The off-the-field issues were certainly bad, but at the time nobody, even DW’s detractors including your boss, were calling for his firing because what was happening off the field.

Nordy was a fine Chancellor, he just didn’t believe that athletics were as important as the academics … who can really argue that when looking at it at face value.

His one regret upon stepping down, however, was the football program. I think even he realized at the end that all the academic accolades in the world don’t get the University the same attention as the athletics do. Had he invested more into that side of the house, his accomplishments academically would even be more renowned.

Regarding Wanny – for the sake of time I glossed over a lot. Wanny created some of his own problems but he didn’t fit the mold that SP could manage. Wanny and Graham needed control of their program to make it work. SP was never going to cede that type of power to them. It wasn’t in his nature as an administrator. Wanny made it easy for them in the end but his lashing out was a direct result of the interference he was receiving from the administration.

Having said that, I fell in the camp that couldn’t wait for him to go. Wanny peaked the season before – that was his bar and I doubt he ever would have exceeded it. Pitt would have been better than .500 the last few years but I also doubt they would have broken the streak of consecutive seasons with 3 losses either.

My main point though, is that throughout college football history when the University goes all in on Pitt football it is as successful a program as there is in the sport.

Right now we have an administration going all in … it’s a great time to be a Pitt football fan. I think we’re on the cusps of a great run.

If you mean no one wanted him gone in ’09 I think you probably are correct… with the exception of SP :). But the handwriting was on the wall as soon as the ’10 season started in Utah and Sheard was on the field.

Now, an interesting question is if we would have started 2010 against the Little Sisters of the Poor and DW didn’t play depth chart justice with Sheard and actually suspended him for that game… would DW still be the HC in ’11 and beyond?

Personally I don’t think so but who really knows? Maybe if he won the BE and won the BCS bowl but again, my belief from what I heard was that he was out the door for a multitude of reasons.

I do know that once DW made the decision to play Shead he reached the point of no return for the Administration.

Tossing – I have to agree that all the stars are aligned for PITT to have a solid time at the top of the success sine curve with all the changes and with what we have been seeing so far from the three principals who administer and run the football program.

My contrarianism in some of my articles aside, I too think that PITT has made all the right moves to allow success to happen. When I say I have to see it to believe it I mean actual winning of football games. But we have seen concrete actions by PITT personnel such as the chancellor firing SP (quick, bold move and needed) and Barnes & Narduzzi being super proactive in reaching out to garner emotional and financial support from the fans. That is reaching out to get “buy-in” in a very strong way.

Two items in particular are the barnstorming tour Narduzzi went on and the Soon to be formed fans gameday experience committee. I am impressed that those three things all happened immediately and is putting the program on the right track essentially before the fall camp even started.

Do I think it turns around in one year? Not really, although if Narduzzi wins eight games this season, more than either Graham or Chryst could manage, then that is a great start toward an exciting future and I’ll be sold on the new staff. With a few breaks I think that could happen, but a winning season in Narduzzi’s first year as a HC would be just fine also.

And because I am who I am I ‘m also concerned that PITT keep what they were doing with recruiting and minimizing the off-field incidents. It is a great thing to do but without the accompanying on-field success it gets minimized by most fans.

So I want the 360 degrees of PITT athletics, mostly football, to be strong and successful and not take shortcuts or drop standards for an extra win or two.

As long as the off the field stuff is contained to what “typical” college kids get in trouble for – i’m not going to sweat it. Throwing people through windows, grand larceny, etc. are a little different.

If Boyd’s BAC was more than .08 – suspend him as long as you want. If it’s close to .08, probably a game. If it’s not close, slap on the wrist. Sometimes you have to let common sense prevail and the reality of the situation is he’s almost 21, told the truth and cooperated with the police. The embarrassment of the national headline is enough. A few months wasn’t going to make him a more responsible driver. REPEAT – this is if he’s not close to the .08 BAC.

But I agree with you that we’ll have those stars – I just think Narduzzi and his defensive coordinator and position coaches are going to be 100% better at getting the most out of the defensive player’s abilities than Chryst & Co. were.

And BTW … about a month after Sheard did the dirty deed, he was voted as captain by the team. He was an exemplary person who threw an instigator thru a glass door against the pleadings of 2 policemen, yet still didn’t spend a night got off with a summary fine. Pay the damages; no jail time .. you figure it out.

I have as far less contact with employees at PITT then many fans and alumni do. Aside from offering me and Chas that media pass years ago and an email here and there answering a question I might have about the program in general there are no dealings with PITT on my part.

Aside from some general conversations no one who works at PITT has commented on of tried to suggest that I write anything one way or another. No communication like “Nice article” or “good points” or anything like that at all.

All this are my own knowledge, thoughts and opinions. If you disagree with them you are disagreeing with me – not with PITT. Believe me I’ve written a lot of stuff on here that the guys at PITT have not liked all that much.

Oh – I did get a question for a PITT employee at the meet and greet and it was “Not real sure of Narduzzi as a head coach Reed?” That kind of thing is about it. I have a pleasant and small personal relationship with Borghetti and Bostick but our conversations are much more likely about family and stuff like that and maybe then the team in general terms.

That’s it. I can however write whatever I want because as we have said on here before I’m not bound by any journalistic rules other than common courtesy and being honest.

You don’t like what I write then disagree wit info and opinions of your own, you do that well and often enough but don’t allude to me being something I’m not.

As always I appreciate your take on events. When Pitt was pursuing its Ivy League dream the school was broke & about to go state related. With the chancellor was hobknobing with the 1% he was busy paying no attention to the football team playing UCLA, Oklahoma, Notre Same.

It’s the history of Pitt football that is so intriguing. And why so many Pitt fans are skeptical.

We are anti-DW because he was a polarizing figure and we just by coincidence fall onto the side that was glad to see him go.