Wannstedt off to fast start at Pitt
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Shortly after hiring his first Pitt staff, coach Dave Wannstedt assembled his assistants, pulled out a map and drew a circle extending for a five-hour driving radius from the Panthers’ campus. The only gerrymandering was a tiny extension into south Florida, one of the nation’s top recruiting territories and an area where Wannstedt has significant name-recognition value as the former Miami Dolphins coach.
“This is the only area we need to recruit,” Wannstedt effectively told his coaches, highlighting a swath of player-rich turf extending from suburban Pittsburgh into Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, Maryland and Virginia, New York and New Jersey. “You can win a national championship by recruiting here.”
Wannstedt was speaking from experience: It is the very same patch of ground that produced nearly all the players from Pitt’s last national title team in 1976, including Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett – and, yes, a Pittsburgh born-and-bred offensive lineman named Dave Wannstedt.
Now, slightly more than six months since former Pitt coach Walt Harris was pushed out the door despite five consecutive bowl game appearances, Wannstedt is keeping his promise to reinstate Pitt’s one-time recruiting dominance in its backyard.
With the national letter of intent signing day still seven months away, the Panthers already have 12 verbal commitments from high school players – including 10 of Pennsylvania’s top 46 players, according to Rivals.com, which tracks football recruiting nationwide.
Among Pitt’s recruits are Dorin Dickerson, a wide receiver-running-back-linebacker from West Allegheny High in suburban Pittsburgh and one of the nation’s top 100 players, and 275-pound defensive lineman Jason Pinkston from Wannstedt’s alma mater, Baldwin High.
“Pitt was never a great recruiting team under Walt Harris, but still went to a BCS bowl (last season’s Fiesta Bowl), so it’s not like he was unsuccessful,” recruiting analyst Bobby Burton of Rivals.com said. “But Dickerson and Pinkston, they are a couple of the most highly ranked players they’ve gotten in the last decade.”
Of the 12, 11 are from Pennsylvania, only one of whom – 240-pound Central Bucks West fullback Brandon King – is not from western Pennsylvania.
For comparison’s sake, recruiting rival Penn State has only two commitments to date, none from Pennsylvania players.
“Dave’s taken a page out of (Southern Cal coach) Pete Carroll’s book as a former pro coach going back to college – he’s gone out and met the high school coaches 1-on-1,” Burton said. “He brings a familiarity that’s tailor-made for what he’s trying to do.”
Even before accepting the Pitt job on Dec. 23, Wannstedt was told repeatedly how the Panthers kept missing out on top-level local prospects, including former Gateway High defensive back Justin King. One of the nation’s top 10 prep players a year ago, King didn’t seriously consider Pitt before signing with Penn State.
That’s why Wannstedt and his assistants swarmed out to make hundreds of high school visits during permitted recruiting periods from January through May; Wannstedt himself made nearly a month of nonstop visits in May, averaging 7-9 schools per day.