Wannstedt's wife Jan carries high football IQ

In victory or defeat, Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt braces himself for the inevitable critique.

Why didn't the offense do this• Why did the defense do that?

Typically, the coach's wife is satisfied with the answers. There are times, however, when she's far more critical, suggesting he break down the game plan.

Jan Wannstedt knows football.

"Dave will call me a football junkie because I watch college and NFL games on television," she said. "But I do find myself taking a few notes and asking him why would they do this or do that. That's as far as I'll go. It's as far as I'd want to go."

But when she was encouraged years ago by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to share her football knowledge with other women, Jan Wannstedt leaped at the opportunity. At that moment, Dave Wannstedt knew, sooner or later, he'd be second-guessed by his biggest supporter.

"My first thought was the more she knows, the more she'll be questioning me when I come home from a bad game," Wannstedt said. "I hear from her and my daughters long before I hear from the fans and the media.

"When Jan talks about officials, and that some calls are good and others are bad, believe me, she knows. When she talks about game planning, she understands it. She isn't just reading out of a book. She has lived it for 35 years."

Jan Wannstedt embraces the game with passion, riding the unpredictable waves that have carried the family from the shores of Miami to the Lone Star State to the Windy City, then back to the Steel City where they first met at Baldwin High School.

"She's a lot more involved than other coaches' wives," Wannstedt said, "and that's a good thing. She knows what I'm going through, and it has helped us during our journey."

As she has at most every stop during Wannstedt's coaching career, Jan Wannstedt will conduct a Football 101 clinic on Tuesday at the Duratz Athletic Complex. The class is designed to teach women football's fundamentals.

"When she started asking me if I could help her put together some tapes," said Wannstedt, now in his fifth year at his alma mater, "that's when I knew we had created a monster."

In fact, a sports junkie had been created years ago. Jan Wannstedt listened to Pirates and Steelers games while many of her childhood friends jumped rope and dressed up baby dolls.

Long before her first date with Dave Wannstedt, sports became an important part of her life. Now, football is the center of her family's life. It's an extended family that includes daughters Keri and Jami, the Pitt coaching staff and nearly 90 football players.

"The football staff really becomes a part of your family," she said. "As a mother, it's remarkable to see the transformations of these young men over four years. My heart aches for them when they lose.

"Our girls are pretty intense about football. It's one thing I like about Dave's occupation - that we've been able to share the game with them."

Keri and Jami, both now living in Chicago, also share the anxieties. As Pitt was fighting to survive a four-overtime marathon at Notre Dame last season, they charged up and down the stands, providing play-by-play to one another while their mother nervously paced along the benches.

"Before our daughters would get too serious with anybody, they would let guys know this isn't just a game to them," said Wannstedt, whose mother attends most Pitt games. "They are not a whole lot of fun to watch games with unless things are going good.

"We've moved all over the country, and our kids figured out at an early age that your job is determined by winning and losing. There are so many things you don't have control over. You lose your quarterback, you lose games - you lose your job. There's a lot of stress on the family."

Fortunately, for the Wannstedts, winning has overshadowed losing: a Super Bowl title with Dallas in 1993 and national championships with the University of Miami (1987) and Pitt (1976).

"Every job has had its high and lows," Wannstedt said. "But my wife has always been a stabilizing force."

For Jan Wannstedt, she envisions Pittsburgh as the family's last port of call.

"This is the only college job Dave ever wanted," she said. "When the opportunity came, we felt we had come full circle. We were gone for 27 years, and it's been exciting to be back. He's committed to Pitt."

Jan Wannstedt shares her passion for the game with her students. She decided to create Football 101 while the family vacationed in the Cayman Island during the early 1990s.

"I thought I understood the game, but I was just a fan," she said. "We were on the beach when I started talking about doing something like football for women and putting together a booklet.

"I remember taking a notepad and asking a ton of questions. Fortunately, Dave was open about discussing it with me. It wasn't like I was nagging him about it."

In Miami, she taught Football 101 and 201, with the payoff being tickets to a Dolphins game. This year's clinic participants will receive two tickets to next Saturday's Pitt-Connecticut game at Heinz Field.

Monika McKillop, who has two sons, Chris and Scott, who played at Pitt, said the clinic is more than football.

"Jan knows what she's talking about, and she makes it fun," said McKillop, who twice enrolled in the one-day clinic. "It's also nice to be with a bunch of women discussing football, because women aren't supposed to know about football.

"For me, it was kind of neat to learn about penalties. Now, my husband thinks I know too much about football."

Jan Wannstedt said she likes the fact that most of the women in her clinic experience a part of the game that their husbands probably never will - like touring the Pitt locker room and meeting the coaches and players.

"I try to give the women an experience that will floor their husbands and boyfriends," she said.

She acknowledged that sometimes the game appears foreign to many of the more than 150 women who are expected to register for the clinic.

"In the past, some have been lucky to know what a football is or how many minutes are in a quarter," Jan Wannstedt said. "When women ask about blitzes or nickel defenses, then I know they have more knowledge of the game."

When asked whether women in Pittsburgh or Dallas are more knowledgeable, Wannstedt answered without hesitation: "Of course, they're more knowledgeable about football in Pittsburgh."

Jan Wannstedt doesn't script Football 101. Mostly, she wings it, which creates a relaxed atmosphere. A Big East referee, Pitt players and coaches — including Wannstedt — are expected to participate.

Like life and marriage, the Wannstedts, who will celebrate their 36th anniversary on Dec. 1, approach the clinic as a team. It is part of their quality time during a football season that often consumes them both.

"That is what's unique about this class is that Jan understands football and my job," Wannstedt said. "With her understanding it, she can help women communicate better with their husbands and boyfriends."

Back to school

What: Football 101, with Jan Wannstedt

When: Tuesday, 6-8 p.m.; Registration, 5:30 p.m.

Where: Duratz Athletic Complex in Pittsburgh

Cost: $25 (includes food and beverages)

How: To sign up for the event, contact Kim Deri in the Panther Club office at 412-648-8889 or www.PittsburghPanthers.com