Dave Wannstedt
Dave Wannstedt was born in Baldwin, Pennsylvania, United States on May 21st, 1952 and is the Football Coach. At the age of 71, Dave Wannstedt biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 71 years old, Dave Wannstedt has this physical status:
Dave Wannstedt (born May 21, 1952) is a retired American football coach.
He has been the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins of the National Football League.
From 2005 to 2010, he was also the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh's football team.
As well as an associate of Johnson while both assistants at the University of Pittsburgh, he was a long-time assistant to Jimmy Johnson with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Hurricanes, and Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Early years
Wannstedt was born in Baldwin, Pennsylvania, and attended Baldwin High School. Tony Dorsett, a future Heisman Trophy winner, received an athletic scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, playing offensive tackle and blocking. He was selected in the fifteenth round of the 1974 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, but he spent his first NFL season on the injured reserve list due to a neck injury.
Coaching career
Johnny Majors, a former Pitt coach, was recruited as a graduate assistant coach in 1975. He earned his master's degree at Pitt the following year. He was on the staff when the Panthers won the 1976 NCAA Division I-A national football championship with a victory over the Georgia Bulldogs in the 1977 Sugar Bowl. Jimmy Johnson joined the Pitt Panthers in 1977, and the two teams would form a long-lasting personal and professional partnership. Wannstedt was welcomed to join his staff when Johnson left to become the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1979.
Wannstedt served as defensive line coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys for the 1979 and 1980 seasons before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 1981, a position he held for two seasons. In 1983, he moved to Southern California to coach the Trojans and spent three years as the defensive line coach for three years. Wannstedt was defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes under friend and mentor Jimmy Johnson, who was a national champion in 1987.
Wannstedt joined Dallas' Dallas' defense as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. Under Wannstedt's leadership, the Cowboys' defense was ranked as one of the best in the NFL, and he became a front-runner to become a head coach. Wannstedt was one of the top candidates for the position when Chuck Noll retired as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992, but was ultimately defeated by fellow Pittsburgh-area native Bill Cowher.
He was hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears on January 19, 1993, replacing legendary coach Mike Ditka, another former Pitt Panther. Wannstedt's time in Chicago was turbulent. In his six years at Chicago, he led the Bears to only one postseason appearance in his six years as a coach, as well as a 42-57 record. After Wannstedt posted a back-to-back 4–12 seasons and a 1–11 overall record against longtime rival, the Green Bay Packers, Bears owner Michael McCaskey, sacked Wannstedt on December 28, 1998, the day when five NFL head coaches, one sixth of the league, lost their positions. Four of the coaches, William Wangstedt, Ted Marchibroda, Ray Rhodes, and Dom Capers, were fired within one hour, while Dennis Erickson was dismissed later that day.
Wannstedt rejoined Jimmy Johnson's staff in 1999, this time as the Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Wannstedt was immediately named Johnson's replacement when the then-56-year-old Johnson declared his resignation on January 16, 2000. The Dolphins' regular season record was 42-31, with playoff appearances in his first two seasons under Wannstedt. Wannstedt received a lot of praise for his guidance the Dolphins through the first few seasons after Dan Marino's retirement, but the Dolphins became unpopular among Dolphins fans, not least in 2002, when the team gave the New England Patriots multiple chances to return and tie the game and then win it in overtime, beginning a six-season playoff drought. Fans became outraged when Wannstedt, who received the right to overrule then-Dolphins general manager Rick Spielman in the second round, was turned down by fans. Eddie Moore, a former Olympian, was also enraged. Boldin, a three-time Pro Bowler and a standout receiver in his 13-year career, was an immediate celebrity, winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2003. Moore was unable to help Miami with either defense or special teams, and was suspended from the team (and then the NFL) in a matter of a few years. Wannstedt was the face of a rapidly declining franchise that few fans and some players no longer believed in, with another late-season collapse in 2003 and no playoff appearance this year.
Wannstedt resigned as head coach midway through the 2004 season, with the Dolphins' record standings at 1–8. Less than two months later, he promised to return home to fill the head coach vacancy at his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh. Wannstedt finished his tenure in Miami with a 42-31 record and he was the team's first head coach with prior NFL head coaching experience. Except Don Shula, Wannstedt has been in longer time with the Dolphins than any other coach in history.
When University of Pittsburgh head coach Walt Harris was forced to resign, Wannstedt, with NFL experience and a track record in college recruiting, was an immediate candidate to replace him. As a Pittsburgh area native and former Pitt athlete (offensive tackle 1971–73), a Pitt graduate (B.S.) is a Pittsburgh native and former Pitt player. M.Ed. M.Ed. was born in 1974. Wannstedt, a former student assistant coach at the university under Johnny Majors and Jackie Sherrill (1975–78), had ties to both the university and the area. Wannstedt was initially interested in the career, but then decided against salary increases and questions about his ability to maintain a high-quality workforce. Wannstedt accepted Pitt's appointment on December 23, 2004, despite being frustrated with multiple issues with the Pitt athletic department, including salary increases for assistant coaches.
Under his leadership, Wannstedt said that recruiting will be a top priority. Harris had been chastised during his tenure for failing to recruit top school students, especially in the crucial and talent-rich western Pennsylvania region. Wannstedt retained some of Harris' employees, including Paul Rhoads, the defensive coordinator, but made several significant changes, including the addition of former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh to lead his offense. In 1976 and 1977, Cavanaugh was Pitt's starting quarterback, and she was a graduate assistant coach.
Wannstedt's first season as a player on the Big East Championship and appeared in the Fiesta Bowl the previous year under Harris, he was ranked 21 in the first AP Poll of 2005. However, Notre Dame and Ohio University's defeats, as well as Pitt's last second defeat (by a score of 7–6) to Nebraska, kicked off a disappointing 5–6 season that culminated in Pitt's humiliating 5-13 defeat by archrival West Virginia. This campaign was Pitt's first losing streak since 1999.
Wannstedt's recruiting prowess led Scout.com analysts to rank the Panthers' class of 2006 as the nation's best in the country.
Wannstedt maintained his hyped 2006 class by bringing in the #28 recruiting class in 2007. The class featured players such as RB LeSean McCoy, QB Pat Bostick, and OG Chris Jacobson. Wannstedt was granted a contract extension through 2012 on December 1, 2007, just days before an upset victory at West Virginia; he had not been signed until 2009. The Mountaineers were denied a chance to play in the BCS National Championship Game after beating them 13–9 in the annual Backyard Brawl, and it was the start of a rebuild that subsequently brought Coach Wannstedt and the Panthers to a 9-4 record in 2008.
For the first time under Wannstedt's leadership, the Panthers were ranked #25 in the pre-season until Wannstedt's first game in 2005). Pitt defeated Buffalo and then defeated Iowa by 21–20, beginning with 0–1 and ending with a 21–20 victory. The Panthers eke out a dramatic victory over the then-ranked and undefeated #10 University of South Florida in a game nationally broadcast by ESPN on Thursday, October 2, 2008. The Panthers thrashed Navy 98-09 on Saturday, October 18, 2008. Rutgers defeated Pitt, 36–33 overtime triumph the following week at Notre Dame, which was back to resurgent action. The game, which lasted four overtime periods, was the longest game played between Notre Dame and Pittsburgh ever. The Panthers improved to 7–2 after a 41–7 loss in Louisville before heading out to visit Louisville for the first time under Wannstedt.
The Panthers were knocked out of BCS contention after losing to the eventual Big East champions, the Cincinnati Bearcats. Nonetheless, Coach Wannstedt stayed upbeat and collaborated with defensive coordinator Phil Bennett to devise a gameplan to defeat West Virginia for the second time in four years in the annual Backyard Brawl. Pitt defeated West Virginia 19–15 in a national telecast on ABC on Thanksgiving. The Panthers beat UConn 9-3 on the season and clinch a spot in the Sun Bowl the following week. Dave Wannstedt's record at Pitt soared to 25-22.
Pittsburgh was defeated 3–0 in the Sun Bowl on December 31, 2008, in a defensive match.
Wannstedt led Pitt to a 3–0 start in 2009 before losing on the road to North Carolina State in the fourth quarter. The Panthers then won their next six games, pushing Pitt's record to 9-1 and the team's best showing since the Dan Marino led team in 1982. The Panthers faltered in their last two games, losing 19–16 and Cincinnati 45–44 in the Big East Championship game, limiting to 9–3. Pitt won for the first time since 1981 in the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl after the regular season.
Wannstedt's two-year deal was extended through the 2014 season on March 30, 2010.
Wannstedt resigned as head coach on December 7, 2010, amid a rough 7–5 regular season and his inability to advance to a BCS bowl during his tenure. Wannstedt resigned as the university's special assistant. He did not coach the 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl.
Wannstedt's offensive coordinator in Miami in 2000 and 2001, and 2001, Kevin Gailey, announced on January 21, 2011, he would join the Bills staff as Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers Coach. On January 2, 2012, he was promoted to defensive coordinator. After the Bills finished the season with a 6-10 record, he and the entire Bills coaching staff were fired on December 31, 2012.
On February 1, 2013, Wannstedt was hired as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' special teams coach. Greg Schiano, who served as an assistant with the Chicago Bears from mid-to-late 1990s, joined the Chicago Bears as an assistant under Wannstedt. Although Wannstedt's first special teams coaching position with the Buccaneers was the first special teams coaching position he's had during his NFL coaching career, he did have to oversee special teams while head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. At the end of the 2013 season, he was released by the Buccaneers.
Television career
Wannstedt has been a FOX Sports football studio analyst since 2014 and has appeared on FOX NFL Kickoff Sunday mornings throughout the NFL season, as an analyst for the Chicago Bears preseason game broadcast on August 29, 2019.