Here’s the deal on doing posts regarding the utterances of Fraud Graham. I don’t want to. I really don’t. I want this dead and in the past. That said, I’m not going to ignore his bullshit with regards to his fleeing Pitt. He doesn’t get to rewrite the history.

Having failed in national media with claims that he took the Arizona State job for to be closer to his wife’s family. Then shifting to saying his kids were not happy in Pittsburgh. It just hasn’t worked at a national level. He’s still a punchline. He’s still a carpet-bagging joke.

So, in another round of national media stories it is time to once more massage the message. Appear humble. Claim that he understands the abuse and deserves it for now. As part of that, simplify the excuses. The hiding behind various family members hasn’t worked.

As Pitt Script notes, he can’t hide from this, since he is probably getting killed with it by other schools in recruiting. So he has to face the issue — sort of.

Time to vary the theme.

There were no excuses offered up over why he bailed on Pitt — he was completely transparent and honest discussing what he called his “biggest mistake.”

“In every job that [I’ve previously had] … I’ve changed jobs, and you know, you get a lot of grief, and rightly so. I take responsibility for being at a place for one year and leaving,” he said. “I made a mistake. The mistake was I probably should have never gone to Pittsburgh in the first place.”

Graham said that after then-head coach Dave Wannstedt was dismissed from Pitt in late 2010, the hiring and subsequent firing of Mike Haywood two weeks later sped up the Pitt coaching search. Graham was given just 24 hours to mull over leaving Tulsa for Pitt.

“I’m from the South, he explained. “[Pittsburgh] was a different cultural change for me. I did not feel comfortable.”

There was pain in his voice. Graham felt badly for the staff and players he left behind and although he’s taken heavy criticism since taking the Arizona State job, Graham admitted he can’t say he didn’t deserve it.

If he could get a chance at a do-over?

“I’d have stayed in Tulsa and I’d be right where I am right now,” he said firmly.

/slow mocking clap.

Well done. Emotional. Simple. And well-rehearsed. Let’s take a look at the AP article that came out a few days prior.

“I think you deserve probably some criticism for that, but that wasn’t my intention when I went to Pitt. If I made a mistake, it was going from Tulsa to Pitt. If I had it all to do over, I’d have stayed at Tulsa, but I’d be right here at Arizona State.”

What’s the saying? “If you repeat a lie often enough you actually start to believe it?”

Get it. He jumped too soon from Tulsa. Never mind that he jumped right away from Rice. Forget that anyone at Tulsa will tell you Graham was casting about for another job within a year of getting there. His mistake was that he looked before he leapt. That there was no time to think because Pitt gave him only a short window to decide.

Something that would be possibly, theoretically credible if not for reality. Pitt pursued Graham for nearly a week before he took the job. He knew the interest. He knew the negotiations. He didn’t have 24 hours to decide. He had 24 hours to accept the contract that was negotiated (hattip to FearTheStache for noting this).

Not to mention Graham’s claim that he didn’t have a lot of time to decide on that Arizona State job when he was “contacted” about it. You know, the one that led to him resigning and flying right down for it. The reason why he couldn’t meet with the kids and texted the support staff to tell them. So, perhaps he’ll have that one ready to re-use if he gets a chance to flee ASU for another dream job.

The AP piece and Lisa Horne’s piece (full disclosure, Lisa Horne and I both worked at AOL FanHouse at the same time. I don’t know her, but I do like and respect her work), leave with the possibility of redemption for Graham. The one thing that is missing. That never gets asked. The one thing I would love to see asked — in no small part because I’m sure it would make Graham squirm, duck and probably lie outright — is about his refusal to meet with anyone from Pitt in the hours before he abruptly quit. I want to know how a person that claims he is about accountability and looking people in the eye, couldn’t do it.