Bob Ligashesky Joins Football Staff
9/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Bob Ligashesky Joins Football Staff
9/10/2001
It was about a year-and-a-half ago when Bob Ligashesky got the phone call. After spending nine years on Head Coach Gary Blackney's staff at Bowling Green, Ligashesky had accepted a position at Boise State, under the tutelage of head coach Dirk Koetter.
Then the phone rang.
On the other end was Pittsburgh head coach Walt Harris and he was calling to offer Ligashesky a job on his staff. For the native of McKees Rocks, it was more than a chance to work at a program that was on the rise among the college ranks. It was an opportunity to come home.
"I got the call on a Wednesday, interviewed on Thursday, got an offer on Friday and started on Monday," Ligashesky said, describing the week that brought him back home to the Steel City.
"I always wanted to come home," Ligashesky said. "It gives me a chance to make my family proud."
Not only has he been making his family proud but Ligashesky has been pleasing everyone since his appointment as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator at Pittsburgh. After serving as a defensive coach in previous stints at Arizona State, Kent State and Bowling Green, Ligashesky got a chance to prove his abilities on the offensive side of the ball.
"Who better to learn about the offense from than a man like Coach Harris?" Ligashesky said. "He made me feel really good about making the transition to offense."
Ligashesky said that he's had to adapt his style of thinking while coaching offense.
"It's just a new mentality," he said. "It's very exciting for me."
When tight end Kris Wilson won the Ed Conway Award, representing the most improved player in spring drills, it further validated Ligashesky's ability to coach regardless of the position. The modest Ligashesky brushed aside the notion that his teaching helped Wilson to win the award.
"Nah, that just says a lot about Kris," Ligashesky said. "All of the guys I coach have a great attitude."
Ligashesky has also helped the Panthers' special teams play rise to an exceptional level. Those units played an integral role in Pittsburgh's drive to the postseason in 2000 and should display even greater improvement this year.
"It's one-third of a football game," Ligashesky likes to say.
His arrival has coincided with a new emphasis on special teams during Pittsburgh's weekly preparation regimen. During his first Panther fall camp last year, he showed the team a special teams film featuring the teachings of NFL head coach Dick Vermeil. Vermeil, presently the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, is a big believer in the importance of special teams.
Ligashesky's efforts have helped inject a new enthusiasm and structure into those units. In addition to daily special teams meetings, select practice periods are dedicated to the kicking game for all players, not just specialists like placekicker Nick Lotz and punter Andy Lee.
Lighashesky's enthusiasm for the program goes far beyond the players. The excitement in his voice is obvious as he discusses the future of Pittsburgh football.
"Growing up, I always rooted for Pitt," he said. "I'd go with my family to see the Panthers play up on the hill [at Pitt Stadium]. So it's very exciting now for me to be a part of this renaissance."
The new facilities for the Panthers' football program, ranging from the UPMC Sports Performance Complex to the state-of-the-art, 65,000-seat Heinz Field, are one of the main reasons that Ligashesky is so excited about the future of the program.
"I've been to a number of different places, and I've seen a bunch of facilities," Ligashesky said. "But the ones we have here are as nice as I've ever seen."
Ligashesky said that it's time for the Panthers to stop discussing the future, because it is here now.
"Our future is right now, the present time. It's time for us to move up," he said.
As a person who lives and breathes football all day long, Ligashesky says he's in heaven when he's working at the UPMC complex.
"If you love football, it's a great place to be," Ligashesky said. "Between us and the Steelers, there is constantly some type of football being played or discussed. It's great for me."
While Ligashesky enjoys the daily grind of practicing and coaching the players, part of his job is to hit the road in the offseason for recruiting. His recruiting areas include New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey, which aren't traditional football hotbeds. To make the issue even more complicated, Ligashesky wasn't familiar with the area at all when he made his first trip as a Panther recruiter.
"I told our secretary to get me a car with a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system so I would know where I was going," he said. "And I still took a lot of wrong turns."
Fortunately for everyone associated with Pittsburgh football, Ligashesky is making all the right turns now as the Panthers prepare to move into the upper echelon of college football programs.