Apparently I’m not the only one concerned about not having enough material in the dead times. CollegeFootballNews.com has an interview with Tyler Palko. They did the interview back in April but have been holding it until today.
CFN: How stressful was the time period between knowing Walt Harris was gone and before the new coaching staff came in? You’re obviously not going to dog your new coaches, but what was your reaction when they decided to hire Dave Wannstedt?
TP: I understand that this is a business and the decision was made by people who are paid to make the hard decisions. I’m not getting paid to make those decisions. I’ve been around football forever, and I understand not to worry about the decisions that are out of my control. Coach Harris and I had a good relationship, and we’ll continue to have a great relationship because of all he did for me through my first three years of college. But the new staff brought in some new energy, and obviously Coach Wannstedt is a very respected coach around Pittsburgh and the NFL. You can’t turn your back on a coach and a staff with so much experience just because you liked the old coach; that’s an immature way to look at it. You have to roll with the punches. Fortunately, the whole experience has been positive so far, and we’re ready to move on to bigger things.
CFN: The current joke is that this is the first time Wannstedt has been able to coach a pro quarterback. Because of your status on the team, did he do anything special to ingratiate himself to you to ease the transition?
TP: When I was at the press conference, he put the pressure on me right away. They asked him about is quarterback situations in the past and how and why they weren’t successful. Then he starts out with how I need to have a great off-season. Actually, he has been tremendous. He sat me down right away and talked to me about being a leader and what’s expected of me this year, and he talked to me about always working and always getting better. I’ve always been evaluating and working on what I need to do to get better, so he really didn’t tell me anything earth shattering. It’s all about working hard and being a leader, and I already feel like I try to do both.
It may be just me, but it seems like every other week I find yet another interview or update piece on Yogi Roth. This one fleshes out Roth getting his present job on Pete Carroll staff at USC.
Roth received his present job offer when discussing job possibilities with ESPN.
“Coach Carroll offered me this position when I was sitting in a meeting with ESPN,” said Roth, who is single and lives in Hermosa Beach, Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles. “They told me at ESPN that television isn’t going anywhere and they said I can always come back to television.
“But what’s going on at USC is very special.”
Roth’s relationship with Carroll developed during his early days at Pitt. Carroll’s son, Brennan, was a tight end at Pitt.
“He was two years older than I was and he took me under his wing,” Roth said. ” I would go out to the West Coast during summers and work coach Carroll’s camps.”
You know, I forgot that Pete Carroll’s son was a Pitt grad. Hmmm. Carroll and Wanny are reasonably close. You don’t suppose all of these connections would help work out a home-and-home with USC in the near future do you?
