That seems to be a strong theme. Even when they aren’t in the story directly. Vindication. Redemption. Anything else you want to call it.

Go figure, since Frank Cignetti’s father was a WVU assistant then had to follow Bobby Bowden when he went to FSU, there might be a little interest in his success.

Also at the time Cignetti was raising a couple of sons, one of whom was Frank Cignetti Jr., who spent 12 years in the town.

“There are a lot of great memories,” Cignetti Jr. said. “I played Little League baseball there, played football, had a lot of friends.”

But it was only a temporary stop, for at heart Cignetti Jr. wasn’t really a Mountaineer.

“Make no mistake, we’re Pittsburgh Panther fans,” he said. “Look at the biographies of my family. My dad was born in western Pennsylvania, his first job was at the University of Pittsburgh for Dan Hart. It just so happened that Dad got a tremendous opportunity to go be Bobby Bowden’s offensive coordinator at West Virginia.”

“Oh, I’ve been a West Virginia fan since I coached there,” Frank Sr. said from his home in Indiana, Pa., where at 72 he is finally able to enjoy retirement. “I watch them when they are on television. I’ve followed them through Coach Nehlen and Rich Rodriguez and now Bill Stewart.”

But it changed when his son home came to Pitt.

But make no mistake, the story emphasizes how Cignetti and Wannstedt have the same offensive philosophies and what they want to do. It’s just that Cignetti is doing things that, you know, use the talent.

“We want to go from good to great,” Cignetti said. “Our players are hungry to get better. It’s fun to see guys feel good about themselves, and it has really been satisfying to see our offensive personnel build confidence through success. There’s a belief that whenever they step onto the field they can put the ball in the end zone.

“It’s our job to put them in a position to be successful. We’ve been able to put Dorin in different positions where he can have some success. (Tight end) Nate Byham and (flanker) Oderick Turner have put the team goals ahead of individual goals, and those guys have provided solid leadership all season.”

Cignetti plays humble quite well. Deflecting credit to the players and even going so far as to say Matt Cavanaugh very well could have had similar success this year as the OC (riiiigggghhhht). But again, it comes back to the players who succeeded after nothing working right for some time. Hence the feature on Dickerson and Stull.

The two have been doing it ever since. Stull has thrown for 18 touchdowns with just four interceptions. Dickerson has 43 catches for 496 yards and those 10 touchdowns.

“I knew I could play here,” Dickerson said. “Not just play, but be a playmaker.”

“All Dorin needed was a chance,” Stull said.

“The biggest turning point in my life came when Coach Cignetti came here,” Dickerson said.

“Dorin’s ability really fit what Coach Cignetti wanted to do,” Stull said. “He’s a freak. He’s 6-2, 235, runs a 4.34 and can jump over 40 inches. There’s just no way a linebacker can cover him.”

Stull laughed as only a quarterback who loves to see such mismatches can.

“It’s stealing,” he said. “That’s what Coach Cignetti calls it. He says we all should go to jail because we’re stealing touchdowns.”

Here’s another piece on Stull succeeding and beating back the critics, while admitting the change in OC’s worried him.

“It was tough for me. Having a system for four years, and knowing it like it was the back of my hand, it was tough. There was some doubt whether I was going to be able to pick it up and feel comfortable with it,” he said.

He knew the system, but did not exactly thrive in it. That was the problem.

As for Coach Wannstedt, he’s in his own redemption and vindication storyline. He’s in a good place winning and succeeding at his alma mater. The success now, comes in no small part to the administration sticking with him.

“Our chancellor stepped up,” Wannstedt said. “I had had two or three years. We talked about the direction of the program. I said, if we were to go forward this or that must happen. He stepped up, made a commitment and extended our program.”

That was a few days before Pitt was to play at West Virginia in 2007, a few days before the upset of the century.

Things took hold from there, and the patience paid off.

Now it’s understandable why people would question Wannstedt at the beginning. College football was going in one direction; he was going in another. The game had evolved into Madden football, spread offenses, speed everywhere, bubble screens, zone blocking.

That wasn’t, however, what Wannstedt believed in.

He liked the pro-set offense, quarterback under center, a fullback, a tight end. He liked to run and run, then throw when he had teams looking for the run.

“We’ll probably be one of the dinosaurs left that are lining up with the fullback and a tailback and trying to pound people and play-action pass,” Wannstedt said. “In all the Super Bowls and national championships that I’ve been associated with, that’s what we did. Football goes in cycles. But you have to do what you believe in and what you understand.”

I won’t pretend I was not one of those who questioned the extension. I was not arguing for his firing, but an extension at that point in year 3 seemed ridiculous. The extension seemed more that the school and particularly the money and powers in the University just like Coach Wannstedt a lot and were satisfied with the fundraising and being able to get along with the coach. Happily, I was wrong.

Of course, down in Morgantown, there’s more than a little pressure on Coach Stewart. So, he looks rather wistfully at what Pitt did. Especially the patience.

“This is five years in the works,” Stewart said. “It is five years of getting better each year and adding to the repertoire.”

Stewart has also spoken in recent weeks about how the Pitt fan base showed patience with Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt, even as Wannstedt went through his first season with five wins, his second with six and third with five

In Stewart’s opinion, that patience has been paramount to Pitt gaining national prominence, and so, too, is a maturation of a roster that Wannstedt recruited and then cultivated.

Nothing self-serving there. Except that Stewart wasn’t radically changing the system being run — on either side of the ball.