Monday Morning Coffee: Hey, Remember Pitt?

Start your work week off right with Monday Morning Coffee, where Fanhouse scours YouTube for the finest college football footage available. Either that or we give up after a couple minutes and just post the "I Like Turtles" kid.

The Pitt Panthers are heading into the 2008 season buoyed by a strong returning team and a stunning upset of likely title contenders West Virginia to finish their 2007 campaign. It's rather unfamiliar territory for Pitt fans under the age of 30, as Pitt has spent the last 20 years somewhere between "mediocre" and "punchline." Yes, Pitt went to a BCS Bowl in 2004, but they were smoked by Utah, finished ranked #25, and were generally regarded as the worst team in BCS history until Hawaii redefined "suck" last year. Oh, and their coach is known best for his inconsistent facial hair.

Things weren't always so bad for Panthers, though. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, they featured guys like Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, and the man who (sorry, Michigan fans) most deserved to be the first defensive Heisman winner, Hugh Green. Though the Panthers would never capture the MNC in the era, they came awfully close. Here, they face Georgia in the 1980 Sugar Bowl.



Yes, that's the Jackie Sherrill. This would be his last game coaching for Pitt, moving on to coach at Texas A&M for a then-record $1.7 million over 6 years (seriously, that was a record). He resigned among controversy in 1988, leaving the Aggies in smoldering, NCAA-sanctioned ruins. After three years away from the game, Sherrill stepped in as head coach at Mississippi State in 1991. He stayed for 12 seasons, leaving the Bulldogs in (surprise!) even worse, smoldering, NCAA-sanctioned ruins. He does, however, make the bowtie "work."