PITTSBURGH -- Dave Wannstedt still has the support of his athletic director, despite the fact his Pittsburgh football team lost its season opener to Bowling Green.
"In these situations, nobody's more disappointed than Dave and our team at the results of the game," athletic director Steve Pederson said, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "But I also know there isn't any group that's going to work harder to get us back on track than Dave and his coaches and the team. For Dave, this isn't really a job, this is a passion. He's dedicated to building a winning program here and he has all of our support as he works at that."
Pitt was a 13½-point favorite over Bowling Green, but lost 27-17 on Saturday. Wannstedt, who played at Pittsburgh, has won just five of his last 18 games as the Panthers' head coach. He's 16-20 in his fourth season.
Pittsburgh was ranked No. 25 by The Associated Press entering the season (unranked in the coaches' poll).
"I don't want to put anything definitive on a coach. I don't believe in that," Pederson said when asked if Wannstedt needed to win a certain number of games to keep his job. "We just want to focus on beating Buffalo Saturday night. Hopefully, we can get that done."