Hope everyone is ready to start shifting gears a little bit this week. With Pitt’s bye and the Big East Basketball Media “Slam” kicking off tomorrow, there will be a bit more b-ball blogging.

Coach Jamie Dixon will be doing the NYC/ESPN2/Big East Coaches media scene tomorrow.

BIG EAST coaches also have a variety of other shows built into their busy media day schedules.

On Wednesday morning, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon and Villanova’s Jay Wright will be on ESPN’s “Cold Pizza” (8-10 AM, ESPN2). The two-hour, weekday morning show is hosted by Jay Crawford and Dana Jacobson.

Following the media day festivities, Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun will be a guest on “Mike and the Mad Dog”. Hosted by Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo – “Mike and the Mad Dog” is a daily sports radio afternoon drive show on WFAN in New York, 660 AM.

Five BIG EAST coaches – Calhoun, Dixon, Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim, Georgetown’s John Thompson III and Providence’s Tim Welsh – will appear on ESPN’s “Quite Frankly” (Wednesday, 6:30-7:30 PM, ESPN2). The show is hosted by Stephen A. Smith.

This may be a silly hope, but I am praying that somehow, some way, someone in the Pitt Athletic Department sat Coach Dixon down over the summer and convinced him to loosen up — just a little. Don’t become a mute who only speaks in coachspeak cliches. Be a little more candid, show some humor (that rumors suggest he has) and try to be somewhat engaging. The whole first year, he was a coach, all we ever heard was that he had some minor commercial acting experience growing up and in college (a Bud Light commercial). Use a little of it.

And for God’s sake, please don’t say that this year will be a “challenge.”