Wannstedt making impact on recruiting scene


Pitt Panthers
By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, January 30, 2005

Two dozen family members crowded Cedric McGee's home in Plantation, Fla., earlier this month, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dave Wannstedt.
It wasn't that long ago -- November, actually -- that Wannstedt was head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Now, as the new coach of the Pitt Panthers, he was back in town to pay a recruiting visit to the blue-chip receiver.

"He's a big guy," McGee said. "When he came here, there was a big gathering. Everybody wanted to meet him."

Since replacing Walt Harris on Dec. 23, Wannstedt has made his presence felt from Pittsburgh to Plantation. He has landed eight commitments and is making a late push for record-setting Seton-La Salle quarterback Bill Stull, who verbally committed to Kentucky, before Wednesday's start of the national letter of intent signing period.





It's a drastic difference from Signing Day 2004, when four Pitt recruits went elsewhere: Penn Hills quarterback Anthony Morelli to Penn State, North Hills tailback Andrew Johnson to Miami (Fla.), Pahokee (Fla.) cornerback Alphonso Smith to Wake Forest and Dade City (Fla.) Pasco receiver Johnny Peyton to South Florida.

"That was a remarkably bad end for Pitt last year," said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for SuperPrep/Scout.com. "They lost an All-American quarterback. You lose high-profile kids like that, it's going to hurt. That was disastrous."

While Wallace is quick to note that Harris didn't deserve all of the blame for those 11th-hour defections -- the Big East Conference was crumbling and its automatic BCS bowl bid appeared to be in jeopardy -- his shortcomings are being magnified by Wannstedt's outgoing personality.

"Wannstedt has the attitude he can get any kid he wants," said Bob Lichtenfels, a Scout.com Eastern recruiting analyst. "Walt Harris didn't have that attitude. If you look at what Wannstedt has done since the Fiesta Bowl, he's been one of the busiest coaches in the country. He's not taking a backseat to anyone. He's doing what he needs to do put his face out there and sell the program."

Wannstedt has vowed to make Western Pennsylvania a priority for the Panthers, and has landed WPIAL recruits in Central Catholic quarterback Shane Murray and tight end John Pelusi, Duquesne running back Shane Brooks and West Allegheny lineman C.J. Davis.

And Wannstedt already is making inroads with highly touted juniors at Baldwin, Gateway, McKeesport, Thomas Jefferson and Woodland Hills, among others.

"I think he's made a tremendous impact already," Gateway coach Terry Smith said after Wannstedt visited the school on Friday. "He's made an impact on fellow college recruiters. They're all concerned because they know he's fighting to protect the boundaries of the WPIAL.

"It seems he's very sincere. He understands Western Pennsylvania football. He respects it. He's a product of it, so you don't have to sell him on it."

Adds Thomas Jefferson coach Bill Cherpak: "There's a 'wow factor' in terms of recruiting. When he was in our school, there was a buzz in the hallways. He's serving notice to everybody that Pitt is going to be in the mix."

Wannstedt also has managed to delicately balance Pitt's presence in Florida by luring running back Conredge Collins of Miami, and defensive linemen Tommie Duhart of Belle Glade and Gus Mustakas of Hollywood.

McGee said he will choose between Pitt and Rutgers on Wednesday, and the Panthers also are involved with Miami Central quarterback/athlete Dennis Brown.

"Florida is where I notice the most difference -- Wannstedt holds a lot of clout there," said Harry Psaros, who covers Pitt recruiting for Pantherlair, a Rivals.com Pitt fan site. "There was always a knock on Walt Harris that he couldn't seal the deal. The vibe I get from kids is that Dave Wannstedt is a personable guy, and I didn't get that with Walt Harris."

When Harris left for Stanford, several Pitt recruits wavered. Columbus (Ohio) Brookhaven cornerback Dominic Jones was the only one to bail, choosing Minnesota instead.

Although Wannstedt is finishing with a flourish, Scout.com rates Pitt's class No. 42 nationally. Wallace said recruiting analysts will consider the Class of 2006 to be Wannstedt's first true test, and used as an example the jump made in SuperPrep rankings by Southern Cal's Pete Carroll (19th to seventh to first), Louisiana State's Nick Saban (26th to second) and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops (36th to 19th to sixth).

"It's impossible for a new coach to come into a situation and steal four- and five-star guys," Wallace said. "They're being asked to compete against a 10-month effort with two months. It's not even fair to evaluate first-year efforts.

"What he has is what a lot of coaches don't: To say, I know exactly what it takes to get to the NFL."

That was the cause of commotion at McGee's home, and should serve as an attractive quality for the underclassmen that Pitt has started recruiting. The Class of 2006 is loaded with prospects, and Wannstedt is making the Panthers a prominent player in Pennsylvania and beyond.

"It's very refreshing to see a coach who has a chance to get these kids," Lichtenfels said. "With Walt Harris, you knew three of the top five were going somewhere else. Pitt always got kids to take interest, but never had anyone to close the deal. Now they do."

Man this is almost a carbon copy of the UC situation. We had Rick Minter, a decent coach, who was afraid to get out and recruit. If a big time school came in looking for a recruit instead of trying to beat team out he'd back off and give up on the player. And he deferred way to much to the MAC schools. Coach Dantonio came in and made it be known that UC could go toe-to-toe with anyone on the recruiting trail bringing in a gem of a recruiting class. Man, what a difference a coaching change makes! I really expect Pitt to be a Top 15 team next year.

Syracuse's Greg Robinson has managed to stop the bleeding, also. The Big East is becoming BigTime in the coaching business. Petrino, Robinson, Wannstedt, Rodriguez, Levitt, Dantonio and Edsall are all bigtimers.

Congratulations on solid recruiting classes and good luck to all Big East football teams. Let's make this a strong football conference and silence the naysayers. I hope we can all get some big OOC wins this season. On that topic, what are the OOC games this year for Big East teams?

I know I saw it somewhere but I cannot find UC's games. I am almost positive that UC opens at Penn State. I am also sure we will be playing at Miami (OH). I don't remember our other OOC games. Any help???

djaphone Wrote:Congratulations on solid recruiting classes and good luck to all Big East football teams.  Let's make this a strong football conference and silence the naysayers.  I hope we can all get some big OOC wins this season.  On that topic, what are the OOC games this year for Big East teams?

I know I saw it somewhere but I cannot find UC's games.  I am almost positive that UC opens at Penn State.  I am also sure we will be playing at Miami (OH).  I don't remember our other OOC games.  Any help???

I don't know if UC opens at Penn State or not but we do play there. Would be interesting if we do indeed open there. West Virginia goes to Maryland and hosts Virginia Tech. Pitt goes to Nebraska. Other then that I'm not sure. It's good to see the Big East stepping it up in coaching and recruiting. We needed the Big East to do two things, one upgrade the current national name programs, West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse. West Virginia is fine and Pitt is going to be better then they were, which wasn't that bad. But Syracuse showing signs of stepping it up on the recruiting trail is HUGE. Syracuse is a national name in a national market. And second, we need two or 3 of the schools not looked at on the national scale to step it up. Louisville had done more then that, they're a national name now. UC is coming into their own, as is UConn. South Florida looks loaded.

UC plays
@Penn State
Western Carolina
@Miami
Eastern Michigan
WVU
UCONN
UL
@Pitt
@Rutgers
@Syracuse
@USF

Not sure who is first

I don't think Wannstedt was a fair trade for Marino, we ripped Pittsburgh off.

Powerbait Wrote:I don't think Wannstedt was a fair trade for Marino, we ripped Pittsburgh off.

What?

I know you're not that bright, CC, so I'll break it down for you.

Marino was the QB at Pitt, he became the Dolphins QB.

Davey Boy was the coach at Miami, he became the Panther's head coach.

It was a joke, but considering you are devoid of any sense of humor, I didn't expect you to get it. If you need me to explain it any further, just let me know.