Another travel day. Back home, finally.

I’m going to keep the commentary short.

CSTV.com has a long piece on Big East Media Day. Here’s what they said about Pitt, or specifically, Coach Wannstedt, at Media day.

One of the most seen faces in Newport was that of Dave Wannstedt, whose picture adorns the cover of the Panthers’ 2005 media guide. Wannstedt, who grew up in Pittsburgh and returns to both his hometown and his alma mater this fall, following 16 years in the NFL, most recently as the Miami Dolphins’ head coach.

“I’m real comfortable there,” Wannstedt said of his new/old home. “I can relate to what people think and do, and how they react to things there. That’s been fun. I’ve kind of enjoyed it. You’ve got to be able to walk both sides of the street in Pittsburgh. You’ve got to be able to go downtown in the kind of position I’m in and sit down with the top CEOs and then the next day, you need to be able to go down to the South Side where all the mills are at, and walk in and have a beer and a fish sandwich. That’s a balancing act, and I’m comfortable doing both.”

The only reason I want to hear that story repeated for the umpteenth time during the season is that it will mean Pitt is winning and there will be lots more interviews with Wannstedt talking about the transition and going home.

So the media guide is finished? It’s not yet on the Pitt site.

Of course, Wannstedt will see a couple of familiar faces as he guides the Panthers through their 2005 schedule, which may or may not add to his comfort level. New Syracuse coach Greg Robinson spent over a decade in the NFL before returning to the college ranks with Texas last year, and new Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, who will bring his Fighting Irish to Pittsburgh on September 3, is all too familiar to Wannstedt.

“I’m sure that Charlie’s dealing with the same things we are,” Wannstedt said of his once and future rival. “From a philosophy standpoint, he knows what we want to do here, and I get a good feel of what he’s going to do up there, but it still comes down to players. Am I going to be able to get a guy on defense to make plays like Jason Taylor? And is he going to be able to get his quarterback to make throws like Tom Brady?”

While those questions will remain unanswered until Sept. 3, the Pitt players are certainly impressed with their new coach’s conduct toward the team. “He really treats us like men,” said quarterback Tyler Palko. “That’s the biggest thing. In college, sometimes, coaches try to be too much like your parents. He’s really like, ‘Hey, we need to get A, B and C done, and I expect you to do A, B and C by this time period.’ If you don’t do it, you’re either not going to be around very long, or you reap what you sow. You’re going to have to suffer the consequences.”

If Palko and the rest of Wannstedt’s new charges have anything to say about it, it’ll be the rest of the Big East that suffers the consequences in 2005.

And hopefully beyond.

At least one reporter found that the most common response to questions about the new Big East and what will happen when the new teams meet the old is “I don’t know.” Why this should be surprising, is a mystery to me. No one actually knows right now.

Meanwhile, there is more worrying about what Wannstedt and Pitt will mean for the Hoopies.

There’s a potentially chilling story writing its early chapters in Big East Conference football.

Pitt, and the pendulum.
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It’s potentially bad news for the neighborhood, and West Virginia needs to understand that the Backyard Brawl will be played out with more verve and charisma in recruiting. It’s not just about a cold, November sellout anymore.

Wannstedt’s homecoming has arrived at a crucial time for Pitt, too, with Keystone State football god Joe Paterno about finished pacing the Penn State sideline. Wither WVU?

“You particularly want to beat your rivals, and Pitt is our biggest rival,” Mountaineer Coach Rich Rodriguez said at the Big East Summer Kickoff media session. “Dave coming in and Pitt working the way they have is a concern for us, because western Pennsylvania is a big area for us.

“We’re such a small state that in recruiting, we have to go into western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia. Pitt is making a move to put more emphasis there. I think we’ll still get our share, and compete like we have been, but there’s no doubt it will be tougher.”
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“He’s ignited a fan base that had been a bit hesitant about whether they wanted to be aboard, one that kind of always had these doubts in the background,” Pitt Athletic Director Jeff Long said.

As a coach and administrator, Long worked at eight schools before becoming Pitt’s AD in 2003. He’s got plenty of reference points on roots.

“Everyone thinks they love their own, and they do, but there’s no way I’ve seen them do it like in Pittsburgh,” he said. “They’re very proud of their own; they have a way of talking to one another that’s different.

“Dave’s part of that. Western Pennsylvania never left his blood. He embraces it, the blue-collar, steel-mill, melting pot. Pittsburgh, as a city, looks to the East, but it’s really a town of Midwestern values.”

Read all of it. And grin.