The Dave Wannstedt “Eastern Pennsylvania Tour ’05” is actually wrapping up today. Yesterday, one of his stops was at Northern Lehigh.

As Tyler Tkach maneuvered his way through honors trigonometry, Dave Wannstedt was down the hall explaining his mission to recruit in eastern Pennsylvania.

Historically for Pitt football, that has been about as difficult as honors trigonometry. Wannstedt aims to change course.

“Before we travel any distance or leave the state, we better make sure we do a great job of evaluating all the players here,” the Panthers’ new head coach said Wednesday. “In my mind, if we have a decision to make, and things are close between a local player or someone out of state, we’re going to take the local player. That’s how you establish that Pittsburgh pride.”
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On Wednesday, Wannstedt and offensive line coach Paul Dunn stopped by Northern Lehigh, where Tkach — a junior who has received a full-scholarship offer from Wannstedt — was otherwise busy.

Though NCAA rules prevented Wannstedt from speaking with Tyler personally — May is considered an “evaluation period” — they didn’t restrict him from making the symbolic personal appearance.

“When head coaches step onto the campus of a small school, they’re making a statement,” said Jim Tkach, Tyler’s dad and Northern Lehigh’s head football coach. “What they told us is, they feel it’s important to make a move into eastern Pennsylvania. The football is that good in the Lehigh Valley that they’re going to come in here and take on some of the traditional powers.”

That’s convenient. Can’t speak to the player, but you can talk to the coach, who also just happens to be his dad.

On Wednesday, for instance, Wannstedt left Northern Lehigh to make three more high-school visits — including one to North Penn — before attending an alumni function in Philadelphia. “Meet Coach Wannstedt Night” was expected to draw about 200 boosters to the first gathering of its kind in Philadelphia in a decade.

“I’m very comfortable recruiting in the state of Pennsylvania,” Wannstedt said. “For the most part, the people are hard-working, blue-collar people. I think they know that I’m sincere and I can appreciate what people in this part of the country deal with on a daily basis.”

Tyler Tkach is a player who fits that model. A 6-4, 230-pound tight end/defensive end, Tkach has received offers from North Carolina State and Georgia Tech as well as Pitt. Wannstedt has been very active personally in Tkach’s recruiting.

“We were kind of shocked and happy,” Jim Tkach said. “I just think it says [Wannstedt] is not going to automatically say that this is Penn State territory.”

First gathering in Philly in 10 years? Unbelievable. That goes back to Majors, version 2.0. No wonder finding Pitt gear in Eastern PA seems to be an exercise in futility.

As for Tyler Tkach. He is ranked #24 on Pantherlair.com‘s top-50 in Pennsylvania for 2006. Scout.com shows a lot of interest in him from schools.