I Told You So...
Hello again sports fans. As the sun rises on another autumn Saturday, that means one thing...college football! Yes, from Boston to Honolulu and all points in between, people are gearing up to head to stadiums all across America to witness the pomp and spectacle that is college football. When I was at Pitt, I used to love going out to old Pitt Stadium on a crisp fall Saturday to watch us get the shit kicked out of us. Which brings me to the point of today's post, the current state of Pitt football.
Now as anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a rabid University of Pittsburgh Panthers football fan. I love watching them, especially when they are winning (no, I am not a fair weather fan, but when I was in college Pitt lost a lot more games than they won. Therefore, watching them win is both unique and a helluva lot more fun than watching them lose!) During the last couple of years, Pitt has been winning on a regular basis (which gave me a great opportunity to return some of the shit I got from Penn State fans over the years). Perhaps those winning years have spoiled me, perhaps I don't want to see a return to the bad old days of the late-80's through mid-90's, or perhaps I just don't want to take shit from the Penn State fans, but I find the current situation at Pitt unacceptable. I will explain.
So far this season, Pitt has yet to win a game. They are currently 0-2. They started the season with a tough home opener versus Notre Dame. At the time, Pitt was undoubtedly overrated with a ranking of 23rd. Notre Dame was most certainly underrated as they were not ranked at all. In a game featuring two new head coaches, Dave Wannstedt for Pitt and Charlie Weis for Notre Dame, there were a lot of unpredictables and unknowns. To make a long story short, Notre Dame outplayed Pitt, and Weis definitely outcoached Wannstedt. Notre Dame won 42-21 in a game that was effectively over by halftime. While I wasn't very happy with the outcome, I could accept this loss as, good or bad, Notre Dame always plays us tough.
The second loss I cannot accept. I cannot excuse it. Pitt was scheduled to play a rare Friday night game versus Ohio University. Ohio, not Ohio State. The game was to be played at Ohio. It started out well enough with a kickoff return for a TD by Pitt. After that, it was all down hill. Ohio, a team that has had 29 losing seasons in the last 35 years, played Pitt to a tie in regulation, then returned an interception for the winning score in overtime. The final was Ohio 16, Pitt 10.
This is the second week in a row that a Pitt team has showed up completely unprepared for their opponent. I dread next week when they go to Lincoln to play Nebraska. The problem lies not in the quality of the team or the talent present (by all measures, Pitt is loaded with most of the offense and defense returning from last year's Big East champion team). The problem lies in the fact that, for the second week in a row, Dave Wannstedt was outcoached. Wannstedt needs to learn a few things about college football. First, contrary to what they teach in the NFL, in college football, field goals DO NOT win games (or national championships). Second, this particular Pitt team is a PASSING team. I don't give a rat's ass how much you want to turn it into a running team, it is built as a passing team. The last I checked, winning coaches played to their team's strengths, not against them. And lastly, you learned how to lose at the professional level with the Bears and the Dolphins, now you are learning to lose at the collegiate level with Pitt, here's a unique suggestion, resign now, take a position with a high school team and LEARN HOW TO WIN!!! It is obvious that Wannstedt does not know how to win, nor does he know how to prepare a team.
Another guy looking like a real genius right now is Pitt AD Jeff Long. He is the one who essentially fired Walt Harris (a winning coach by the way, one who had taken Pitt to five consecutive bowl games). Boy Jeff, you really showed everbody, didn't you?!!? Gee, let's fire Harris and get Wannstedt, that'll show everyone! Well Jeff, it has only shown that you either hate Pitt, or that you are an idiot. A Harris coached team might have lost to Notre Dame, but I guarantee you they WOULDN'T have lost to Ohio!! I think it is high time to fire both Long and Wannstedt and try to get Harris back anyway possible (if it is even possible to do so). Pitt could hire back Pederson (I forget his first name), the old AD to replace Long (at least he knows what he is doing). This season is shot already, it is time to start looking toward restoring what Pitt had so that next season might be a WINNING season.
Oh, and by the way, I addressed this in a post dated 24 December 2004 entitled "A Coaching Change And A Prediction". Therefore, I can truthfully say "I told you so!"
I am Chuck and I believe that Wannstedt and Long should be fired NOW!!!!
Now as anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a rabid University of Pittsburgh Panthers football fan. I love watching them, especially when they are winning (no, I am not a fair weather fan, but when I was in college Pitt lost a lot more games than they won. Therefore, watching them win is both unique and a helluva lot more fun than watching them lose!) During the last couple of years, Pitt has been winning on a regular basis (which gave me a great opportunity to return some of the shit I got from Penn State fans over the years). Perhaps those winning years have spoiled me, perhaps I don't want to see a return to the bad old days of the late-80's through mid-90's, or perhaps I just don't want to take shit from the Penn State fans, but I find the current situation at Pitt unacceptable. I will explain.
So far this season, Pitt has yet to win a game. They are currently 0-2. They started the season with a tough home opener versus Notre Dame. At the time, Pitt was undoubtedly overrated with a ranking of 23rd. Notre Dame was most certainly underrated as they were not ranked at all. In a game featuring two new head coaches, Dave Wannstedt for Pitt and Charlie Weis for Notre Dame, there were a lot of unpredictables and unknowns. To make a long story short, Notre Dame outplayed Pitt, and Weis definitely outcoached Wannstedt. Notre Dame won 42-21 in a game that was effectively over by halftime. While I wasn't very happy with the outcome, I could accept this loss as, good or bad, Notre Dame always plays us tough.
The second loss I cannot accept. I cannot excuse it. Pitt was scheduled to play a rare Friday night game versus Ohio University. Ohio, not Ohio State. The game was to be played at Ohio. It started out well enough with a kickoff return for a TD by Pitt. After that, it was all down hill. Ohio, a team that has had 29 losing seasons in the last 35 years, played Pitt to a tie in regulation, then returned an interception for the winning score in overtime. The final was Ohio 16, Pitt 10.
This is the second week in a row that a Pitt team has showed up completely unprepared for their opponent. I dread next week when they go to Lincoln to play Nebraska. The problem lies not in the quality of the team or the talent present (by all measures, Pitt is loaded with most of the offense and defense returning from last year's Big East champion team). The problem lies in the fact that, for the second week in a row, Dave Wannstedt was outcoached. Wannstedt needs to learn a few things about college football. First, contrary to what they teach in the NFL, in college football, field goals DO NOT win games (or national championships). Second, this particular Pitt team is a PASSING team. I don't give a rat's ass how much you want to turn it into a running team, it is built as a passing team. The last I checked, winning coaches played to their team's strengths, not against them. And lastly, you learned how to lose at the professional level with the Bears and the Dolphins, now you are learning to lose at the collegiate level with Pitt, here's a unique suggestion, resign now, take a position with a high school team and LEARN HOW TO WIN!!! It is obvious that Wannstedt does not know how to win, nor does he know how to prepare a team.
Another guy looking like a real genius right now is Pitt AD Jeff Long. He is the one who essentially fired Walt Harris (a winning coach by the way, one who had taken Pitt to five consecutive bowl games). Boy Jeff, you really showed everbody, didn't you?!!? Gee, let's fire Harris and get Wannstedt, that'll show everyone! Well Jeff, it has only shown that you either hate Pitt, or that you are an idiot. A Harris coached team might have lost to Notre Dame, but I guarantee you they WOULDN'T have lost to Ohio!! I think it is high time to fire both Long and Wannstedt and try to get Harris back anyway possible (if it is even possible to do so). Pitt could hire back Pederson (I forget his first name), the old AD to replace Long (at least he knows what he is doing). This season is shot already, it is time to start looking toward restoring what Pitt had so that next season might be a WINNING season.
Oh, and by the way, I addressed this in a post dated 24 December 2004 entitled "A Coaching Change And A Prediction". Therefore, I can truthfully say "I told you so!"
I am Chuck and I believe that Wannstedt and Long should be fired NOW!!!!
posted by Chuck | 09:42
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