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January 12, 2012

Paul Chryst really likes those Wisconsin connections doesn’t he? According to Chris Dokish, he has made his hire for Running Backs Coach. He’s Eddie Faulkner, a former Wisconsin running back who played behind Ron Dayne.

Faulkner is in his thirties and has been working as a MAC running backs coach the last several years. Most of the time spent at Ball State under Brady Hoke and stayed on staff there when Hoke left for SDSU. His recruiting contacts are in Big 10/MAC country.

Last year he was the running backs coach at NIU under Dave Doren — who before taking the head job at  NIU was the defensive coordinator at… Wisconsin. So now Chryst isn’t just raiding his old team. He’s raiding a team headed up by a former colleague.

Hmm. Maybe it isn’t just Chryst. Maybe Wisconsin is just some close-knit cult-like place. All who come from there must surround themselves with others from the same place.

The good news, is that Faulkner is ambitious. He wants to advance. He made that clear in a Q&A from last season.

NS: What knowledge or techniques have you learned in your field over time at your position that you can pass on to the young running backs here at NIU?

EF: I think starting at Wisconsin in particular, they drill so much in the fundamentals that it just sticks with you, and I was able to retain that knowledge and pass it along. They taught you how to run, block, tackle, throw and catch. All of those things were instilled in us as players at Wisconsin, and if you’re trying to be the best football coach you can be, as I am, then those things are going to stick with you as you rise through the ranks.

[Emphasis added.]

He wants to keep rising, then he has to coach and recruit to impress.





“Hmm. Maybe it isn’t just Chryst. Maybe Wisconsin is just some close-knit cult-like place. All who come from there must surround themselves with others from the same place.”

Having spent six years at Purdue after my time at Pitt, you just described the majority of the B1G.

Comment by Kevin in ABQ 01.12.12 @ 4:47 pm

we probably need to get someone with east coast ties.

The position coach still open are DL, WR and DB, and apparently one of them is going to have to double as special teams. I know Huxtable has FL ties but I wouldn’t mind seeing another one from there

Comment by wbb 01.12.12 @ 4:48 pm

Which of these coaches is going to recruit Florida?

I’m all for ex-Wisky guys coming on board. Chryst obviously knows them and is comfortable, but I am concerned that it could result in too much of a good thing. Just wish there was more diversity in backgrounds from other successful programs particularly in ACC country.

Comment by TX Panther 01.12.12 @ 4:48 pm

Nothing wrong with Mr. Faulkner’s ambition. Of course, we assume he will seek his ends in an ethical manner. I have watched some of the MAC teams play over the years and I think they play sound and hardnosed football. So, from this corner— welcome aboard, Eddie and nice catch, Paul. Rev. George from Columbus

Comment by Rev. George Mehaffey 01.12.12 @ 4:48 pm

I’m with ya Tx.. Like to another to help with Florida, and be able to hit a little bit of the Carolinas and even Georgia. Some good ball players around there too.

Happy with the coaches on board now, just hoping to get a little southern comfort in there.

Comment by Dan 01.12.12 @ 5:01 pm

@ Kevin,
I always thought that inbred cult was a PSU trait,
thanks for pointing out that it transcends the B10.

Comment by Spindler's Spirit 01.12.12 @ 5:03 pm

According to the Pitt press release, Chryst also hired a secondary coach, Matt House. Here’s some of the bio info they included.

House served as a defensive quality control coach with the St. Louis Rams the past three seasons (2009-11). In 2008, he was a special teams assistant with the Carolina Panthers, who went 12-4 that year en route to the NFC South Division title and the fourth-ever playoff berth in franchise history. In addition to contributing to special teams, House also served the Panthers as a strength and conditioning assistant. Prior to his NFL stint, House was defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator under Turner Gill at the University of Buffalo for two seasons (2006-07).

Comment by Scott 78 01.12.12 @ 5:42 pm

That’s scary — House was defensive quality control coach for the Rams. Quality? Really?

Comment by Scott 78 01.12.12 @ 5:44 pm

THIS tight nit stuff should be good for us we will be able to recurit wisconsin pa ohio and illinois and some from florida we will be just fine and like you say 3 more to go
if we knew were the ex wisconsin players were coaching we could guess the next 3 i have been working on that as well as who is coaching in the pros have been looking at the SF team .

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.12.12 @ 5:54 pm

MATT HOUSE spent 2 years at north carolina coaching DB so there is your ACC and southern comfort.

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.12.12 @ 6:12 pm

Thanks Chas, for letting us get away from the basketball problems for a little while. I’m ok with Wisconson people as long as they’re good coaches. Paul Chryst been there for 6 years so those are the people he knows the best. Hey, I’m excited about Pitt football. They haven’t lost a single game yet. I think we got the right guy in place and even if takes a while I think we’ll give him the time he needs.

Comment by Justinian 01.12.12 @ 6:24 pm

chryst says both coachs are in town and recruting all ready.

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.12.12 @ 6:57 pm

Dave huxtable was at ucf for about 5 years when he turned ucf into a top 10 defence… In cusa…. Where everyone seems to score 40 plus. While he wont get floridas elite he has ties there and with the move to the acc i wouldnt worry about recruiting in florida.

Frankcan, i think that faulkner should be a good one. If hes as ambitious as he sounds then that plus the fact that hes only 34 years old should make him a great recruiter.

Comment by Pk 01.12.12 @ 7:15 pm

pk he sounds like a good RB coach house is a little different only 2 years as db coach plus 2 years as a asst db coach at NC hope he is good.

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.12.12 @ 7:34 pm

Dokish and Zeise are both saying former Penn State WR Bobby Engram could be the WR coach.

Comment by Mike 01.12.12 @ 9:16 pm

Think Engram would be a great hire. Played in the league and has credibility as a player. Chryst’s bro Geep is in SF so would know what type of coach he is. I’ve actually had the chance to meet him before and he seems like a terrific guy.

Comment by OntarioLett'sGoPitt 01.12.12 @ 9:54 pm

Would love to have Bobby Engram.

@PK, hey, would we ever get Florida’s elite?? Plenty to go around down there, with speed and talent, I’d be happy to just get in the door and get 3 or 4 players a year.

@FRANK—Great work researching!!!!

Comment by Dan 01.12.12 @ 10:24 pm

Dan, i wasnt saying that pitt couldnt get a handful of florida players every year, just that pitt wont get floridas finest. Thats all. I would love the hire too

Comment by Pk 01.12.12 @ 10:38 pm

Once again would like to circulate the names of unsigned mega recruits around campus/staff with two weekends of visits left. Darius hamilton & stephon diggs. Get the word out, I think this can be pulled off !

Comment by Rocky20 01.12.12 @ 10:38 pm

I just hope he has hired some coaches who can recruit Florida especially for speed and Texas especially for quarterbacks.

Comment by Houston Panther 01.12.12 @ 10:43 pm

Rocky, they have ZERO interest in pitt but itd be nice. Some more realistic and important recruits are OT jj denman, TE/MLB jp holtz, and one that i would love to see is RB drew harris. Hes committed to va tech but both he and vt were looking for a change so if pitt came calling itd be a safe bet that hed flip. I have no idea if chryst would be interested in him though.

Comment by Pk 01.12.12 @ 11:20 pm

I find it interesting how Rivals has a recent article behind the wall saying that the Davis twins are set on Pitt after speaking with Chryst. Scout as of today now has the Davis twins as soft verbals and visiting Arizona this weekend with Dakota Conwell? I guess if it is in print it must be a fact!

Comment by winedogs 01.13.12 @ 6:12 am

When art intersects sports:

link to theblaze.com

Comment by steve 01.13.12 @ 7:22 am

here are more details about the new hires plus more speculation on Engram, and finally speculation thet the DL coach is still tied up in NFL playoffs (as is Engram.)

link to blogs.sites.post-gazette.com

Comment by wbb 01.13.12 @ 7:55 am

@PK, don’t know how it came out, but, I was agreeing totally with you!

Comment by Dan 01.13.12 @ 8:32 am

Another take on the high concentration of MAC / Big 10 / Whisky coaches: It’s not a bad thing. Kids from the warmer ACC climates probably aren’t going to want to come to Pittsburgh. Too cold. To far away. Too…Pittsburgh. But to kids from the backwaters of the Midwest, Pittsburgh is probably a sparkling metropolis, just a few hours away and way better than a college town in the middle of some flatland state. I bet that Chryst and co have some pretty good success pulling the kids who are a cut above the MAC, but not quite Big 10 first string material from those areas. And maybe they even pull a few Big 10 first stringers too. If a kid wants to go to school on an urban area in the Midwest (or close to it) they basically have three choices – Ohio State (which we can’t compete with anyway), Cinci (Which from what I hear is a pretty crappy campus / area) and Pitt. We’ve got an advantage.

My two cents anyway…

Comment by Atlanta Panther 01.13.12 @ 8:53 am

I worry about Pitt trying to become a Big 10 type of team. To do this it will have to compete in the recruiting circles with OSU and Urban, Michigan with Hoke, Wisc. and PSU. All of those schools have sold out stadiums and better game day experiences that Pitt. If we get stuck with second hand talent running the pro set we will have problems with the spreads run in the ACC.

Comment by JP 01.13.12 @ 9:27 am

Atlanta Panther, That’s a good point. I’ve found that people from places like Mansfield, Warren or Youngstown typically love Pittsburgh. It’s a bigger city and a nice place where they feel they fit in culturally. Even though people consider Pittsburgh an eastern city, it has more of a midwestern mentality and we have more in common with Cleveland and Chicago than we do with Boston, New York and Philadelphia.

Comment by Justinian 01.13.12 @ 9:39 am

By they way, I heard on “The Fan” this morning that it appears that Bobby Engram will be the new Pitt recievers coach. So apparently the earlier report is true.

Comment by Justinian 01.13.12 @ 9:44 am

Jp, that wont happen. The coaches know that pitt will need southern talent at least on defense. Other than maybe va tech, theres not a team in the acc with a defense capable of stopping a wisconsin-like offense. Theyre built to defend the spread so they wont be big enough of strong enough to stop 330 lb o-linemen and pitts elite runningbacks. Pitts dc huxtable has ties in north carolina and florida, which will help immensly in terms of getting speedier defenders. Once again, i just REALLY hope that pitt gain regain their recent history of getting blue chip d-lineman.

Comment by Pk 01.13.12 @ 10:01 am

As i poined out 5 days ago bobby engram will be a great WR coach he has been a pro for years what wr in high school would not want him for a coach plus he won the biletnikoff award and was a all american in school and he lives in murrysville pa

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.13.12 @ 10:29 am

Frank, i agree with that part about high school wide recievers. This is a great staff. Assuming engram will be the wr coach, that just leaves d-line coach and the speculation is hes on an nfl staff. Fo you know who it could be?

Comment by Pk 01.13.12 @ 10:43 am

Atlanta Panther, Justinian, while you’re point is well taken, Pitt has gotten way too many really good players from Florida (Antonio Bryant, Romeus, Sheard, Session, Blades, Lee, Mustakas, to name a few) to ignore that area.

You want to know where WVU gets much of its speed .. check out how many southerners are on its roster .. and this has been going on since Nehlen has been there. And Morgantown isn’t much warmer than Pgh.

Comment by wbb 01.13.12 @ 10:47 am

[…] in addition to the hiring of Eddie Faulkner as the running backs coach, it was announced that Matt House would be the secondary coach. House is a Michigan State alum […]


pk yes i have a few ideas one of them is peter hansen from SF a defence asst who played in AZ he is 6 foot 8 and has coached DE ihave some outher ideas and will list them today

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.13.12 @ 11:01 am

WWB, Good point, hopefully these mid-westerners can recruit some of the Florida talent. It just not particularily easy to get those guys to come up north unless they are a bit of sleeper or a later developer.

I know it goes a long way back but Sherrill and Pitt first saw Hugh Green in a game, when they took the trip down south, to watch Rooster Jones play.

Comment by Justinian 01.13.12 @ 11:03 am

One thing that Pitt may be able to offer some of those Southerners that Alabama and LSU can’t is playing time. I would think a kid would rather be on the field than watching from the bench.

Comment by Houston Panther 01.13.12 @ 11:23 am

Justinian, Green was from Mississippi and Ricky Jackson was from Georgia … as good as defensive bookends as they come

Comment by wbb 01.13.12 @ 11:30 am

Cool frank sounds good

Comment by Pk 01.13.12 @ 11:31 am

Houston, i would tend to agree but they you dont think theyve tried that yet? I feel like most players would rather be 2nd stribg at bana and have a chance to play than first string at pitt. You never know though. I hope youre right

Comment by Pk 01.13.12 @ 11:35 am

I’ll take a 3-star Florida recruit with something to prove over a 4-star WPIAL player more often than not.

The cold weather aspect is over-rated. It doesn’t really start getting cold until the season ends. And, the games will eventually be on TV for Mom and Dad particularly if the ACC creates their own network. And, there will be several trips south for Mom, Dad, and friends to see them play within a short drive time.

The city of Pittsburgh is also a cool place for most kids. The campus also has a high energy level. I’ve always thought of Pittsburgh as a mini NYC. My City friends have also commented. So if a recruit likes a city atmosphere, there are few places better than da burg.

Comment by TX Panther 01.13.12 @ 11:38 am

Sal going to Vols as DC

link to espn.go.com

Comment by Why me 01.13.12 @ 11:38 am

Yea wbb, we def need somebody who knows Florida. But not somebody who thinks they can go head to head with the big boys…we need somebody who can find the one or two star (and low 3 star) guys with upside and then sell, sell, sell them on moving north, playing in in the pro-set and working with some really great coaches.

Interestingly enough in your list:

Antonio Bryant – Not sure of star level but I remember the phrase “lightly recruited” almost constantly associated with his name
Romeus / Sheard – I think these guys were both two star
Session /Blades – Three star / undersized. Blades was not particularly fast if I recall.
Lee / Mustakas – Not sure

Yes TX, a 3 star Florida guy may be equal to 4 star WPIAL but Jon Baldwin turned out to be pretty solid…that being said it’s one data point. Would be fun to look at all the FL vs. WPIAL recruits over the last 5 years and track their development / on-field impact vs. star level. Doke, you reading this???

Bottom line is I think this staff needs to do three things well when it comes to recruiting:

1. Keep local talent home. They seem to have a good start with Haering and Rudolph in place
2. Strengthen our presence in Ohio and other nearby Big 10 states. I think we all agree that Chryst is laying the foundation for that.
3. Mine the diamonds in the rough out of Florida. Hopefully Huxtable can be that guy but agree that one more with FL ties would be nice..

Love Engram as a hire BTW and agree with you Frank 100%

Comment by Atlanta Panther 01.13.12 @ 12:00 pm

Random thought: If Todd Graham steals the Davis Twins and Dakota Conwell, does that officially make him the Antichryst?

Comment by Atlanta Panther 01.13.12 @ 12:23 pm

atlanta, theyre not visiting arizona state, theyre vsiting arizona

Comment by pk 01.13.12 @ 12:27 pm

Either way…there’s an antichryst out there…somewhere. Tucson sucks though. And that campus is a dump. Dick Rod better have some mojo if we wants to reel those boys in.

Comment by Atlanta Panther 01.13.12 @ 12:51 pm

Atlanta Panther it means dick rod is the antichryst and TG is his helper both slimy ooze.

Comment by FRANKCAN 01.13.12 @ 1:03 pm

Atlanta Panther .. FWIW, WVU got Noel devine and Geno Smith from FL .. both 4 stars. However, I’m not sure Pitt ever got a real blue-chip … although Bryant, Romeus and Sheard certainly were great players at Pitt (and Session, Lee and Blades weren’t too shabby.)

I agree we have to keep talent at home .. lose too many blue-chippers to OSU

Comment by wbb 01.13.12 @ 4:38 pm

Atlanta Panther – so what you are saying is that when The Rapture hits us Todd Graham will have his feet firmly on the ground.

Which begs a question: What if you are in a mall doing some shopping and the Rapture hits – will you bump against the ceiling like a helium balloon?

Comment by Reed 01.14.12 @ 6:29 am

Rapture??? Where did you get that. Reed? Certain;y not the bible. No offense intended. Rev. Geirge from Columbus

Comment by Rev. George Mehaffey 01.14.12 @ 7:07 am

[…] not exactly distraught by this loss to the staff. As noted when he was hired, Faulkner’s recruiting area was in MAC/Big 10 region. That seems well covered with or without […]


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