Pittsburgh Panthers football

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For current information on this topic, see 2008 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

Pittsburgh Panthers
First season	1889
Staff
Athletic director	Steve Pederson
Head coach	Dave Wannstedt
	3rd year, 13–14
Stadium
Home stadium	Heinz Field
Stadium capacity	65,050
Stadium surface	Grass
Location	Pittsburgh, PA
League/Conference
Conference	Big East
Team records
All-time record	645–471–41 (.577)
Postseason bowl record	10–14
Awards
National titles	9 claimed, 2 AP
Conference titles	1
Heisman winners	1
All-Americans	87 (1st team), 49 consensus
Pageantry
Colors	Blue and Gold
Fight song	Hail to Pitt and Pitt Victory Song
Mascot	Panther
Marching band	University of Pittsburgh Varsity Marching Band
Major Rivals	West Virginia, Penn State, Notre Dame, Syracuse
Website	PittsburghPanthers.com

The Pittsburgh Panthers football teams, traditionally the most popular sport at the University of Pittsburgh, have represented the University in competition since 1889. The Panthers teams have a history involving many of prominent names in college football history, including both players and coaches. The Panthers are historical one of the dominant teams in the first half of the 20th century, being selected as a national champion 14 times between 1910 and 1938.

[edit] History

[edit] Alumni

The University of Pittsburgh football team has boasted some of the most recognizable names in college football history, such as coaches Glenn "Pop" Warner, Jock Sutherland, and Johnny Majors, who led the Panthers to numerous national championsips. NFL coach Jimmy Johnson served as an assistant to Jackie Sherrill.

Famous players for the Panthers have included such individuals as Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka, Chris Doleman, Jimbo Covert, Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, Dan Marino, Tony Siragusa, Rickey Jackson, Mark May, Curtis Martin, and Russ Grimm.

Current NFL players with Pitt ties include Darrelle Revis (New York Jets), Shawntae Spencer (San Francisco 49ers), Antonio Bryant (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Andy Lee (San Francisco 49ers), Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals), Gerald Hayes (Arizona Cardinals), Nick Goings (Carolina Panthers), Darnell Dinkins (Cleveland Browns), Kris Wilson (Philadelphia Eagles), Hank Poteat (New York Jets), Torrie Cox (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Rob Petitti (St. Louis Rams), Lousaka Polite (Chicago Bears), Ruben Brown (Chicago Bears), H. B. Blades (Washington Redskins) Clint Session (Indianapolis Colts), Tyler Palko (New Orleans Saints), Kennard Cox (Buffalo Bills), Mike McGlynn (Philadelphia Eagles), and Jeff Otah (Carolina Panthers) .

The team garnered attention when Bobby Grier became the first African-American player to break the bowl game color-barrier in the 1956 Sugar Bowl. ^[1]

[edit] Stadiums

The team first played at Recreation Park. Beginning in 1900, the Panthers played their games at Exposition Park on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, sharing the stadium with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 1909 the Panthers, along with the Pirates, moved to Forbes Field, located on campus, where they played until 1924. In 1925, Pitt Stadium was completed on the opposite end of the campus, giving the Panthers their first and only private stadium. Pitt Stadium was home for the Panthers although the Steelers also used it for home games in the mid-1960's. Following the demolition of Pitt Stadium in 1999, the Panthers moved to Three Rivers Stadium, again on the North Shore, where the Pirates and Steelers had played since 1970. A handful of nationally televised Pitt Panther football games from the late 1970's to 1999 were played as home games not at Pitt Stadium but at Three Rivers with its more modern facilities.

Heinz Field opened in 2001, where the Panthers currently play as a co-tenet with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[edit] Traditions

The upper section of the Cathedral of Learning is illuminated "gold" after a football team victory, as opposed to the everyday white spotlights.

Pitt beat West Virginia 11-0 in this November 11, 1908 game at Exposition Park.

[edit] Rivalries

The University of Pittsburgh has long-standing rivalries with several teams. Primarily, the Backyard Brawl is an annual game against the West Virginia Mountaineers. The rivalry, played 100 times, is one of the oldest and most played rivalries in college football. Other rivals include the Notre Dame and Syracuse. Another heated rivalry involves the Penn State Nittany Lions. Though the two teams have not played recently, the rivalry is still strong. More recently, the River City Rivalry was established, when the Cincinnati Bearcats entered the Big East.

[edit] Student section

Duing the late 1990s, athletic director Steve Pederson instituted a rebranding of the Pitt Stadium student section in an attempt to bolster enthusiasm and unity by emphasizing the 12th man concept. The stadium was repainted with the student section changed to section "12" and a large inflatable jersey bearing number 12 was placed near the section. Upon the move the Heinz Field, the athletic department, in collaboration with their sideline apparel outfitter at the time Aéropostale, created the Aero-Zone. The Aero-Zone served as an exclusive on-field seating section for Pitt students where the first 200 students who lined up for the section before the game with student were admitted if they possessed tickets and proper identification.^[2] The Aero-Zone failed to catch sustained interest and was eventually disappeared.

The current official Pitt football student fan club and cheering section, the Panther Pitt, was founded in 2003 by Pitt students Robin Frank and Julie Brennan to attempt to organize an Oakland Zoo-like atmosphere at Heinz Field for football games. The Panther Pitt also helps in coordinating student ticking policies with the athletic department and the Oakland Zoo.^[3][4]

[edit] National championships

The University of Pittsburgh officially claims nine National Championships for the Panthers football team: 4 unanimous, (1916, 1918, 1937, and 1976) and 5 shared titles (1915, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936).

The University bases its claim for the first 8 national championships on a study conducted in 1970 by Sports Illustrated ^[5]. These championships, together with its unanimous championship of 1976, are the basis for the university's claim of 9 national championship seasons.

Furthermore, in 8 additional years at least one recognized selector of national championships has declared Pitt as its National Champion. In total, Pitt has been recognized as the National Champion by at least one selector in a total of 17 different seasons

Note: The table lists all known National Championship selections for the University of Pittsburgh. The list of national championship selecting organizations choosing Pitt for any particular year is not necessarily comprehensive. For more information see College Football Data Warehouse Total National Championships Additional notations include the following:

Pitt: National Championship selections are officially recognized by the University^[6]

NCAA: Selection as National Champions by organizations designated as "Major Selectors" in the offiical NCAA football records book^[7]

CFBDW: Designation as "CFBDW Recognized National Champions"^[8] according to College Football Data Warehouse.

The undefeated and unscored upon 1910 Pitt team. Lead by head coach Joe Thompson and captain Tex Richards (bottom row center, with football), Pitt went 9-0 and outscored its opponents 282-0.

[edit] Undefeated Seasons

Pitt has had eight undefeated seasons: 1904 (10-0), 1910 (9-0), 1915 (8-0), 1916 (8-0), 1917 (10-0), 1920 (6-0-2), 1937 (9-0-1), and 1976 (12-0). Of these 8 undefeated seasons, 4 are not claimed as national championship seasons by Pitt.

Pitt has also had 17 one-loss seasons (1894, 1899, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931-1936, 1963, and 1979-1981).

Pitt won Eastern football titles in 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1955, 1976, 1979, 1980, and won a co-share of the Big East Conference championship and received a BCS bowl berth in 2004.

[edit] Hall of Fame members

Four former Panthers are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

• Dan Marino
• Tony Dorsett
• Mike Ditka
• Joe Schmidt

Hall of fame head football coach "Pop" Warner (right) with three-time All-American and team captain Bob Peck during the 1916 season. That year, Pitt would outscore its opponents 255-25 along the way to an 8-0 record and a consensus National Championship.

The College Football Hall of Fame has inducted 24 former Pitt players or coaches.

Note: Bold lettering indicates their jersey was retired by the University:

[edit] Players

• Bill Fralic (1981-1984)
• Dan Marino (1979-1982)
• Jimbo Covert (1979-1982)
• Mark May (1977-1980)
• Hugh Green (1977-1980)
• Tony Dorsett (1973-1976)
• Mike Ditka (1958-1960)
• Eddie Thulln (1958-1960)
• Joe Schmidt (1950-1952)
• Marshall Goldberg (1936-1938)
• Averell Daniell (1934-1936)
• Joe Skladany (1931-1933)
• Joseph Donchess (1927-1929)
• Herb Stein (1918-1921)
• Tom Davies (1918-1921)
• Herb McCracken (1918-1920)
• George McLaren (1915-1918)
• Robert Peck (1913-1916)
• Hube Wagner (1910-1913)
• Joe Thompson (1904-1906,1908-1912)

[edit] Coaches

• Jock Sutherland (1914-1917, 1924-1938)
• Glenn "Pop" Warner (1915-1923)
• Len Casanova (1950)
• Wes Fesler (1946)
• Johnny Majors (1973-1976, 1993-1996)

[edit] Season-by-season history

Notes:

• Rankings are the highest and final Associated Press (AP) rankings achieved for each season since the poll was introduced in 1936. Until 1968 , the final poll was released following the end of the regular season and did not consider post-season bowl game performance.^[9]
• The Rose Bowl, orginally titled the "Tournament East-West football game" featured the best team of the West versus the best in the East. After first being played in 1901, the game began annually in 1916, with Pitt making it's first appearance in 1927.
• The United Press International has been recognizing the College Football All-America Team since 1913.
• The NFL draft first took place in 1936. Players are listed after their final season.
• Championship recognitions are by organizations designated as "Major Selectors" in the offiical NCAA football records book (NCAA)^[10], selections officially claimed by the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), or as "CFBDW Recognized National Champions" (CFBDW)^[11] according to College Football Data Warehouse, as well as other awards or recognition the team received that season. ^[12] For more information, see the table on the various sources determing national champions.
• *Indicates multiple head coaches for the season. In 1992 Sal Sunseri was interim coach for the last game of the season, a loss at Hawaii. In 1989, Paul Hackett assumed head coaching duties for the John Hancock Sun Bowl win over Texas A&M University. In 1954, Tom Hamilton replaced Red Dawson after the first three games, all losses.
• A "-" denotes a category that is not applicable to that year, for example, the NFL draft and AP rankings from 1924-1935.

[edit] References

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