With South Bend, not a long drive to Chicago. To say nothing of all the ND alum and pretend alum in Chicagoland, the Irish get a lot of play there. Now with Pitt visiting, it’s time to recall the Dave Wannstedt era.

The pieces were in place, Dave Wannstedt insists to this day.

Wannstedt made his oft-repeated and frequently mocked proclamation before the 1996 season, his fourth with the Bears.

“I believed in that with all my heart,” Wannstedt said Monday. “And I would have said it again.

“We had Bryan Cox and Curtis Conway, and Erik Kramer had just set a bunch of Bears record. Rashaan Salaam was coming off a nice rookie year. And I really felt like the pieces were in place. And they were – for three weeks. And then Erik broke his neck, and obviously you can’t win without a quarterback.”
…
“I’ve always believed,” Wannstedt said, “that whether it’s at Pitt or the Bears or the Dolphins, for every coach there’s a window that opens up. It might be the first year. It might be the third year, the fourth year. The stars either align and things fall right or they don’t and the window closes.”

No, he doesn’t say what happens after that.

Actually the stories, are not much on rehashing his Chicago time, though Chris Zorich is still pissed at Wannstedt for cutting him from his hometown team.

“The wins and losses aren’t where anybody would like them to be,” said former NFL offensive lineman Bill Fralic, a three-time All-American at Pitt. ”Dave is building a program, and good things are happening that the administration and fans really like. This is the year he’s got to go to a bowl game to sustain the other things that are going on. It needs to happen.”

Although South Bend, Ind., is 75 miles from Chicago, and although it has been nine years since the Bears fired Wannstedt, bitter feelings remain. Former Notre Dame All-American and Bears defensive tackle Chris Zorich said the way Wannstedt treated him and other Bears players makes him root against his former coach.

”I’m extremely surprised that he landed a college job with his reputation,” Zorich said. ”The majority of players who I know who played under Wannstedt were not fans. Obviously, I’m not a fan. I’m surprised at the success he has had at Pitt.”

How do you really feel. I’m thinking that Charlie Weis is going to let Chris Zorich fire up the Irish before the game on Saturday. Bitterness and bile are a fun brew.

From the day both Wannstedt and Weis were hired and slated to face each other in their opening games, there has been a built in storyline. And this season keeps it coming.

The pieces were in place, you might say.

Final score: Rutgers 54, Pitt 34. Ouch.

Now the former Bears coach has to pick up those pieces, put them back together and bring them to South Bend. Notre Dame awaits Saturday.

It’s an intriguing matchup of teams and coaches with remarkable similarities. Both teams are 5-2 and unranked in the AP poll but receiving votes.

Wannstedt and Charlie Weis are each in Year 4. You could make a case that both programs have turned a corner. Or you could argue that neither has accomplished anything significant, other than luring promising recruiting classes.

Weis hasn’t won a bowl game, and Wannstedt hasn’t coached in one.

Wannstedt and Weis patrolled opposite sidelines in their first game as college head coaches. The date was Sept. 3, 2005. It was a night game at Heinz Field.

“It was a big, hyped game and I thought the intensity was in the wrong place,” Wannstedt recalled. “About half the articles were about how I came from the Dolphins and Charlie was with the Patriots.

“It was a little embarrassing, to be honest. We were just trying to get this thing going and play the game.”

Notre Dame won big, 42-21, piling up 502 yards.

“It’s funny. The two guys starting for us at defensive tackle – Rashaad Duncan and Gus Mustakas – were starting as true freshmen,” Wannstedt said. “I remember thinking: ‘Gus isn’t even old enough to vote yet.’ “

It’s been a slow transition to being a college coach, hasn’t it?