Oh, dear God I really don’t want to have to mention this because I’m afraid spammers will find the comments and I dread what the hit counter will start showing on searches leading here. Pitt legend Tony Dorsett was in town to promote the NFL backed ED drug Levitra (you know, the one with the subtle commercial showing a guy throwing a football through a tire swing). The same one another Pitt legend, Mike Ditka promotes. He’s working through the NFL’s “Tackling Men’s Health” program.
Still, he was in town and he wanted to talk about the state of Pitt’s program. He did two interviews. One with Gene Collier of the PG and one with the Trib sportswriters. Obviously they are both must reads for the day, and if you live in Pittsburgh I have to believe these are big topics on the sports talk. Please leave your impression of what the mood/thoughts were from the callers and hosts in the comments if you listen.
From the Collier interview:
“I’d be willing to come back here — not as a coach because I never had any coaching aspirations, but you know Texas has Earl Campbell doing some things for them and South Carolina has George Rogers, and if there was a role for me where I could stop this thing where too many players are going away from Pittsburgh, if I could show recruits what it’s like to be part of something really special and memorable, I would entertain that.
“I don’t want to sound like I’m looking for a job. I’m not. But I do care enough about where this program is at that I would consider it.”
Dorsett’s aware of the public debate between proponents of having the next coach be a “Pitt man” and those who judge that wholly unnecessary. Even though he played for a hugely successful staff led by non-Pitt men Johnny Majors and Jackie Sherrill, Dorsett’s position on this couldn’t be more clear.
“I suggested years ago that the program be turned over to one of our own, and that’s the way I still feel. I think it should be someone with NFL experience. I’ve mentioned Matt Cavanaugh. I think it should be someone who knows Pitt football, someone who’s felt it, breathed it, smelled it, tasted it.”
He elaborated a little more on the relocating issue with the Trib.
“I don’t think I want to do any coaching, and I don’t even know if there’s a position that would be possible for Tony Dorsett back here at the University of Pittsburgh,” he said. “But I’ll tell you what, if it took me coming back here to help — if it all could work out from a financial standpoint and relocating and all that stuff — I definitely would do it.” Dorsett has an active career as a public speaker and dabbles in other businesses back in Dallas, where he starred for the Cowboys.
He also made clearer where he would like to help — recruiting (thank you)
“There are too many damn good athletes in the state of Pennsylvania, especially right here in Western PA, that need to start going to Pitt somehow,” Dorsett said. “I look around country and I see the people at LSU, they’re talking about, ‘I want to stay at home and make a difference, and I want to help change this program.’
“We need to get somebody out there to spread the word and make these kids understand and get them to stay here and want to be a part of something, a part of building something, like my class was. We were way down there and we took it way up here. And then it was easier for us to recruit … So, Walt, if you need me, I’m just a telephone call away.”
If AD Long or Chancellor Nordenberg aren’t on the phone with Dorsett today, every Pitt fan should be pissed.
After the final game at Pitt Stadium in 1999, we — along with half the stadium it seemed — crowded into C.J. Barney’s for the post game. Dorsett was at the bar with a small entourage (maybe 3 other guys). People were in awe and just excited to see him. He wasn’t mobbed or had people screaming his name. It was oddly respectful. Everyone, though, was aware of him and watching him. The man exudes dignity and class. The idea of him actively helping the school with recruits and some PR for the athletic department makes me drool.
Now, of course, I don’t agree with his insistence on having a “Pitt guy” be the next head coach. I just want the best guy for the job, and that the guy have the money and leverage to be able to hire and pay for good assistants/recruiters.
As for the coach at the moment, Walt Harris, his agent has begun to complain about the lack of an extension for Harris. This has forced AD Long to make some public statements, but not the dreaded “vote of confidence.” Here’s what Bob LaMonte, Harris’ agent said:
Harris has two years remaining on his contract after this season, which is virtual lame-duck status in college football, where recruiting is the lifeblood. If Harris is fired, Pitt would have to pay him for his two final years at an estimated $600,000 per year.
“The way things are now, they’ve left Walt just hanging out to dry,” LaMonte said. “They’ve made it virtually impossible for him to recruit, not just because they haven’t given him an extension, but also because not one person from the university has stepped out to publicly defend Walt through all of this.
“At the end of the day, that’s really ridiculous. If they were going to fire him, they should have fired him before the season. Everybody knew this was going to be a young team that would struggle some, so what really have they learned about Walt as a coach now that they didn’t know back then?
“We’re all adults, if they are going to fire him, fire him, and he’ll go get a job that pays him more and has a lot less headaches. If not, then end this speculation, give him a contract extension and give him a chance to salvage something out of this recruiting class. You can’t expect kids to sign up for four years when you only have two years left on your own contract.”
Now, I actually think all of this is essentially true. A little spin or putting some stuff in extremely favorable light (“struggle some”?), but the other side is that if they even began negotiating a contract extension season ticket renewals would tank.
AD Jeff Long said this much
“There has been a lot of speculation on the status of coach Harris. At the end of the year, I’ll sit down with coach Harris like I do with every one of our coaches. I do that with every coach, every year. So I’m not going to get involved in making comments during the remainder of the season about coach Harris’ status.
“He is our football coach, he has brought us a long way and again, after the season we’ll sit down and talk. I am not going to have any further comment on this stuff in the future.”
Might as well put the house on the market now, Walt.
In news on the periphery, Senior Vince Crochunis was selected by the NCAA to serve as a member of the Division I Elite Football Student-Athlete Advisory Group. Crochunis is a 3 year starter at nose tackle and a 2-time Academic All-American. Last year, Larry Fitzgerald, was selected to the group.
WR Princell Brockenbrough has been practicing, hoping to return to the field after the injury and knee surgery. Why? He has already gotten one medical redshirt in his career and it is unlikely the NCAA would give him a 6th year of eligibility.
Some actual game information, no really. File this part under the “But, I swear officer, she said she was 18” section. The BC-Pitt game will be Cheerleader Day, featuring area high school cheerleaders on the sidelines. Making all of us at PSB feel even older and creepier.
The Boston sports media might be slightly preoccupied with something else, and even in the best of times they ignore BC, so there is only a story about the depth at RB for BC.
