Good piece today on Coach Dave Wannstedt’s recruiting travels in just his first 6 months on the job.

Wannstedt said he visited between six and nine schools every day and made it a point to meet not just with coaches and principals, but also with superintendents, guidance counselors, school board members and teachers.

“Talk is cheap, and I really felt like, particularly in Pennsylvania, every coach talks about reestablishing that connection between Pitt football and the communities and high schools, but for it to be real I needed to get out there and do it,” he said. “People needed to see me and meet me and hear what I have to say in order to see that what I’m trying to do here is genuine.

“The rule states you can have seven coaches out on the road at any given time during the spring, so I decided I’d be out the entire four weeks and I rotated one of my assistants back off the road. It is tiresome and it is a lot of time, but I really enjoy getting out and meeting people.”
…
He believes Pitt should be the top choice for any player in Western Pennsylvania, which is the way it was when he played and coached at Pitt in the 1970s.

“We’re coming in the front doors of these schools and letting people know that we’re Pitt and we’re proud of it,” he said. “We want to get this thing like it used to be. We are going to have our battles but we’ve got to get back to the point where, if anyone is coming into Western Pennsylvania looking for players, we’re the team to beat and they know it, and I don’t care who it is or where they come from.

“That is the mind-set we have here and now we have to go out and back it up. Me getting out on the road and really knocking on doors is the best place to start.”

Under 12 weeks until the first game.