I was feeling down last night about the coach search. I’m not saying I feel good about it now, but I’m trying to stay on more of an even-keel. There should be some reason for encouragement. AD Jeff Long appears to be racking up some frequent flier miles this weekend.
He flew out to New Jersey to interview the Giants Defensive Coordinator (and former Steeler Defensive Coordinator) and former Pitt player Tim Lewis. This is an intriguing interview to me. Lewis’ name seems to have come out of nowhere. In the last few days the names have been rather consistent, and he wasn’t mentioned. Not living in Pittsburgh any longer, I wonder how people feel about Lewis since he was let go as defensive coordinator. Did he come in for a lot of abuse. I realize he isn’t comparing well to LeBeau as defensive coordinator this year. The more cynical side of me wonders if this interview is just to appease the NCAA by interviewing an African-American.
Today Long flies to an “undisclosed location in the Midwest” to meet and interview Bo Pelini. On Sunday, Long flies to Indianapolis to interview Matt Cavanaugh, the offensive coordinator for the Ravens. It’s unclear how serious either side is. Paul Zeise at the P-G has his doubts.
The Lewis interview is also important to me, because it is about the only thing that gives me some hope that AD Long might be looking at more than a narrow little group.
So far the process has been questionable and closed off to say the least. In Long’s press conference on Monday, Long said candidates did not have to have ties to him or Pitt. Yet that’s all it has been. Look at the names. Wannstedt was a Pitt alum, and close to Chancellor Nordenberg; Rhoads is the present defensive coordinator; Pelini is co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma where Long was the assistant AD; Cavanaugh and even Lewis both played for Pitt.
Where is even the spark of creative thinking? It seems that Long hasn’t gotten much past his “mental short list.” And this search, in a much shorter time frame, has become remarkably similar to finding a successor to Howland. Run at a bigger name, then go with the assistant.
Maybe I’m wrong about Rhoads. Maybe he is like Fulmer at Tennessee when they ran off Johnny Majors. No, wait, I’m sorry. According to history, he resigned after not getting an extension with 2 years left on his contract. That seems oddly familiar. Or maybe he’s like Bob Davie at ND after Holtz.
What is surprising me, is how Pitt has suddenly accelerated the search. It seems like a bit of panic to what should have been the expected losses in commitments. A search that Long indicated might take weeks not days, looks like it could be settled by the end of next week. I just think they need to look at a few more guys.
