Shout out from Stewart Mandel on SI.Com
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 1:58 pm
and we take out another Coach:
Wannstedt out as Pittsburgh coach
Dave Wannstedt is stepping down under pressure from AD Steve Pederson
The respected coach is expected to stay with Pitt in a non-coaching capacity
Wannstedt finished 7-5 this season and never led the Panthers to a BCS bow
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Dave Wannstedt is out as Pitt football coach following a disappointing season in which the Panthers were big favorites to win a weak Big East Conference, only to finish 7-5 and qualify for a minor bowl.
Pitt called a 5:30 p.m. EST news conference to announce that the former Bears and Dolphins coach was stepping down, under pressure from athletic director Steve Pederson. Wannstedt, highly respected by Pitt's administration, is expected to stay with the school in a non-coaching position.
Pitt apparently chose to change coaches now, rather than after the Jan. 8 Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., because most top candidates would have been hired by then. Also, the national letter-of-intent signing day would be less than a month away.
Wannstedt's tenure was marked by upset losses to teams such as Ohio University and Bowling Green and a failure to play in a BCS bowl - something the Panthers did under lame-duck coach Walt Harris before Wannstedt took over in 2005. Wannstedt went 42-31 in six seasons.
