Pittsburgh Panthers
| Pittsburgh Panthers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| First season | 2014 |
| Head coach | 2nd season, 6–7 (.462) |
| Stadium | Heinz Field (Capacity: 65,500) |
| Year built | 2001 |
| Field surface | Natural Grass |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| League | NCAA |
| Division | Coastal |
| All-time record | 65–40 (.619) |
| Bowl record | 3–4 (.429) |
| Playoff appearances | 1 |
| Playoff record | 0 |
| Division titles | 2 |
| Consensus All-Americans | 1 |
| Colors | Blue and Gold |
| Fight song | Hail To Pitt The Panther Son The Victory Song |
| Mascot | ROC the Panther |
| Rivals | West Virginia Penn State Notre Dame Syracuse Cincinnati |
The Pittsburgh Panthers, coached by TheLiberator, are a collegiate football team playing in the ACC. The Panthers play in Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and are a member of the Coastal Division of the ACC.
Contents
History
2014-2020: Jumbo era
3 games into the 2014 Pittsburgh Panthers season, the team hired an actual coach with Jumbo taking the helm. The team has enjoyed 7 winning seasons under the coach; additionally, the team has won 2 Coastal division titles.
2014-2016: Beginnings; James Dale Era
2014
The first season in Pitt's history, it was mostly noted for Pitt notching their first bowl victory (against Texas in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas). They also achieved their first ever coaches' poll ranking at #25 in Week 8 before falling to the Miami Hurricanes.
2015
The second season in Pitt's history was marked by their first ever Coastal division title. This division title was won on technicality after DollaBill-gate forced North Carolina to forfeit all postseason play. James Dale set a Pitt record with 25 TD passes.
2016
The Panthers started the season ranked #20 and have moved as high as #11 in the rankings. Pitt also earned the best win in program history when they defeated Notre Dame 52-50 in triple overtime. Pitt claimed The CFBHC Championship Belt in this game, though they relinquished it in a loss to Penn State two weeks later. Pitt would be the only team to beat the Fighting Irish that season as Notre Dame would go on to win the National Title.
2017-2018: Luke Williams
Pitt had 2 similar seasons to the Dale era with Luke Williams at QB, going 7-6 and 9-4 with no real notable upsets outside of a 2017 win over then-#21 Penn State (the first in team history) and a 2018 bowl win over #15 Texas.
2019-2020: Grant McConnell
Pitt won their second ever Coastal title in 2019 with JUCO transfer and first-ever scrambler Grant McConnell at the helm.
In 2020, the team recorded their first ever 10-win season and qualified for the national playoffs as the #5 seed. The team also achieved their highest coaches poll ranking at #3.
2021-Present: TheLiberator era
Starting his first season in 2021 after Jumbo moved to USC, TheLiberator was excited to make a splash in the CFB world by coaching his hometown team after a 10-3 season with the Army Black Knights. However with a dissapointing start to the season with a 4 game losing streak the team came back to make 6-6 and keep the bowl streak alive. Playing and losing to ex-coach Jumbo in the Sun Bowl.
Season-by-Season Records
| Coach(es) | Year | Conference | Record | Conference Record | Bowl | Final CP Ranking | ||
| Wins | Losses | Wins | Losses | |||||
| Pittsburgh Panthers | ||||||||
| Jumbo | 2014 | ACC | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | Won Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas vs. Texas (35-21) | - |
| 2015 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | Won Mile High Bowl vs. Arizona State (28-13) | - | ||
| 2016 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 2 | Lost Hyundai Sun Bowl vs. UCLA (13-24) | #19 | ||
| 2017 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 2 | Lost Weis Markets Bowl vs. Tennessee (10-31) | - | ||
| 2018 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 2 | Won Russell Athletic Bowl vs. Texas (23-20) | - | ||
| 2019 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 1 | Lost Orange Bowl vs. Vanderbilt (7-27) | - | ||
| 2020 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 1 | Won Quarterfinals vs. Western Michigan 24-23; Lost Orange Bowl vs. UCF 23-28 | #4 | ||
| TheLiberator | 2021 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | Lost Sun Bowl vs USC 10-31 | ||
| Total | 65 | 40 | 40 | 18 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Champions | Conference Champions | Bowl game berth |
All-Time Records
Series Records vs ACC Opponents
Pitt joined the ACC for full play in 2014. Here is their record against each opponent.
| School | Total Games | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA | First Year | Last Year | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Clemson | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 40 | 65 | 2019 | 2019 | L2 |
| Duke | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | .857 | 208 | 100 | 2014 | 2021 | L1 |
| Florida State | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 24 | 41 | 2015 | 2015 | L1 |
| Georgia Tech | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | .833 | 224 | 143 | 2014 | 2019 | W1 |
| Louisville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | - | - | - |
| Miami | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | 123 | 131 | 2014 | 2019 | W1 |
| NC State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | - | - | - |
| North Carolina | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | .429 | 178 | 176 | 2014 | 2021 | W3 |
| Syracuse | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 168 | 125 | 2014 | 2018 | W3 |
| Virginia | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | .833 | 127 | 87 | 2014 | 2019 | W5 |
| Virginia Tech | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | .667 | 140 | 132 | 2014 | 2019 | W2 |
| Wake Forest | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 48 | 49 | 2021 | 2021 | L1 |
| 13 Opponents | 46 | 29 | 17 | 0 | .659 | 1177 | 938 | 2014 | 2021 | 7 Seasons |
Series Records vs Non-Conference Opponents
| School | Total Games | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA | First Year | Last Year | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 35 | 17 | 2021 | 2021 | W1 |
| Auburn | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 59 | 31 | 2017 | 2018 | L1 |
| Arizona State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 28 | 13 | 2015 | 2015 | W1 |
| BYU | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 17 | 10 | 2014 | 2014 | W1 |
| Fresno State | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 86 | 34 | 2015 | 2016 | W2 |
| Kansas | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 31 | 48 | 2014 | 2016 | W1 |
| Liberty | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 48 | 13 | 2021 | 2021 | W1 |
| Michigan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 34 | 41 | 2015 | 2016 | W1 |
| Navy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 27 | 14 | 2014 | 2014 | W1 |
| Notre Dame | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | .600 | 119 | 116 | 2015 | 2019 | W2 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 17 | 27 | 2019 | 2019 | L1 |
| Penn State | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | 148 | 176 | 2014 | 2021 | L3 |
| TCU | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 19 | 17 | 2019 | 2019 | W1 |
| Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 10 | 31 | 2017 | 2017 | L1 |
| Temple | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 14 | 26 | 2021 | 2021 | L1 |
| Texas | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 61 | 69 | 2014 | 2018 | W2 |
| UCLA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 21 | 34 | 2016 | 2016 | L1 |
| Utah | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 24 | 7 | 2015 | 2015 | W1 |
| Vanderbilt | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 7 | 27 | 2019 | 2019 | L1 |
| Washington | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 34 | 28 | 2017 | 2018 | W1 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 83 | 40 | 2017 | 2019 | W2 |
| 18 Opponents | 40 | 21 | 19 | 0 | .525 | 801 | 757 | 2014 | 2021 | 7 Seasons |
Bowl History
The team has appeared in a bowl game every year of its existence, going 3-3.
| Season | Bowl | Opponent | Result | ||
| 2014 | Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas | Texas | W, 35-21 | ||
| 2015 | Mile High Bowl | Arizona State | W, 28-13 | ||
| 2016 | Hyundai Sun Bowl | UCLA | L, 13-24 | ||
| 2017 | Weis Markets Bowl | Tennessee | L, 10-31 | ||
| 2018 | Russell Athletic Bowl | Texas | W, 23-20 | ||
| 2019 | Orange Bowl | Vanderbilt | L, 7-27 | ||
| 2021 | Sun Bowl | USC | L, 10-31 | ||
| 2021 | Sun Bowl | USC | L, 10-31 | ||
| Total | 7 Bowl Games | 3–4 | |||
Individual Award Winners
National Awards
All-Americans
- 2018
1st Team All-ACC
|
|
Records and Draftees
