Smizik: Wannstedt's assignment is not as daunting

[bullwark]

By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The No. 1 football team in town is in the process of preparing for a season rich with promise, which means the eyes of the region's sports fans are riveted on St. Vincent College in Latrobe. Of course, if the Steelers were in the process of preparing for a season that loomed disastrous, the eyes of the region's sports fans still would be transfixed on St. Vincent.

The Steelers are No. 1 and 1A when it comes to football in this town.

Over on the South Side, No. 2, with a new coach in charge, is gearing up for a season that begins with practice next week. This season might not hold the same rich promise but has the kind of feel about it that -- if we could look back in time -- the Steelers had in 1992 when another new coach was taking over.

Who knew a new era was evolving when unknown Bill Cowher, never a head coach, replaced the legend, Chuck Noll? Despite succeeding a man who won four Super Bowls, Cowher, early on, put his special stamp on the Steelers.

It shouldn't take Dave Wannstedt that long with the Pitt Panthers. His gregarious personality already is putting a new face on the program and is in sharp contrast to his predecessor, the very private Walt Harris.

Wannstedt will have to win some games before putting a memorable stamp on his era, but the possibility of that happening is large. He brings with him a thick resume, which includes being a top aide to Jimmy Johnson on a national championship team at Miami and a Super Bowl winner at Dallas. He was good enough to secure two NFL head coaching jobs.

He's a rare breed among new Pittsburgh football coaches: a proven commodity. Not since Johnny Majors, one of the nation's hot college coaches, arrived at Pitt in 1973 has there been a new football coach in town with Wannstedt's credentials.

But already two misconceptions are out there about Wannstedt.

He is so bent on building a recruiting wall around Western Pennsylvania that he's taking any warm body in the five-county area who'll accept a Pitt scholarship.

He faces a massive challenge in overhauling the Pitt program.

Concerning the first issue, the misconception is somewhat understandable. When the commitments of Seneca Valley quarterback Kevan Smith and Kennedy Catholic lineman Eric Rodemoyer were revealed about five weeks ago, followers of recruiting were taken aback. Smith had been courted by Central Michigan and Toledo and Rodemoyer by Akron.

It brought to mind the Paul Hackett era, when Pitt was regularly winning recruiting contests against William & Mary and Ohio University. So it's understandable people would suspect that Wannstedt had gone too far to build that mythical fence around Western Pennsylvania.

But just step back for a second and consider this: Why would Wannstedt take on players who weren't fit to play at Pitt? There is no reason whatsoever.

Wannstedt knows football players. He was an assistant at Pitt in the late 1970s when, year after year, some of the best football players in the country were signing on with Majors and Jackie Sherrill. He was an assistant at Miami, where the recruiting fields are so fertile that teams getting the third layer of leftovers still have quality players.

Wannstedt is not taking players to fill up his roster. He's taking players who can win a title.

"You don't ever sign players or draft players or recruit players unless you see them on film," Wannstedt said. "You don't ever get caught up on recruiting services or draft magazines.

"If anybody says, 'This guy is a good player,' my response is show me it on the film. I don't want it third hand, I want to see it."

In the case of Smith, who played only two games as a junior last season because of injury, Wannstedt saw him at the Pitt football camp and liked what he saw.

Not that there's anything wrong with recruiting a quarterback in which Toledo has interest. Seton-LaSalle's Bruce Gradkowski is proof of that.

Somehow, mostly because his superiors were eager to see him go, Harris was perceived as a failure at Pitt. He is viewed as a coach who left behind a struggling program. Consequently, Wannstedt is regarded by some as a savior.

Pitt doesn't need a savior. Pitt has a strong program. Harris was not a failure. He was a success. Pitt won 25 games in Harris' final three seasons. It hadn't done that well since winning 26 from 1981-83, in Sherrill's final season and Foge Fazio's first two.

The cupboard is not bare for Wannstedt. It's close to being full. He has one of the best quarterbacks in college football in Tyler Palko and a strong defense. He also has a schedule -- as did Harris -- with enough built-in victories to virtually ensure a winning season and a bowl trip. He's in a conference that is the weakest with an affiliation to the Bowl Championship Series.

The Pitt program is in good shape and in position to expand on that.

This is Wannstedt's challenge. It's one he's primed to handle.

[bulls96go]

can he win with out a head coach to answer to?

he could not do it in the nfl so the question is legit!