Gattuso's name just came up today and if the update from Football Coach Scoop is correct it is defiantly throws an interesting wrinkle in the UB football coaching hunt of 2009.Our sources tell us that Athletic Director Warde Manuel and Greg Gattuso (Pittsburgh Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line Coach) have mutual interest in filling the vacant head coach position at the University. --FBCS.com
This is the third straight defensive name to pop up after the initial lists were all chalked full of offensive coordinators and offensive position coaches. This is also one of a number of big name schools being, potentially, raided to fill the UB job.
* * *
Gattuso was named the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Class AA Player of the Year his senior season (1980 /Seton-LaSalle High) who went on to a standout career at PSU, where he was a member of the Lions' 1982 national title team as well as a two-time All-East defensive lineman.
Gattuso served at Penn State as an assistant coach under Joe Paterno for one season before returning to the Pittsburgh to coach at thie high school level. His first sting was a one year stay with the Seton-La Salle junior varsity team, before serving as defensive coordinator at Center Township High School in 1986. In in 1987 he served as a part-time assistant for a season at Duquesne before beginning his head coaching career a the high school level in 1992.
In 1989 Gattuso began his head coaching career at his Alma mater, Pittsburgh's Seton-La Salle High School. There, Gattuso took a team that was 6-34 over the previous four years - including an 0-10 mark in 1988 - and turned the program around. Seton-La Salle posted a 28-10-1 record and made three WPIAL playoff appearances in Gattuso's three seasons, highlighted by a WPIAL AAA Championship and a Parkway Conference Championship in 1990.
In 1992 he would rejoin Duquesne as a full time assistant, the programs first ever full time assistant, before taking the reins in 1993 as the Dukes head coach. he inherited a program that had won just six games in the previous three seasons. Eleven years later the dukes had won a mid-major national championship, seven league championships, had five bowl appearances and averaged more than eight wins per season.
In 2005 he came on to Dave Weinstat's staff at Pitt where he began as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Moving up over the years to the position of Assistant Head Coach & Defensive Line Coach.
The Positives of Gattuso:
- Has nearly 15 years of recruiting roots in Pennsylvania
- Experience at every level of coaching
- Head Coaching experience (albeit it at the DIII level)
- Big East Ties and experience
The Negatives of Gattuso:
- Limited DI experience
- No ties to the MAC
- Not a Name
Would this be a Good Hire for UB: Maybe in 2005 but now I think UB can aim a bit higher. Like all of these candidates there is a ton that won't go on paper and that will get ferreted out by Manual in the interview process. Compared to some of the names getting tossed around now Gill would have looked like a poor choice today and we can all see how that turned out.