Really, Pitt? You are releasing news of hires around 5pm? This isn’t bad news. Don’t treat it like it. Even some of us bloggers have a facade of a life that doesn’t let us get updates out every hour of the day. /grumble

So 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 — and like Faulkner in his mid-30s — who has been toiling at the low end of the NFL coaching ladder for the last four years.

He spent the last three years as the defensive quality control coach with the St. Louis Rams, and the year before that he was a special teams assistant with the Carolina Panthers (and helping with the strength and conditioning program).

Here’s the rest of his resume:

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). In his final season at UB, the rising Bulls captured a share of the MAC East Division title. House’s pupils at Buffalo included four-time first-team All-MAC safety Davonte Shannon, a native of Jeannette, Pa., and graduate of Jeannette High. Shannon finished as the Bulls’ all-time leading tackler and signed a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins.

House additionally was defensive line coach at Gardner-Webb University (2005), where he helped develop consensus All-America defensive end Brian Johnston. The two-time Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Year would go on to be selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2008 NFL Draft.

House began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Michigan State (his alma mater) during the 2001 and ’02 seasons and worked with the Spartans’ defensive backs and special teams. He also was a defensive assistant at North Carolina for two years (2003-04) working with the secondary.

Not exactly strong ties to ACC country, but at least he spent a couple year in North Carolina. House has experience as a recruiting coordinator (yes, at Buffalo), suggesting that he has some talent in the recruiting aspect. He seems promising enough, and getting the secondary coaching job at Pitt is his biggest opportunity, so he definitely has extra incentive.

As the press release itself says, Pitt and Chryst have now filled seven of the 9 coaching positions on the staff. The final two are spots are for wide receivers and defensive lines.

What is an apparent open secret is that the WR Coach will be ex-PSU player Bobby Engram — presently an offensive assistant with the San Francisco 49ers — is just starting his coaching career after a 14 year NFL career. He can definitely sell the whole NFL experience part.

As for the D-line coach… “and a defensive line coach, of which I’ve heard a couple of names, including one who is still tied up in the NFL playoffs, but none that jump off the page.” Odds are, it won’t be Jim Tomsula.