Unique Bond Ties Shannon and Wannstedt
Sept. 22, 2010
By: Rob Dunning
The University of Miami and University of Pittsburgh share unique bonds that aren’t immediately apparent at first glance. Pitt’s student body is nearly twice the size of Miami’s and the weather isn’t quite the same in Western Pennsylvania as it is in South Florida. That said – there are too many similarities to not take notice.
The Hurricanes and Panthers both play in major metropolitan cities. Both share a stadium with their local NFL team, with Thursday night’s game set to be played in Heinz Field – also home to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both teams boast a number of national championships. Miami has five – all in the last 30 years. Pitt has nine, but only one since 1937. Both programs have Hall of Fame QB alums in Dan Marino at Pitt and Jim Kelly at Miami. The history is certainly there.
Part of that history is the most common bond shared between the two programs these days – the relationship of the head coaches. Miami’s Randy Shannon and Pitt’s Dave Wannstedt go back to the mid-80’s, when Shannon was a star defender for Miami’s Norland High School and Wannstedt was the defensive coordinator at Miami under head coach Jimmy Johnson. Shannon starred as a linebacker under Johnson and Wannstedt at Miami in the late 80’s, winning a national championship in 1987. In 1989, Johnson became the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and brought Wannstedt along as his defensive coordinator and drafted Shannon that same year. Years later after Shannon was out of the NFL and working as an assistant at UM, Wannstedt became the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and immediately brought him on the staff, bringing the pair together for a third time.
Their philosophies are similar and it starts on the defense. Both Shannon and Wannstedt are respected throughout football as two of the top defensive minds in the game. Shannon, who was considered college football’s top defensive coordinator before becoming UM’s head coach, credits a great deal of his knowledge and success to Wannstedt.
Wannstedt on the other hand, recognized Shannon’s football expertise early on.
“When you hire coaches, you want people that No. 1 are very knowledgeable, particularly about what you want to do defensively, and Randy is very smart that way,” Wannstedt said this week. “You want to hire people that you know their work ethic and you know what they stand for.”
The respect is mutual. Shannon describes Wannstedt as both a friend and mentor.
“He always had an open door policy for me and when I became a head coach my first year, I went up there for two days and spent some time with him,” Shannon said. “It was more from the standpoint of me understanding the head coaching business and things to look out for. I’d look at it from the insight of a friend.”
Shannon and Wannstedt are two of just 10 BCS head coaches currently coaching at their alma maters. They both take a considerable amount of pride in their programs, their universities and cities. When the two meet on the field prior to Thursday night’s game, there is sure to be some strong emotions from both the mentor and the student.
There won’t be many surprises. If any two coaches know what the other wants to do at a certain point in the game, its these two.
“When you look at Miami’s football team — when you look at what they do on offense, defense and special teams — you see some very similar characteristics to our team,” Wannstedt said. “He comes from a very similar philosophy background as mine, and you see that when you watch them play.”
Thursday night in Pittsburgh, two of college football’s great programs will be led by two of college football’s closest friends. A must see.
