We beat out Buffalo and Toledo..great.

Lets trust this sign. Not all players can four or five stars. Some have to develop into four and give stars fromt he coaching of Wanny and his staff. Wanny has went on record saying that only two progrma can prepare a kid for the pros as good as him- ND and USC.

Lets see if Wanny can back his word. He has already had two great recruiting classes and now he is ready to turn the corner on the football program this season for what should be a magical run in 08.

We need to trust and support Wanny and the program

Shut up. Enough losing, he must win 8 games this year.

He mus, what makes you say that?

He must, what makes you say that?

Kenny, I agree. Wanny is putting the pieces in place to fit his system and more importanly build depth. If we are going to compete on the higher level for years to come we must have depth at every position. This year will be very productive and pleasing records is favorable for pitt to finally get a bowl game. We need confidence. This season will be the confidence builder will need to make the run in 08 and beyond.

Please be patience. I graduate from pitt in 95- From 90–95 we had ZERO bowl games and started 3- of those 5 seasons 4or 5 and O and ranked in the country only to fall apart.

Wanny will bring it back but the fans/ alumni need to support the program

cdmoore
From 90–95 we had ZERO bowl games and started 3- of those 5 seasons 4 or 5 and O and ranked

In 5 of the 6 seasons between 90-95 Pitt maxed out at 3 wins.

1990 2-0 start, 3-7-1 finish
1991 5-0 start, 6-5 finish
1992 1-2 start, 3-9 finish
1993 1-6 start, 3-8 finish
1994 1-7 start, 3-8 finish
1995 2-0 start, 2-9 finish

Chris A- I did not know it was that bad- I must have had too many IC lights. Thanks for the corrections.

I went from 93-97 (april) not only bad records but never beat wvu. I like wanny, but I hear all the time about great recruitng classes and I just don’t see it. Maybe they need time, but now we’re going into year three. he Harris claimed to have gotten number recruit sin the state (piciotti, rutherford) but unless you win, like a salesman in sales, you have little to stand on..regardless of how likable you are.

If this doesn’t work out, and its safe to say that right now it doesn’t look that way, we as fans should be realistic about aptitude with football and cocentrate/emphasize hoops.

Again, I like wanny but am definetly tired of losing (yes, 6-6 ain’t cutting it).

Schoocher, yes this is year three – and some of DW’s 2005 recruits played and made good showings as young players. This year they will be better and his 2006 recruits can contribute more as well. Let’s not forget about the kids that redshirted and couldn’t play either – they are positioned to come in and contribute.

I know we have to see these recruits do it on the field to verify DW’s lofty rep as a recruiter – but look at the projected two deep across the board, and see if it isn’t more talented than any other time in recent history. Combine that with the fact that the two deep is younger as well and it sets the stage for some sustained good football.

Talent wise- What did we have the past two years? Nothing. Be honest, we had nothing to brag about on either side of the ball (except revis- palko lost his confidence too fast(imploded) and hayes was the high motor player) . If you went to pitt from 93-97 and i was there from 90-95 we both know how it feels to lose so you really cant be tired b/c i counted atleast 6 years of losing. Through our combine years Pitt has been down for a combine 6 years and now you are complaining about two years. Not fair. I want to win just as bad as the next person but I want to win without smoke and mirror ala wal. The fiesta bowl was a mirage- dont get excited about that season. Certain fans and LOTS of players actually thought they were BIG WILLIE in the locker room after that farce of a season. NO more fantasy. Please dont be impatient (you should be more upset at basketball than you are at football- basketball is at a plateau and will start a decline- We need a new coach and system) trust what Wanny is doing. Pitt is in the best place they have been since 1988-89. Glory will come but we have to wait and the players must work hard. You will be proud of the panther this year and the years to follow but stop rushing things. Every experts says that it takes 3- 4 years to build a team. It is year three now, which should be 8-4 or 7-5 and next year we are ready for that wonderful ride.

So, please cheer for the panther and dont undermine what is happen. To be honest 6-6 would cut it b/c all the pieces should fall in place. Plus, note we will have a first year qb bear with their growing pain.

Harris recruiting ability was less than desire- Rutherford was a product of Larry and Piciotti was a white running back who could only be as good Leonard from Rutgers.

Top flight teams are built on the backs of those big pretty boys (linemen prefer to be called pretty instead of Big Ugllies) on both side of the ball. We got them pretty boys and another pretty boys is annoucing shortly per kevin gorman that he is coming to PITT.

We are back- trust me.

The only this that counts is Wins and to date we haven’t had to many, so until we start having a winning season we are no better than the Pirates. And yes I want to see results, no more next year, next year is now….as business owner, I can’t stay in business because it might get better two years from now….so show me some results this year Dave or I’m calling for your head….I expect a minimum of 7 wins and a bowl game…anything less is pathetic.

kind of like my grammar…lol…

It seems a lot of people forget that rutgers was 1-11, 5-7, 4-7, and 7-5 before they went 11-2. I don’t see why so many are trying to run Wanny already because we haven’t made a BCS game yet. Give him some time. They didn’t run Schiano after 3 years. Lets see what he does in 07 and 08 first. Then commence bitching if it isn’t good enough. FCS, give the guy some time.

Gotta give until 2008, and probably at least 2010. If only because if Wannstedt doesn’t work out, the program may truly be at rock bottom. There may be fewer diehard believers left than when Back to the Future II failed. There will be no hope for a new stadium to spark interest, and coaching candidates will be even harder to come by than 97.

No matter what you believe, Wanny is our man and if he can’t do it, we are f’d. He is recruiting great, the wins will come. If you want him fired, who are you getting to replace him? Johnny Majors maybe? You replace him, then we stop getting recruits….it starts all over and we hope for 3-8 seasons. Pitt has pretty much sucked for 20 years, we can stand another year of sucking.

Sorry I meant to say nearly 30 years.

Amen, Stuart.

All this talk reminds me of the pirates, we suck now but we have a 3 year plan – “we will”. Well 15 years later we are still working on that 3 year plan. I just hope it works out better for the panthers. DW has proven himself as a great recruiter but still has a lot to prove on the field.

We live in a satisfaction/result now orientated society. This can be seen in some of the responses here. He** I was carping last year about the inability to put pressure on opposing QBs, stop the run, and running the ball.

You want success from two recruiting classes (this years excluded)? For a freakin team that was noted for the flim-flam, and mirrors/deflection that was the Walt Harris regime, there has to be change. It starts with a change in recruiting as opposed to a man who was a dreadful recruiter to say the least.

The first class of recruits was nominal due to Wanny getting a late start (hired on Dec. 23rd). Last years’ class, just as the incoming class, were/are freakin freshman. Please name me one NCAA Division 1A power that has a lot of true freshman playing?

I thought Wanny sucked in the NFL, BUT Pitt aint the NFL. You win in the NFL via the draft, good organization, coaching, and luck. I believe Wanny, while a decent coach in the NFL with relative success, tried to use what they did in the U to win a SB. The NFL aint college.

Now at Pitt, Wanny is attempting to do what he could not do in the NFL, that being win a championship. Of course it will take him time. Look at the football program he inherited. Nominal players, recruited by a nominal coach, playing for a nominal program.

What has been Rich R’s and Greg S’s records been at WVU & RU?

. 2001 West Virginia 3-8 1-6 7
2002 West Virginia 9-4 6-1 2 Continental Tire Bowl
Virginia
L, 22-48 25
2003 West Virginia 8-5 6-1 1-T Gator Bowl
Maryland
L, 7-41
2004 West Virginia 8-4 4-2 1-T Gator Bowl Florida State
L, 18-30
2005 West Virginia 11-1 7-0 1 Sugar Bowl †
Georgia
W, 38-35 5
2006 West Virginia 11-2 5-2 2-T Gator Bowl Georgia Tech
W, 38-35 10
At West Virginia: 50-24 29-12
Career: 95-60-2

2001 Rutgers 2-9 0-7 8
2002 Rutgers 1-11 0-7 8
2003 Rutgers 5-7 2-5 7
2004 Rutgers 4-7 1-5 6
2005 Rutgers 7-5 4-3 3 Insight Bowl
Arizona State
L 40-45
2006 Rutgers 11-2 5-2 3 Texas Bowl
Kansas State
W 37-10 12
At Rutgers: 30-41 12-29
Career: 30-41

It took RR 5 years to become a National power. He was .500 in his first 2 years. It took GS 5 years to have a wining record, and 6 to become a national power.

Wandstedt is 11-12 after 2 years, a 48% winning record. But I guarantee you that neither RR nor GS had the recruiting classes in their 2nd and 3rd years that Wanny has had. But in this era of instant gratification, Wanny is expected to do miracles with inherited inferior talent while at the same time laying a sound foundation via good recruits and a good system for them to flourish in.

Is he going to do it, is Pitt going to once again climb to the top of the Division 1A mountain? Only time will tell, but Wanny is to be given the benefit of the doubt, just as Howland/Dixon were given the benefit it in respect to the BB program.

Lets just wait and see what happens this year and next.

actually to say that Harris was a terrible recruiter is not quite accurate. First off he had an old run down stadium to deal with and a program that was virtually dead…not exactly the best conditions for recruiting. Now he was bad in the sense that I feel he gave up and didnt even try to compete with psu and certain regions. He also did not have good relationships with pittsburgh area hs coaches. However he did manage to nab some pretty good players – Antonio Bryant, Larry fitzgerald, Rod Rutherford, Palko, Ramon Walker, Hank Poteat, K Barlow, Shanwtae Spencer, Darelle Revis etc…. Harris’ first three years -97-99 no pitt players were drafted leading up to 2004 when 5 players were selected – showing that it was his recruiting that turned the corner. He may not have always got the blue chipper but he was able to recognize talent.

Did he ever have two classes in a row like our last 2 classes? Did he or his assistants do most of the recruiting? Was it because of the stadium and the stagnant prorgram that made him somewhat passive in the area of closing when it came to recruiting? What were those players you mentioned ranked with the national scouting services? What were Walt’s recruiting classes ranked?

Don’t forget that the only reason that we won most of those games under walt can be explained in two words…. Larry Fitzgerald. Whenever we got in trouble, throw the fade route to larry. It worked every time. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have made those bowls. We were overrated under Walt. Let’s enjoy the memory of the bowl wins and think positive about the future. DW needs our support. That means you too scoocher.

FCS give the guy a chance. The pirates have had 15 years of “chances.” There is no comparison. Bash the shit out of Wanny if in 6 or 7 years we suck ass still. But 3 years? Whats wrong with you people?