At SI.com, Stewart Mandel is impressed with the way Coach Wannstedt has worked quickly.

So, looking ahead two to three years from now, where do you think Pittsburgh’s Dave Wannstedt will fall?
–Josh, Columbus, Ohio

If the early returns are any indication, Wannstedt could ultimately wind up being one of the best hires of any school this offseason. Wannstedt, a Pitt alum and Steel City native, has wasted no time flexing his muscle on the local recruiting scene, already securing 12 commitments for next year, 11 of them in-state. Not coincidentally, Penn State, which has made a common practice in the past of loading up early, has just two verbals, neither of them from Pennsylvania. The Panthers’ commitments are no slouches, either. One of them, Dorin Dickerson, is rated as the fifth-best receiver in the country by Scout.com. Another, Jason Pinkston, is ranked No. 11 at defensive tackle.

I still think Walt Harris got a raw deal when he was basically shoved out the door last year despite significantly boosting the program — which was 15-41 in the five years before his arrival, 39-23 in his last five years there — but at the same time, he had pretty much maxed out his capabilities. Many Pitt fans still cling to the belief the program can return to its mid-’70s level, when it won a national championship, and while I’ve always felt that was largely unrealistic, Wannstedt may be the one guy who can do it. He wasn’t exactly an overwhelming success as an NFL head coach, but neither was Carroll or Groh. He’s always been considered a solid defensive mind, was a major part of Jimmy Johnson‘s success at Oklahoma State, Miami and with the Dallas Cowboys, and it may be that his background and personality are better-suited for the college game, particularly his alma mater.

We are ready to drink the kool-aid.

Now, notice that Mandel noted that Penn State has been slow out of the box in getting early commitments as opposed to their historic practices. So this article, ostensibly about Penn State’s latest recruit, engages in a little revisionism.

Penn State’s only three verbals by mid-July is not particularly out of the ordinary for Paterno-style recruiting, but it does raise eyebrows when examined in the context of intrastate recruiting rival Pittsburgh. First-year coach Dave Wannstedt has already locked up 12 solid verbals, including Rivals.com four-star athlete Dorin Dickerson of West Allegheny High School.

[Emphasis added.]

Now, I’m just trying to figure out the context of this.

“I don’t really want to rag on Pitt, but they kind of were all about western Pennsylvania,” McEowen said. “I don’t know if they got the best players from PA that they could have. They got 12 guys, but I don’t know if those are going to be as good as those seven or eight guys that Penn State might get.”

McEowen stressed that he “can’t say anything bad about any of the schools that recruited me” — he chose Penn State over Boston College, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia — before he shared his thoughts on why Pitt has raked up more early recruits than his new school.

For the record, 10 of the 12 Pitt recruits are from Western Pennsylvania.

I don’t really want to rag on McEowen, but I suspect the question he was responding to was about whether Pitt tried to recruit him. It would appear Pitt did not seriously pursue him and he almost seems hurt by that. It just doesn’t seem that he would just volunteer those thoughts. As for the other part, what? Would you expect him to say that Pitt is going to outrecruit Penn State?

Still, interesting to suddenly have Penn State recruits being asked how Pitt fit in their decisionmaking.