As previously noted, Charlie Taafe, is filling in this year for Bob Junko with on-the-field coaching duties (Assistant Head Coach). Taafe did a brief stint as head coach in the Canadian Football League. Apparently the rumors are he will return after this season.
The name of Charlie Taaffe, on a one-year consulting contract at Pitt, keeps popping up. When Desjardins arrived to work in the Montreal front office in 1999, Taaffe was the first head coach he worked with.
“Charlie would be the obvious person that people would connect me to,” Desjardins concedes. “He brings a lot of the attributes that I would look for in a head coach in terms of: discipline, to a point, but not pushing it; open communications; and knowing what he wants to do.
“He’s an offensive coach and I think ball control is important in this league, whether people think it is or not. You have to have a running game.
“So he’s an obvious choice. Is he the choice? Well , at the end of this season, a lot of things could happen with coaches in this league, and there are a lot of good assistants who will be available.”
One short-term benefit of hiring Taaffe would be that he’s not under contract to a CFL competitor and could get a significant jump on next season. On off-days from his University of Pittsburgh job, Taaffe could spend some time studying the Ticats.
[Emphasis added.] That would be with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
That did provide a little insight into the style of offense he likes. I think it’s safe to say that this year with Pitt, he will not be a voice agitating in Coach Wannstedt or OC Cavanaugh’s ear to open the game up with the deep ball.
Just to remind everyone, I am posting at AOL as well. So far, I have taken another shot at Paul Rhoads.
link to sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Will a receiver who doesn’t return kicks and punts ever win the Heisman? If Larry Fitzgerald didn’t win it with the year he had for Pittsburgh in 2003 then I don’t see how many would have a shot.
–Eric Howard, Pittsburgh
It’s true Fitzgerald had about as productive a season as a receiver could possibly have (92 catches, 1,672 yards and 22 touchdowns), but he made two costly mistakes: a) He flopped in the one game when most voters were watching (a nationally televised season finale against Miami on Thanksgiving weekend); and b) He played for Pitt. Now don’t get on my case, Panthers fans, I’m just stating the obvious — nearly every Heisman winner this decade has played for a big-name, BCS-contending team and saved his best performances for the big, nationally televised games.
So, is it impossible for a true receiver to win the Heisman? No. This season, USC’s Dwayne Jarrett and Notre Dame’s Jeff Samardzija fit the profile perfectly. Of course, that brings up another Heisman truism, which is the long-time bias toward quarterbacks. If those two have huge years, one can safely surmise that their QBs, John David Booty and Brady Quinn, will have huge years, too, and, being as they are the quarterbacks for USC or Notre Dame, get automatically handed the Heisman if they reach a certain statistical threshold. So in conclusion, a receiver’s best chance is to play for a big-name, national title contender, perform well in big games … and have their quarterback get hurt halfway through the year.