Pitt Fires Wannstedt

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From ESPN:
Wannstedt will formally announce his resignation Tuesday night, a source told me, and will stay on in the athletic department in some capacity. That move in itself shows you the love he has for his alma mater and the respect people around the program have for Wannstedt.

Pitt was 42-31 in six seasons under coach Dave Wannstedt.
Unfortunately, he just didn't win enough games for the Panthers. Or, I should say, he didn't win enough big games. Pitt has won 26 games the past three seasons, with a bowl game still to go this year. That's not too bad. In fact, it's one of the best three-year stretches in the last quarter-century for the program.

But Pittsburgh never could quite get over the hump and to the next level under Wannstedt. Despite having arguably the best talent in the league, the Panthers never won an outright Big East title in six seasons under Wannstedt.

They sure came close. They could have won it in 2008 but lost at Cincinnati. Last year, after reaching the top 10, they lost in the last minute to West Virginia then missed an extra point and fell to Cincinnati 45-44. This year, either a victory over Connecticut or West Virginia would have sent Pitt to the BCS; instead, it lost to both and settled for a hollow co-championship while going 7-5. The reward: a berth in the BBVA Compass Bowl.

Wannstedt seemed to be on very safe ground coming into this year. He signed an extension in the offseason, and spirits were high about the team after a 10-win campaign in '09. The Panthers were picked as overwhelming favorites to win the Big East and as a preseason top 20 team. But they lost three nonconference games and, after starting 3-0 in a imminently winnable conference, fell flat on the road at UConn. The 35-10 loss at home to West Virginia when the BCS bid was still achievable used up any remaining goodwill Wannstedt had built up among the fan base.

It was that lack of confidence in Wannstedt's ability to ever lead the program to bigger things that ultimately undid him. Fans already had lost faith, and in a pro sports town where Pitt has had trouble filling its stadium for home games, selling season tickets next year would have been difficult with Wannstedt coming back.

Let it be said that Wannstedt did a lot of good at Pitt. He recruited great players, most of whom graduated and conducted themselves with class, despite a string of arrests this year. He was a terrific ambassador for the program. He has taken the team to three straight bowl games after needing a few years to get things going.

It's funny: Maybe just one more win in '08, '09 or this year would have saved Wannstedt's job and changed perceptions entirely. But Pittsburgh under his watch just never could quite get there.

Sounds just like Mason to me. Case Closed.
 


Except for the fact that he finished top 2 of his conference 3 times and won it once.

It is true that the reasons he were fired were similar to Mason's. But his on-field performance was higher than Mason's. Though his competition was not at tough as Masons, you cannot discredit his results.
 

This article makes him seem more like Brewster:

Dave Wannstedt arrived at Pitt with such bravado.

He talked tough about restoring tradition and winning national championships. That act vanished Friday at Heinz Field, along with the Panthers' Big East championship hopes.

The Pitt coach had no answers following a 35-10 loss to West Virginia in the 103rd Backyard Brawl and didn't waste anyone's time trying. His post-game news conference lasted all of 3 minutes, 59 seconds.

"Obviously disappointing," he said.

Disgraceful might be a better description.

After putting the Panthers on the brink of a Big East title and BCS bowl berth each of the past three seasons only to come up with disastrous defeats, one thing has become abundantly clear: Wannstedt is done. You know it, I know it and perhaps even Wannstedt knows it.

While Wannstedt hasn't run out of ways to lose meaningful games, he has run out of answers. For a coach who preaches preparation, the Panthers looked pitiful in the annual game against their archrival — which could have yielded at least a share of the conference championship.

"We kind of lost ..." said Wannstedt, searching for words to describe the deflation of the defeat. "The wind came out of the balloon."

It wasn't about the game plan but rather the execution. Pitt had a season-high four turnovers, three leading to Mountaineers touchdowns. West Virginia coach Bill Stewart showed mercy in the final minutes, running Shawne Alston into the pile on fourth-and-goal from the Pitt 5.

Wannstedt and his Panthers talked as though they outplayed West Virginia — except for a few big plays. That's like saying Wannstedt has done a great job at Pitt — except for a few big games.

Pitt started the season ranked No. 15 and an overwhelming favorite to win the Big East. That the Panthers are 6-5 is incredibly disappointing and leaves Chancellor Mark Nordenberg no choice but to fire Wannstedt.

Wannstedt's signature victory in six seasons is that 13-9 win in Morgantown in 2007, which appeared to be a turning point. Instead, Wannstedt has delivered more heartbreak than highlights despite winning 25 of the next 37 games.

Pitt lost the season opener to Bowling Green in 2008, numbing the excitement the West Virginia win created. The Panthers still won nine games before an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Oregon State in the Sun Bowl. Pitt recorded its first 10-win season since 1981 last year but blew a 21-point lead in a 45-44 loss to Cincinnati that cost it the Big East title and a BCS bowl.

Wannstedt lost any remaining good will Nov. 11 in East Hartford, a 30-28 defeat to Connecticut that spelled doom. For all of his tough talk, he tends to shrink under pressure. College football teams are a reflection of their coach, and if the Panthers didn't have any answers for West Virginia, it's because neither did Wannstedt.

Pitt awarded Wannstedt a two-year contract extension through 2014, so there's some thought that maybe he can salvage his job by firing some assistants. But the only spot on the staff where Wannstedt hasn't made a change is at running backs coach, and some of the biggest blunders this season have come on special teams.

Guess who coaches those units. Wannstedt has to answer for this.

The West Virginia game was another reminder of what has become a recurring theme under Wannstedt. Pitt falls flat before national television audiences. The Panthers are embarrassed in nonconference games. And, despite the best efforts of the athletic department to create a lively game-day environment, Pitt couldn't sell out the Brawl.

The Panthers aren't entertaining to watch, either, despite talented skill players like tailbacks Dion Lewis and Ray Graham and receiver Jon Baldwin. For all of Wannstedt's talk about building a program that runs the ball and stops the run, the Panthers allowed Connecticut's Jordan Todman to rush for a career-high 222 yards and ran for only 78 against West Virginia, with 38 coming on scrambles.

Those were only the two most critical games of the season for the Panthers, who like their coach were at a loss for explanation as to how they could blow a chance to win the bumbling Big East three years in a row.

"It's the same old story," senior left tackle Jason Pinkston said.

The final chapter should end with an expression Wannstedt likes to use about making cuts in the NFL.

Pitt didn't fire you, Dave.

You fired yourself.
 

Reminds me of when the Houston Oilers fired Bum Phillips. After firing him, they no longer had to worry about losing in the AFC Championship game, they had 6 losing seasons after they fired him.
 


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