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Wanny on Mandels podcast



I just listened to the podcast and was surprised when I heard Wannstedt make the statement at the 20:45 mark when he was discussing The University of Miami that “the Pitt game last year crushed me. Pitt only had James Conner, didn’t have a QB and won the game”. Clearly he was rooting against his Alma Mater and the team he coached. I immediately thought back to his press conference the evening when he was fired. Between tears, he stated “no one boo hoo will ever care more for this university boo hoo than I will, boo hoo.” Obviously the liar was rooting against that team and showed his true colors in that interview. I have mutual friends that privately told me that Dave is a mental midget, and he proved it in this interview. Pitt didn’t even have a QB? Right Dave, this coming from a coach who couldn’t recruit a decent QB, and couldn’t judge talent when he had it sitting in front of his eyes. I always hoped he would become the next Foge who mended fences and was actually a positive to the program when it was all said and done. Now I hope that he just stays away.
 
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I know Chryst had communication problems...but I cannot imagine having to listen to Wanny every day. Wow...he is dumber than I ever thought he was. I listen to the segment on his coaching days at the U. In each of his stories it seems he is allowing the players do what they want (wear camos, walk out of bowl dinner), or complaining that today's coaches are using technology to derive the opposing team's tendencies ( he prefer to watch film and count the number of passes and runs while watching the opposing team on film. No leadership skills whatsoever and it is clear that he was simply a flack for Jimmy Johnson (he story about staying in the coaches box during the bowl game vs Neb to watch the halftime show rather than go down to the locker to coach his defense is priceless--it tells you everything you need to know about Wanny's coaching ability).
 
I just listened to the podcast and was surprised when I heard Wannstedt make the statement at the 20:45 mark when he was discussing The University of Miami that “the Pitt game last year crushed me. Pitt only had James Conner, didn’t have a QB and won the game”. Clearly he was rooting against his Alma Mater and the team he coached. I immediately thought back to his press conference the evening when he was fired. Between tears, he stated “no one boo hoo will ever care more for this university boo hoo than I will, boo hoo.” Obviously the liar was rooting against that team and showed his true colors in that interview.....Now I hope that he just stays away.

Not surprising at all. Wannstedt's made it pretty clear by actions and words that he didn't want Pitt to win without him.
 
I know Chryst had communication problems...but I cannot imagine having to listen to Wanny every day. Wow...he is dumber than I ever thought he was. I listen to the segment on his coaching days at the U. In each of his stories it seems he is allowing the players do what they want (wear camos, walk out of bowl dinner), or complaining that today's coaches are using technology to derive the opposing team's tendencies ( he prefer to watch film and count the number of passes and runs while watching the opposing team on film. No leadership skills whatsoever and it is clear that he was simply a flack for Jimmy Johnson (he story about staying in the coaches box during the bowl game vs Neb to watch the halftime show rather than go down to the locker to coach his defense is priceless--it tells you everything you need to know about Wanny's coaching ability).

So maybe I was right! LOL! When I heard they wanted Wanny to replace Walt I was adamant that he sucked as a coach, I got into some real arguments with Pitt fans that where so excited about it. One idiot was upset at Walt and wanted him fired for having an affair, I told him that Walt could be going doggy style on his doggy and still be a better coach than Wanny! LOL!.
 
Wanny and Steve both stunk. No other school will be stupid enough to hire either of them. We offered them jobs twice.
 
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To be fair, that part of the conversation was about Miami and why they can't get back to the glory days. They were talking about some losses they've had and Wanny thought they needed to beat Pitt to get to a bowl game and that's when he said what he said. I personally dont thinm he was rooting against Pitt but rather playing to his crowd and the interviewers who were portaying him as a Miami guy.

Later, he had very nice things to say about Pitt, narduzzi, and the admin. He did, however, pick Arizona State for the CFP and had some nice words about Graham. I think we can all admit Graham is a heck of a coach and SP really screwed that up.
 
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To be fair, that part of the conversation was about Miami and why they can't get back to the glory days. They were talking about some losses they've had and Wanny thought they needed to beat Pitt to get to a bowl game and that's when he said what he said. I personally dont thinm he was rooting against Pitt but rather playing to his crowd and the interviewers who were portaying him as a Miami guy.

Later, he had very nice things to say about Pitt, narduzzi, and the admin. He did, however, pick Arizona State for the CFP and had some nice words about Graham. I think we can all admit Graham is a heck of a coach and SP really screwed that up.
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Of course he wasn't rooting against Pitt. But the usual suspects pile on whenever his name is brought up, twisting or outright fabricating stories to impeach his character. I honestly can't understand the vitriol. All the guy ever did was bust his ass as a player and no one was more invested in the program as a coach than him. Still waiting for a "real college coach" to get us to eight wins.

According to some of the mopes on this board and TOS, he wore red at a few bucco games to piss off Pitt or the pirate organization. He personally tried to sabotage his entire last recruiting class, calling each and every one of them to go elsewhere. (My favorite) And then there is the anecdotal stuff, a friend of a friend knows DW personally and vouches that he is a self centered jagoff. Sad and pathetic.

Hopefully Narduzzi is the guy that gets us to the next level, whatever that is. Until then, I guess is easier to bash DW than to admit maybe Pitt's administration made a mistake.
 
To be fair, that part of the conversation was about Miami and why they can't get back to the glory days. They were talking about some losses they've had and Wanny thought they needed to beat Pitt to get to a bowl game and that's when he said what he said. I personally dont thinm he was rooting against Pitt but rather playing to his crowd and the interviewers who were portaying him as a Miami guy.

Later, he had very nice things to say about Pitt, narduzzi, and the admin. He did, however, pick Arizona State for the CFP and had some nice words about Graham. I think we can all admit Graham is a heck of a coach and SP really screwed that up.

1. So, if someone like Lou Holtz was doing a broadcast aimed at Georgia Tech fans, would he tell them how "crushed" he was if Notre Dame beat them?

2. Does this mean if Wanny's kid was playing at Arizona State, he wouldn't publicly make it a point to tell everyone that he would get his kid "the hell out"?

3. I really doubt there were too many Miami fans who were crushed by the Pitt loss; that loss happened earlier against Florida State. Unless they have a loathing for Pitt. And one would think that Wannstedt would be quite knowledgeable on this, given how many crushing losses we witnessed under his tenure.
 
Wanny is such a good personality.

He definitely was a good fit here, and the psuer media got the pitt fanbase against him. Cant deny he loved Pitt, had the recruits drooling and would have many more wins if we had any assemblance of a quarterback.

Good interview, and spot on about Pederson knocking our program back 10 years. If we had stability throughout the jokepa thing, we would have buried them locally.
 
would have many more wins if we had any assemblance of a quarterback.

You threw that in there like as if the person who's fault it was that he never had any semblance of a quarterback wasn't him.

Wanny was never more than a mediocre coach at any of his head coaching stints. The idea that it was ALWAYS someone else's fault and never Wanny's might hold some water if he only ever got one chance and he was mediocre. Unfortunately for those of you who love the guy so much, the reality is a little different.
 
You threw that in there like as if the person who's fault it was that he never had any semblance of a quarterback wasn't him.

Wanny was never more than a mediocre coach at any of his head coaching stints. The idea that it was ALWAYS someone else's fault and never Wanny's might hold some water if he only ever got one chance and he was mediocre. Unfortunately for those of you who love the guy so much, the reality is a little different.

Well, actually, what's funny is that Wannstedt actually inherited a pretty good one: Tyler Palko.
Pitt went 11-12 over those 2 years.
 
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Hopefully Narduzzi is the guy that gets us to the next level, whatever that is. Until then, I guess is easier to bash DW than to admit maybe Pitt's administration made a mistake.

I will readily admit that the administration made a major mistake when they hired Wannstedt.
 
Wanny is such a good personality.

He definitely was a good fit here, and the psuer media got the pitt fanbase against him. Cant deny he loved Pitt, had the recruits drooling and would have many more wins if we had any assemblance of a quarterback.

Good interview, and spot on about Pederson knocking our program back 10 years. If we had stability throughout the jokepa thing, we would have buried them locally.

actually the local idiot media treated him better than any coach here for the past 30 years, a lot better than they treated Graham. What turned the fans was failing to win a crap Big East conference, or losing any game that had any meaning during his tenure.
 
the way he publicly trashed the program on the way out the door and tried to ruin the recruiting class were really a class act. his claim to fame and credentials were built as a dc on Jimmy Johnson's coattails., he was more like foge than the knute rockne some make him out to be
 
Wanny is such a good personality.

He definitely was a good fit here, and the psuer media got the pitt fanbase against him. Cant deny he loved Pitt, had the recruits drooling and would have many more wins if we had any assemblance of a quarterback.

Good interview, and spot on about Pederson knocking our program back 10 years. If we had stability throughout the jokepa thing, we would have buried them locally.

Right.

The "psuer media" blew a winnable game to go to the BCS against UConn in 2010.

The "psuer media" couldn't win a big east championship despite the fact that pitt had 5 guys drafted after the 2010 season.

The "psuer media" blew a 20 point lead in the 2nd half against Cinci in 2009.

etc. etc. etc.
 
Wow. Wanny had Pitt in the 8 to 10 range, competing for Conference championships, recruiting on solid ground and some of you haters still can't admit Pitt made a horrible mistake by firing him. It was a mistake that set the program back at least 8 years, possibly longer.

Here are some numbers for you to crunch:

From 2008-2010, Pitt went 27-12. From 2011-2014, Pitt was 25-27. As of this morning our rivals recruiting ranking is #63. Last year it was #66. Overall, I think there is a lot to like about Narduzzi, but recruiting is what it is and we don't appear to be doing very well.

Getting rid of Wanny was an idiotic decision at best, and disasterous decision at worst. Not to mention the program has become pretty much a laughing stock with the coaching merry-go-round, poor records, and loss of identity.

And while I want to remain optimistic about Narduzzi, I'm not sure he will get Pitt back to where Wanny had the program when he was canned. And if he does, I'm very doubtful he will remain at Pitt.
 
1. So, if someone like Lou Holtz was doing a broadcast aimed at Georgia Tech fans, would he tell them how "crushed" he was if Notre Dame beat them?

2. Does this mean if Wanny's kid was playing at Arizona State, he wouldn't publicly make it a point to tell everyone that he would get his kid "the hell out"?

3. I really doubt there were too many Miami fans who were crushed by the Pitt loss; that loss happened earlier against Florida State. Unless they have a loathing for Pitt. And one would think that Wannstedt would be quite knowledgeable on this, given how many crushing losses we witnessed under his tenure.

I believe Wanny simply used the wrong word in "crushed." The convo was all about Miami and the interview made it seem like he still cared deeply for the U program (maybe he does, so what). So when discussing their recent downturn, Wanny incorrectly believed Miami had to beat Pitt to make a bowl but after spending a few segments talking about the good ole days at The U, he said he was crushed to see a Miami team not even able to beat a mediocre ACC team at home playing with 1 guy (Conner). Inotherwords, he couldnt believe how far Miami has fallen and that part of it was maybe a bit depressing to him (not his words).

I dont believe he was rooting against Pitt but simply used the wrong word choice and was playing off the interviewers who were portaying him as a Miami guy. And this would make sense as most feel he is a "mental midget."

Wake me up the next time Pitt wins 10 games and finds itself ranked in Top 10s. What a terrible guy!
 
Wow. Wanny had Pitt in the 8 to 10 range, competing for Conference championships, recruiting on solid ground and some of you haters still can't admit Pitt made a horrible mistake by firing him. It was a mistake that set the program back at least 8 years, possibly longer.

Here are some numbers for you to crunch:

From 2008-2010, Pitt went 27-12. From 2011-2014, Pitt was 25-27. As of this morning our rivals recruiting ranking is #63. Last year it was #66. Overall, I think there is a lot to like about Narduzzi, but recruiting is what it is and we don't appear to be doing very well.

Getting rid of Wanny was an idiotic decision at best, and disasterous decision at worst. Not to mention the program has become pretty much a laughing stock with the coaching merry-go-round, poor records, and loss of identity.

And while I want to remain optimistic about Narduzzi, I'm not sure he will get Pitt back to where Wanny had the program when he was canned. And if he does, I'm very doubtful he will remain at Pitt.

No it wasn't; getting rid of Wanny was a good decision. The problem was with the execution of the plan, beginning with letting Wanny chose whether he was going to coach the bowl game to the bungling of the replacement hire. If this wasn't done on the cheap by hiring Haywood, then hiring a terrible fit in Graham, and hiring an absolute putz in Chryst, things would be a lot better now.

Were you guys really happy with a 3rd place finish in a crap conference and a Tire bowl victory? Because that was the Wann't high water mark.
 
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Execution of the plan? How about there was no stinking plan!

News flash for you Slick Rick... Pitt isn't going to get the cream of the crop when it comes to coaches even if they write a decent check, and they are almost certainly not going to be able to keep them for an extended period of time. The program simply doesn't have the support, both from the administration and the public.
 
TD, I disagree. I believe pitt will pony up the money necessary to keep Narduzzi as long as he wants to be here. I don't think hiring coaches on the cheap is going to continue at pitt
 
TD, I disagree. I believe pitt will pony up the money necessary to keep Narduzzi as long as he wants to be here. I don't think hiring coaches on the cheap is going to continue at pitt
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So we all hope, right? However, this remains unproven until it actually happens. For now, PITT FB should be a few years away from this discussion/scenario. Let us enjoy the ride along the way and then cross that bridge when it is in front of the panther nation.
 
DW let his anger of being fired by the putz Smiley cloud his view of Pitt and he went rogue! I believe he will make amends with Gallagher, Barnes and HCPN. Wanny is Pitt proud
 
Wow---I posted this very link on the premium board about 48 hours ago. The discussion was divisive there but not nearly as malicious as some posts come across on this forum.

I believe that some fans earlier in this thread read a little too much into the comments DW made in the podcast. I don't know what kind of analyst he is but DW can tell some interesting/entertaining stories.

Say what you want about him as a head coach and assistant but I never did get the disdain some PITT fans seem to have towards him during and after his tenure at PITT.
 
I believe Wanny simply used the wrong word in "crushed." The convo was all about Miami and the interview made it seem like he still cared deeply for the U program (maybe he does, so what). So when discussing their recent downturn, Wanny incorrectly believed Miami had to beat Pitt to make a bowl but after spending a few segments talking about the good ole days at The U, he said he was crushed to see a Miami team not even able to beat a mediocre ACC team at home playing with 1 guy (Conner). Inotherwords, he couldnt believe how far Miami has fallen and that part of it was maybe a bit depressing to him (not his words).

I dont believe he was rooting against Pitt but simply used the wrong word choice and was playing off the interviewers who were portaying him as a Miami guy. And this would make sense as most feel he is a "mental midget."

Wake me up the next time Pitt wins 10 games and finds itself ranked in Top 10s. What a terrible guy!

I heard what I heard (and I even made myself listen to that part to make sure I did hear it). Though I guess who knows what he was thinking regarding that game, given how he got so many of the facts wrong.

As for your last paragraph, lots of analogies that I can say to that, but I'll just list one: by that logic, coaches like Gene Chizik and Charlie Weiss would never be fired.
 
Chizik and Wanny are apples and oranges. Malzahn played for a National Championship at Auburn. Terry Bowden had an undefeated season at AU. So did Tommy Tubberville. Pat Dye won a boatload of games. AU can hire off the street and get the material on the field to win. Its not the same at Pitt. Recruiting with elite schools is a huge challenge in the present day landscape. Pitt hasn't been able to replace Wanny and its not near as easy as some on here think.

As for Wanny's comments about Pitt/Miami game last year... He's paid to talk about football games. College football analysts can't possibly keep up with every single game played. Its way too much. Pitt and Miami played a meaningless game on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I highly doubt he was glued to the game if he watched at all.
 
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You threw that in there like as if the person who's fault it was that he never had any semblance of a quarterback wasn't him.

Wanny was never more than a mediocre coach at any of his head coaching stints. The idea that it was ALWAYS someone else's fault and never Wanny's might hold some water if he only ever got one chance and he was mediocre. Unfortunately for those of you who love the guy so much, the reality is a little different.

Yeah.. well he recruited the position well, just those recruits flopped. Happens everywhere man. Cant always be 11-1, 9 wins a year with the horrible QB we had was exceptional.
 
DW let his anger of being fired by the putz Smiley cloud his view of Pitt and he went rogue! I believe he will make amends with Gallagher, Barnes and HCPN. Wanny is Pitt proud


Look... I mean Dave Wannstedt isnt Vince Lombardi, but he is certainly a good head coach. I think after all the cards have now been played... I would have to think we need to place more blame on Smiley and the chancellor. I doubt this new leadership would have let that trainwreck happen. Whether you love the guy or hate him doesnt change the fact that due to smiley's ego issues he got rid of the guy with NO REPLACEMENT in the wings. You see the same issues in his decision-making with the Pitt logo and many other things, he was just a dum bass. So, Again, Walt Harris, Wanny, or Graham, I am fairly certain any of them could have led Pitt to semi-greatness if given the time and resources. That never happened, and coach after coach leaving just proves the fact that the AD was incompetent. THAT IS THAT.
 
Here are some numbers for you to crunch:

From 2008-2010, Pitt went 27-12. From 2011-2014, Pitt was 25-27.


Typically, a Wanny fan only tells part of the story.

First off, I love the way that all the Wanny fans have to count that game we played in 2010 when he was no longer the coach. If you are so desperate for a data point that you need to give him credit for a win that came weeks after he was fired it ought to tell you the quality of you argument.

Now, here is a fun fact for you. In the 44 games prior to Dave Wannstedt becoming Pitt's head coach Pitt went 31-13. That's a .705 winning percentage. Wanny's winning percentage in that "great" stretch you are touting? .684. Dave Wannstedt took that team that was on a .705 run and promptly went 16-19 with it. Oddly enough, that "great" run that Wanny led us on? Yeah, all that did was almost get us back to the same winning percentage that Walt Harris achieved in his last 3-1/2 seasons at Pitt. Almost, but not quite.

So his "great" stretch was worse than the stretch that preceded his hiring and the terrible stretch that came after his firing was better than what he did when he took over the job. If you look up the word "mediocre" in the football dictionary you'll see a picture of Dave Wannstedt.
 
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Typically, a Wanny fan only tells part of the story.

First off, I love the way that all the Wanny fans have to count that game we played in 2010 when he was no longer the coach. If you are so desperate for a data point that you need to give him credit for a win that came weeks after he was fired it ought to tell you the quality of you argument.

Now, here is a fun fact for you. In the 44 games prior to Dave Wannstedt becoming Pitt's head coach Pitt went 31-13. That's a .705 winning percentage. Wanny's winning percentage in that "great" stretch you are touting? .684. Dave Wannstedt took that team that was on a .705 run and promptly went 16-19 with it. Oddly enough, that "great" run that Wanny led us on? Yeah, all that did was almost get us back to the same winning percentage that Walt Harris achieved in his last 3-1/2 seasons at Pitt. Almost, but not quite.

So his "great" stretch was worse than the stretch that preceded his hiring and the terrible stretch that came after his firing was better than what he did when he took over the job. If you look up the word "mediocre" in the football dictionary you'll see a picture of Dave Wannstedt.

LMAO!!! A Wanny fan only tells half of the story?! You conveniently left off the entire first half of the 2001 season in which Pitt opened the season 1-5, with the lone victory coming over East Tennessee State, a non-FBS opponent.

Included in those 5 losses were a 35-26 loss to South Florida, an embarrassing defeat that was USF's first victory over a D-1 opponent. A lopsided 43-21 loss to Miami, an ugly 24-7 loss to Notre Dame. A 42-10 blowout loss to Syracuse, and an humiliating 45-7 defeat to Boston 'frickin College.


Walt was 25-13 his last 3 years. Wanny was 26-12. 27 if you count the bowl win which were won by players he recruited and a staff that he hired.
 
Well, if you decide to include the first half of 2001, Walt went 32-18, a .640 winning percentage over 4 seasons.
Dave's record over his final 4 seasons: 31-19. A .620 winning percentage.

And no, Wanny didn't coach the BBVA Compass bowl - he in fact refused to, but only after making his players answer to the media about it for weeks - so he doesn't get credit for it. And if he were half the coach some of you think he is, he'd have gotten win #27 against that gawd-awful UConn team, earning a Fiesta Bowl berth in the process. Instead, you want to prop him up for making a 4th rate bowl against a 6-6 Kentucky team.
 
LMAO!!! A Wanny fan only tells half of the story?! You conveniently left off the entire first half of the 2001 season in which Pitt opened the season 1-5, with the lone victory coming over East Tennessee State, a non-FBS opponent.


See, now you get it. When you use convenient end points to make an argument you leave yourself open to others doing exactly the same. Which in this case makes your dumb argument seem even worse.

Walt was 25-13 in his last three seasons. Wanny took over that team and promptly went 16-19 in the next three seasons. At his best, he essentially got us back to where we were before he got here. And again, let's not forget that that was against a lesser level of competition. But hey, I get it. For some people mediocrity is OK as long as the guy in charge is a fish sammich loving yinzer.
 
See, now you get it. When you use convenient end points to make an argument you leave yourself open to others doing exactly the same. Which in this case makes your dumb argument seem even worse.

Walt was 25-13 in his last three seasons. Wanny took over that team and promptly went 16-19 in the next three seasons. At his best, he essentially got us back to where we were before he got here. And again, let's not forget that that was against a lesser level of competition. But hey, I get it. For some people mediocrity is OK as long as the guy in charge is a fish sammich loving yinzer.
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Seriously Joe, just stop. We get it. No one, especially me, thinks Wanny was a great coach. I think he was better than you give him credit, but we can agree to disagree. Getting into a war of fun facts, i.e., selective stats, is fruitless because no one is changing their mind. What is galling, however, is the absolute vitriol
heaped on him by too many on this board. JHC, he's one of our own.

About the 2010 bowl win. Desperate actually describes those who come out of the woodwork to correct posters who commit the cardinal sin of stating '"averaged 9 wins in the last three seasons". Talk about nitpicking. Some of us think you should assign the win to the person who deserves the most credit. Wanny, whose recruits, practices, game plan, and staff (who actually coached the game on the field) did all the heavy lifting. Not the guy who paced the sidelines for a couple of hours. Again, we can agree to disagree. One win matters little.

Wanny deserved a longer leash. The timing of his firing and the absolute ineptitude displayed by the administration afterward has set the program back years and no amount of running to the record book is going to refute it.
 
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If you hate Wannstedt so much how about people just quit talking about him all the f*cking time on here. He hasn't coached a game for Pitt since 2010. Let that sink in. 2010.

He's talking about Pitt because he's PAID to talk about college football, and no one here is paid to talk about DW so move on already. I'd like to go one week without someone parsing the tenures of Walt and Wanny and arguing about who sucked worse or who got screwed. Grow up and move one. No one cares.
 
We ain't the ones bringing him up. Trust me, I'd like to leave the dead horse that is Dave Wannstedt in the pasture.

And make no mistake, should Narduzzi get Pitt to 9-10 wins, whether it's this year, next year, whenever, someone like TD will come here and try to play to role of the buzzkill by telling us that Dave once won 10 games also, while conveniently ignoring the context.
 
Let me be the referee here. Dave was a pretty decent recruiter--at least initially. However at the end he was starting to fall off. But lets face it, the Big East was BAD and Dave had the best talent by far. It simply, Dave was garbage as a coach (same reason the Bears and Dolphins dumped him).The interview amply demonstrates 3 reasons why Dave is a failure as a coach: (1) he mostly talked of drinking beer with other coaches--the good ones talk about game planning and watching film; (2) his communication skills are horrible. I actually moved away from my monitor because I thought his spit would spray me. I cannot imagine college kids listening to him every day--especially since he never has anything insightful to say; and (3) Most significantly, he had no leadership skills. His stories about Miami clearly indicate the inmates ran the asylum. Dave's stories did not once involve him invoking discipline. Same here during his time at Pitt. His teams had no discipline on the field and off the field his players were in the top 3 for arrests.
Verdict. Dave sucked! Stop defending this BUM...it makes you appear as though you know nothing about football!
Have a good day!
 
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