I am afraid that you are correctly on target.

Wannstadt no bowls in two years. 11-12 isn't that good in a BCS conference. Expectations are a bowl every year.

OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Wannstadt no bowls in two years. 11-12 isn't that good in a BCS conference. Expectations are a bowl every year.

Wannstadt is also only 6-8 in his 2 years at Pitt.

Still think he might turn out to be a great Coach at Pitt...as long as they give him time (5 years).

Oh...and can Pitt and the Steelers FINALLY spend a few $$$ and put in FIELD TURF at Heinz Field...that has to be one of the worst grass fields in the NFL...and maybe college too.

With cold weather...a lot of wear & tear, Field Turf seems to make a lot of sense for that stadium/location.

I'm still in Pitino's corner. He did take us to the Final Four. I always knew he couldn't out coach Denny, but he could out recruit him. I think The Ville will be fine.

army56mike Wrote:I'm still in Pitino's corner. He did take us to the Final Four. I always knew he couldn't out coach Denny, but he could out recruit him. I think The Ville will be fine.

I don't put TOO much stock in recruiting rankings, but UL isn't even in the top 50 in the rankings that someone just put in another thread. That shocked me. Is Pitino resting on his laurels?

Yep!

RealDeal Wrote:Obviously Pitino is who he is and they were in the final four two years ago but I haven't been impressed with him lately. Our local (Cincy) radio host this morning in talking about how good a coach Mick is said to look at UL. He said Mick recruited most of their final four team and that they haven't done much since those players left. Hall of fame head coaches shouldn't be playing in the NIT in back to back years which is what it looks like UL is headed towards.

You know, there's a common denominator with Bob Huggins and Rick Pitino. Both are wildly successful coaches. But when Bob Huggins started leveling all a tad Mick Cronin came in and basically recruited our 2000 team that was the #1 team in the country and probably going to the Final Four and possibly winning a national title. The following year with more of Cronin's recruits, like Jason Maxiell, UC went to the Sweet 16, then followed it up with a #1 seed and 30+ wins (though Cronin wasn't on that team, a lot of those were his recruits). Then Pitino returns to the college ranks, scoops up Cronin, and watches Mick recruit that Final Four team. Neither coach has been the same without Cronin. We knkow that Huggins and Pitino are great coaches, but it also goes to show you how important Mick Cronin was as well, and how much of a great talent he is.

KnightLight Wrote:

OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Wannstadt no bowls in two years. 11-12 isn't that good in a BCS conference. Expectations are a bowl every year.

Wannstadt is also only 6-8 in his 2 years at Pitt.

Still think he might turn out to be a great Coach at Pitt...as long as they give him time (5 years).

Didn't it take Frank Beamer 5 to 6 years to turn Virginia Tech into a power? The only problem with Wannstadt is, unlike Beamer and other coaches building a program, Wannstadt actually has a boatload of talent so Pitt should have had a least 7 win this year. Losing to a ridiculously banged up and undermanned Connecticut squad was unacceptable.

3601 Wrote:

army56mike Wrote:I'm still in Pitino's corner. He did take us to the Final Four. I always knew he couldn't out coach Denny, but he could out recruit him. I think The Ville will be fine.

I don't put TOO much stock in recruiting rankings, but UL isn't even in the top 50 in the rankings that someone just put in another thread. That shocked me. Is Pitino resting on his laurels?

I was listening to his show I believe last week and he blamed Louisville's loss in talent to the departure of players to the NBA like Telfair. That's kind of a copout, because, while true, Louisville should still have enough talent to do better then what they're doing now.

I think Pitino is more than adequate at recruiting on his own still, but I said it when he was hired and still have the same view, that Cronin will come to be known as a really good head coach.

CollegeCard Wrote:I think Pitino is more than adequate at recruiting on his own still, but I said it when he was hired and still have the same view, that Cronin will come to be known as a really good head coach.

I never said that Pitino wasn't a good recruiter and still isn't a good recruiter. My point is is that Bob Huggins and Rick Pitino got lazy because Cronin was such a good recruiter. Older coaches start to hate the grind of recruiting after awhile, that's why they like having young, hungry recruiters like Cronin and Kennedy. I get the feeling that, at this point in their careers that Huggins and Pitino started resting on their laurels and recruiting on their names rather then hitting the trails as hard as they used to. Huggins is hitting the trails again now because he has to.

Like I said, Pitino=Wanny. Lee Todd got it right but with the wrong sport in his comment about Louisville being OVERHYPED and UNDERPERFORMING.

Time for Rick to do something slse! We are now the Louisville Celtics!