Didn’t need the morning coffee to wake me up this morning. The “defense” of Paul Rhoads pretty much got me going. You want my defense of Rhoads? As a DC, he’s a hell of a secondary coach.

Very nice of Coach Wannstedt to try and take the blame for the defense and absolve Rhoads of his screw-ups and bad teaching and coaching.

Pitt has been shredded for 1,122 yards and 91 points in consecutive losses to Connecticut and West Virginia. Many of the problems that have dogged the Panthers for the past four years — missed tackles, bad angles, poor execution, failure to get key stops — have returned, renewing calls to fire defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads.

One person who hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon is the only person whose vote counts — head coach Dave Wannstedt. Rhoads declined comment yesterday, but Wannstedt came to his embattled defensive coordinator’s defense, saying the criticism of Rhoads has not been fair.

Three things. First, when did the calls to fire Rhoads stop?
Second, the problems pointed out are the primary reason I want Rhoads gone. It’s been something that has driven me crazy about the defense for years — poor fundamentals. The very thing coaching is supposed to be about. You can be creative and run all the schemes you want. It still comes down to players doing the basics — wrapping up, tackling, not hitting or arm tackling. Yes, the players deserve some of the blame. They have to execute, but when it’s been the same s**t and different people over four years it’s more than just “getting the right personnel.”

Third, this is so typical of Rhoads. When things are going well he’s happy to talk to the media and chat up things going right. Let everyone talk up his potential for the future and be at the forefront.Since the defense has engaged in its death spiral or even just the MSU game — no comment. And somehow he is allowed to slide on this. No willingness to face the criticisms. When Harris or Wannstedt refused to actually take responsibility, they at least acknowledged it directly to take the criticisms of “not my fault.” Rhoads won’t even do that much. Go back over the past years, and notice the pattern of Rhoads not on the record about the problems unless absolutely forced to by the head coach. Harris essentially brought him out to talk after the Temple game in 2004. That was about it.

Of course Coach Wannstedt doesn’t think the problem is in the coaching.

“We’re coaching these guys as hard as we can coach them,” Wannstedt said. “Paul does a great job. All our defensive coaches are very good coaches. We’ve just got to keep developing these players. I think for the most part, we’ve done that.

“The last couple weeks, we’ve had some missed tackles and had some extenuating circumstances. I think you have to look at each game and understand what we’re trying to do and not just at the end of the day say, ‘Well, they gave up 300 yards rushing when a quarterback scrambled for 150. The defense stinks. It’s a bad scheme.’ That’s not true. People may want to think that. And that’s fine. Go ahead, think it. I don’t care. That’s not the case.”

Alumni and fans have called for the dismissal of Rhoads after the Panthers’ defense allowed an average of 303 rushing yards and 459.75 yards total offense in losses to Rutgers, South Florida, Connecticut and West Virginia.

The mishaps were magnified when Pitt allowed UConn and WVU to run for 317 and 437 yards, respectively, and score a combined 91 points in the past two games.

“…Some missed tackles and had some extenuating circumstances.”??? WTF!!!??? 1212. Do you know what that is? That is the rushing yards surrendered in this 4 game skid. That is not effing “some missed tackles and some extenuating circumstances!” That is pathetic and lousy run defense.The only reason Rutgers and South Florida didn’t score more points was because USF had a ridiculous number of turnovers and Rutgers kept settling for FGs (and even missing a chip shot). UConn hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game before or after Pitt. Against Pitt, they got 31 just in the regulation time.

The defensive collapse follows a 2005 season in which the Panthers ranked 94th out of 119 teams in the nation against the run (185.18) but 31st in total defense (338.0). Now, Pitt ranks 105th (183.0) in run defense and 72nd in total defense (350.73) entering Saturday’s game against Louisville, which boasts the nation’s No. 3 offense.

Let’s not forget 2003’s defensive collapse. Remember. The year Pitt was going to make the jump. The year Pitt lost to Toledo. How about the fact that including this year, 3 of the last 4 years the Pitt run defense has allowed 4+ yards/carry (and that one year where it didn’t crack 4 it was close at 3.8). Isn’t that something of an effing trend that points somewhere in the vicinity of what the DC is doing.

And that brings us to Joe Starkey’s column in defense of Rhoads. I generally like Starkey’s stuff but this one doesn’t even come close. I’m going to have to break this one down.

Dave Wannstedt’s two-year-old football program is about to undergo a major test of its integrity. Soon, Pitt’s head coach must decide whether he will retain Paul Rhoads as defensive coordinator.

If Rhoads is fired, the integrity meter will take a precipitous drop.

Firing him would be the easy way out, nothing more than a convenient sacrifice for angry fans and boosters.

Retaining him would be the far more difficult choice and would speak loudly to Wannstedt’s conviction that he is building his program “the right way,” as he likes to put it.

See, this isn’t about winning and losing. This isn’t about the results. This is a moral stand. This is about Wannstedt’s integrity and those ignorant fools who pay for games and all the donations to the athletic department. It’s a battle of good and evil.

It would also put some muscle behind Wannstedt’s message points from the past two years.Wannstedt has consistently pleaded for patience among fans. As recently as last week, he said, “It’s not what you want to hear … but the reality is that we’ve got to get a lot better, and it’s going to take a little bit of time.”

It’s also going to take changes. This isn’t about impatience. It’s about seeing the same problems over the same tenure of the coach that hasn’t improved or changed regardless of the players. Please stop characterizing fan antipathy to Rhoads as some sudden knee-jerk reaction to a bad few weeks.

Canning a capable but short-handed coordinator is not the way to practice patience — and for whatever it’s worth, Wannstedt said Tuesday what linebacker H.B. Blades said after the West Virginia loss:

The poor defensive peformance this season is not Rhoads’ fault.

Injuries are not an excuse. At this time of the year, no team is fully healthy. The problems with the defense were there before the injuries — as the Michigan State game showed. The problems were masked up until last month mainly because of the inferior opponents Pitt faced.

So the players are defending him. What do you expect? They like him. They play for him. The poor defensive performance this year is not his fault. What about the other years? When is there accountability for Rhoads?

Wannstedt also has consistently said his team lacks the personnel necessary to compete on a national level. If that’s true — it doesn’t take a “Rhoads” Scholar to see it is — then how would changing coordinators solve anything?

How does keeping Rhoads solve anything? We aren’t talking about a national level. We are talking about just the Big East. The defense is not competing within the conference.

This personnel argument is such a crock. Pitt was higher in the rankings for recruiting — even with Harris in charge — than all of the Big East. At some point it goes to what the players are taught and how they are used.

Bill Belichick couldn’t have slowed West Virginia with Pitt’s personnel.

OK, Belichick might have held the Mountaineers to 610 yards, as opposed to 641, but no coordinator is going to come in here and wave a magic wand next year, either.

You really don’t want to do this. The argument then is that Cinci has better personnel since they held the ‘eers to 411 total yards. Same with UConn, Syracuse, Marshall, East Carolina, you get the idea. There’s more going on here than just blaming it on the players.

The true measure of Wannstedt’s program cannot be taken until 2008.

I thought we were taking measure of the job by Rhoads? Not Wannstedt. Please don’t try to change the subject.

Meantime, Wannstedt also has repeatedly defended Pitt’s defensive strategy. That is not surprising, because he’s the one who devises it. Those are his schemes — not Rhoads’ — though Rhoads makes the majority of the calls.

We still don’t know whether Wannstedt will get good enough players or whether he was the right choice at Pitt, but it would be silly to cast doubt on his ability to coach defense or to choose qualified defensive coaches. Look at his resume from Miami (college and pro) and Dallas, and you’ll find some impressive numbers, not to mention a Super Bowl ring and a national championship ring.

I asked you not to change the subject. Okay, fine. It’s Wannstedt defensive strategy. I must have missed the prior two years when the Rhoads defensive strategy was doing so well. Again, what Starkey is trying to do is move the issue from being about Rhoads to Wannstedt. Mainly because Wannstedt has been here only two years and has much more time on the clock.

When he was hired at Pitt, Wannstedt could have signed his own defensive coordinator. He opted to retain Rhoads, and for good reason.

Because Pitt is cheap, had Rhoads under contract for around $250K and really didn’t want to eat it? Not to mention the fondness (for whatever reason) the administration has for Rhoads.

Pitt’s defense was outstanding in 2002 and was a big reason why the team went to a BCS bowl in 2004.

2002? Four years ago? Arguably with the personnel largely recruited by the previous DC? That’s the best you can offer?

Let’s skip 2003. Nothing to see there. Just a fluke or something.
As for 2004, no. That was mainly the offense. Or are you forgetting allowing Furman to rack 38? The run defense still allowed 3.8 yards/carry. Admittedly when it was 4.5 the year before, it looks good — but it still sucks. I also recall a collapse against Syracuse. Struggling to stop Temple.

Remember, it was the defense that played such a big role in the Boston College victory that year and basically won the West Virginia game — Pitt’s most recent significant victory.

Okay. About the BC game. I was there. The one game where Rhoads actually stuffed the box, and then failed to adjust back when O’Brien and the Eagles finally just started throwing the short, underneath passes. The defense nearly collapsed at the end. Remember Pitt had a 17-10 lead late in the 4th. BC went 90 yards in under 4 minutes to tie the game and send it to OT.

As for the WVU game, well personnel issues are a two-way street, last I checked. WVU was without their top moronic receiver Chris Henry who was suspended. It was a wet, slippery night that really slowed the ‘eers down. Not to mention a few key turnovers to keep the score close.

Rhoads didn’t suddenly lose his touch.

Neither does a child molester.

“He taught me more than what my NFL coaches taught me,” says former Pitt cornerback Josh Lay, a sixth-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints who was cut late in camp.

Lay, whom the Seattle Seahawks are sending to NFL Europe in January, believes it comes down to personnel.

“The defense puts you in one-on-one situations to make plays — linebackers, linemen, defensive backs — and if you’re on D-I scholarship, you should win those battles.”

I would hope that Rhoads taught Lay more than the NFL Coaches. Especially since he was cut in camp and took a while to hook up with another team, sort of. 4 years versus less than 6 months.

No question he’s a very good defensive backs/secondary coach. Unfortunately, he’s the Defensive Coordinator for Pitt.

All of which does not absolve Rhoads of blame for Pitt’s 105th-ranked rushing defense (there are 119 teams in Division I-A), but has the run offense been any better in big games of late?

Again, the best you can do is try to change the subject? I’d point out that at least the running game got 150+ yards against UConn. Pitt’s offense has been playing from behind for most of the losing streak so it’s hard to be as critical. Besides, at least progress has been shown in the running game. Unlike the run defense.

So, if this doesn’t absolve Rhoads, what do you recommend Joe?

Let’s see what Rhoads can do if Wannstedt gives him a game-changing safety, a few big-time linemen and an offense that controls the ball.

It’s probably not what you want to hear, but the reality is that Rhoads deserves whatever patience Wannstedt is afforded.

Bull fucking shit! How did Rhoads lose all responsibility for recruiting any of the players? Seriously. Isn’t that part of the assistant coaches and coordinator job? To help with recruiting? To identify and evaluate talent? It’s all on Wannstedt to give the talent to Rhoads? Unbelievable.
Now, let me see if this is correct. A head coach should get less time than his coordinator? That’s what he is essentially arguing. Rhoads has had 7 years and the defense has gotten worse each year. He deserves no patience at this point. He hasn’t earned it.