PITT Football 2011 (Philadelphia, Media, Dallas: appointed, high school, college)

[bboy36win]

Is anyone else getting excited about PITT football this year? After the last 30 years, I should know better than to get excited, but I'm really liking this new coaching staff.

Discuss.

[robrobrob]

Pitt will improve this year because Wannestadt and his "pro-style offense" was such a liability.

[Pitt Chick]

Long time season ticket holder here... and I am cautiously optimistic. I am hoping that THIS is the year things get turned around. I DO like the staff, so let's hope the players responded well to them!

[WILWRadio]

I guess my UConn Huskies, Miami Dolphins and NY Giants caps won't leave me in good stead with the populace of western PA. :-)

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Long time season ticket holder here... and I am cautiously optimistic. I am hoping that THIS is the year things get turned around. I DO like the staff, so let's hope the players responded well to them!

I am cautiously optimistic too. I certainly like our chances with this regime better than I did with the last one. With the last one one, you knew you were going to be disappointed.

[MathmanMathman]

I wish they'd drop that block lettering and go back to the cursive Pitt. It really looked good.



Probably should rework the Panther logo too. Make it more minimalistic like Penn State's.

Never cared for Wannstedt's program. He's experienced but not a gifted coach. He only understood his type of game. Wannstedt would make a terrible high school coach where you have to work with the talent you've got. Obviously you recruit in college but still you have to make adjustments based on what your team can do. I hope Graham does a lot better and can read his own team's strengths and weaknesses and adjust the team's game plan accordingly.

[bboy36win]

I like the fact that Graham is so positive. When PITT was picked to win the Big East under Wanny - last year for instance - he repeatedly said, "oh, I don't like that - we're young, we're inexperienced, jeesh, I just don't think so." Graham, on the other hand, gives you an unequivocal, "we expect to win the Big East." That confidence wears off on the kids. You have to be confident - no, convinced - that you're going to succeed; all of the great ones are.

I also like the fact that the defense might actually blitz every now and again - something they never did under Wannstedt.

And I like the fact that the offense might actually spread the field out a little, and run some reverses, sweeps, etc. - also something they rarely did under Wannstedt. 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football is great for Sundays, but I like a little something different on Saturdays, you know?

[hornet67]

Looking at Pitt's 2011 schedule, where they play only four away games, the potentially difficult opponents appear to be Iowa ( away). Notre Dame ( home), Utah ( home), and West Virginia ( away).
I'm thinking 8-4 at best, perhaps 7-5. Hopefully, unlike in the Wannstedt era, they won't stumble out of the gate against the likes of Buffalo & Maine.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

I guess my UConn Huskies, Miami Dolphins and NY Giants caps won't leave me in good stead with the populace of western PA. :-)

No one here cares about the Giants or Dolphins, so you'll get no flack. The bad guys in this town are as follows;

HATED WITH AN INSANE PASSION!
(You could run into trouble wearing their gear

Philadelphia Flyers
Baltimore Ravens
New England Patriots

STRONGLY DISLIKED

Capitals
NY Rangers
Bengals
Browns
Dallas Cowboys

(The Browns were once in the first category, but the Steelers have dominated the series lately to such a degree that this rivalry has really cooled off. Old guys still try to hype it, but the Ravens have left Cleveland in the dust as the Steeler's principal rival.

No one else is more than mildly disliked.

[baconlegs]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

No one else is more than mildly disliked.

I think you are forgetting a certain team slightly north and east that sells out all of its games... or will the dislike be mild when the rivalry renews here in 2016?