The University of Pittsburgh’s football practice facility sits atop a former mill site. On this piece of land, blast furnaces once blew ferociously, and the identity of a region was indelibly forged. It was all about work, blue-collar philosophies and a deep-rooted loyalty to this western Pennsylvania outpost.

Pittsburgh football coach Dave Wannstedt knows this as well as anyone. His father Frank was a steel worker, and Wannstedt became one as well. The summers of his youth were spent shoveling coal into those cauldrons to generate 1,600-degree heat.

“It helped to make me who I am today,” Wannstedt says. “It made us who we are.”

The “us” Wannstedt refers to is Pittsburgh. He always refers to Pittsburgh. He is as much a part of this city as the three rivers, Iron City Beer and Andy Warhol.

He attended nearby Baldwin High School. He then traveled a whole three miles to matriculate at his beloved University of Pittsburgh. And, ultimately, he left a cozy job as an NFL analyst in 2004 — following a 30-year college and professional coaching career that featured top jobs with the NFL’s Bears and Dolphins — to accept the coaching position at the University of Pittsburgh.

“How could I turn it down?” he says.

During Wannstedt’s introductory news conference — on that same piece of land where he once donned a hardhat — he made a pledge not only to win at the University of Pittsburgh, but also to bring back a national title, which has eluded the Panthers since Wannstedt worked as a graduate assistant under Johnny Majors in 1976.

Many skeptics around Pittsburgh scoffed at the national title comment. They wondered: Was Wannstedt’s loyalty to the city and to the university making him delusional?

Pittsburgh hadn’t sniffed a championship in nearly three decades at that time, and, five years into the Wannstedt era, the Panthers are still seeking that return to glory. Pittsburgh went a more-than-respectable 10–3 last season — marking the first double-digit victory campaign since Dan Marino led Pittsburgh to a No. 2 ranking in 1981 — but the loss total represented the 28th consecutive year that Pittsburgh had lost three or more games in a season.

Still, Wannstedt believes he’ll take the Panthers to the Promised Land again. “Nothing has changed since that press conference,” says Wannstedt, whose team finished No. 17 in the final BCS poll last season. “In fact, enough things have happened recently to reaffirm what I said then.”

There is evidence to support Wannstedt’s beliefs. First, Pittsburgh is winning regularly. After three seasons in which the program went a combined 16–19, the Panthers went 9–4 in 2008, then produced that 10–3 mark last season. The Panthers were seconds away from the Big East title and a BCS bowl berth in the regular-season finale, but a one-point loss to Cincinnati foiled those hopes. That setback was followed by a victory over North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Small steps, yet vital, according to one college football historian. “I thought 2009 confirmed that the program is moving forward,” says Beano Cook, the venerated analyst. “Now, the question is: Can they go from this point to a national championship? It would be difficult, but feasible. Things are more challenging today because they don’t have the high school players in Pennsylvania that they used to have. And, Pitt has to play a tough non-conference schedule. That’s imperative. And, to their credit, they are playing tough non-conference games.”

The non-conference schedule this season includes a trip to Utah in the opener, a home game against Miami and a visit to Notre Dame. The Panthers also face the usual suspects in the Big East. They could be favored in as many as 10 games. Maybe 11.

The reason scheduling is crucial in the Big East is the perception of the league. If, for example, teams from the Big East, Big 12 and SEC all finished the regular season undefeated, more than likely an undefeated Big East team would be excluded from the BCS title game. The best way to change that thinking is to win quality games out of conference.

That said, recent history shows that Big East members have been on the cusp of title-game opportunities, despite the defections of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College in 2004-05. West Virginia would have played for the title in 2007, but a home loss to big underdog Pittsburgh in the regular-season finale short-circuited that opportunity. Cincinnati might have qualified last season had Nebraska upset Texas in the Big 12 title game. And Louisville was on its way in 2006 before a late-season, last-second loss to Rutgers.

The Big East has been knocking. Pittsburgh hopes to kick the door in.

“We‘ve seen it first-hand — three Big East teams in the past four years were right there,” says Wannstedt, a Jimmy Johnson disciple who owns two national championship rings (as an assistant at Pittsburgh and Miami) and a Super Bowl ring (’92 Cowboys assistant). “So, there is absolutely no reason why it can’t be done.”

In examining Pittsburgh’s three defeats in ’09, all were tightly contested: A 38–31 loss at NC State in September saw the Panthers squander a 14-point lead in the final 17 minutes; a 19–16 setback at rival West Virginia occurred in the waning seconds on a field goal; and a 45–44 loss to Big East champ Cincinnati at Heinz Field was decided on a leaping catch by the Bearcats’ Armon Binns with 33 seconds remaining.

An undefeated season wasn’t far out of reach. And, in today’s college game, undefeated and one-loss records can lead to national title opportunities — regardless of the conference.

“There will be chances for Pitt, no question,” Cook says. “It’s up to them as to what they do with those chances. You need the smart scheduling, good coaching, quality players …”

Oh, yes, those players. Of Wannstedt’s five full recruiting classes, four have been rated the best in the Big East and among the top 25 in the nation.

On the 2010 team, Wannstedt has a Heisman Trophy candidate in sophomore tailback Dion Lewis, who finished third in the nation in rushing; a Biletnikoff Award candidate in junior wideout Jonathan Baldwin, who averaged 19.5 yards on 57 catches; a multi-award nominee in senior defensive end Greg Romeus; and a supporting cast that is chock-full of three-, four- and five-star recruits.

If there is a criticism of Wannstedt’s recruiting, it’s his inability to land a top-notch quarterback. Pittsburgh thought it might have such a player in once-highly regarded Pat Bostick, but he has not emerged. This season’s freshman class features two intriguing prospects in Anthony Gonzalez and Mark Myers, the latter of whom has folks around Pittsburgh buzzing about his arm strength and savvy. Graduate Bill Stull was effective last fall but had limitations. Promising sophomore Tino Sunseri will start in 2010.

To his credit, Wannstedt has evolved as a recruiter. His first two seasons were spent targeting western Pennsylvania and Florida, but he has since expanded to New York-New Jersey, Ohio (primarily Cleveland) and Washington D.C.-Virginia. He quickly realized that he couldn’t rely solely on western Pennsylvania kids to turn things around, as former coach Johnny Majors did with that ’76 title team, led by nearby Aliquippa native Tony Dorsett.

One of Wannstedt’s great attributes in luring those players is his history with the NFL. All kids want to play on Sundays, so why not play for a coach who not only has NFL general managers and coaches on speed dial, but also runs many of the offensive and defensive sets NFL teams employ?

“That’s appealing to any young player,” says Romeus, the decorated senior defensive end. “When he tells us what it takes to play in the NFL, we listen closely. He’s been a head coach in the NFL. He knows what it takes. So, we feel like we have a head start for that next level. Who wouldn’t want that opportunity?”

As former Pitt star and current Philadelphia Eagles tailback LeSean McCoy puts it, “The stuff I’m doing in the NFL, I already did at Pitt. I didn’t have to go through the adjustment process.”

Moreover, Wannstedt’s pro style is difficult to prepare for. In this world of one-back and no-back offensive sets, Wannstedt runs a traditional NFL offense. Odd as it might sound, Pittsburgh’s conventional offense is actually unconventional in the college game. It’s all about attrition with these Panthers, who ran Lewis 47 times against Cincinnati.

“Most opposing defenses aren’t practicing against our type of offense — because their team isn’t using that style. They’re also not playing against it on game days,” Wannstedt says. “For us, it was about developing that tough mindset and making that style work. It’s all about that mentality. You really have to have that mentality first and foremost.”

That Pittsburgh mentality is one that just might enable Wannstedt to lead his beloved Panthers back to a national championship.

This feature appears in the 2010 Athlon Sports Big East magazine. Click here to purchase your copy.

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