Thread: Wannstedt out as Pitt coach

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10341/1108955-142.stm

Wannstedt out as Pitt coach
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
By Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Keith Srakocic/Associated Press
Dave Wannstedt walks the sideline in Pitt's loss to West Virginia in November.


Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt has been fired, defensive line coach Greg Gattuso told the Post-Gazette today. Gattuso said the assistant coaches were informed this afternoon.
Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson could not be immediately reached for comment this afternoon, but he declined to comment through a university spokesman Monday night when he was asked a series of questions by the Post-Gazette about Wannstedt's future. Those questions included, "Will Dave be the coach next year?" and, "When will you meet with him, before the bowl game or after the bowl game?"
The Panthers are playing in the BBVA Compass Bowl on Jan. 8 , but it is not known yet who will coach the team in that game.
Early season losses and the loss to Connecticut, along with a string of players getting arrested and too many no shows at Heinz Field, put Wannstedt squarely on the hot seat. But the loss to West Virginia - putting a BCS bowl out of reach - was, according to one source, the final straw.
Pitt finished this season 7-5 (5-2 in the Big East) and even though it was the Panthers third winning season in a row and they shared the conference championship with Connecticut and West Virginia, they have yet to win the Big East championship outright and get to a BCS berth in six years under Wannstedt.



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