It’s a grab-bag of football links to take us into the weekend.

Last week’s Big East meetings gave Todd Graham a chance to meet and mingle with the rest of the Big East coaches. Not to mention any media that will be covering the Big East. His interview with Brett McMurphy of CBS Sports had plenty of bits to digest.

There’s more to what Graham was saying about expecting to win.

“At this level you can’t afford to have rebuilding years,” Graham said. “You have to produce. Our goal will be to win championships. We expect to be competing for the Big East championship. That’s our goal. We’re trying to win every one of them and get to the national championship game. That’s our focus and goal.

“I’m not going to ask kids to work like we ask them to work and not have our goals at the very top.”

My natural cynicism has me at odds with trying to not mock the over-emphasis of “high octane,” but it is clear that Coach Graham is essentially high-octane on everything. And I have to admit, I like this.

It’s a simple point he makes,  but excellent. He is pushing the kids. He wants to have them work really hard in a new system that most are probably not comfortable with yet. The payoff should be for more than maybe having a shot at the NFL or some random bowl game.

That said, while the goal may be set high, Graham is hedging a bit on whether the players are actually going to succeed the way he wants — especially on offense.

“I have a great feeling about this team and these kids,” Graham said. “We have enough talent. Do we have enough talent to run our system? Well, no. We’ll look a lot different three years from now than we do right now. We have some tough, physical players on both sides of the ball. But we have enough skill players to feel confident about.

“Bringing in this offense we’ve got to make sure we don’t go from ‘A’ to ‘Z’ — ‘A’ to ‘M’ or ‘A’ to ‘G’ and adapt to the skills and talents of the players. I feel good about this football team.”

Graham said he wants to utilize the same fast-paced attack that led the nation in total offense in 2007 and 2008 and ranked fifth in 2010. And Graham wants his quarterback to snap the ball every 15 seconds.

“To win championships, you have to play championship defense,” Graham said. “We’re going to put an emphasis on our defense. We’re a no-huddle, high-octane, fast-tempo football team. Whether it’s offense, defense, special teams. We want to do a lot of the same things we did at Tulsa.”

“…adapt to the skills and talents of the players.” Ohhhhh. I get a warm feeling all over when I read things like that.

Finally, when the two coaching searches that took place to replace Dave Wannstedt, the unofficial reason most of us heard/assumed was that Pitt couldn’t/wouldn’t put up the overall money for Graham and assistants. The spin this past week has been to say that Pitt picked Haywood over Graham.

Graham spoke to athletic director Steve Pederson about the job. And was turned down.

Pederson opted for Mike Haywood, but the former Miami, Ohio, coach was fired 2½ weeks later because of his arrest on a domestic violence charge. Pederson then reached out to Graham, who was hired eight days after Haywood’s dismissal.

…

Even if Graham wasn’t the first choice, he doesn’t mind. After all, he frequently tells friends he’s just a high school coach who happened to get a break.

“I believe things happen for a reason, I’m meant to be where I’m at,” Graham said from the Big East’s spring meetings. “I’m blessed to be in a place — I’ve worked over 25 years — to get to a point where you have a chance to compete for a national championship, a BCS bowl championship and a Big East championship. I’m extremely motivated.”

That seems to be the new meme. That Graham was the second choice, and that things actually may work out better for Pitt.

While not Pittsburgh’s first choice, Graham’s hire could end up working out better for Panther fans in the long run. Not bad considering the school was reeling from the fiasco that was the Mike Haywood hire. Haywood, who was hired from Miami of Ohio, was not a popular choice by fans and media alike. So, when he was fired a little less than three weeks later following an arrest on domestic violence charges, the university had to hit a home run with its next hire. Enter Graham.

I’m still of the opinion that the money was the reason that Graham wasn’t hired the first time, so I’m not buying this revision.

With all the emphasis on Pitt’s shift in offensive philosophy, the defense is relatively ignored. Except that DE Brandon Lindsey seems to be the emerging star — or at least the guy getting the attention on the defense.

78. BRANDON LINDSEY, defensive end, Pitt. The Pittsburgh defensive end had a stellar junior season in 2010, leading the Big East in tackles for loss (18.0) and finishing second in sacks (10.0). The Panthers have all new leadership up top, with Todd Graham in as head coach and Keith Patterson coming with him from Tulsa as defensive coordinator. Patterson is moving Pitt to a 3-4 defense that utilizes a hybrid “Panther linebacker,” one often standing at the line of scrimmage.

The plan, according to Patterson and Graham, is to put Lindsey’s explosiveness to use at that new “Panther” position. Graham compared Lindsey’s role in 2011 to that of James Harrison–the ultimate playmaking linebacker in the city. Unfortunately, Lindsey missed spring practice with a shoulder injury. But the coaching staff is still counting on his frightening burst and ability to swarm to the ball in the backfield once fall camp opens. If Lindsey racked up 18 tackles for loss coming off the line, it would not be surprising to see the senior among the nation’s leaders in his new role.

Lindsey also took part in a very good interview talking about the changes.

PSB:  Brandon, what is the biggest difference between Coach Graham’s approach to the team compared to Coach Wannstedt’s?

BL:  With Coach Wannstedt, he told us not to get into trouble and to behave.  But with Coach Graham, it isn’t an option at all.  We are student-athletes that play for the University of Pittsburgh and he wants us to represent that title and this school to the fullest.  On the field, it has to be the switch from the pro-style offense to the spread.

PSB:  I see that you changed your jersey number from number 35 to number 7, why the change?

BL: It was actually a personal decision for me to change it.  It’s a tribute to my Grandmother; she passed away January 7, the day before our Bowl game this year.

PSB:  When I talked to Coach Graham a month ago, I asked him if he was going to keep you at defensive end or move you to linebacker.  He told me you were going to be playing the “Panther Linebacker”.  I understand it’s similar to what Lamaar Woodley of the Steelers does.  How would you describe the position and how do you plan on playing it?

BL:  It’s exactly like what Woodley does for the Steelers.  I’ll still be the 4^th lineman, but I need to be versatile enough to stop the run as well as drop into coverage.   I’m going to be coming from the outside, the middle and the other side and bringing a lot of pressure, but making sure we disguise it so they can’t pinpoint where I’m coming from.

Of course there is also the issue of the new conditioning program that has changed the emphasis. One that requires more stamina and less rest between action.

The goal is to get everybody acclimated to going fast.

“A lot of it is getting the guys to buy into the mindset,” said Griswold, who came with Graham from Tulsa. “They have done a good job of that. We are constantly on the go, constantly talking about tempo so it is in the back of their heads. We have got to create an on-field pace that can’t be matched by the defense. But we also have got to get the defense in shape. If the offense scores in one or two plays, the defense may have to go back out for a nine-play drive again.”

Griswold says it usually takes more than a year to get into the proper shape to run this style. There is no way he will be able to do what he did at Tulsa last summer.

“The amount of volume and conditioning and limited rest intervals was outstanding,” he said. “I looked back at it today and said, ‘Can you believe we ran this kind of stuff? That’s how good a shape they were in.”

Taking the first steps is important, though. Not only do the players have to get into the proper shape, their minds have to operate at a faster pace, too. Most of that falls on quarterback Tino Sunseri, who has to be the rock in a sea of organized chaos. While players are rushing up to the line to get the ball snapped quickly — usually with no less than 10 seconds on the play clock — Sunseri has to bark the plays, read the defenses and make sure everyone is lined up properly.

ESPN.com has switched up their college football duties. Brian Bennett is moving to help on the Big 10. Andrea Adelson moves to the Big East from handling the non-BCS conferences. So she already knows Graham.

How will Todd Graham impact Pittsburgh? In my previous role at ESPN, I wrote extensively about Tulsa, so I know what it means to see the offense Graham wants installed going at full throttle. The results can be fun to watch. Some Pittsburgh fans question whether Tino Sunseri can be as effective in the spread. I think he has the potential to do so, though Panthers fans should know it usually takes a few years for this offense to completely click. GJ Kinne, for example, finally got the hang of the Tulsa offense last season in his second year as a starter.

“Question” might be a polite way to describe some of the doubts many seem to have. I’m not ready to write him off or declare that he will thrive. It’s a wait and see with this system. I will say, that I think he is a better fit in what Graham and the OCs want to do, than he was in Wannstedt’s approach to offense.