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Friday, November 01, 2002

The best coaching job in the city, pro or college, is being done at Duquesne University. It seems like it's that way every season. Ten years ago, Greg Gattuso took over a program that didn't have a league, didn't have a game or practice field, didn't even have a locker room. He has built it into a small-college football empire.

That begs a question:

Why is Gattuso still at Duquesne?

Shouldn't he be a head coach at a higher level? Perhaps in the Patriot League or the Pioneer League or the Southern Conference? His teams routinely beat teams from those leagues.

Or shouldn't he be an assistant at a major college?

Do you think Gattuso could help Pitt? He's a Pittsburgh guy. He knows the Western Pennsylvania recruiting game. Maybe, just maybe, he could help the Panthers keep a Steve Breaston from running off to Michigan.

Do you think Gattuso could help Penn State? He is Penn State in a lot of ways. He was the starting nose guard on the Nittany Lions' 1982 national championship team. One of his least endearing qualities as a coach is the way he often whines to officials. That gives him plenty in common with Joe Paterno these days.

Do you think Gattuso could help West Virginia? His recruiting ties alone would give the Mountaineers a better chance in recruiting here against Pitt and Penn State.

It's obvious Gattuso has spent some time considering all of those questions. It's not that he doesn't love Duquesne. He clearly does. "They've been better to me here than I deserve," he says.

Just last year, Athletic Director Brian Colleary gave him his Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year bonus even though he didn't win the award. "You're my Coach of the Year," Colleary wrote on the attached note. Words can't describe how much Gattuso appreciated that. But he has to be wondering how much further he can take Duquesne. He also must be wondering why no one mentions his name for a bigger job.

"I'm like anyone else, I have dreams of moving up," said Gattuso, 40. "I think there's a perception I would have a hard time being an assistant after being a head coach for so long. That couldn't be further from the truth. In some ways, I would welcome being an assistant. I'd love to be able to work with the same group of guys every day."

That boss/assistant thing is the socially acceptable explanation for Gattuso's decidedly low profile. There is another explanation that's not discussed in polite circles but is unavoidable in his case.

Gattuso is fat.

Fat people are discriminated against in this world. There are no Jesse Jacksons and Johnnie Cochrans out there fighting for them.

"I've been told my appearance has worked against me," Gattuso said. "I also know there's a perception that big guys are lazy and don't work out. What's amusing to me is that I'm probably in better shape than 80 percent of the people who feel that way. Play me in basketball. Play me in racquetball."

Gattuso, who is 6-foot-3, 350 pounds, grinned.

"Maybe things are changing a little. Look at Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles. Ralph Friedgen at Maryland. Mark Mangino at Kansas ... I tell my coaches, 'Look out! The fat guys are coming!'"

Gattuso certainly has done his part. This might be his best coaching job. It's not just because the Dukes are 8-0, have beaten Bucknell, Dayton and Lafayette, have won 21 consecutive conference games and are headed to their sixth league championship in eight years. He kept the program together after it was rocked in the spring by the arrest of two former players -- Jared Lischner and Craig Elias -- on homicide charges.

"My bosses told me after that happened that this program would be held to the highest possible standards," Gattuso said. "I was prepared to be defensive with them in that meeting, but I walked out of it in total agreement. As I told my players, 'There is nothing wrong with high standards.'"

The Duquesne players have responded.

"I have to believe our discipline as a team is a factor in our success," Gattuso said.

Now, perhaps, it's time for the coach to show just a little more discipline of his own.

"I know I could stand to lose a few pounds. I will."

It could turn out to be his best career move.