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Wannstedt out as Pitt coachTuesday, December 07, 2010By Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Keith Srakocic/Associated PressPitt football coach Dave Wannstedt has been fired, defensive line coach Greg Gattuso told the Post-Gazette today. Gattuso said the assistant coaches were informed this afternoon.

One rumor has Patterson on the list of replacements.

Now that TCU is BCS, is Pitt a better job than TCU? Don't see it.

Phil for hc

Sorry to see that happen. Wannstedt looks like a decent guy, but Pitt should have plenty of potential.

Two power 'staches are now collecting unemployment.

ponydawg wrote:Now that TCU is BCS, is Pitt a better job than TCU? Don't see it.

Agreed. Gonna take more than that for sure.

Bennett lands on his feet. Pitt's Defense did just fine. The rest of the team wasn't performing well.

i would say bennet is at risk - as would be any DC tied to the guy that went out the door.

Where does Phil land??? Will be on watch

Wannstadt is much better suited as a coordinator somewhere. He's just never seemed to be able to put together any decent teams as the head coach.

buckwheat wrote:Where does Phil land??? Will be on watch

Pitt is his "dream job" + he's forgotten more football than Pitt will ever know. It's a no-brainer.

If they hired Bennett he would most likely be the only BE coach to have defeated a Gary Patterson coached TCU. (I did no research on this subject)

Pitt is a lot like SMU, a private school in a big city dominated by a successful pro franchise, A tough place to win in. They will have to do what they did under Sherrill and what SMU did to win big.

rich59 wrote:Pitt is a lot like SMU, a private school in a big city dominated by a successful pro franchise, A tough place to win in. They will have to do what they did under Sherrill and what SMU did to win big.

Pitt is not a private school since 1966...

For most of its history Pitt was a private institution, until it became part of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education in 1966.

However, the students being academically motivated are somewhat apathetic to athletics, so the analogy to SMU is still fair.

I have had several occasions to speak with Wannstedt when he was making recruiting trips to local high schools where I coach. A very decent and affable person who personally works very hard at recruiting. I think he has made very credible in-roads with PA high school coaches and his recruiting classes reflect the same. I am aware of several situations where he rolled the dice on several kids who really needed the help at the behest of local coaches who very much appreciated what he did. I am personally very disappointed in Pitt and think this will be a mistake. He restocked the school with good talent and merely had a bad last 2 games for a variety of reasons including injuries. Pitt will be hard pressed to match what he has set in motion.