The Pitt web site has a countdown clock to the Fiesta Bowl. They also seem to be doing a nice job of assembling information for the Fiesta Bowl. This includes activities for those attending (mostly in PDF).

For Pitt fans, there hasn’t been much in the way of news or talk about the actual Fiesta Bowl. All caught up in the soap opera of Harris leaving/pushed and the search for the next guy. Todd McShay of Scouts Inc. was actually asked a Pitt question in his ESPN.com chat:

Kennny (Pittsburgh): What do you think Pitt’s biggest weakness is going into the Fiesta bowl?

Todd McShay: I think the running game. Their ability to throw the ball has been a big part of their second half surge, thanks to Tyler Palko’s emergence as one of the nation’s more efficient passers. But throughout that, they still have been unable to establish much of a running attack. Against an offense like Utah that can score in bunches, you have to be able to run the ball to keep Alex Smith and company off the field.

I’m not as worried about running the ball as I had been. Tim Murphy in the last few games seemed to have established himself and was running forward and aggressively. Hopefully that will continue.

Meanwhile, Coach Walt Harris is still trying to get Pitt ready for the Fiesta Bowl. While the debate can (and likely will) continue as to the merit of having Harris pushed out as head coach. It has been clear to most (aside from Ron Cook) that Harris really didn’t want to leave.

Harris, allowed to leave Pitt for Stanford earlier this month without protest in a move some players essentially consider a firing, is emotional knowing he will no longer coach the No. 19 Panthers beyond next week.

“Sure,” Harris said Monday night. “I’m trying to act like it isn’t, I guess because I think that’s probably the way you’re supposed to act. We were down at City Council today for University of Pittsburgh Football Day, and it is very emotional, I spent eight years trying to rebuild this football program and I think we accomplished that.”

Asked if he wished he were staying, Harris said, “I think those questions are, unfortunately, behind us now. I do love these players, I have told them how much they meant to me, and that life goes on.”

Some players were more vocal about Harris’ departure, with star quarterback Tyler Palko saying Harris’ departure “stinks.”

I don’t think it is any exaggeration to say that AD Jeff Long’s job could ride on this hire. While there were plenty of factors — local recruiting, coaching staff issues, contract extension posturing, in-game coaching and, of course, money — the conventional wisdom has become that the overriding factor was personal animosity between Long and Harris.

If the next Pitt coach doesn’t do any better (or worse) than Harris, and/or Harris does well with Stanford in the now very intriguing PAC-10; then Long will be viewed as a guy who ran off the coach that rebuilt Pitt and had them going in the right direction (just not at a fast enough pace), just because they weren’t best buddies.

Long would easily be thrown to the wolves by the administration.

Meanwhile, another former Pitt player is now Coach of the Year, in the PIAA:

PIAA champion Thomas Jefferson leads the team with four players after bouncing back from two regular-season losses to win seven consecutive playoff games, defeating defending champion Manheim Central 56-20 for the AAA title.
…
TJ coach Bill Cherpak, a former Pitt player, was the runaway winner in the coach of the year balloting of writers and broadcasters.

Just because no one asked, my personal preferences for Pitt’s next head coach — based on who was actually interviewed — in order:

1. Bo Pelini: Good and ambitious. Even if he bolts for a higher profile job, he will likely leave things in even better shape in terms of recruits and national prominence. There’s a certain air of inevitability to him and the job.
2. Sal Sunseri: Still very well connected to the local high school coaches (not to mention the fans and boosters). Comes with a great history of recruiting well everywhere. Wants the job. Unfortunately, I don’t think Pitt wants him.
3. Tim Lewis: I’m not sure what kind of recruiter he actually is/would be. He has moved successfully from college programs to the pros. Went from being a top draft pick to coaching after a career-ending injury. Obviously has a passion for the game and smarts. I think he would be better than expected. I don’t think, Pitt was serious about him, though.
4. Matt Cavanaugh: His star has faded as he has gained more responsibility for the Ravens offense. Jim Fassel has been the one getting all the credit for getting Boller up to Jon Kitna levels in the NFL. Ravens offense, not exactly the best thing to have on the resume. I don’t know how much interest he actually has in a college job, even at Pitt. Not to mention how much interest Pitt has in him at this point.
5. Paul Rhoads: Sadly, probably Pitt’s second choice after Pelini. The things people want to criticize Harris for, seem to apply just as much for Rhoads. Except that he seems to be a better interview.

Looks like we will know soon.

Things that will effect Pitt this year in basketball:

Home win = 0.6

Road win = 1.4

Neutral win = 1.0

For a lot of us, this might be the only time we’ll be happy to be shown a math problem.

This is how the Ratings Percentage Index will factor game sites into its rankings. The basic formula still uses a ratio of a team’s winning percentage (25 percent), opponents’ winning percentage (50 percent) and opponents’ opponents winning percentage (25 percent). But now home victories will count 40 percent less than wins on a neutral court; road victories will count 40 percent more.

This will become an important step in changing the way college basketball teams establish their schedules. There will be more incentive for teams to play on the road in future years because road warriors will be more likely to gain NCAA Tournament bids and favorable seeding. The selection committee does not choose teams strictly based on the RPI, but it is an important factor.

And next season in football:

So college football doesn’t want to be like the NFL, huh? Well, the grand game will take a big step toward the pro game next season when all six BCS conferences use instant replay.

There still are a few hurdles to clear, but after the Big Ten’s success this season with the inaugural model, look for everyone to follow suit. The Big Ten used replay 43 times in 53 games and overturned nearly half (21) of the calls.
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Bottom line: It’s good for the game when bad calls can be corrected on the field. If you have the technology, why not use it? The Big East, SEC and ACC have been exploring the use of replay all season and likely will approve it at their respective spring meetings. The Big 12 considered using replay last year but didn’t have enough time to implement the system. And the Pac-10, which seems to drag its feet on every major decision, is exploring the possibility, too. Finally, some sense.

Not much of a problem to me with either. For the issue of replay, keep it simple and don’t worry about issues of the clock.

The RPI changes were coming, everybody knew the changes were going to reward road games more, and Pitt still went out and set up a very, very weak non-con. Only one road game (Penn St.) and a neutral site game (Memphis) the rest are all home games against mainly cupcakes. How sad is it when the tough part of the non-con will be home games with Richmond and South Carolina. Teams with a combined record of 9-5. Yes, the Memphis team was expected to be better, but it’s still no excuse for the rest of the schedule. Pitt may be ranked #10 in both polls, but its RPI is #56. Even more embarrassing is the Strength of Schedule (SOS) played so far is #240. Only NC St. (#256) has a lower SOS than Pitt for all top 25 teams.

When Pitt gets smacked come the seeding time for the NCAA Tournament, and the howling begins again, they will point to the non-con. Just like they did last year.

So Rick Majerus backs out of a “dream job” with USC, leaving their athletic department looking like dopes. I mean this is worse than a drunk, quickie Vegas marriage where the next day one partner sobers up, takes a look at who is sleeping next to them and gets a divorce. I mean USC held a press conference introducing Majerus as head coach. That’s taking the guy home to meet the folks stage.

So that means the search is back to where it was and the names that were there before, are rehashed. So, yes, Pitt coach Jamie Dixon’s name is back in play. The thing is, USC wants to make the hire within the next 4 weeks because the senior associate AD who conducts the b-ball coach search leaves in mid-January for Syracuse. Daryl Gross will be the guy taking over from retiring AD Jake Crouthamel. Man, the people up in Syracuse have to be feeling good about this guy already.

I just don’t see Dixon leaving Pitt in mid-season for the job. I wasn’t convinced they could get him after the season, but definitely not mid-season from a top-10 team. It would crash the entire season. Maybe you get someone like Paul Westphal — a USC alum and coach at mid-major Pepperdine. Or you get the guy still looking for work, Tim Floyd.

Another factor is that the guy doing the search and hire will be coming to Syracuse and the Big East. Can you imagine how awkward his first time speaking to the Pitt AD would be. There might be issues.

—

Chris Taft isn’t too worried about his numbers and the expectations.

Taft is aware of the chatter surrounding his game. He would like to live up to everyone’s lofty goals. He just thinks that it’s going to be hard to do in Pitt’s team concept offense.

“After the year I had last year everyone expects me to get 20 or 25 night in and night out,” Taft said following Pitt’s 73-42 victory against Coppin State Saturday night. “To be honest with you I would love to do that. I’m going to try and rebound so crazy that I can have 20 [points] and 10 [rebounds], but it’s going to be hard. We have more than one person who can score. You have me, Chevy [Troutman], Carl [Krauser], Antonio [Graves], Yuri [Demetris]. We try to balance it out.”

Under Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon, Pitt has only had one player average more than 18 points per game in a season. That was Ricardo Greer in 1999-2000, and he averaged 18.1 per game. Balance has been Pitt’s trademark.

It is true. Each year, we expect one player on Pitt’s team to have scoring numbers far above anyone else on the team, but the numbers always seem to be well balanced. Greer was the only one to score that much, because he was just about the only one who could score consistently on that team.

I like that while Taft would like to have better numbers (and is willing to admit it), he also knows the team’s style and is willing to play within it. Speaks well of his maturity and desire to win versus just getting numbers.

I don’t expect Graves to play against Richmond. I figure Pitt has to give him time to let the ankle heal. Especially since Big East play starts in 2 weeks or so. Depth is finally here for Pitt, so there isn’t going to be a huge gap with him out. It will be interesting to see how Ramon does starting for him again. Ramon got to start the first couple games when Graves first sprained the ankle and shot very well. His shot wasn’t as good in recent games off the bench.

It would appear that the first wave of interviews will end today or perhaps tomorrow. Sal Sunseri was supposed to be the last candidate interviewed. Now it appears, though, that Long will interview one more candidate — Randy Shannon, the defensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes. Why? Sadly, it looks to be for appearances:

Sources have said that Long indicated he would like to interview at least two minority candidates for the job. He met with New York Giants coordinator Tim Lewis Friday; Shannon would be the second minority candidate if the two were to meet. Long has been in close contact with the Black Coaches Association throughout the interview process.

Amusing sidenote, Tim Lewis’ agent is Walt Harris’ former agent, Bob LaMonte. You know, the guy who called out the Pitt administration during the season for a contract extension. That would be an interesting meeting.

As for Lewis, it now seems as if it wasn’t much of an official interview.

Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis met with University of Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long on Friday to discuss the school’s vacant head coaching job, though it was apparently an “informal” interview and Tom Coughlin did not know it was taking place.

Coughlin denied yesterday that Lewis interviewed for the Pitt job and insisted that no one from the school had contacted anyone in the Giants organization to request permission to speak to Lewis. “I don’t think that anyone in the organization would take a phone call and not let me know about it,” Coughlin said.
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However, Giants sources described the meeting as “preliminary talk – not an official interview,” and one source added that Lewis informed Coughlin as soon as the meeting was over. Lewis and Coughlin had previously discussed the possibility that Lewis would be a candidate at Pitt, and the two spoke again about the subject yesterday.

Apparently Lewis – who is not allowed by Coughlin to speak to the media – told Long that if they wanted to meet again, Long would have to ask the Giants for permission. Giants GM Ernie Accorsi said no one from Pitt has contacted him. Lewis, who turned 43 Saturday, was a star cornerback for Pitt from 1979-82.

Apparently Coughlin had given permission for Lewis to meet informally with Pitt without prior notice — if it happened in New Jersey.

As for Pelini, he is still considered the leading candidate for the job. Oklahoma isn’t worried one way or another now. This past weekend was the last chance to recruit for a couple weeks. Right now recruiting is in an NCAA mandated “dead period” where coaches cannot have any contact with recruits.

This helps explain why Pitt wants to get their guy this or next week. Give them chance to put together a staff, and even a gameplan; look over who their commits are/were; prepare to contact the present commits, reassure, and go hard after some others; introduce themselves to area coaches; and all the while other schools’ coaches are doing nothing.

A column wondering how it came to be that coaches are actually turning down jobs with seeming regularity. Last I checked it was called market forces. Look into it.

In a weird way, I genuinely enjoy Penn State sportswriters telling me that Pitt won’t hire Tom Bradley because we can’t get past our blind hatred of anything connected to the Nittany Lions, as I believe Centre Daily Times (State College, PA) senior sportswriter Ron Bracken is doing here.

“The odds are better that I’ll pin Kerry McCoy than that Bradley will get the Pitt job. Which is less a reflection on his qualifications than his heritage. The biggest obstacle in Bradley’s path to becoming the head Panther is his ties to Penn State. He played there, both of his brothers have played there and he has coached nowhere else but there. Bradley has been told privately by a Pitt administrator that while the school would love to have him, it would never happen because he was “a Penn State guy.”

First off, don’t tell me who to hate and how much to hate them. My desire for Pitt to succeed supersedes any distaste I have for your isolated little hick-assed farmers school, and I certainly hope that the Pitt administration feels the same way. Secondly, which Pitt administrator, exactly? Was it a real, flesh-and-blood administrator or just the same guy who gave Dan Rather Dubya’s military records? Was it Jeff Long? I doubt it.

Not that Bracken doesn’t make a good secondary point.

“There is also this to consider: What Penn State assistant coach, besides George Welsh, has left the program and become a successful head coach at another school? Casting not one aspersion in Bradley’s direction, but Penn State has not exactly been known as the cradle of coaches during Joe Paterno’s tenure.”

I guess we’re just assuming that Paul Pasqualoni hasn’t been successful? Well, I guess I won’t argue that much. Bracken continues on to suggest that this might be a good reason for Penn State itself to look outside of its own family for Paterno’s successor. Very good point, and one that I hope everybody up at University Park ignores.

But the funny part is, due to a careless website editor, a second, smaller story was stapled on to the tail end of Bracken’s commentary. And this smaller piece fully explains why so many of us Panther fans are excited about potentially stealing Tom Bradley away.

Lee picks Lions
Shawn Lee, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound running back-defensive back from Upper St. Clair High near Pittsburgh announced Thursday that he would sign a letter of intent with Penn State on Feb. 2. He made the announcement after Joe Paterno and Tom Bradley visited the high school. He becomes the 12th athlete to give the Lions a verbal commitment and the third this week.

Exactly. Another solid recruit (Rivals gives Lee 3 stars) plucked out of the WPIAL by Bradley. His recruiting prowess in Western Pennsylvania is the main reason why so many of us Panther fans are interested in your defensive coordinator. The job he did coaching said defense this past fall would be the second reason. In any case, our love of Pitt will always trump our hatred of you. Get over yourself, already.

Speaking of Rivals, Pitt’s football recruiting class is currently ranked 43rd. Not bad for a drifting, coachless wreck. Incidentally, Nebraska is #1 (how?), Ohio State #5, Michigan #6, Penn State #33 (that’s the best recruiting class you’ve had in years?), and West Virginia #35 (unfortunately, they’re the only Big East program ranked ahead of us).

Hail to either Bradley or Pelini.