DAVE WANNESTEDT RESIGNS

I had another Rant in mind for today, but due to the Wannestedt Era ending at Pitt, this takes priority.

First let me say that yes, I am glad that the University of Pittsburgh will no longer be coached by Dave Wannestedt. However, let me quickly follow that up by pointing out that Dave Wannestedt has been a great ambassador for the Pitt program over the last 6 years. Unfortunately, that does not get you very far though if you do not win games too.

I did not think that the university had enough guts to ask Wannestedt for his resignation. I am thrilled at how this worked out, for both parties. Coach Wannestedt has never been anything but a class act while at Pitt and representing the Panthers. That is why I was glad to see that Pitt offered Wanny a cushy job in the athletic department if he resigned as head coach. As much as Wanny wanted to win at Pitt, the last thing he would want to do is hurt the program by staying when a changed needed to be made. The school decided it was time and gave Wannestedt a chance to go out with his pride still intact, and he did.

As of right now, I would give the university an “A” for how they have handled things so far, but that is only half of it. Now the school needs to go out and find a guy that will win at Pitt. No more NFL guys. No more Pitt guys. Just go find a winner. So far they have handled this process flawlessly, but they need to finish. It is easy to get rid of a coach, the tough part is replacing him with someone better. This is the university’s new challenge.

Check back later in the week for a rundown of my wish list of Pitt coaches.