1996 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

American college football season

1996 Pittsburgh Panthers football
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	4–7 (3–4 Big East)
Head coach	Johnny Majors (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Ken Karcher (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Chuck Driesbach (4th season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Home stadium	Pitt Stadium
Seasons ← 1995 1997 →

1996 Big East Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 Virginia Tech +	6	–	1	10	–	2
No. 14 Miami (FL) +	6	–	1	9	–	3
No. 21 Syracuse +	6	–	1	9	–	3
West Virginia	4	–	3	8	–	4
Pittsburgh	3	–	4	4	–	7
Boston College	2	–	5	5	–	7
Rutgers	1	–	6	2	–	9
Temple	0	–	7	1	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The season proved to be a major disappointment as the Panthers finished 4–7, 8th in the Big East. They finished 3–4 within their conference and were 1–3 in non-conference affairs. In their 4th game, the Panthers were annihilated by Ohio State, 72–0. This was the worst loss in school history.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	7:30 p.m.	West Virginia	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA (Backyard Brawl)	ESPN	L 0–34	54,612	^[1]
September 7	7:00 p.m.	Kent State*	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 52–14	24,374
September 14	7:00 p.m.	Houston*	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		L 35–42 ^OT	27,648
September 21	12:30 p.m.	at No. 7 Ohio State*	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ESPN	L 0–72	93,959
September 28	12:00 p.m.	at No. 10 Miami (FL)	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	ESPN Plus	L 0–45	32,747
October 5	1:30 p.m.	Temple	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 53–52	30,054
October 12	12:00 p.m.	at Syracuse	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY (rivalry)	ESPN Plus	L 7–55	45,103
October 26	12:00 p.m.	at Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium Blacksburg, VA	ESPN Plus	L 17–34	43,625	^[2]
October 31	8:00 p.m.	Boston College	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	ESPN	W 20–13	26,313
November 16	2:30 p.m.	at No. 14 Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 6–60	59,075
November 30	12:00 p.m.	Rutgers	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA		W 24–9	21,772
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Coaching staff

1996 Pittsburgh Panthers football staff

Coaching staff Johnny Majors – Head coach Charlie Coe – Assistant head coach/running backs Bob Babich – Linebackers/special teams Curt Cignetti – Tight ends/recruiting coordinator Joe D'Alessandris – Offensive line Chuck Dreisbach – Defensive coordinator Ken Karcher – Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks Gary Nord – Wide receivers Tony Pierce – Defensive backs Tom Turchetta – Defensive line	Support staff Jim Earle – Assistant Athletic Director/football operations Brian Callahan – Graduate assistant Andy Rondeau – Graduate assistant	Strength and conditioning staff Tim Wilson – Strength and conditioning Coach Mark Kostek – Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach

Roster

1996 Pittsburgh Panthers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`21`	Chiffon Allen	Fr
WR	`23`	Curtis Anderson	Sr
RB	`39`	Chris Beasley	Sr
OL	`60`	Jeff Craig	Sr
QB	`1`	Darnell Dinkins	Fr
QB	`10`	Pete Gonzalez	Jr
OL	`74`	Ben Kopp	Fr
QB	`8`	Matt Lytle	So
TE	`88`	Kirk McMullen	Fr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DL	`58`	Jason Chavis	Sr
LB	`95`	Phil Clarke	So
LB	`80`	Ernest Coakley	Jr
DL	`98`	Mike Mohring	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Johnny Majors

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: 1996-12-19

Team players drafted into the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
No Players Selected

^[3]

References

^ "WVU stomps Pitt". Indiana Gazette. September 1, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Hokies have little trouble with lowly Panthers". The Daily News Leader. October 27, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1996 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

v t e Pittsburgh Panthers football
Venues	Recreation Park (1898–1899) Exposition Park (1900) Schenley Park (1901) Coliseum (1902–1903) Exposition Park (1904–1908) Forbes Field (1909–1924) Pitt Stadium (1925–1999) Three Rivers Stadium (2000) Acrisure Stadium (2001–present) UPMC Rooney Sports Complex (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Notre Dame Old Ironsides Penn State Syracuse West Virginia: Backyard Brawl
Culture & lore	Panthers "Hail to Pitt" "Pitt Victory Song" Marching band 1921 Backyard Brawl 2007 Backyard Brawl Highest-scoring game
People	Head coaches All-Americans NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold