As posted yesterday, Head Coach Dave Wannstedt made some decisions on his coaching staff. Paul Rhoads and several present Pitt assistants will return, likely in the same capacity.

Wannstedt said he was encouraged by discussions with two more existing Pitt staff members in tight ends/tackles coach Bill Bleil and defensive ends coach Charlie Partridge.

Partridge, known as a strong recruiter, particularly in Florida, could be in line for the recruiting coordinator’s job that would be vacated by longtime staff member Bryan Deal.

Wannstedt will not retain any assistants from Walt Harris’ offensive staff. Line coach Tom Freeman and running backs coach Wayne Moses are off to Stanford and wide receivers coach Pete Carmichael has yet to secure a new destination.

As for the position of Offensive Coordinator, all Wanny has said is that he has winnowed the list to four. He’ll do a little more interviewing next week.

Wannstedt said he will attend a coaches [the American Football Coaches Association] convention in Kentucky next week to interview prospective offensive coordinators as well as other assistant coaches, but he is not feeling pressure to complete his staff now that he has a foundation in place.

“It is about getting the right offensive coordinator,” Wannstedt said, “and really the right fit for my staff. What I don’t want is someone who is going to come here and then leave after a year to go back to the NFL or whatever. I want coaches who are going to make a commitment to Pitt and this program just like the rest of us.

“I can take my time because we have enough now to finish recruiting, which only lasts a few more weeks. We won’t start on X’s and O’s and systems really until right after signing day, so I can be selective and make sure I’m comfortable with my choice.”

I’m glad he isn’t rushing the coach hirings. There will be plenty of candidates out there, and there is no need to act too quickly on the offensive side.

Meanwhile he is in Pittsburgh to do some hands-on recruiting and meetings with commits and potential recruits. He even showed up at the basketball game last night. Then after the convention, he’ll do more recruiting outside of Pennsylvania. Definitely has the enthusiasm.

And just because it is never too early to predict next season, one ESPN.com columnist listed his top-25 for 2005.

23. Pittsburgh Panthers
Why: Resourceful quarterback Tyler Palko leads a strong cast of returning players.

Why not: Does Dave Wannstedt know what he’s doing on the college level? For that matter, did he know what he was doing on the pro level?

The better “why not” would have been: Did you see that offensive line?