I mean aside from on the ground in a fetal position moaning, “Make it stop! Just finish this!”

Let’s start with what has me the most pissed off.

Another candidate emerged, at least in terms of someone who will get an interview – Sunday, from what I am told — and that is Stanford Associate Head Coach-Assistant Head coach for Offense Greg Roman and he seems to fit the profile of what Steve Pederson is looking for — young, up-and-coming, offensive minded, etc., etc. Pederson is reportedly enamored with Stanford’s offense and while Roman isn’t the offensive coordinator, he has a big hand in the game planning and play calling and is considered a strong candidate to replace Jim Harbaugh as head coach if he takes the 49ers job. So Roman may be off the market before he actually gets to talk to Pitt, but at any rate he is an interesting name just because he is new to this.

When this showed up on my radar last night, I dismissed it out of hand. Pure agent spin I confidently asserted.

(more…)

… as if to catch its breath.

A little too much?

Okay. Embattled AD Steve Pederson in a rare display of openness had a limited media conference call to talk about the coaching search among other things.

The university’s search process this time is different than the way they conducted the first search, which led the university to hire former Miami (Ohio) coach Michael Haywood — who was fired on Jan. 1st, a day after being arrested on charges of domestic battery.

“We have created a small team who will assist in the initial interview process,” Pederson said. “We are meeting potential candidates in a first round, then we will identify a smaller number of candidates from that poll who will brought to campus to participate in further interviews with a group that includes the chancellor [Mark Nordenberg].

“We want to move swiftly, but we have no timeline for completion of the process and we want to make sure we find the right person to lead this program but do so in a timely manner.”

The small group conducting the initial interviews includes Pederson, Executive Associate Athletic Director Donna Sanft and Executive Vice Chancellor Jerry Cochran.

Pederson said the fact that there will be a second round of interviews means that no candidate will be hired — or even offered the job — until the group of finalists are identified and have all had a chance to meet with and interview with Nordenberg.

(more…)

Last night was crazy with the Bradley to Pitt reports, retractions, repeat sequences. If you follow me on twitter, you know it was even more absurd with Chris Gates, Bryan of Pitt Script, Chris Peak of PantherLair and assorted others.

Not sure if it will bet that bad tonight, but it sure is shaping up that way.

Hearing Todd Graham talks with Pitt are heating up dramatically. If he gets the job, Steve Kragthorpe could be candidate to return to Tulsa.

That’s from Austin American-Statesman sports columnist Kirk Bohls.

And as to why Tom Bradley seems to have fallen back to the pack.

Word is Pitt and Bradley fell off over money for assistants. Wouldn’t be surprised to see talks pick back up though.

Which seems somewhat odd since Graham’s price tag is supposedly higher, that there would be yet another instance of Pitt nickel-and-diming on assistants.

(more…)

I know it’s my own fault. It’s my own obsession and fandom that is to blame. I know if I say this out-loud in my own home, my wife would likely beat me with the media guides lying within arms reach.

I just want Pitt to hire a football coach.

Yes, Pitt needs to get this right. They need to be a hell of a lot more thorough than the last time. Interview more people. Do better diligence. Still…

I’m sick of obsessively refreshing my news tabs. I’m sick of scanning and rescanning the comments. Of practically flinching everytime Tweet Deck updates my Twitter feeds. I’m tired of being afraid of being away from my computer or phone for too long, because I might miss some tiny morsel of rumored information.

It’s worn me down, and distracted me from everything else.

(more…)

Last night was a little weird. Leaks out the wazzou from Penn State players and recruits — swiftly retracted. Denials from Pitt.

At present, there is a sense that it will happen. Just a matter of when.

Sources, it seems are highly conflicted. At present everyone seems to be backing away from declaring it done, to making it Bradley versus the field.

(more…)

Nate Stupar has claimed that he was relayed the information from Jason Aversano

Which really makes me wonder if he is just going off of what other people are saying. I mean come on, a telecom major at Penn State is not going to be getting this information any better than we are.

As for the removal of the post, I can’t really see any way he had no inside information on this. The original report from WTAE mentioned no text messages sent at all, meaning that he would have had to made those up completely out of the blue for the post to be just a follow up of WTAE. I don’t think somebody who has been covering Penn State sports for 20 years is going to go off on his own and make up text messages.

In other news, Pitt’s 79 points given up to Providence is the most Pitt has given up in Regulation since an 89-76 loss to Notre Dame on January 30th of 2002.

At least, that appears to be the the indications. Forget the jump-the-gun news report. Or Pitt’s denial.

The best indication is that modern communication medium of text message (hat tip to Pitt Script).

Two Penn State players said Wednesday night they have been text-messaged by Tom Bradley that he has been offered the Pittsburgh Panthers head coaching job and that he intends to accept it once details are worked out, according to a PSU team source.

To one player, Bradley texted: “Love you kids. Going to miss you. Wish I could take you with me. Anything I can do for you, let me know.”

So there you go.

What does it all mean? Well, for starters I can close a bunch of browser tabs and trash the post I had been working on with some of the other candidates.

After that, I’m not sure.

I think a lot depends on the assistants he hires. I am hoping that it isn’t too late to keep Greg Gattuso and David Walker from Wannstedt’s staff. Both are well worth keeping. After that, well the Teryl Austin as DC rumor sounds good. The OC, though, is the biggie.

Oh, and one other thing I am certain. AD Steve Pederson has been neutered.

UPDATE (10:20): Aw, hell. Now David Jones is retracting the whole texting story. Might be a long night.

UPDATE (11:36): Last update. This tweet from Penn State Linebacker Nate Stupar (at least until it is retracted) might be a clue.

Tom Bradley got Pitt job. Congrats!

Oh, and the Pitt News has more reasons why Pederson’s days are numbered. The donors are revolting.

Both alumni donors, Paul Helsel and football great Bill Fralic, have been in the John Bowman Society since at least 2005, meaning they have donated between $10,000 and $24,999 each year.

Both men also claimed to have heard similar sentiments from a number of other donors —  including one who has reportedly pledged six figures to the University — but declined to share those donors’ names.

“It’s between the other donors and the University,” said Fralic, who played on Pitt’s offensive line in the mid-80s and then for the Atlanta Falcons. “But I know a lot of big financial supporters, and there are a significant number of them that tell me they don’t want anything to do with the program or the athletic department anymore.”

You can be an arrogant ass in many things — as long as you don’t fail. Once you do, it becomes payback and you find out how few people will support you. Just ask DickRod.

I’m doing my best to stay open-minded and level-headed about the coaching search. Outright condemnations don’t work for most of the candidates. Especially since Paul Rhoads isn’t in the mix (which is good, since my 2004 vow to cancel my season tickets if he becomes HC is still in place).

But no doubt there is plenty of hand-wringing over the latest coaching carousel tidbit.

One other candidate has emerged and it is a surprise in some ways — Alabama assistant head coach Sal Sunseri has already talked with Pitt about the job earlier this week as well. Sunseri is a former Pitt player and is popular among donors and alumni and he is also a guy who could certainly turn the recruiting around in a hurry. Sunseri is a guy who has wanted the job for a long time but has been turned down for a variety of reasons and I think the fact that he’s being interviewed this time speaks volumes about the way the events of past month have changed the administration and its view of the football program.

I’m not prepared to panic — yet.

(more…)

Some simple reality. Even before the rumors of Tom Bradley have started heating up, the next coach at Pitt will not be Rich Rodriguez or Mike Leach. Period. If you are/were holding out hope (Leach) or stressing at the possibility (Rodriguez), you shouldn’t.

Dennis Dodd’s laughable argument in favor of DickRod is the same thing that everyone who backs Leach says. He wins. He plays exciting offense. They’ll bring sizzle and reinvigorate the fanbase. Uh-huh. That’s fine if being the head coach at a program was just coaching (and recruiting). If this was the NFL.

It’s more than that. It is about selling the program. Being the face of the program. It is about dealing with boosters, trustees, and the people above you. It’s about being willing to work with others. And most of all, it is about trust.

(more…)

…In the world of coachspeak, there is no denial.

Take it for what it is worth, but Todd Graham was asked about the Pitt job by his media in Tulsa.

“I’ve got three kids who attend the University of Tulsa. I’ve pretty-much bought in and sold out,” he said Monday. “You know, my wife informed me that if I go anywhere I’ll be going by myself. So, that’s a little hard for me right now being 46. I don’t really want to do that.”

Darn good reasons to stay. Says his wife is happy and the kids are in college. I mean, who takes another job when their kid is actually in school (*cough* Ben Howland *cough*)?

This is why coaching carousel stuff sucks. You have to parse this stuff and look at the non-denials. And while he’s saying things like this, he doesn’t actually say he’s not interested in another job or won’t leave.

Is it gamesmanship to simply force more money from Tulsa or have Pitt make a better offer? Is he just sending a message to other schools in the near-future that if you want him, make sure it’s a good offer?

Don’t know. We’ll see, I guess.

Paul Zeise has a tidbit loaded post after landing in Birmingham.

Let’s hit the highlights for coaching carousel stuff only.

(1) The search is going to expand to include a larger group of candidates – and that includes some candidates who don’t have any head coaching experience. That brings up the obvious name – Penn State’s Tom Bradley – but as of this morning he had yet not been contacted by Pitt. I’m told, however, he will at least get a phone call this time. Incidentally in case you missed it – our own Steelers reporter Ed Bouchette reported that Dan Rooney called Steve Pederson last month to recommend he talk to Bradley and the fact that he didn’t even pick up the phone and give Bradley a call has strained the relationship with Pitt and the Steelers. That is bad news for Pitt as they share facilities with the Steelers and have prided themselves in having a great relationship with the city’s most important sports organization.

(2) Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and several other key members of the University administration will have a bigger hand in the search now and will be involved earlier in the process from helping to identify candidates to being more involved with the early interview process on some level. This isn’t a sign that they have lost total faith in Steve Pederson, it is a sign that they know they have to get it right this time and have no margin for error as this is a make or break decision for a lot of people.

I know there seems to be a big split on Bradley. I’m not against the possibility. Is he my first choice? Probably not. I suppose the one big question is what he would do with the offense? Still, he should at least get an interview this time. Find out what he is prepared to do. What he thinks the plan should be.

Again, more Pederson arrogance. No, Pitt and the Pitt AD shouldn’t be doing whatever the Steelers say. And at least he didn’t directly tell Rooney to ‘eff off. That said, any AD with any intelligence — and once upon a time Pederson had that — is wise to at least give token respect to figures of significant influence on the program, university and/or city. Dan Rooney fits that bill, and Pederson showed none.

Of the five coaches who were “extensively” interviewed the first time only one – Tulsa’s Todd Graham – is still in the mix for a variety of reasons … Graham would be a good choice for Pitt given his background and is said to be very interested in his job. He currently makes $804,000 in base salary and about another $300,000 in bonuses and other compensation so Pitt would likely have to start negotiating at about the same salary range Wannstedt made (he had a base salary of $1.01 million with about $325,000 in bonuses and other compensation) and will likely have to go to about $1.7 or $1.8 million to bring Graham in. It will be interesting to see how this plays out because Pitt is going to have to pay to get a great coach but the tab on coaches, search firms and buyouts is starting to get high.

Graham is my top choice at the moment. There is concern of the Kragthorpe factor since Tulsa is also where Krags was winning before his flame out in Louisville. There is also legitimate concern over how he would recruit in the East.

That said, he won at Rice before going to Tulsa. Think about that: Rice. That was impressive. My sister and brother-in-laws are Rice alums and everyone there was bummed when he left. Graham was also the guy to go get Gus Malzahn after the Arkansas mess, so you know he is willing to be adventurous on the offense.

Graham also strikes me as the best combination of relatively safe hire — that I’m sure Pitt wants right now — and enough “splash” to placate fans.

After a week-long layoff — nicely timed to give the football side time to go insane — Pitt is back to play its first Big East road game. Providence embarrassed Pitt at the Dunk a couple years ago. Last year, they nearly upset Pitt at the Pete. It was  a change from how Pitt had been dominating the Friars in the Tim Welsh era. Keno Davis’ teams may struggle on defense, but they can score.

The game starts at 7pm on ESPN3.com, ESPN FullCourt, FoxSports Pittsburgh and MASN. Unfortunately SNY is showing the UConn-ND game. Oh, and way to be a power in New England, Providence. CSN New England is going with New Hampshire-Boston U.

(more…)

I was going to leave it alone, but the more I thought about it the more annoyed I got. Dave Wannstedt held what should have been his final press conference as a direct representative of Pitt. My initial impulse was that he let his own wounded pride and anger at AD Pederson overrule all else. Disappointingly, after 24 hours, I’m still at the same spot.

This is one of those times when just about everyone saw something the same way. It’s not some Rashomon event.

(more…)

We will have a liveblog tonight. In an ideal world, we can continue the trend of keeping the basketball liveblogs free of discussion of the ongoing football insanity. Please?

Providence has looked good at times this year, but it is hard to ignore the 13 straight Big East losses the Friars are riding. They lost their season opener at home to the now hot St. John’s team.

Not that Pitt or any team in the Big East should take any team lightly in the conference (well, maybe a little bit with DePaul). Providence the under Keno Davis have been a pesky  problem for Pitt.

(more…)

Let’s start this off by first suggesting you go over to Cardiac Hill and read Anson’s observation on Pederson having to go to the assistant coaches and apologize for essentially ignoring and blowing them off for nearly a month. I read the same piece and it just never clicked to me that Pederson was that stupid.

Right now, the fans are crying for Pederson’s head as well over this debacle. Predictably, you have media people defending him. It is a bit of bull since the defense consists  primarily based on the work he did the first time as AD at Pitt. That’s nice, but that is like defending Johnny Majors in the 90s for the work he did at Pitt in the 70s.

(more…)