PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dave Wannstedt is out as Pitt football coach following a disappointing season in which the Panthers were big favorites to win a weak Big East Conference, only to finish 7-5 and qualify for a minor bowl.

Pitt called a 5:30 p.m. EST news conference to announce that the former Bears and Dolphins coach was stepping down, under pressure from athletic director Steve Pederson. Wannstedt, highly respected by Pitt’s administration, is expected to stay with the school in a non-coaching position.

Pitt apparently chose to change coaches now, rather than after the Jan. 8 Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., because most top candidates would have been hired by then. Also, the national letter-of-intent signing day would be less than a month away.

Wannstedt’s tenure was marked by upset losses to teams such as Ohio University and Bowling Green and a failure to play in a BCS bowl — something the Panthers did under lame-duck coach Walt Harris before Wannstedt took over in 2005. Wannstedt went 42-31 in six seasons.

The Panthers didn’t have a winning record during Wannstedt’s first three seasons, then failed to meet expectations even while going 9-4 in 2008 and 10-3 in 2009. Last-minute losses to West Virginia and Cincinnati to end the 2009 regular season cost Pitt the Big East title and a BCS berth after the Panthers moved into the AP Top 10.