Dominic Campbell Joins Inside the Panthers

Dominic Campbell introduces himself as the new Pitt Panthers writer for Inside the Panthers

Nov 10, 2018; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers helmets on the sidelines against the / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- Sports journalism is incredibly strenuous, difficult and arduous work. Still, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life since I was a child.

Growing up, sports revolved around everything I did. I started reading the newspaper at a young age, looking up scores from baseball games and other sports the night before, memorizing stats, players and moments that would impress on me my love for the craft.

Hailing from Pittsburgh, I grew up a fan of the three major professional sport franchises, the Pirates, the Penguins and the Steelers, but especially the Pitt Panthers.

I spent countless hours throughout my childhood watching the many great football players like Larry Fitzgerald, Lesean McCoy, Aaron Donald, Tyler Boyd, as well as the countless basketball stars from Brandin Knight, Chevon Troutman, Shavonte Zellous, Aaron Gray, Sam Young, Levance Fields, Dejuan Blair, Ashton Gibbs and many more.

There were many great moments of course in Pittsburgh Sports, especially for the Steelers and Penguins who have won two Super Bowls and three Stanley Cups in my lifetime.

While the Pirates spent the first 16 seasons of my life with a losing record, I’ll never forget Oct. 1, 2013, the first postseason game in PNC Park’s history. The blackout, the record sellout crowd, the Cueto chants, the Russell Martin home run, the deafening cheers from the crowd and just basking in those three plus hours of pure bliss after a previous lifetime of misery meant the world to me.

Pitt, on the other hand, has given me some of my most heart-wrenching moments as a fan. 

I was there at Heinz Field on Dec. 5, 2009, when No. 14 Pitt football faced off against No. 5 Cincinnati in the de-facto Big East Title game. I saw that 31-10 lead close to halftime vanish, the botched snap on what looked to be the go-ahead touchdown and Tony Pike throwing all over the Pitt defense with Marty Gilyard and Armon Binns putting in big performances to make the improbable comeback to win it.

The basketball heartaches are something that every Pitt fan can relate to. While there are many moments for fans to reminisce about, the losses to Villanova in the Elite Eight in 2009 and to Butler in the Second Round in 2011 hurt the most. I cried both times. 

Despite the pain that never ceases till this day, I still wanted to write about sports and what better place to do that than attending Pitt?

I spent three years writing for The Pitt News from 2017-20, covering a wide array of topics, but most specifically, women’s basketball. 

Credit goes especially to my first Sports Editor at The Pitt News, Steve Rotstein, who is currently on strike and doing great work covering the WPIAL for Pittsburgh Union Progress. He gave me my first assignment, covering then Steel Valley star Paris Ford on his signing day for Pitt football and showed me how to write a story and how to get through to the reader what I wanted to convey.

Graduating in 2020 made it more difficult to pursue my passion, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I spent the last part of my final semester working long shifts at the Giant Eagle at the Waterfront (Homestead, Pa.) and completing my studies instead of enjoying time with my friends and working to get a job in an industry rocked by a global virus. 

Once sports started to pick up again towards the end of 2021, with an incredible Pitt football season culminating in the ACC Championship, I decided I wanted to give sports writing another shot.

Luckily, I knew Alan Saunders from my time covering Pitt women’s basketball and had struck a friendship due to us complaining about whatever sport topic we could discuss. 

He gave me the opportunity in December 2021 to write again, and for that, I can never truly thank him enough. 

I took advantage of the opportunities that Alan gave me over the years working for Pittsburgh Sports Now. I started out doing whatever I could, and then eventually, took on the role of covering various Pitt sports, particularly volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, wrestling and women’s basketball. I also would end up covering WPIAL football and Duquesne basketball more extensively over this past year.

Karl Ludwig served as my “co-worker”, as we wrote extensively on Pitt football together the past two seasons, doing games, recruiting, practices and other coverage. Working with Karl was a pleasure and I’ve learned a lot reading his fantastic work and seeing how diligently he performs his craft, each and every day.

I also got the chance to travel for Pittsburgh Sports Now, going to a number of different places I hadn’t visited prior and seeing some incredible moments. This includes the past two volleyball Final Fours, NCAA and ACC Wrestling Championships, Atlantic-10 Men’s Basketball Tournaments and also the 2022 Men’s College Cup too.

Witnessing Duquesne win the A-10 Tournament in March at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., ending a 47-year drought without a Championship and an appearance in the NCAA tournament was an incredible moment. So too was watching Nino Bonaccorsi finish off an undefeated season as the National Champion at 197 pounds for Pitt wrestling in Tulsa, Okla. in March 2023.

These past two and a half years with Pittsburgh Sports Now have been some of the best of my life. Growing each day as a journalist, creating new relationships with new coaches and players and meeting colleagues in my field from across the region and the country is everything I’ve wanted to do since I was young.

This is why I want to announce that I am officially starting a new position with FanNation, covering Pitt athletics full-time.

I’ll now have the opportunity to cover the football and men’s basketball beats full-time, as well as continuing my coverage of various Pitt sports that I’ve done previously. I’ll also spend time covering the Steelers as well, another chance to cover a team I’ve watched for more than two decades.

I want to thank Noah Strackbein for having the confidence in me to offer this position, to continue the work I’ve done the past two years and to build upon that going forward. I also want to thank Stephen Thompson, who I've had the pleasure writing with previously for The Pitt News from 2018-20.

My parents also deserve immense praise for their love and care while I try to make a living in a difficult industry to do so. They’ve supported me the entire way and I wouldn’t have the chance to pursue this without them. So to mom and dad, I love you and I won’t let you down. 

I’m excited for the future and what holds for coverage of Pitt athletics. Will the new offense under Kade Bell work for football? How will basketball move on from Blake Hinson and Bub Carrington? Will volleyball win a National Championship next year? What about for men’s and women’s soccer? How does wrestling grow going into next season? What strides will head coach Tory Verdi make in his second season in charge of women’s basketball?

I’m also ecstatic to keep writing about Pitt and give you, the reader, the best insight into the programs I cover on a daily basis. Whatever questions you may have, never hesitate to send a message or email my way.

The beginning of the next part of my life starts today, but I’ve got little time to reminisce. Let’s get some writing done.

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