Over the last few weeks, Crystal Ball Run has been scouring the internet to bring you the best voices (beyond the writers on this site of course!), to discuss the biggest programs in the country. Yesterday we were lucky enough to be joined by Adam Kramer of Kegs ‘N Eggs to talk Iowa football, and the day before, legendary college football writer Phil Steele answered five questions on college football as a whole.
Well today we move over to the Big East, where we are joined by Bryan, who runs the very popular Pitt Panthers website, PittScriptBlog.com.
No one knows Pitt football like Bryan, and after a tough off-season, few teams have more questions entering the season.
Here’s Five Burning Questions, Pitt Panthers style!
1. Some national writers (Ok, it was me), had a lot of fun at the expense of Dave Wannstedt over the past few years. Tell us what life was like watching him coach your team? Did you wake up at night in cold sweats?
It certainly was a… unique time. The old roller-coaster cliché would probably be the best fit, except it would have to be a roller-coaster that never got very high to begin with.
There are really just so many examples to use here – every season was the same: In 2006, Wannstedt got the team to 6-1, and then lost 5 straight games. After ending the 2007 season with the school’s biggest win in nearly a generation in the Backyard Brawl (which was still a five-win season mind you), Pitt was ranked in the Top 25 to start 2008 and then promptly blew the home-opener to Bowling Green. After a tumultuous 2008, Pitt still managed to make a bowl game, only to lose 3-0 in maybe the worst bowl games ever, to an Oregon State team missing their best receiver and their running back. In 2009, Pitt blew a 21 point lead to Cincinnati at home with a BCS bowl on the line. And then there was last season, despite having a two game lead in the “meh” Big East, Pitt goes 2-2 down the stretch and ends up in something called a “BBVA Compass Bowl” against what I can only assume was the last place SEC team.
So that’s the Dave Wannstedt era in a nutshell (and in all fairness, I did leave out the 5-7 2005 season the highlights of which include an overtime loss at Ohio). By the end, his teams were always good enough to compete year after year, but never good enough to get the job done. Add in better than par recruiting – at least relative to the Big East – and you have the recipe for keeping a bad coach past his time.
I always rooted for Wannstedt. I wanted his smug critics like Dan Le Batard and Skip Bayless to eat a bit of crow after years of attacking him personally. He always came off as a caricature of himself, but he would have walked on hot coals for Pitt and after Walt Harris, that was what we needed. But in the end, he just didn’t win enough games, despite ample chances to do so.
2. After the tumultuous coaching search(s), Pitt ended up with Todd Graham. Big picture, do you believe they’re in a better place going forward than they would’ve been if a coaching move hadn’t been made?
What I love about the move is that Pitt has sent a clear message to their fans that they want to win. As much of a no-brainer as that sounds like, that wasn’t always the case with Pitt. In the not too distant past, Pitt football was track to be moved down to FCS. Walt Harris saved Pitt from the abyss and to some extent, Wannstedt built on that. Graham appears to be their choice to get them over yet another hump. Understand that Graham was their first-choice, who became their second choice after initial talks broke down over money. And yes, it took an absolute disaster and the sacrificing of the recruiting class to force Pitt’s hand financially.
As for Graham himself, if coaching doesn’t work out, he could have a long career in politics. The guy knows his talking points and can stick to them. A week or so after the hire, Pitt had an open-to-the-public “Xs-and-Os” session where the coaches gave a presentation on the changes to the offense and defense. Graham opened the event with “Ya’ll ready to score some points?” Needless to say, after Wannstedt’s “Yinz ready to rush for 2.5-3 yards per carry?” Graham is going over well with the fans.
Of course, we have yet to see Graham coach a game at the BCS level (Yes, the Big East is still a BCS conference). Everyone is assuming that Graham and Dana Holgorsen are going to be the next big coaches in the conference, but they have the potential to be the next Steve Kragthorpe and Greg Robinson as much as they have to be Brian Kelly and Bobby Petrino. But like Pitt, WVU didn’t like the trajectory they were on despite some level of success. I have no idea how it ends up for either program, but I think both fan bases are happy their ADs rolled the dice.
3. Graham has been known as quite a bit of an offensive savant over the last couple years at Tulsa. But point blank, does Pitt have the personnel to run his offense this year?
That’s the $100,000 question. The players certainly seem to be embracing the new offense. In fact, after Graham’s initial meeting with the players, Ray Graham and Cam Saddler called in to a local sports talk radio show (unbeknownst to the SID) to express their excitement. Only one player has transferred – a freshman offensive lineman – so for the moment, it appears that a mass exodus has been avoided. That tells me that the players at least believe they can run the new scheme. Whether they can or not is yet to be determined.
Graham cut his teeth as a defensive coach, but is widely credited with his successful offenses. That’s partially deserved, but the guy knows how to hire offensive coordinators. The current OCs at Texas, Auburn and Clemson are three of Graham’s four former play-callers as a head coach. Whether he’s a closet offensive genius or just knows how to delegate, he gets the job done offensively.
4. The defense is loaded with veterans. How good can this unit overall be? Is there one player that the casual fan might not know, that we should keep an eye on?
For all his faults, you could never say that Dave Wannstedt couldn’t build a defensive line. As the former D-line coach for the ‘Canes and the Dallas Cowboys, Wannstedt coaches a fair share of talented players in his front four and that’s how he built Pitt’s defenses. Even though Graham is transitioning to a 3-4, it really seems to be a hybrid defense where the rushing OLB will pretty much be used like a stand-up defensive end. Brandon Lindsey will likely man the “Panther linebacker” spot and should be the odd-on favorite to win the conference defensive player of the year.
The linebacker corps is largely veteran but uninspiring. Senior Max Gruder is the conference’s only player on the Butkus watch list, which should tell you all you need to know about the conference’s linebackers as a whole. Dan Mason looked pretty solid until his leg was destroyed in the Miami game last season and will likely need to redshirt this season. Graham nabbed a couple highly-touted linebackers in last year’s recruiting class, Nicholas Grigsby and former OSU commit Juan Price, so I wouldn’t rule out seeing either of them at some point this season.
The unit I’m most excited to see this season is the secondary. Pitt had some talent there under Wannstedt, but many (myself included) thought Wannstedt was too conservative with his DBs by utilizing the “bend, don’t break” strategy. That strategy led to Tony Pike picking Pitt apart in the second half of the 2009 on his way to the Sugar Bowl. I’m a big fan of both safeties, Jason Hendricks and Jarred Holley, and returning corner K’Wuan Williams should be solid.
5. The Big East is open…as always. Give us one reason why Pitt can surprise everyone and win this conference. Give us one reason why they can’t/won’t?
Since the conference went to hell after 2007, Pitt as greatly benefited from the “who else is there to pick” mentality in preseason polls. They’re comfortably in the top tier of the conference talent-wise and it should be between Pitt and WVU for the preseason favorite coming out of Media Day. The conference as a whole is largely at the same stage of redevelopment: WVU, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville, USF, UConn and Cincinnati all have coaches who were not there in 2009. Rutgers has the sage of the Big East in Greg Schiano and in my opinion, they’d probably be better off if they didn’t.
So why not Pitt?
Be sure to follow Bryan on Twitter @PittScript
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