Pitt Football Does in Fact Have a General Manager

In the ever-changing world of college athletics, the growing trend has been for football programs to hire a general manager.

Just today, it was reported that North Carolina GM Michael Lombardi is being paid $1.5 million per season, while former Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy was hired as the new general manager for the Oklahoma Sooners football program.

With the yearly roster changes, needing to monitor the transfer portal and keeping track of the NIL salaries, expecting the football coach to be in charge of that is just not realistic.

With all of that being said, it’s been asked, what’s going on with the Pitt football program and when are they going to bring in a general manager?

It appears as though, they already have one, although the athletic department has not made it official.

Pittsburgh Sports Now has learned that former Panther defensive back and Pittsburgh native Doug Whaley is in fact serving as “DeFacto” Pitt’s general manager.

Along with this duty, Whaley is also working for Pitt’s 412 Alliance as senior advisor of player development. In fact, Whaley played a big role in bringing quarterback Eli Holstein to the Pitt program.

The 52-year-old Whaley is a graduate of Upper St. Clair High School and has front office experience serving as the Buffalo Bills general manager for four years, along with working for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 10 years as pro personnel coordinator.

Considering his long history in the NFL and with his scouting background, this is a solid and much needed addition to the Pitt football program. It also doesn’t hurt that Whaley is a life-long resident of Pittsburgh and has vast knowledge of the pro and college football scene in Pittsburgh.