then we lose for the first time teams that ended up with losing records:

GT (5-6) 35-17
Syracuse (4-8) 27-24
North Carolina (3-9) 34-31

Last year should show everyone the importance of a QB...

Narduzzi has had a tougher schedule and lacked talent and depth on the defensive side of the ball. He also has had only one good QB to work with.

Based on all that, I'd give the nod to Narduzzi...
 
Again, this illustrates how important it is having a quality QB. It can make a difference in winning and losing. Gottfried's best season was his last and that's the year he started Alex Van Pelt. Before then, he had a lot of mediocre QB's besides the first year with Congemi...
He did bring one in Darnell Dickerson.

A year later, Pitt increased their academic requirements. Thus, making him ineligible.
 
If Gottfried got to coach his back to back Top 5 recruiting classes when they were juniors and Seniors. He would of won more games than everyone on that list by far.

Maybe... However you can only judge on what he did, not what he could've done. I would agree that if he had a better crop of QB's he may have done better.. His best QB was Van Pelt in his last and best season...
 
He did bring one in Darnell Dickerson. A year later Pitt increased their academic requirements. Thus, making him ineligible.
Actually the requirements forced him to take calc or some other difficult course. Couldn’t take parks and recreation or animal husbandry like the geniuses to the east were able to take.
 
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Not surprised Wlat is winning the poll. After inheriting a mess, by his last three years, we went into our bowl games ranked all three times. Now I believe we've been ranked three weeks total since September 2010. (not an attack on Narduzzi -- time will tell.)
 
Chryst's first year was easiest schedule this side of his schedules at UW. That schedule had 9 build in wins.

DW wasn't a good game day coach but averaged 9 wins his last 3 years and probably had his best recruiting class on the way when he got fired.

No doubt Narduzzi has had the most difficult opponents through his first 3 years- it's really not even close.
They at least played VT and ND that year, but that was DW's schedule EVERY YEAR and he choked every single time, even after he destroyed everything from Walt and had ENTIRELY his players in. In 2009, the only decent team we played was Cincy, who then got trounced by UF.
 
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Gottfried was shown the exit before he finished his 4th year. Pitt won 8 games that year too. I’d say the Killer Bs ruined Gottfrieds rep as a coach.
Actually the requirements forced him to take calc or some other difficult course. Couldn’t take parks and recreation or animal husbandry like the geniuses to the east were able to take.
That is when Pitt football fell to the bottom never to recover. Up until the 1989-1990 class we were still bringing in top 5 recruiting classes.

It’s when Bozik and Oval hired Hackett. That put the nail in the coffin. Sadly, that was when Espn’s, Foxes, and other sports channels were just getting started. Imagine if we were still a powerhouse when those TV networks were around. We perhaps would of been able to overcome those knuckleheads mistakes
 
Not surprised Wlat is winning the poll. After inheriting a mess, by his last three years, we went into our bowl games ranked all three times. Now I believe we've been ranked three weeks total since September 2010. (not an attack on Narduzzi -- time will tell.)

I can't argue with anyone who voted for Walt. He did a great job making Pitt respectable again. Most importantly he understood the value of having a competent QB and knew how to coach them...
 
I can't argue with anyone who voted for Walt. He did a great job making Pitt respectable again. Most importantly he understood the value of having a competent QB and knew how to coach them...
And he had at least one wideout leading the conference in receptions and yardage. I remember folks were calling us wideout U
 
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Someone voted for Foge? It's Walt in a landslide for me just given where we were when he took over. What he was able to do in that first year was darn near miraculous. His results thereafter were spotty but he did take us from laughingstock to respectable pretty quickly.

I'd imagine the answer is Narduzzi in a few more years.
 
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Wannstedt coached for 6 seasons and had the worst competition we ever had.
He had to upgrade the talent level on the team, negotiate higher salaries for coaches and generally deal with some absolute meatheads running things to get the university in a position to compete. He did ALOT for Pitt in his time here. The last time I saw Heinz Field in a frenzy for Pitt football was Dec 5, 2009 - Wanny was HC - and if it wasn't for Andrew Janocko's bumbling fingers on the extra point with a minute left stunning 63,000-plus, he may still be HC today. He had a great recruiting class coming in and I think could've got StevieP out as AD with that BCS bowl game. It was our last 10-win season and VERY FEW PEOPLE give him credit for that!
 
That is when Pitt football fell to the bottom never to recover. Up until the 1989-1990 class we were still bringing in top 5 recruiting classes.

It’s when Bozik and Oval hired Hackett. That put the nail in the coffin. Sadly, that was when Espn’s, Foxes, and other sports channels were just getting started. Imagine if we were still a powerhouse when those TV networks were around. We perhaps would of been able to overcome those knuckleheads mistakes
Hackett was a freakin backstabber. When Pitt raised their standards over and above what the NCAA required Gottfried rebelled. Hackett slid in and assured Bozick he could win despite the higher standards. So the “nationwide search” never left the locker room. Bozick was an arrogant and inept assclown.
 
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He had to upgrade the talent level on the team, negotiate higher salaries for coaches and generally deal with some absolute meatheads running things to get the university in a position to compete. He did ALOT for Pitt in his time here. The last time I saw Heinz Field in a frenzy for Pitt football was Dec 5, 2009 - Wanny was HC - and if it wasn't for Andrew Janocko's bumbling fingers on the extra point with a minute left stunning 63,000-plus, he may still be HC today. He had a great recruiting class coming in and I think could've got StevieP out as AD with that BCS bowl game. It was our last 10-win season and VERY FEW PEOPLE give him credit for that!
"He had to upgrade the talent level" because why? Walt Harris was running at the same clip and with tougher competition. He is a loser. Great guy, but he is terrified of winning. He has the tightest sphincter of any HC I've ever seen. Blaming the Cincy loss on Janocko is hilarious. We blew a 21 point lead and absolutely turtled. It was classic Wannstedt. Every dumb and scared decision that could be made was made. It was a "How NOT to Coach" clinic.
 
He did bring one in Darnell Dickerson.

A year later, Pitt increased their academic requirements. Thus, making him ineligible.

I think most people ( including me) way overrate Dickerson based on the Ohio St game.

For his career Darnell Dickerson completed 45% of his passes, throwing 9 tds with 11 INT’s.
 
Gottfried leading in this poll suggests what I have suspected for awhile. Some posters put more emphasis on recruiting, than actual results on the field...
 
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Gottfried???? Only Foge accomplished less with more....
guy hated penn state with a passion and was .500 against them and fought against the administration that wanted to imitate penn state's false goody two shoes image but not their ruthless need to empathize football thus the nudge over the other stiffs on the list who did little with less, little with more and just basically little.
 
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The question is irrelevant. The only relevant question is, “Under which coach was the program the strongest?”

That changes the entire complexion of the discussion.
 
Gottfried leading in this poll suggests what I have suspected for awhile. Some posters put more emphasis on recruiting, than actual results on the field...
I definitely agree with you. I think all of us would love a to see coach DUZZ get a chance to coach a team loaded with players like Gottfried had. Maybe someday down the road, we will get that chance!
 
"He had to upgrade the talent level" because why? Walt Harris was running at the same clip and with tougher competition. He is a loser. Great guy, but he is terrified of winning. He has the tightest sphincter of any HC I've ever seen. Blaming the Cincy loss on Janocko is hilarious. We blew a 21 point lead and absolutely turtled. It was classic Wannstedt. Every dumb and scared decision that could be made was made. It was a "How NOT to Coach" clinic.
Scared decisions? We're up 6 in the 4th, going for more and Bill Stull throws an INT on the Cincy 7 yd line. With a good pass 'n catch, Dion Lewis runs it in on the next play -- with the way he was running that day. Turtled? We scored what should have been the winning TD with a little over a minute left. Jacked the XP up, and gave a talented Cincy O a breath of life instead of feeling a "foot on their neck"
 
Scared decisions? We're up 6 in the 4th, going for more and Bill Stull throws an INT on the Cincy 7 yd line. With a good pass 'n catch, Dion Lewis runs it in on the next play -- with the way he was running that day. Turtled? We scored what should have been the winning TD with a little over a minute left. Jacked the XP up, and gave a talented Cincy O a breath of life instead of feeling a "foot on their neck"
Yes. We played prevent for 3 quarters and kept kicking to Gilyard. Lewis set a carry record in that game. Dave Wannstedt is terrified of winning.
 
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