Dave Wannstedt was the head man with the Chicago Bears from 1993-1998. During his tenure, the Bears went to the playoffs once, and won just one playoff game- a memorable New Year’s Eve 1994 upset at Minnesota led by the “legendary” Steve Walsh.
After a fun-to-watch 1995 Bears team had a winning record, but failed to reach the postseason, he built up expectations in Chicago with a famous “all the pieces are in place” soundbite. But the Bears suffered a losing season and eventually “this place was in pieces.”
Wanny’s way with words winds him up on FOX Sports it was announced today.
This year, FOX broadcasts a one-hour prime-time pregame show on Saturdays leading into the biggest game of the week. Wannstedt will be a part of that studio show alongside Rob Stone and Joel Klatt.
He showed talent in Chicago, winning the 1994 Coach of the Year award and leaving as the third winningest coach in history. However, the ball never seemed to bounce his way. And you got to feel for him because he’s kind of like football‘s version of a “wacky neighbor” character on a primetime network sitcom.
Maybe I get this perception of him because Wannstedt kind of looks like Schneider from “One Day at a Time,” one of the most classic television characters of all time. He even has the same exact mustache.
Again, I don’t think he’s a bad coach, not at all. He had some success in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, and led Pitt to a 10-3 record and a #15 final national ranking in 2009. The program hadn’t seen highs like that since the Dan Marino era. Let’s see what Wannstedt does with his new Fox gig.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)