Pitt linebacker coach adjusts, excels
ESM Client, Joe Tumpkin, LB Coach Univ of Pittsburgh Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tribune-Review

ESM Client, Joe Tumpkin, LB Coach Univ of Pittsburgh

No one on Pitt's football staff faced more adversity in his first season than linebackers coach Joe Tumkpin.

Less than one game into his debut last year, Tumpkin had lost two-thirds of his starting linebackers to season-ending injuries.

This season, he is working with two redshirt sophomores, including a first-year starter, and a senior coming off a broken neck playing middle linebacker for the first time.

"He's had a difficult situation here," coach Dave Wannstedt said of Tumpkin.

Through it all, despite injuries and inexperience, the Pitt linebackers - Adam Gunn, Max Gruder, Greg Williams and top reserve Dan Mason - have emerged as a solid group under Tumkpin's guidance.

The linebackers will need to take another step when Pitt (4-1, 1-0 Big East) plays host to Connecticut (3-1, 0-0) at 3:30 p.m. today at Heinz Field.

"We're all growing comfortable with the system," said Gruder, a first-year starter at outside linebacker. "I attribute a lot of my improvements to Coach Tumpkin."

Tumpkin worked with Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Bennett for three years at Southern Methodist University before following him to Pitt prior to the 2008 season.

Tumkpin, 38, was greeted with season-ending injuries to both starting outside linebackers, Shane Murray (training camp) and Gunn (first game).

Tumpkin molded Austin Ransom, a former walk-on and converted safety, into the team's second-leading tackler. He also eased Williams' transition to linebacker after arriving at Pitt as a running back.

It didn't get much easier this year. Gunn was off to a great start before missing two games with an ankle sprain.

But Gunn has returned, Williams is coming along after a slow start, and Gruder is second on the team with 31 tackles.

The early-season results, once again, highlight Tumpkin's ability to get the most out of his players.

"He's never really had the luxury of having two or three guys returning as a group," Wannstedt said.

Tumpkin learned the value of hard work at an early age. The Miami native always wanted to earn a doctorate and be an engineer or a lawyer. He attended Division II Michigan Tech, where he was a four-year starter at defensive tackle.

He was hired as a graduate assistant at Division III Lakeland (Wisc.) College in 1994, where he worked toward a master's degree.

"Football has always been a venue for me to get my education," he said. "But before my first coaching game, I had that feeling like I was playing. I will never forget it. I found out I couldn't get rid of it. The rest is history."

Tumpkin moved around, coaching at four schools - Lakeland, Northern Michigan, Defiance and Western Michigan - in four years. He finally landed a full-time job at Southern Illinois in 1998, where he coached star linebacker Bart Scott, now of the New York Jets.

Tumpkin was hired by Bennett, then-head coach at SMU, in 2005. Three years later, he was headed to Central Florida as an assistant when Bennett called about the opening at Pitt.

Tumpkin has come a long way from the days at Lakeland College when he earned $1,200 a year (plus room and board) and lived with two football coaches and the head wrestling coach in a small suite sharing one bathroom. He holds higher goals.

"I'd like to be a head coach," he said. "But I know there's a process to it. I always believed there's a reason for the path that you've taken. When the time is right, the time will be right."

For now, for the Pitt linebackers, coach Joe Tumpkin is just right.


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