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December 5, 2006

Re-Thinking A Lot

Filed under: Assistants,Coaches,Football,Wannstedt — Chas @ 5:49 pm

Unbelievable. No, not that. The sad thing is, I can believe it.

University of Pittsburgh head football coach Dave Wannstedt announced changes to his assistant staff today, including the departures of two coaches and the reassignment of another.

Linebackers coach Curtis Bray and strength and conditioning coach Mike Kent will leave the Pitt staff to pursue other opportunities. Defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads, who has coached the secondary since 2000, will change his positional focus to linebackers. Rhoads will continue to coordinate the Panthers’ defense.

“Having been a coordinator for a significant part of my career, I know the advantages of having your linebacker coach, who is involved in defending both the run and the pass, also serve as defensive coordinator,” Wannstedt said. “Having Paul make this positional switch will better serve our entire defensive unit and help us put more emphasis on our rushing defense.

“In addition to hiring a secondary coach, I anticipate we will be making additional appointments on our strength and conditioning staff. I plan on interviewing strength coach candidates this weekend and expect to have someone in place by Christmas. This will enable our off-season program to begin full-speed when our players return the first week of January.”

Oh, I take it back again. The one thing Rhoads can do well is coach the secondary. It’s how he made his reputation. It’s the one area he’s helped recruit well.

Rhoads joined the Panthers after serving the prior five seasons (1995-99) at Iowa State, where he was the secondary coach his last four years after coaching the inside linebackers in 1995. Rhoads also assisted with the Cyclones’ special teams.

Prior to Iowa State, Rhoads spent three years at Pacific (1992-94), serving as the defensive backs coach and, in his final season, coordinator of the Tigers’ pass defense. In 1993, Pacific ranked 20th nationally, allowing just 152 yards passing per game. Rhoads began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Ohio State (1991) and Utah State (1989-90), working with the secondary at both schools.

One season in his entire coaching career where he coached inside linebackers. Aside from that, it’s been in the secondary. So now, he’s going to oversee the linebackers and stay focused on the entire defense.  Stunning.

I’m really struggling with this. I’m not sure whether Bray earned the right to stay, there’s been nothing in the development of Clint Session and outside of H.B. Blades there is little else of note at the position. So it’s hard to say he should stay. It’s never easy to fire an alum — and leaving “to pursue other opportunities” is clearly a firing.

There’s this ridiculously cynical, tinfoil hat-esque conspiracy thought that I can’t help but have. 2007 is going to be a struggle — as everyone says. 2008 is the big year where Wannstedt has to show something of a major step forward with the program. He’ll have had 3 years coaching and recruiting his players. Fans will not buy anymore excuses, the schedule is going to be as favorable as you can hope. It is the year he has to achieve, because even if he gets another year or two as coach, the fans won’t be there.
Paul Rhoads is a popular figure with the administration and the athletic department and has a contract, making him one of the few assistants where Wannstedt may not be able to  just cut him loose.
Is it a stretch to think that Wannstedt is setting Rhoads up for abject failure to allow him to get rid of him after a lost/(another) step back year? Then either hire a new DC or take it over himself for 2008 and look like he figured a lot out.

Tommie Campbell will be the only returning starting LB. The secondary is going to be worse without Revis back there. Who knows what to think the D-line will look like.
Yeah, I’m not buying it either. I really look forward to seeing the linebackers playing 5-8 yards off the line of scrimmage in the patented “bend but don’t break” defense.

Televised the Rest of the Way

Filed under: Basketball,Media,Schedule,TV — Chas @ 2:07 pm

Nice.

The days of scrambling around Western Pennsylvania looking for a place to watch Pitt men’s basketball games are over. Starting with Duquesne on Wednesday, 22 of the Panthers’ 23 regular-season games are televised, either on CBS, Fox Sports Pittsburgh or ESPN. Only a couple of Pitt’s first eight games were on local TV. The only non-televised game the rest of the season is Florida A&M on Dec. 30.

According to the Pitt schedule, even that game is on FSN/ESPN regional.

The City Game is tomorrow. Just not hearing the buzz. What ever happened to that spirit of the 70s? You mean to tell me no one is jazzed for a contest Pitt has won 24 of the last 27 times? This is the 75th meeting. The Diamond celebration. Uh, yeah.

Duquesne is 2-4 with losses to Robert Morris and Oakland. Their tallest player is 6’9″, a senior who plays less than 12 minutes per game. Otherwise they don’t have a starter over 6’6″

Is it any wonder the only stories are peripheral ones.

Pitt Assistant Coach and former player Orlando Antigua relating to the gunshot wound to the head of the Duquesne player from the fall; and reaching out to Sam Ashalou.

Another Pitt assistant coach, Mike Rice, Jr., is the son of a former Duquesne head coach and can recall a childhood of actual meaningful City Games. Now, they are supporting Pitt.

Mike Rice Sr., who went 4-3 against Pitt and took the Dukes to a pair of NIT bids, has worked as a television analyst for the Portland Trail Blazers for the past 15 years.

“My mother and father called me last night,” Rice said Monday. “They said, ‘Take it easy on the alma mater. Take it easy on Duquesne.’ ”

All of the Rice clan are Pitt fans these days, even if mom and dad would prefer a competitive game tomorrow. When one of Rice Sr.’s former Duquesne captains, Rod Scott, recently saw his old coach walking around wearing a Pitt jacket and hat, he nearly stopped in his tracks.

That’s a loyal dad.

Individual Accolades

Filed under: Football,Honors,Players — Chas @ 10:26 am

Pitt football had its award banquet the other night. Team honors mostly went to the players you would expect.

The various All-American or All-Big East teams are also being released (the Big East “official” All-Big East teams will be announced tomorrow).

Scout.com put H.B. Blades on their second-team All-American squad. Freshman Offensive Guard Joe Thomas was a 1st team Freshman All-American.

Thomas was named a 2nd team Freshman All-American by The Sporting News, along with teammate WR Oderick Turner. Darrelle Revis was named as a 3d team All-American team as a “utility player.” That’s what happens when no one throws his way after the first couple of games and a sub-par year as a punt returner.

Poll Watching

Filed under: Basketball,Polls — Chas @ 8:28 am

Pitt is #2 in both polls. Actually receiving #1 votes.

A Buffalo sportswriter who is anticipating Pitt’s visit this weekend thinks Pitt is #1.

Full disclosure: I have been one of the 72 voters on the Associated Press basketball poll for several years. It is a task I take seriously, spending several hours during the week following scores and trends before voting on Sunday nights. But I would not do it if the polls helped determine who made the NCAA Tournament come March (poll rankings are not used by the selection committee when choosing schools).

Our weekly task got quite a bit juicier this week because I can’t stop myself from looking ahead to Saturday afternoon when No. 2 Pittsburgh, my No. 1 pick for two straight ballots, comes to Alumni Arena to meet the University at Buffalo.

We just don’t get this chance for an in-the-flesh view of a team that high in the polls very often.

Besides, I’m not a coach or player. I’m allowed to look ahead. I know there are plenty of people at UB already doing the same thing and there’s no way for coach Reggie Witherspoon to slow down the buildup.

You can even go on Facebook.com and find plugs for a “Reggieville” tent city that’s planning to sprout outside Alumni on Friday afternoon so students can get the best seats when the doors open the next day.

Two days before his team dismantled Niagara on Saturday night, I couldn’t resist asking Witherspoon about Pitt. He laughed at me. I deserved it, too. It’s normally a journalistic no-no to ignore the next game and ask about another one.

Not this time. Witherspoon understood.

“It’s a college campus with 30,000 people running through here on a daily basis,” Witherspoon said. “I’m reasonably sure you’re not the only one thinking about it. If you’re a student and a college basketball fan, you’re probably watching ESPN and that means you’re hearing the typical talk about who’s No. 1. So there’s going to be a lot of talk around. Our job is to not pay attention.”

Pittsburgh will be the highest-ranked team ever to visit Alumni and the highest-ranked visitor to a Big 4 school since No. 1 Massachusetts came to St. Bonaventure in 1995 and 1996.

Mike DeCourcy at the Sporting News also listed Pitt as his #1 team (at the very bottom he lists his top-10).

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