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PITTSBURGH -- The setting couldn't have been more Pittsburgh. Panthers coach and Burgh native Dave Wannstedt talking football at J.P.'s, a neighborhood eatery. A breakfast of coffee, eggs and home fries screams no frills and all calories.
"Six degrees ..." Wannstedt said to himself considering his program's impact on college football since Dec. 1.
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| Dave Wannstedt is looking for results after luring six of the top 11 players in the state to Pitt. (Getty Images) |
Consider the alternate universe that would have been created if the Panthers lost that night:
• Rich Rodriguez would still be at West Virginia. It's hard to envision Rodriguez leaving for anywhere with a title shot on the line.
• Les Miles, not Rodriguez, would be at Michigan. It's hard to envision Miles staying on for another Sugar Bowl (or Michigan allowing him).
• West Virginia would be in the national championship game.
• Considering the opponent (Ohio State) go ahead and assume the Mountaineers would be national champions, too.
• The world wouldn't know Bill Stewart from Jimmy Stewart.
• Lawyers in the state of West Virginia would all be a little poorer.
• Wannstedt might not be sitting in J.P.'s reveling in his third consecutive top 25 recruiting class.
"My brother-in-law works for Dick's Sporting Goods," Wanny said. "They have two (West Virginia) stores -- one in Huntington, one in Morgantown. They had all these national championship shirts and hats ..."
He didn't have to finish the sentence.
A 5-7 season for Pittsburgh probably was better than losing to the Mountaineers, finishing 7-5 and going to a minor bowl. It created momentum on the field. Things can't get much more heartbreaking for the Panthers who lost four games by a touchdown or less. There have been seven such results in Wannstedt's three seasons during which he is 16-19.
"As Mr. Rooney (Steelers icon Art Rooney) used to say, 'You can lose some games as a coach but you can never lose the team,'" Wannstedt said. "We were having heartbreaker after heartbreaker after heartbreaker. To finally win one from a player's standpoint finally made sense."
Off the field, Wannstedt always has been able to recruit. This year's class was the best in the Big East. Six of the top 11 players in the state came to Pittsburgh. The trick has been translating the talent to the win column.
Aliquippa receiver Jonathan Baldwin topped the class. Prep All-American Shayne Hale, a linebacker, and running back-receiver Cam Saddler attended the game. Wannstedt said the result turned them into Pittsburgh commits.
"In recruiting, it helped validate decisions for our players," he said. "It made the kids that committed to us feel better about their commitment to the program."
In what is looking like a wide open Big East, why not Pittsburgh? West Virginia has changed coaches. Louisville loses Brian Brohm. Ray Rice has left the building at Rutgers.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh tailback LeSean McCoy was a freshman All-American. Rising senior linebacker Scott McKillop led the NCAA in tackles and was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Thirty-five percent of the two-deep last season were freshmen or sophomores, which suggests more experience but the Panthers must deliver past Dec. 1.
"A little bit of the changing of the guard," Wanny said lingering over his eggs. "I hope that's true."
For the rest of Dennis Dodd's national recruiting notes, read his blog Dodds and Ends