Dave Wannstedt
From Sports Library
Dave Wannstedt (b. May 21, 1952 near Pittsburgh), is the current head coach of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team. Previously, Wannstedt was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins of the NFL from 2000 to 2004, and he coached the Chicago Bears from 1993 to 1998. He also was a long-time assistant to Jimmy Johnson with the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Hurricanes, and Oklahoma State Cowboys as well as an equal with Johnson when both were assistants at Pittsburgh in the 1970s.
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Early years
Wannstedt was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Baldwin High School. He won an athletic scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh playing offensive tackle and blocking for future Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett. After a successful career with the Panthers, he was chosen in the 1974 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers, but spent his only NFL season on Injured Reserve with a neck injury.
Coaching career
First college coaching career
In 1975, Pitt coach Johnny Majors hired him as a graduate assistant coach. He was on the staff when the Panthers won the 1976 NCAA Division I-A national football championship with a victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. In 1977, Jimmy Johnson joined the staff of the Pitt Panthers and the two would forge a long lasting personal and professional bond. When Johnson left to become the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys in 1979, he invited Wannstedt to join his staff.
Wannstedt served as defensive line coach for the Oklahoma State Cowboys for the 1979 and 1980 seasons and was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1981, a spot he held for two seasons. He moved on to USC in 1983 and served as the defensive line coach for the Trojans for three years. In 1986, Wannstedt became defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes under friend and mentor Jimmy Johnson.
Dallas Cowboys
When Johnson was hired as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, Wannstedt joined Dallas' staff as defensive coordinator. The Cowboys defense was considered one of the best in the NFL under Wannstedt's leadership and he became a prime candidate to become an NFL head coach. When Chuck Noll retired as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in 1992, Wannstedt was one of the finalists for the job, but was ultimately edged out by Bill Cowher.
Chicago Bears
On January 19, 1993, Wannstedt became the 10th head coach in the 74 year history of the Chicago Bears replacing legendary coach Mike Ditka. The hiring immediately excited Bears fans, as Dave had been the hottest head coaching prospect available, and was a rare example of the Bears winning a bidding war with another team, in this case, the New York Giants. However, hints that Wannstedt was more comfortable in Jimmy Johnson's shadow came early on, when Johnson presented Wannstedt's demands to Michael McCaskey during a speaker phone conversation while Dave sat idlely by and listened.
1993 Season
Wannstedt's immediate goal for the team was to increase the speed on both sides of the ball. Towards that end, the Bears drafted wide receiver Curtis Conway of USC in the first round of the NFL Draft. This pick also showed that Wannstedt had final say on player acquisition, as Player Personnel Pirector Bill Tobin who had preferred OJ McDuffie to Conway resigned following the draft. The Bears would also sign New Orleans free agent Craig "Iron Head" Heyward, a surprisingly quick 300 lb. fullback. Wannstedt would also show his willingness to gamble on players who had less than stellar off the field reputations, when he traded the Bears 1994 5th round pick for troubled Steelers' running back Tim Worley at midseason. The 1993 team's most notable accomplishment was winning 3 road games in 11 days, the only NFL team to ever do so. The Bears finished the season 7-9, improving on their 5-11 record from the previous year.
1994 Season
1994 was probably Wannstedt's most successful season as head coach of the Bears. However, one could immediately detect what become a theme of his tenure, Wannstedt's inability to obtain skilled position players that he trusted. Following the 1993 season, Heyward, Worley and quarterback Jim Harbaugh were out. In came Merrill Hoge, Lewis Tillman, Erik Kramer and Steve Walsh. The Bears also parted ways with franchise mainstay Richard Dent, spending their first round draft pick on John Thierry of Alcorn State, whom Wannstedt compared to another undersized defensive end whom he had coached, Charles Haley. The comparison was premature though, as Thierry never recorded more than 4 sacks in a single season as a Bear[1]. 1994 was not the smoothest of seasons as Erik Kramer won the starting quarterback job, but after a 4-4 start Kramer gave way to backup Steve Walsh, who was known more for his brains and game management than his arm. The Bears then rallied to win 4 straight games, and finished the season with a 9-7 record, making the playoffs as the last Wild Card team, in a season that saw the NFC Central Division send 4 of its 5 teams to the playoffs. The Bears clobbered the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings in their opening playoff game, 35-18, but were themselves crushed by the San Francisco 49ers 44-15 in the 2nd round. It was during this season that the first signs of a rift between Wannstedt and his players began to appear. Wannstedt had been famous for his extremely physical practices, and the players had elected veteran defensive endTrace Armstrong to approach the coach about toning the practices down towards the end of the season to keep the players fresh. This resulted in a shouting match between Armstrong and Wannstedt, and ultimately led to Armstrong's trade to the Raiders during the offseason.
1995 Season
The 1995 Chicago Bears training camp opened with many question marks. First round draft choice Rashaan Salaam held out in a contract dispute, and Erik Kramer won back the starting quarterback job from Steve Walsh. Ultimately, these changes would prove beneficial to the offense, as they would finally live up to their big play potential. This would be one of the best offensive years in team history, with Kramer throwing for 4,000 yards, Conway and Jeff Graham each posting 1,000 yards receiving and Salamm rushing for 1,000. Unfortunately, the defense faltered, as defensive mainstays Dante Jones and Trace Armstrong had been let go in the offseason, and cornerback Donnell Woolford was injured for much of the year. During this season, further rifts began to show between the players and the coaching staff, culminating in an incident during a special teams film session in which running back Lewis Tillman accused the coaching staff of quitting on the team. The Bears finished 9-7, and were eliminated from playoff contention when the heavily favored San Francisco 49ers were defeated by the Atlanta Falcons on the final day of the regular season, despite the Falcons not having starting quarterback Jeff George. This would be Chicago's last winning season until 2001.
1996 Season
The Bears were faced with several major personnel decisions in the 1995 offseason. In true Wannstedt fashion, they managed to make the wrong decision in almost every case. On the first day of free agency, Chicago signed Miami linebacker Bryan Cox to a 4 year, $15 million contract. Cox, while undeniably talented, was known for his volatile personality (in particular, his running feud with the fans in Buffalo) and for being a tackling machine (he averaged 117 tackles a year his previous 4 seasons in Miami). Giving Cox such a large contract meant that Wannstedt could only re-sign one of his two major restricted free agents, defensive end Alonzo Spellman and wide receiver Jeff Graham. While most observers thought that the troubled Spellman would be allowed to leave, the Bears suprised everyone by matching the 4 year, $12 million contract that the Jacksonville Jaguars had offered, making the steady Graham's departure a certainty. This choice proved to be disastrous, as Spellman, who had never lived up to his promise as a first round pick, began behaving erratically, and was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1998. On offense, the team struggled, as Graham had consistently drawn double teams, which allowed Curtis Conway to use his speed in one-on-one matchups against cornerbacks. Also, it seemed that Wannstedt's penchant for physical practices began to take a toll on the team, as starters Spellman, Cox, Chris Zorich, Michael Timpson, Erik Kramer, Jim Flanigan and Keith Jennings all missed time with injuries. The season's highlight came in the opening game of the season, in which the Bears pasted the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys 22-6. Unfortunately, injuries and inconsistency would leave the team with a final record of 7-9.
1997 Season
1997 opened with yet another major personnel gamble by Wannstedt. The Bears traded their 1st round pick in the draft that year (11th overall) to the Seattle Seahawks for quarterback Rick Mirer and Seattle's 4th round pick. Mirer would prove to be a major bust, playing only 7 games for the Bears before being released following the 1998 season. Wannstedt's questionable personnel decisions were finally coming home to roost. 3rd round pick Bob Sapp was cut following training camp. 2nd round pick John Allred was ineffective throughout his brief career. Bryan Cox would throw several public temper tantrums throughout the season, and would be let go at its end. Rashaan Salaam, who had been prone to fumbling during his career, suffered a broken leg and alledgedly spent most of his rehabilitation smoking marijuana. He would never play for the Bears again either. Chicago opened the season by losing it's first seven games. The 7th loss was a particularly galling home game against the Green Bay Packers. The Bears scored a touchdown late in the 4th quarter and needed only to kick the extra point to take the game to overtime. Instead, Wannstedt elected to go for two points and the win, despite being at home. The try failed and the Bears lost 24-23. They would finish the season 4-12.
1998 Season
1998 was essentially a death march for Wannstedt. Following the 1997 draft, he had been stripped of most of his power to choose players, as the Bears had installed Mark Hatley as Vice President of Player Personnel. Hatley's first draft would see mixed results, as first round pick Curtis Enis was a complete bust, but he scored some late round successes with Olin Kreutz, Tony Parrish and Patrick Mannelly. This would be too little, too late for Wannstedt however, who's team floundered to another 4-12 record, and saw a large dropoff in home attendance for the Bears. Wannstedt was fired on December 28th, 1998 the day after the season ended.
References
Tales From the Chicago Bears Sidelines by John Mullin
External links
| Preceded by Mike Ditka |
Chicago Bears Head Coaches 1993–1998 |
Succeeded by Dick Jauron |
| Decatur Staleys/Chicago Bears Head Coaches |
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