There has been no shortage of Ricky Williams stories as he reports to Dolphins training camp. I was going to ignore the stuff, because I just don’t care. Still, Ron Cook decides to be a harpie on it, going with the oh, so unexpected angle of getting more comments from his former coach and of course head coach at Pitt, Dave Wannstedt.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

Let’s call Dave Wannstedt!

The new Pitt coach comes to the phone quickly, his voice clear and strong, the enthusiasm in it palpable. Wannstedt is still riding the high of his first eight months on the job, time in which he has worked tirelessly to get commitments from several top recruits, mend the fences with local high school coaches, rebuild the relationship between the football program and the university’s students, faculty and alumni and generally enthuse Pittsburgh to the point we’re going to be in for a real downer if the Panthers don’t whip Notre Dame in that opening-night game Sept. 3 at Heinz Field.

Then, Williams’ name is mentioned.

A couple of things are clear immediately.

One, Wannstedt is glad he no longer has to deal with the Williams headache. And two, Wannstedt’s worst nightmare has nothing to do with the possibility of Pitt coming up short against Notre Dame.

Okay folks, it is time for some honesty about Ricky Williams. He handed Coach Wannstedt to Pitt. His “retirement” cleared the way.

Consider this. Suppose Williams didn’t retire just before training camp. He shows up, then gets the 4 game suspension. The Dolphin season is toast, but things definitely don’t result in Wanny resigning halfway through the season. Wannstedt was already on thin ice, but the suspension results in A) Wanny hanging on through the full season and/or B) Wanny given yet another year in Miami, because it wasn’t his fault that Williams was suspended.

If Wannstedt even makes it to the end of the season, Pitt has to hire someone else. Which could very well have meant talking about Head Coach Paul Rhoads. Or Pitt would have had to wait until sometime after he was fired in January.

Think about how well Wannstedt hit the ground on recruiting and salvaging the 2005 recruiting class. That wouldn’t have happened. At least 2-3 weeks would have been lost.

Nope, the cynical, selfish fact is we owe Ricky Williams for getting Wannstedt to Pitt.

In that respect, I have a hard time getting too interested in Ricky or condemning him.