Pitt’s Jeff Capel talks about love of wine, fine art, friendship with Mike Tomlin
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When Jeff Capel sits down for one of his regular chats with reporters, the subject is always basketball.
Eventually, however, the conversation Monday flowed toward Capel’s love of wine and fine artwork and his friendship with Mike Tomlin.
Right, no kidding.
All three topics are parts of Capel’s life away from the basketball court, but each showed him how much joy he has discovered while rebuilding the Pitt program.
Here are the stories:
‘I love wine …’
Capel said when he accepted the Pitt job in 2018, inheriting a team that was winless over 19 ACC games, he knew what awaited him.
“You were basically starting from nothing,” he said. “That’s the reality. That’s not a slight. When I got here, the culture that Ben (Howland) and Jamie (Dixon) had created, which was one of the best cultures in the country, was gone. It didn’t exist here anymore.
“One of the hardest things to do is to build that, and it takes time. Sometimes, you make some mistakes.”
Then, he told the story about what “a wise woman” once told him.
“It’s like … you take over a vineyard.”
“If you’re there and no one’s been taking care of it for a long time, everything is grown and it’s nasty,” Capel said relating the woman’s story. “The very first thing you have to do is clean everything up. Then, you can start planting some seeds.
“It may a take a while for it to grow. When it starts to grow, you’re probably not producing great wine yet because the grapes aren’t great. At least you’re producing wine.
“Eventually, if you keep tending to it, taking care of it, then you can start to produce some really good wine.”
The analogy fits what Capel has experienced while rebuilding Pitt’s program.
Before his first season (2018-19) began, five of the six players who had played the most minutes under former coach Kevin Stallings the previous year were gone. Likewise, 11 players who were part of the 2020-21 team are no longer with the team, including Justin Champagnie, who opted for the NBA Draft.
“I love wine, so maybe this is why this stuck with me,” Capel said. “Basically, it takes time and you have to get the right pieces.”
‘What does that piece mean?’
Capel and his wife, Kanika, like to have players over to their house to share a meal and goodwill.
On one such occasion, point guard Nelly Cummings wanted a tour of the house. So, along with guard Jamarius Burton, the Capels showed them around their home.
“(Nelly) starts talking to me and my wife about our art work and wanting to know what does this piece say to you,” Capel said. “I looked at my wife (as if to say), ‘What the (heck)?’
“This has never happened, but it was cool to be able to talk and explain and get their opinions on what they see.
“It’s been fun. That’s why we have to protect what we have and keep being about the right stuff.”
Hanging out with Mike
One day in the offseason, Tomlin invited Capel to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ facility to watch practice.
“I remembered asking him about Najee Harris,” Capel said.
“He’s going to be really good,” Tomlin said.
“Why do you say that?”
“He’s never in a hurry.”
Curious, Capel dug deeper. “What do you mean by that?”
“He’s never in a hurry to leave here,” Tomlin said. “When he’s here, he’s locked in. He’s paying attention. He’s learning. He takes advice. He takes stuff from the older guys. When practice is over, he’s never in a hurry to leave the building, gets extra work, treatment, on-the-field stuff, film work.”
Capel said the Harris example stuck with him and had special meaning last Saturday after the Pitt’s victory against Miami.
After the game, Capel worked in his office while his son, Elijah, shot baskets below him on the Petersen Events Center court.
“I was ready to go, but my son was shooting. I wanted to let him stay out here and shoot,” Capel said.
“Finally, I had to wrangle him and get him (to go home). So, I go downstairs. I go in the locker room. I was just going to grab something to drink, and it’s four guys (players) just sitting around in there, watching TV, talking. Two hours after the game.”
Seeing that meant something to Capel.
“We have a group of guys who aren’t in a hurry,” he said. “They want to work. They want to be good.
“It’s fun being around guys who want to be around each other.”