The Pittsburgh Panthers football program is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football competition, now termed the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, since the beginning of the school's official sponsorship of the sport in 1890. Pitt competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Pitt claims nine national championships, including two (1937, 1976) from major wire-service: AP Poll and Coaches' Poll, and is among the top 20 FBS college football programs in terms of all-time wins. Its teams have featured many coaches and players notable throughout the history of college football, including, among all schools, the 12th most College Football Hall of Fame inductees, the 8th most consensus All-Americans, and the third most Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees. The Panthers are coached by Pat Narduzzi. Pitt plays home games at Acrisure Stadium, formerly known as Heinz Field, which they share with the National Football League's (NFL) Pittsburgh Steelers and utilize the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Performance Complex as their practice facility.
History
Early history (1889–1913)
Football at the University of Pittsburgh began in the fall of 1889 when the school was still known as the Western University of Pennsylvania or "WUP". College football at Pitt began a rise to prominence when Arthur St. Leger "Texas" Mosse was hired and led the school to one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history in 1904: an undefeated 10–0 season which surrendered only one touchdown on the way to collectively outscoring opponents 406–5. The undefeated 1904 season was followed by a 10–2 record under Mosse in 1905, as well as six additional winning seasons.
The Mosse coached squads featured team captain Joe Thompson, who played for WUP from 1904 to 1906, and obtained the head coaching position in 1909, after successful coach John A. Moorhead, who helped facilitate the first known use of numbers on the uniforms of football players in 1908. That same year, the university changed its name from Western University of Pennsylvania to the University of Pittsburgh, and it soon became known as "Pitt" among fans and students. The following year, in 1909, the school officially adopted the Panther as a mascot. Also in 1909, the school moved to the Oakland section of Pittsburgh where it remains to this day.
Thompson coached at Pitt until 1912 and led the football team to a 22–11–2 record. The highlight of his coaching tenure was the 1910 season in which Pitt, led by star fullback Tex Richards, went undefeated for the second time in school history. Of even greater significance, the 1910 team was unscored upon, collectively outscoring its 9 opponents 282–0, and is considered by many to be that season's national champion. Winning continued under coach Joseph Duff, including an 8–1 record in 1914 in which opponents were collectively outscored 207–38, and the university was well on the way to establishing itself as a regional, if not yet national, power.
Pop Warner era (1914–1923)
In 1914, Pitt hired Pop Warner as Pitt's head coach. His arrival at Pitt gave the program instant national credibility, lifting the perception of the program from a regional power to that of a national one. Warner's impact was immediate. Led by center Robert Peck, Pitt's first First Team All-American, and All-American end James Pat Herron, Warner's first Pitt team in 1915 went 8–0, shutting out five opponents, and was trumpeted by football historian Parke H. Davis as that season's national champion. His second season duplicated that success, repeating an 8–0 record while collectively outscoring opponents 255–25, and garnering what is widely regarded as a consensus national championship. The 1916 team was led again by Herron and Peck, now in his last season, as well as All-Americans fullback Andy Hastings and guard "Tiny" Thornhill. Also on that team were Jock Sutherland and H.C. "Doc" Carlson, who both would garner First Team All-American selections while members of the undefeated 1917 team, and go on to become perhaps Pitt's most legendary coaches in football and basketball, respectively. The 1917 team, nicknamed "The Fighting Dentists" because over half the roster became doctors or dentists, finished 10–0 with five shutouts despite losing several players to military service at the outbreak of World War I. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, saw the implementation of quarantines that eliminated much of that year's college football season. All of Pitt's games that year were played in November, including a high-profile game played as a War Charities benefit against undefeated, unscored upon, and defending national champion Georgia Tech, coached by the legendary John Heisman. Pitt swept through its first two games and then dismantled Georgia Tech 32–0 in front of many of the nation's top sports writers including Walter Camp. The 1918 Panthers were named by multiple selectors as a national champion for that season.
For the 1921 season, Pitt made college football history on October 8, 1921. Harold W. Arlin announced the first live radio broadcast of a college football game in the United States from Forbes Field on KDKA radio as the Pitt Panthers defeated West Virginia 21–13 in the annual Backyard Brawl.
In all, Warner coached his Pitt teams to 33 straight wins and three national championships (1915, 1916 and 1918). He coached Pittsburgh from 1915 to 1923 to a combined 60–12–4 record. Warner helped raise the interest in Pitt football to the point where the university sought to build an on-campus stadium with increased seating capacity that would be dedicated to the football team, and the school began taking steps to secure the necessary land and funds to build Pitt Stadium.
Jock Sutherland era (1924–1938) A natural replacement for Pop Warner was Jock Sutherland, Warner's former All-American guard. Sutherland's second season kicked off the Panthers' first in the newly constructed Pitt Stadium and saw the team achieve an 8–1 record and win the 1925 Eastern Championship. The following year, the Panthers featured Gibby Welch, who led the nation in rushing in 1926 and helped Pitt to the Eastern Championship and its first bowl game, the Rose Bowl, in 1927. In 1929, Pitt went undefeated in the regular season, the first of four undefeated regular seasons under Sutherland, won the Eastern Championship, made its second appearance in the Rose Bowl and were named that season's national champion.
Pitt's 1931 team finished 8–1 with six shutouts, including a 40–0 dismantling of Nebraska. That season also saw Pitt defeat Penn State in State College, using only one first-string player, by a score of 41–6 en route to winning the Eastern Championship. These accomplishments would prompt Parke Davis to again name the Panthers national champions. Pitt follow up the season with the 1932 Eastern Championship and their third Rose Bowl appearance. In 1934 Pitt won at Nebraska 25–6, shut out Notre Dame 19–0, its third victory in a row over the Irish, and defeated USC 20–6, which resulted in an Eastern Champion as well as being awarded a share of the national championship by Parke Davis.
One of the greatest back-to-back stretches in Pitt football history occurred during the 1936 and 1937 seasons which featured Heisman Trophy candidate and Hall of Fame running back Marshall Goldberg. In 1936, Pitt shut out five of its opponents and finished the regular season winning the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as Eastern Champions and ranked third in the Associated Press Poll, the inaugural year of the poll, whose rankings were finalized before the bowl season. Pitt accepted a bid to the Rose Bowl where it defeated Washington 21–0 which led many selectors to name Pitt as the 1936 national champions. However, it was during this time that the seeds of a rift between Sutherland and the university's administration were being sown, partly initiated by the refusal of the university to supply pocket money for players during the Rose Bowl trip. Pitt followed up the Rose Bowl winning 1936 season with a 9–0–1 record in 1937 that included five shutouts, a repeat Eastern Champions, and a number one ranking in the AP's final poll. Due to the developing rift with the university administration, and the time and expense of the travel, Pitt became the first team to publicly decline a Rose Bowl invitation following a vote of the players. Despite its decision to sit out the postseason, the 1937 Pitt team was widely regarded as consensus national champions.
During this period, Pitt regularly dominated opposing teams, even inducing Notre Dame to drop Pitt from its schedule. However, in 1937 the university began introducing policies to de-emphasize its athletic programs, including the restriction of practices, discouragement of alumni involvement, and the elimination of recruiting and all subsidization of athletics. The implementation of these policies was the beginning of the end for that era of Pitt football prominence, but the Panthers still impressed during the 1938 season behind an assembly of talent at running back labeled the "Dream Backfield". Following the season, the split between the administration and Sutherland became complete, and Sutherland resigned resulting in booster and student outrage.
Sutherland, who was described as "a national hero" in a Saturday Evening Post article, was perhaps the most highly admired and influential coach in the history of the university. During his 15-year tenure at the university, the longest of any football coach at Pitt, he compiled a record of 111–20–12 which included 79 shutouts. Sutherland never lost to rival Penn State and lost only once to West Virginia, and his teams were named Eastern football champions seven times: 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937. During this time, Pitt appeared in four Rose Bowl games (1928, 1930, 1933, and 1937) and turned down a bid for the 1938 Rose Bowl. Sutherland's teams were named "National Champions" by various selectors for nine different seasons including 1925, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1938. Of these, the University of Pittsburgh officially recognizes five of those years as national championship seasons: 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, and 1937.
1940s through 1960s
The policy of deemphasis resulted in a dramatic downturn for Pitt's football fortunes, including a succession of coaches with short stints.
In 1945, with new university chancellor Rufus Fitzgerald at the helm, athletic scholarships and recruiting were reinstated. However, substantial damage had already been done to the football program. During this era Pitt's first African-American player, Jimmy Joe Robinson, led the team in receiving and rushing, and also excelled at returning punts and kickoffs. Walter "Mike" Milligan brought Pitt back to winning records in 1948 and 1949, achieving consecutive 6–3 seasons that included appearances in the national rankings and back-to-back shutouts of Penn State.