I don’t say this lightly. There is just so much in this Q&A interview with Tom Dienhart that everyone will take as a key item or focus point. About this season. About Cignetti. About when he came in. The practice facility with the Steelers. About old unis. Playing Penn State.
Here.
Q: Can you bring back the mustard yellow uniforms?
A: “We wore the old traditional uniforms a couple of years ago. You don’t have to twist my arm. Those are the colors I wore. They always will be special in my heart. Times change. I never have been one who gets too caught up in uniform colors. That’s a decision the higher-ups can deal with. I have more important things to deal with. They talked about when we play West Virginia, with both teams wearing throwback uniforms, but I don’t know if that will happen or not. I would favor that.”
Q: Do you want to play Penn State every year?
A: “We need to be playing Penn State. I was on the job about a month and I talked to Coach Paterno about it. It probably won’t happen until he retires and I understand that. It’s his prerogative. But it’ll happen. Maybe I won’t even be here, either [when it happens]. We should play each other. It’s a great, great national in-state rivalry. We should be playing each other. There is no question about that. There probably isn’t anyone who would disagree with that.”
As I said, go read all of it.
Or maybe, “over my dead body.”
Personally, I was really impressed with how DW handled the transition from the Harris-era (i.e. not cleaning house like RichRod did in Mich). These kids made a commitment to Pitt and Pitt (rightfully) honored its commitment to them. I think this high character really comes across to recruits – many of whom I have read on pay sites using words like “honesty,” “family,” “integrity.”
I was very surprised how blunt DW was about talking to Joesph Vincent Paterno (don’t call him “JoePa,” it only adds to the illusion of grandeur). Quite a shot across the bow of the U.S.S. Nittanty.
The possibility of script unis at the WVU game? Thank god I bought my tickets in advance. All joking aside, if they were going to this, the home game against ND would be the time to do it. Home crowd, old school teams, Dorsett flashbacks, etc. I really doubt this will happen as the athletic dept. knows it’ll make the fans go absolutely crazy demanding the script back full time, not to mention that Nike would have to design and produce these in the span of a few weeks.
With that being said, let’s take care of business Saturday!
No matter how this year end I cheer for my panthers every week.
I am glad we dont have a douche like Urban Meyer. Win or lose DW outclasses him on his worst day.
All he had to do was mention an on-campus stadium and it would’ve been a Pitt-message board frequenters wet dream!
Phil Knight is actually an Oregon grad, he donates big dollars to the university.
Who the hell is Anthony Gildon?
I have been in charge of company turh arounds and most do not have one tenth the compassion that Wanny showed the Harris players. My deepest hope is that we get to clean State Penn’s clock in a bowl game this year. Much like Clubber Lang screaming at Rocky..you been duck’en me chump!
While Anthony Gildon may be a good player for someone, and is dearly loved by his mother … he is Fredo here.
Will all these nice Wanny comments be remembered a month from now if we go 2 and 2? The fact is he is subject to criticsm just like any other coach … I just always objected to the unwarranted “ridicule” He clearly isn’t incompetent.
Check this out from Brian Bennett, BU ESPN blog:
We have another clue in the Mike Williams mystery.
The Syracuse Post-Standard is reporting that Williams, Antwon Bailey, Andrew Tiller and Torrey Ball were all involved in a car accident early Sunday morning. Williams quit the team Monday morning, and Syracuse coach Doug Marrone announced today that Bailey, Tiller and Ball were suspended for this week’s game at Pitt for undisclosed team violations.
According to the report, Tiller was driving an SUV that was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer at 5:30 a.m. Sunday in Lenox, N.Y., which is about 30 miles east of Syracuse. Tiller was taken to the hospital, but no one else was hurt.
Police also said the driver of the tractor-trailer was entirely at fault, and no alcohol was involved.
——-
While there may be no excuse for being out so late, still it was a Sunday morning and no alcohol involved. My guess is that Coach Marrone, which now has very little hope for a bowl game, believes it is necessary to set a very stringent precedent. Maybe a very good move for the long term.
Just keep winning and we will keep dreaming. That’s what sports is all about. He has a chance to do something special this season and it’s haunting him. It must be scary to have something so good be so close but have fields to cross before you can hold it.
I hope he goes 11-1, beats the crap out of JoePa in Tempe on New Years Day and celebrates with a big fish sandwich. GO PITT
As reported on the Doug Gotlieb Show.
The kid jumped through hoops to get back and was punished and made an emotional decision.
As for the Wannstedt interview… top notch.
“When I came in, I knew I wanted to change the culture to my philosophy and my way of doing things. But these were Pitt guys and I’m a Pitt guy. You didn’t see a bunch of guys getting run out of here. Everybody finished, and everybody who was willing to stay the course, I kept them around. And it wasn’t the best thing for our team. We probably should have played a lot more younger players. But I just felt that I owed these kids that and I chose to do it that way. “
Enough with the business side of this issue. There’s plenty of reason behind State Penn’s incentive to powder puff their way to a fatter wallet and a padded schedule, but eventually that lack of pride will catch up with them.
I know I focused on the State Penn thing, but it was a great interview overall. Take notes Smizik, Cook, etc. Not every article has to be a nauseatingly redundant piece on the booing of a qb.
HTscriptP
Thanks, Chas. Excellent article.
thanks for the link Chas…a good quick read.