The game, once more, was never truly in doubt. Pitt cruised to a 65-41 win over St. Francis – PA. The big game went to Chevon Troutman who had 22 points and 13 rebounds in 31 minutes.

Pitt started with 3 guards — Krauser, Graves and Demetrius. Demetrius shot only twice in the game, but made them both (3-pointers). Graves had a decent game with 8 points, but only 1 assist. Krauser didn’t shoot well (4-12) but did have 5 assists to go with 10 points. Mark McCarroll and Robert Ramon had the biggest minutes off the bench. Ramon shot poorly coming off the bench, going only 1-7. He hasn’t shot well coming off the bench. He seems to respond better as a starter. Could be a sticky issue down the road. McCarroll only took 2 shots in 16 minutes.

Overall, this was Pitt’s worst performance so far on the patsy slate. They shot only 46% and couldn’t even crack 65 points. The positive, was that the defense was solid throughout and only Troutman cracked 30 minutes of playing time amongst the starters.

Hard to judge these games, and harder to care when they are against such bad opponents.

Technically the Duquesne game is a bit of a rivalry. City game and all. And they did give WVU a hard time, but really. Pitt should win easily.

I hate this non-con schedule. Pat, how much were they trying to unload the entire non-con home schedule in a ticket package again?

One final thought. Long term, maybe it’s best to part ways with Coach Harris. The thing is, I’m still a fan. I want Pitt to win the game on Saturday against USF and the bowl game. These kids are loyal to Harris. I don’t want to risk them being distracted or down. May regret it later, but right now, it would seem that the best chance for Pitt to win is to keep Harris.

Now we can really be distracted because we are dealing in the realms of rumor, theories, suspicions, gossip and fantasy.

Pat pointed out that Stanford has interest in Harris and has, indeed, contacted Pitt about talking to Harris. I mentioned that Pitt might be perfectly willing to let Harris bolt for another school. What I’m trying to figure out whether the Stanford AD, who first hired Harris to be head coach at Pacific in 1989, is also the same guy who fired him in 1991.

I can’t disagree that Willingham would be a great hire. Problem is, I don’t see it happening. Washington seems a much more likely destination, considering that university’s image problems and desire to win and have a guy that will bring instant credibility, hiring a known quantity who has had success in the PAC-10, and — based on previous hirings — far more willing to crack open the checkbook. Sorry, we can talk about how Pitt would have paid Howland and then Prosser top dollar, but until someone is actually cashing the check it is just speculation and hope. Besides, it goes deeper — to paying the assistants good money. Pitt has shown little willingness to spend the money in that area.

This offseason is going to be a coaches’ market. Job openings at at least 2 SEC schools (Florida and Ole Miss, plus possibly LSU) 2 PAC-10s (Stanford and Washington), 2 Big 11s (Indiana and Illinois), Mountain West (Utah and BYU), and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. That doesn’t bode well for Pitt getting a name guy, unless he is a Pitt alum.

As for Pat’s criticisms of Walt, first let me point out that both WVU and BC are both still ranked in different top-25s. ND was ranked in the top 25 when we beat them (as was WVU). I can’t disagree that Pitt had some struggles. A couple squeaker wins that were almost as embarrassing as if Pitt had lost. The UConn humiliation. The Syracuse collapse. At the same time, there has been great improvement from the team we saw struggle against Ohio U and Nebraska to the last 2 games. That can’t be denied. Nor can the fact that this was a rebuilding year, where we didn’t go into the season expecting much.

This actually allows me to bring up a great piece of analysis on Harris the coach. I’ve been holding it for a few days trying to figure the best way to integrate it. Thanks, Pat.

Another important and timely topic at the tail-end of another college football season is the standing and legitimacy of the sport’s coaches, who are tagged with an assortment of labels, some good, some not-so-good; some deserved, some undeserved. After this particular weekend, one can’t help but notice two particular case studies of sideline sultans who have littered their careers with mistakes, but are nevertheless vastly underrated and underappreciated for what they do on a regular basis in their profession.

Walt Harris — and —before the offseason of scandal in Boulder — Gary Barnett endured withering, blistering criticism for their abilities as head coaches.

Ironically enough, this piece was posted before both were named coach of the year for their respective conferences. I’ll do my best to skip the Barnett analysis since it really isn’t germane.

When it comes to the on-field performances of their teams, Walt Harris and Gary Barnett have been crucified. With each passing year, I’ve wondered why this has been the case; after this past weekend, my instincts — which didn’t see the bad coaching the folks in Pittsburgh and Boulder have perceived (and especially not in Barnett’s situation — have been proved correct. It’s time to clear the air with respect to these two coaches, and solely on the football merits.
…
The knocks on Walt Harris, as best as I can decipher them, have been poor play calling and a lack of motivational skills. These two deficiencies have translated into a much more general frustration among Pitt fans because of the fact that, in a piss-poor Big East, the Panthers have not been able to seize firm control of the conference and recall the glory days of the late 70s and early 80s.

The team has played flat from time to time, but I’ve never had a hard time with the motivational issues. As for the glory days stuff. I suppose some are drowning in that still, but I didn’t grow up in Pitt country, and really didn’t care that much about college football growing up. I got to Pitt in ’88 so the “glory days” was merely a Springsteen song at that point.

Upon reflection, Harris’ play calling does leave something to be desired: last year, with a meal-ticket receiver in Larry Fitzgerald, Pitt’s head coach did not maximize the benefits that were waiting to be gained. In the biggest Big East games of the past few seasons, Harris has come up very small as an offensive guru against the defenses put forth by West Virginia and especially Miami. His strategic approaches in certain situations have been nothing short of baffling, even while he can find tremendous grooves in his play calling on many other occasions. Harris is ultimately an up-and-down play caller whose offenses are accordingly erratic. That’s the dimension of truth in the criticisms leveled against him.

As for motivational skills, well, one can only look at Rod Rutherford and now Tyler Palko and conclude that Harris coaches quarterbacks who bust their butts to play for him. If Harris has a weakness in relationship to quarterbacks and his teams in general, the player-development part of the equation is what’s lacking. For all the blood and guts Rutherford and Palko have spilled on Heinz Field in the service of the Panther program, the two signal-callers could not be confused with well-taught quarterbacks. Rutherford has already graduated, while Palko — in his (and Harris’) defense — is still young and learning; but nevertheless, Rutherford — a playmaker because of his courage (and the saving ability of Fitzgerald to turn prayers into points) — did not use his brain very well on the field. Even at the end of his senior season, he made poor decisions, a reflection of poor technical growth. That is what reflects negatively on Harris in relationship to his quarterbacks: it’s his lack of precision in teaching, not his motivational ability.

This is not news. In either case. We know all too well about the questionable play calling. It’s what has led to derisive comments from the stands about Harris being an “offensive genius.” The Fitzgerald faults, well just go back to his final game, the Continental Tire Bowl.

As for the teaching the QBs, this seemed very familiar to me. Go back over a year to the ND game and this exchange:

Lee: He [Jones] is running right through us.

Me: We’re just trying to hit him, not actually tackle.

Lee: That’s all on the coaching. Fundamentals.

Me: It’s like Harris can coach talent, but he can’t teach.

Lee: FIRE HARRIS!

It isn’t just me. That is what this analysis is suggesting, right?

And beyond those two fairly limited criticisms, one thing has to stand out that casts Harris’ head coaching job in a very positive light: the Boss Panther has made a lot of the talent at his disposal in the Steel City. What Harris does on gameday with his Pitt teams has been impressive and substantial. Certainly in 2004, and very possibly in 2003, Harris’ overall assemblage of position-by-position talent was less than what existed at other Big East programs. Yet, Harris had his teams in the thick of the conference race each year, and this season, he’s likely to get a BCS bowl, even if his team loses at South Florida on Saturday (he has a vote in the coaches’ poll, while competitor Paul Pasqualoni of Syracuse does not). For a great many Panther fans, the fact that Pitt has not become a colossus has overshadowed the fact that, with the talent at his disposal, Harris has pretty much made lemonade with lemons.

Let’s concede that he has maxed out the talent, but somehow this is ignoring the fact that Harris recruited these guys. He “shopped for the groceries.” In college football, recruiting is half of the job for a head coach. What he is saying, then is that Harris is failing to do the job on recruiting and is not a great play caller or teacher of the fundamentals. What he is doing is maxing out the talent, though. And this is in defense of Harris?

In the midst of all the criticisms lobbed at Harris, many observers of the Panthers, including Pitt alum and ESPN studio analyst Mark May, clearly and constantly betray their irritation with the state of the program and the level of performance from the team each Saturday. The calls for Harris’ head are loud and fierce each year in Pittsburgh. But if Harris is panned for the way his team plays each Saturday, his critics are — yet again — missing the boat. It’s not Saturday that’s the problem at Pitt. If anything, it’s the offseason, in which Harris has not been able to recruit the kind of talent Majors and Sherrill brought into the fold in the program’s salad days. Harris the recruiter is often the victim of the success enjoyed by Harris the motivator and offensive schemer. What Harris does in terms of his larger offensive concepts, and also with respect to his ability to inspire great effort from his players, enables Pitt to succeed. This is true even though situational play calling and player development both lag on Harris’ overall portfolio. The good things Harris does are always overshadowed by the bad, and that’s a part of human nature that has dogged Pitt’s head coach throughout his tenure.

Perhaps now, after almost certainly gaining a BCS bowl berth, people will give Walt Harris and second look and, while not letting him off the hook for recruiting and player development, will still appreciate the fact that he does more with less than other Big East coaches.

Actually, this pretty much mirrors the criticisms we’ve had at PSB. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much.

All this speculation about whether Pitt should fire Harris or extend his contract.
Apparently Stanford is looking at Walt Harris as a possible replacement for their freshly sacked head coach.

This may solve Pitt’s problem for them. Harris is a California boy, and many posts have mentioned that he is less than happy here in Pittsburgh. Stanford is a high profile job at a school with money – no shame for Pitt losing a coach to a top program near Harris home. If he takes the job, Pitt won’t look bad for firing him and acting like a head coach carousel.

Most importantly, it gets rid of Harris. I think the mea culpas I’ve been reading on this board are premature. This is the same Harris who almost lost to Furman and Temple, who did lose to bad a bad Nebraska team at home, who choked against UConn and Syracuse. The ND, BC and WVU wins were nice, but none of those teams are in the top 25.

Does this resemble any other seasons in the past few years? Of course it does. Harris was commended for turning the team around and beating VaTech after going 1-5 a few years ago – the trouble is we were 1-5 in the first place, with a loss to USF. We’ve lost to Toledo under Harris. We’ve come close to losing to 1-AA teams multiple times (remember Vilanova?). He’s lost to Temple AND Rutgers. Sure, he gets the occaisional upset, but they are wasted when he blows easy games. And it’s never going to stop. He can’t take us to the next level, which means over the next few seasons, when Pitt is winning the weak-ass Big East every year, we will be the 8th best team in the BCS and could endanger the conference with losing its BCS automatic qualification.

He may be the Big East coach of the year, but that is by default. Who else could they give it to? Not Rodriguez again, considering how WVU failed to meet expectations (expectations that were way too high, in my opinion, but still…). Not O’Brien at BC, since he is a traitor; not Pasqualioni at Syracuse, because the Orange suck ass. Maybe the guy at UConn (he probably deserves is), but the fact that I don’t know his name is evidence as to why he didn’t get it.

No, the COTY award may help Pitt get what it both wants and needs – to get rid of Harris without looking like the bad guy.

So who is available? Wansteadt, Cavanaugh and Grimm (although he will likely be an NFL coach) are Pitt grads; Zook and Willingham are high profile coaches who are looking for second chances after washing out of high pressure programs. Plus there could be some great coordinators and other assistants out there that none of us have heard of yet.

Right now, my personal favorite is Willingham. He has done well at schools where academic standards are very high. Imagine what he could do with Pitt? He could get some great recruits here, and improve Pitt’s image in the process. He’s the kind of personality that Pitt could build a program around, and he’s young enough to stay here a while.

If it wasn’t my alma mater.

Apparently the All-Big East Team and Big East Coach of the Year was announced.

Coach Walt Harris was named Big East Coach of the Year.

Yeah. Let that sink in for a moment. The administration may be looking to jettison him this year, and he takes Pitt to the BCS and is named BECY in a rebuilding year. That will work well. Honestly, how can the school let him walk at this point without taking a major credibility hit for the program. Not to mention dealing with a market place working against them with the growing number of vacancies.

I’m about ready to admit I was dead wrong in my assessment of what to do with Harris following the UConn debacle, and eat crow. Is the University?

As for the other BE honors:

West Virginia quarterback Rasheed Marshall was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year by a vote of the league’s head coaches. Teammate Adam Jones was tabbed BIG EAST Special Teams Player of the Year. Two Boston College players also won individual awards. Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka took BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors. Freshman linebacker Brian Toal was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Year.

Kind of surprised by the offensive player of the year choice. I would have thought Walter Washington of Temple. Considering he is practically their entire offense, it would seem the more logical choice.

As for Pitt players on the All-BE teams:

The Panthers had five first team selections and five second team picks. First team honorees include offensive tackle Rob Petitti, placekicker Josh Cummings, nose tackle Vince Crochunis, linebacker H.B. Blades and punter Adam Graessle. Second team picks included receiver Greg Lee, offensive guard Charles Spencer, quarterback Tyler Palko, defensive tackle Dan Stephens and cornerback Bernard “Josh” Lay.

Okay, how does Greg Lee not make First Team? He leads the BE in receiving yards/catch average. Needs only 6 yards to be the leading receiver in the BE in total yards. He’s second in TD catches. Go ahead, explain that.

I can’t wait until the full list is made available on the BE website.

That’s what the b-ball beat writers seem to be asking. In the first 3 games, Senior Forward Mark McCarroll hasn’t seen a lot of action. McCarroll was Pitt’s 6th man last year. He had a solid scoring touch, including from the outside to mid-range shots. He was also good to provide a few extra fouls. The knock on him last year, was that he was very slow on defense. It was expected that he would get the start this year to replace Jaron Brown. Problem is, it seems his defensive play still hasn’t come up to par, while Pitt now has other scoring options.

McCarroll wouldn’t talk to the press about the articles. Coach Dixon says he will be in the games, and there is some thought that part of his lack of minutes is to see what the new kids can do. Still with Pitt using more 3-guard sets, and if DeGroat and/or Benjamin catch on to the defense quickly, McCarroll may become more of a utility player.

Dixon said McCarroll is practicing at three different positions (the swing, power forward and center) in practice and has dabbled with each in games. He said McCarroll will continue to be a strong role player for his team.

“If you look at games last year, he had some very big games and I think the same thing will happen this year,” Dixon said. “He’s played very well. Mark is a very good team player who makes guys better. He’s doing well. He’s playing very well. We have a lot of confidence in him.”

My gut says McCarroll will see his minutes rise as Big East play starts. He is a known quantity to Coach Dixon, and Dixon seems much more comfortable going with the players he knows what he can expect in the tougher games.

The firing of Willingham at ND also means their verbal commitments are reconsidering:

St. Vincent-St. Mary two-way end Lawrence Wilson said he will withdraw his verbal commitment to attend the University of Notre Dame following the firing of head coach Tyrone Willingham on Tuesday.

Wilson, who was named to the all-Ohio team on Tuesday, told the Irish coaching staff two weeks ago that he would sign a national letter of intent in February to attend the school. He said he will call the school this week to cancel his plans.
…
Lawrence Wilson, also a standout basketball player, said the recruiting process was reopened by Notre Dame’s decision. Ohio State and Pittsburgh, two of his final three choices, re-enter as possible candidates, he said. A recruiter from the University of Michigan made plans to visit the family’s home in Akron later this week.

Wilson, a 6-5, 240-pound two-way end who carries a 3.2 grade-point average, said he has not ruled out Notre Dame.

Wilson is a good talent. He was ranked as the 13th best Ohio prospect by Rivals.com. I don’t think he’ll be making a decision in the next week or two, but it bears watching.

USF is getting ready for Pitt. They recognize that things have changed:

The Bulls’ biggest disadvantage of playing Pitt now is going against game-tested sophomore QB Tyler Palko, who redshirted last year after playing in six games as a backup in 2002.

“If we would’ve played them at the beginning, he would’ve had very limited game experience,” Leavitt said. “Now, he’s had 10 games and has really developed. He’s really done an excellent job. He’s gotten a lot better through the year. You can really see him progressing. He’s an excellent quarterback – runs and throws extremely well.”

Fiesta Bowl scouts will be at the game, and USF WR Johnny Peyton has a sore foot but is expected to play.

Not a lot of real news today. A puff piece on Tyler Palko, concerning his competitiveness. Greg Lee going back home to Tampa. Much the way Antonio Bryant used to talk about how he looked forward to playing Miami because they didn’t recruit him, Lee is talking about how USF overlooked him. Of course, we should be hoping that Lee comes up bigger than Bryant did against Miami.

The kicking game has been having trouble with snaps — for both punting and field goals.

Pitt got a new commit. Tommie Campbell, a 6’4″, 195-200 pound WR/DB. He had offers from Eastern Michigan, UConn and Cinci; and was drawing interest from Michigan St. and Syracuse. He is also a standout in track. Clearly an athlete, with raw talent, so he would appear to be something of a project/diamond in the rough. Potentially more important is that:

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound receiver-safety broke an eight-month wall of silence from WPIAL recruits toward the Panthers by choosing Pitt over offers from Cincinnati, Connecticut and Eastern Michigan. Pitt hadn’t landed a local player since Burrell tackle John Brown — a Panthers legacy — committed in March.

It suggests that WPIAL coaches might be believing that Harris will stay at Pitt and/or there has been some fence mending between Pitt coaches and the local high school coaches.

Now on to the always fun subject of speculating about Coach Walt Harris.

Mike Prisuta is kind of all over the place praising Palko for wanting to “wake the echoes” (sorry been hearing and reading too much about ND in the last day) of past players of Marino and Dorsett, then moves to how Coach Harris hadn’t quit on the team and nor did AD Jeff Long — by not firing Harris. Of course, the fact that Long is maintaining that nothing regarding Harris’ contract will be discussed until after the bowls seems vexing for those wishing to speculate.

Bob Smizik also has a column. It’s one of the few times I am not in total disagreement with Smizik. Well, this part I disagree:

Pitt should take immediate action regarding Harris’ contract after its game Saturday at South Florida, the final one of the regular season. It needs to either extend Harris’ contract or buy it out and immediately begin the process of finding a new coach.

Yeah, fire the guy who leads you to the BCS. That will get the team up for the game.

Having said that, if they don’t want to retain Harris, they should be at least sending out quiet feelers and at the very least refining a list of candidates. Especially in light of the competition for good coaches this season.

Smizik is also on target with some other things.

…Pitt officials have consistently insisted they would do nothing until the end of the season.

That philosophy doubtlessly was based on the expectations Pitt would have an ordinary or worse season and Harris would be bought out of the final two years of his contract. Such thinking made sense. There was no rush to fire Harris, who is being paid about $600,000 annually. He was running a good program with few problems and was graduating his players.

What he wasn’t doing was winning often enough, particularly in big games.

All that changed a month ago when Pitt, which looked pathetic early in the season, beat Notre Dame and West Virginia, and Syracuse upset Boston College. Those wins and that loss moved Pitt into a first-place tie in what is an extremely weak Big East Conference but one that has an automatic bid to a lucrative BCS game. The tiebreakers have gone Pitt’s way and the team will be playing in either the Fiesta or Sugar Bowl next month.

This significantly altered situation means Pitt needs to adjust its policy.

I think the fact that Harris runs such a clean program has been very unappreciated, and I’m including myself, by the fans and possibly by the administration. In Harris’ tenure at Pitt, the only off-field incident that raised eyebrows was the Rod Rutherford parking lot matter last year. And even that was resolved without any major hoopla.

That’s why Pitt needs to act quickly.

If the decision is to extend Harris, that not only would be a morale boost for the team, which figures to be an underdog in its bowl game, but also a major impetus for recruiting. The speculation on Harris’ future might have caused some recruits to look elsewhere and others, who remain interested in Pitt, to ponder their options. With a coach firmly in place, the recruits can make their decisions.

It’s hard to argue against keeping Harris. He has Pitt right where people said he couldn’t take the team. What’s more, he did it in what was expected to be a down year after significant departures from last year’s team.

With most key players returning, Pitt will be among the favorites to win the Big East next season and advance to another major bowl game. It possible that after eight seasons, Harris has hit his stride and has Pitt on a roll.

I mostly agree, except on one niggling point that tugs at me. The lines. There are a lot of key seniors on both lines. As critical as we’ve been of them, who’s to say they will be better next year? And if the lines aren’t good…

He saves his best point for last, and it kind of annoys me that I didn’t think harder about it previously, because it is in its way so obvious.

But the success of this Pitt team has raised another option.

It long has been believed that Harris has tired of his situation at Pitt. He doesn’t like what he considers the negative media coverage and he certainly can’t like the lack of respect he has received from Pitt administrators. The speculation was that he would walk away from this job and become an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach in the NFL.

Now, however, he’s viewed as a hot coach. It’s not often a coach who takes his team to a BCS game, a coach who has taken his team to five consecutive bowl games, becomes available. Other schools are bound to show an interest in Harris.

Pitt just might come to Harris with an extension and he might tell them where to put it.

This would be a bit of an embarrassment to Pitt to lose Harris. Of course it could also be the strategy if the administration doesn’t want Harris anymore, but is afraid to fire him now. Make a lowball offer, have him reject and bolt to another school. That way they can hire someone else without looking like complete idiots for firing the coach that brought the program back from the depths all the way to a BCS bowl during his tenure.