I think the only way this headline gets more Yinzer is if I sandwiched a handful of french fries between the words. The Rooney family, known for their class, made a nice gesture to welcome new Pitt basketball head coach Jeff Capel to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ opener today. Capel, interviewed by AT&T Sportsnet’s Robby Incmikoski said the Rooney’s personally invited him to their Steelers’ suite.
Capel is already rocking the Buccos’ hat too. A nice touch.
After getting the Panthers’ job, Capel confirmed he’s been a life-long Steelers fan.
“As a lifelong Steelers fan, I know Pittsburgh as the ‘City of Champions’ and our goal from day one will be to recruit, coach and develop champions on the court, in the classroom and in the community,” he said at his opening press conference.
Before coming to Pitt, he had served as an assistant coach to Coack K at Duke and was well-known for his ability to recruit, something the Panthers are definitely going to need.
After accepting the job, Capel also said Mike Tomlin personally called to congratulate him, another classy move. But Capel didn’t initially believe it was actually Tomlin.
“He talked to me about Pittsburgh and living here and we’re going to get together,” he said of the conversation.
It’s cheesy and cliche to say, so don’t yell at me for it, but Pittsburgh is the rare city that has a close relationship among all its teams. Tomlin is well-known to have a good relationship with Clint Hurdle, he and Kevin Colbert visiting him in Bradenton for the past couple of years. And there’s, obviously, the suite held by the Rooney’s at PNC Park. The Penguins root for the Steelers when the succeed and vice versa. You see that relationship extend to the college level too.
Capel was treated to a home opener victory with the Pirates knocking off the Twins 5-4. They improve to 4-0 on the season.
