| Dave Wannstedt | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Title | Head Coach | |
| College | Pittsburgh | |
| Sport | Football | |
| Conference | Big East | |
| Team record | 32–24 | |
| Born | May 21, 1952 | |
| Place of birth | Baldwin, Pennsylvania | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 33–24 (NCAA) 82–86–0 (NFL) |
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| Bowls | 0–1 | |
| Coaching stats | ||
| College Football DataWarehouse | ||
| Playing career | ||
| 1971–1973 1974 |
Pittsburgh Green Bay Packers |
|
| Position | Offensive tackle | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1975–1978 1979–1982 1983–1985 1986–1988 1989–1992 1993–1998 1999 2000–2004 2005– |
Pittsburgh (GA) Oklahoma State (DL) USC (DL) Miami (DC) Dallas Cowboys (DC) Chicago Bears Miami Dolphins (DC) Miami Dolphins Pittsburgh |
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Dave Wannstedt (born May 21, 1952 in Baldwin, Pennsylvania), is the current head coach of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team. Previously, Wannstedt was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins of the NFL from 2000 to 2004, and the Chicago Bears from 1993 to 1998. He also was a long-time assistant to Jimmy Johnson with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Hurricanes, and Oklahoma State Cowboys as well as an associate of Johnson when both were assistants at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1970s.
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Early years
Wannstedt was born in Baldwin, Pennsylvania and attended Baldwin High School. He earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh playing offensive tackle and blocking for future Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett. After a successful career with the Panthers, he was chosen in the 1974 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, but spent his only NFL season on the injured reserve list with a neck injury.
Coaching career
First college coaching career
In 1975, Pitt coach Johnny Majors hired him as a graduate assistant coach. He was on the staff when the Panthers won the 1976 NCAA Division I-A national football championship with a victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in the 1977 Sugar Bowl. In 1977, Jimmy Johnson joined the staff of the Pitt Panthers and the two would forge a long lasting personal and professional bond. When Johnson left to become the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1979, he invited Wannstedt to join his staff.
Wannstedt served as defensive line coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys for the 1979 and 1980 seasons and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1981, a spot he held for two seasons. He moved on to University of Southern California in 1983 to coach the Trojans and served as the defensive line coach for three years. In 1986, Wannstedt became defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes under friend and mentor Jimmy Johnson, where they won a national championship in 1987.
Dallas Cowboys
When Johnson was hired as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, Wannstedt joined Dallas' staff as defensive coordinator. The Cowboys defense was considered one of the best in the NFL under Wannstedt's leadership and he became a prime candidate to become an NFL head coach. When Chuck Noll retired as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in 1992, Wannstedt was one of the finalists for the job, but was ultimately edged out by Bill Cowher.
Chicago Bears
On January 19, 1993, he was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears replacing legendary coach Mike Ditka, another former Pitt Panther. Wannstedt's tenure at Chicago was tumultuous. He led the Bears to only one postseason appearance in his 6 years at Chicago and compiled a 41-57 record. After Wannstedt posted back-to-back 4–12 seasons, Bears owner Michael McCaskey fired Wannstedt on December 28, 1998, a day when five NFL head coaches – one sixth of the league – lost their jobs.
Miami Dolphins
In 1999, Wannstedt again joined coach Jimmy Johnson's staff—this time, as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach of the Miami Dolphins. When the then-56-year-old Johnson announced his retirement suddenly on January 16, 2000, Wannstedt was the obvious choice to replace him, and he was immediately named Johnson's successor.
The 2000 season went well for the Dolphins; they went 11–5 in the regular season, winning the AFC East Division Championship for the first time since 1994. Wannstedt, however, was highly criticized after a surprisingly bad, 27–0 loss in the second round of the playoffs to the Oakland Raiders. The week before, against the Indianapolis Colts, Wannstedt had run the ball with Lamar Smith forty times (an unorthodox number of carries for a single running back). The Dolphins won the game in overtime; but, Smith was rendered barely able to walk the next day and virtually useless for the Raiders game that followed.
The Dolphins went 11–5 again in 2001's regular season and again melted-down in the playoffs. They were again dominated, this time by the Baltimore Ravens, 20–3.
In 2002, arguably the most controversial season for Wannstedt, the Dolphins finished 9-7 but missed the playoffs despite their winning record. Before the 2002 season started, Wannstedt had traded two first-round draft picks to the New Orleans Saints for running back Ricky Williams. Through Week 15, the Dolphins seemed to be in prime position for a playoff spot at 9-5, needing only one more victory to clinch it. Then, the Dolphins blew an 11-point lead over the New England Patriots -- in the 4th quarter – and ended their season prematurely. Many believed that Wannstedt was simply out-coached by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Some Miami fans called for Wannstedt's resignation after this loss.
The Dolphins started the 2003 season by losing to the lowly Houston Texans expansion team, despite having been heavily favored to win. This game turned out to epitomize the team's 2003-2004 season: good talent; high expectations; and, under-achievement, due to self-destructive mistakes made at crucial times. The team ended-up 10–6, but still missed the playoffs. Again, public pressure mounted for Wannstedt to be fired, but he remained – even though team owner Wayne Huizenga had promised during the pre-season that he would fire Wannstedt if the team again missed the playoffs.
The 2004 season was a disaster from the beginning. Star running back Ricky Williams unexpectedly retired in the face of drug abuse charges, a possible long-term suspension for repeatedly failing NFL drug tests, and fear of being played more frequently than his body could bear. Another player, Randy McMichael, was arrested for domestic abuse, and newly-acquired receiver David Boston got injured during training camp – lost for the season. The offense under-produced, and the team only won one of its first nine games – the worst start in the NFL that season. Wannstedt became the focus of intensified criticism and pressure from fans and Huizenga. Wannstedt resigned as Dolphins head coach on November 9, 2004; the team finished that regular season with a 4-12 record.
Some people criticized Wannstedt for his off-the-field decisions regarding the Dolphins. Some critics charged that his offseason trade deals were under-researched and/or illogical (e.g., trading a 2nd-round draft choice to the Philadelphia Eagles to obtain third-string quarterback A.J. Feeley. As projected by most of the media and fans, Feeley was a disappointment in Miami. That same year, due to Ricky Williams' abrupt retirement, Wannstedt hastily traded a 3rd-round draft choice for running back Lamar Gordon (who went on to only play three games for them before being injured and lost for the season). Wannstedt also had a series of very poor draft picks, including 2001 1st-round pick Jamar Fletcher, and 2003 2nd-round pick Eddie Moore. He worked as an NFL on Fox game analyst, while looking for another NFL coaching job after resigning from the Dolphins (after a 1-8 start).
Eventually, he agreed to return home to fill the head coach vacancy at his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh.
University of Pittsburgh
When University of Pittsburgh head coach Walt Harris announced that he was leaving Pitt to become head coach at Stanford, Wannstedt, a Pittsburgh native and Pitt graduate with NFL experience and a proven college recruiting record, immediately became a leading candidate to replace him. Wannstedt was initially interested in the job but pulled back over salary issues and concerns about his ability to keep a quality staff. After working out several issues with the Pitt athletic department including pay raises for assistant coaches, Wannstedt agreed to Pitt's offer and was named head coach on December 23, 2004.
Wannstedt said that recruiting would be a top priority under his leadership. Harris had been roundly criticized during his tenure for not recruiting top high school talent, especially in the crucial and talent-laden western Pennsylvania area. Wannstedt retained some of Harris' staff including Paul Rhoads, the defensive coordinator, but made several key changes including bringing in former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh (Wannstedt's college teammate at Pitt) to run his offense. Both men had interviewed for the head coach position.
Wannstedt's tenure at Pittsburgh has been a steady progression of on field success and recruiting strength. Pitt, which won the Big East Championship and played in the Fiesta Bowl the previous year under Harris, was ranked 21 in the first AP Poll of 2005. However, defeats by Notre Dame and Ohio University; and a last second loss (by a score of 7-6) to Nebraska turned the season into an up-hill struggle. Pittsburgh finished the season at 5-6.
Wannstedt's recruiting prowess led Scout.com analysts to rate the Panthers' class of 2006 the eleventh best in the country. Wannstedt followed his touted 2006 class by bringing in the #8 recruiting class as ranked by Scout in 2007. The class includes blue-chip players such as RB LeSean McCoy, QB Pat Bostick, and OG Chris Jacobson. On December 1, 2007, just days before an upset win at West Virginia, Wannstedt was given a contract extension through 2012;[1] he had previously been signed through 2009. The 13-9 upset win in the annual Backyard Brawl denied the Mountaineers a chance to play in the BCS National Championship Game and was the start of a turnaround that subsequently lifted Coach Wannstedt and the Panthers to a 9-4 season in 2008.
The Panthers started the 2008 season ranked in the top 25 for the first time under Wannstedt's leadership (although the Panthers were ranked #25 in the pre-season before Wannstedt's first game in 2005). Starting 0-1, Pitt soon defeated Buffalo and then beat Iowa with a 21–20 victory. On Thursday, October 2, 2008, the Panthers scored an upset win over the then-ranked and undefeated #10 University of South Florida in a game nationally televised by ESPN. Then on Saturday, October 18, 2008, the Panthers easily defeated Navy. Upset by Rutgers, however, Pitt rebounded with a 36-33 overtime victory the following week at Notre Dame. The game, which lasted four overtime periods, was the longest game ever for both Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. After a 41–7 rout of visiting Louisville, the Panthers improved to 7–2 and were bowl-bound for the first time under Wannstedt.
A loss to eventual Big East champion Cincinnati Bearcats eliminated the Panthers from BCS contention. However, Coach Wannstedt stayed upbeat, and worked with defensive coordinator Phil Bennett to devise a gameplan to defeat West Virginia for the 2nd time in four years in the annual Backyard Brawl. Pitt defeated West Virginia 19-15 on the day after Thanksgiving in a national telecast on ABC. The following week the Panthers won at UConn to improve to 9-3 on the season and clinch a bid to the Sun Bowl. Dave Wannstedt improved his record at Pitt to 25-22.
On December 31, 2008 Pittsburgh was defeated in the Sun Bowl by Oregon State 3-0 in a defensive struggle. The Oregon State team that defeated USC in 2008 had remarkably shut out the Pitt Panthers for only the first time in twelve years.
In 2009, Wannstedt led Pitt to a 3-0 start before losing on the road to North Carolina State in the fourth quarter. Wannstedt's Panthers then won their next 5 games, raising Pitt's record to 8-1 so far on the season, their best mark since the Dan Marino led team in 1982. Pitt is currently tied with Cincinnati for first place in the Big East Football Conference at 5-0.
On November 14, 2009, Wannstedt and his Pitt Panthers will host Charlie Weis and his Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh in a nationally televised game. Wannstedt and Weis made their college head coaching debuts against each other in the 2005 season opener at Heinz, a 42-21 Notre Dame victory.
NCAA head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Panthers (Big East Conference) (2005–Present) | |||||||||
| 2005 | Pittsburgh | 5-6 | 4-3 | T-3rd | |||||
| 2006 | Pittsburgh | 6-6 | 2-5 | 6th | |||||
| 2007 | Pittsburgh | 5-7 | 3-4 | T-3rd | |||||
| 2008 | Pittsburgh | 9-4 | 5-2 | T-2nd | L Sun Bowl | ||||
| 2009 | Pittsburgh | 8-1 | 5-0 | 9 | 8 | ||||
| Total: | 33-24 | ||||||||
| National Championship Conference Title Conference Division Title | |||||||||
| †Indicates BCS bowl game. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. | |||||||||
References
- ^ Pitt Football Coach Wannstedt Gets 3-Year Extension, bloomberg.com, accessed 2007-12-02
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bill Trout |
Miami Hurricanes Defensive Coordinator 1986–1988 |
Succeeded by Sonny Lubick |
| Preceded by Mike Ditka |
Chicago Bears Head Coach 1993–1998 |
Succeeded by Dick Jauron |
| Preceded by Jimmy Johnson |
Miami Dolphins Head Coach 2000–2004 |
Succeeded by Jim Bates |
| Preceded by Jimmy Johnson |
Miami Dolphins General Manager 2000–2004 |
Succeeded by Rick Spielman |
| Preceded by Walt Harris |
University of Pittsburgh Football Coach 2005–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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