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Dorsett hands off to Pitt's McCoy
Dorsett, McCoy
Chaz Palla/Tribune-Review
Tricia Lafferty can be reached via e-mail or at 412-380-5666.
The past and future of Pitt football sat side by side and spoke of their accomplishments Tuesday during a news conference at Pitt's South Side football facility. Dorsett, a Hall of Famer at the college and professional levels, presented McCoy with a football noting the accomplishments of his fabulous freshman season.
With 14 rushing touchdowns and 90 points last season, McCoy, the Big East Rookie of the Year, broke two of Dorsett's 34-year-old freshman records. Dorsett recorded 78 points and rushed for 13 touchdowns in 1973.
"Greatness is greatness, and we can see right now he's a diamond in the rough," Dorsett said. "I admire what this young man has been able to do. He can be one of the more exciting running backs in college football."
Dorsett, who played 11 seasons with the Cowboys and retired as the NFL's second all-time leading rusher with 12,739 yards, did most of the talking, while McCoy humbly accepted Dorsett's compliments.
Dorsett explained that he'd heard many people compare Pitt running backs to himself over the years, but he'd never seen the comparison. But then came McCoy, and that's when Dorsett was able to draw the parallel.
"I say this is a special time because this is a special young man," Dorsett said. "I've watched him play. Comparisons are just comparisons, and I hate to compare someone to myself ... but this is the first guy that I've seen that reminds me of Tony Dorsett."
McCoy rushed for 1,328 yards on 276 carries last season, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Dorsett saw slightly more action as a freshman, when he rushed for 1,686 yards on 318 attempts while averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
"I don't know where he gets it from," Dorsett said. "I don't know where I got it from, but I saw him jump through a hole one time in one of the games and he just threw a stutter and he took off like a blur and I said, 'That's Tony Dorsett.'"
McCoy now has big shoes to fill after drawing comparisons to Dorsett so early in his collegiate career. Dorsett won the Heisman Trophy during his senior season after he led the nation in rushing with 1,948 yards and helped Pitt to the 1976 national championship. Dorsett was a four-time All-American and finished his college career with 6,082 rushing yards, which stood as an NCAA record until 1998, when it was broken by Ricky Williams of Texas.
"He accomplished so much as far as (being inducted into the) Hall of Fame in college and in the pros and the Heisman," McCoy said. "I can go on and on. ... I'd like to thank Mr. Dorsett for giving me this ball. It means a lot to me. I'm fortunate for my teammates for letting me have the opportunity to break a couple records."
Dorsett, who holds nearly every other Pitt rushing record, is confident that McCoy will continue to improve and perhaps erase his name from the record book a few more times before his career is over.
"There's a lot more records that I hold here, and I'm hoping he'll break all of them," Dorsett said. "If you stay here for four years, which we hope you do, you have a (darn) good chance of doing it."
