Hello, again. Family was in town for the last week, so I couldn’t get to the site for writing.

First off, a big thanks to Justin for going to practice last week, and heading back out this week. That was some excellent stuff. More than during the season, it’s the camps and spring practices where it sucks to be 150+ miles from Pittsburgh when you write about Pitt. Still waiting for them to add childcare services at the South Side facility (or the kids get a little older).

Rather than jump back to the practice details from reports, I figured I’d post a little on some changes to the coaching duties that happened on this past Friday afternoon.

Former running backs coach Desmond Robinson is shifting to a new role as the team’s player personnel director. Offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph will take over as running backs coach, while retaining his previous role.

Rudolph, who had been coaching tight ends, will be replaced in that job by graduate assistant Mickey Turner.

Chryst said the move primarily was done to emphasize recruiting. Relief from active coaching duties will give Robinson more time to go on recruiting trips during the season.

I won’t deny being puzzled by this when it was announced. The first thing that jumped out at me was another graduate assistant doubling as a position coach. Hank Poteat is a GA and he is handling the cornerbacks. My initial impulse was that this was a kind of cheaping out by Pitt. Or that Coach Paul Chryst was arrogantly giving a short shrift to those positions.

Now that I’ve had a chance to step back, there are parts of this that makes sense. I still have questions and concerns, but I am not quite as annoyed as before.

First, I think it’s a mistake to assume that Poteat and Turner are coaching their positions without supervision. On the defensive side, DC Matt House also coaches the safeties. So it is reasonable to assume that House is providing more oversight to what Poteat is doing. The same can be said for the tight ends where the OC has just handed off the duties to Turner. Both GAs are almost certainly being watched and helped by their respective coordinators.

The second aspect is the number of paid assistant coaches/coordinators. Pitt still has the NCAA limit of nine. It doesn’t matter the team, they can only have up to nine fully paid assistants. It is just about how they are deployed.

Pitt:

Joe Rudolph — Asst. HC/OC/Running Backs
Matt House — DC/Safeties
Brooks Bollinger — Quarterbacks
Jim Hueber — Offensive Line
Bobby Engram — Wide Receivers
Inoke Breckterfield — Defensive Line
John Palermo — Defensive Ends/Linebackers
Chris Haering — Linebackers
Desmond Robinson — Player Personnel Director

Now, here’s Florida State:

Jeremy Pruitt – Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs
Rick Trickett – Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line
Tim Brewster – Recruiting Coordinator/Tight Ends
Lawrence Dawsey – Passing Game Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Jay Graham – Running Backs
Odell Haggins – Defensive Tackles
Charles Kelly – Special Teams Coordinator/Linebackers
Randy Sanders – Quarterbacks
Sal Sunseri – Defensive Ends

If you notice, FSU does not have an offensive coordinator. Those duties are being handled by Head Coach Jimbo Fisher. But in the end it is the same number of assistants. FSU also has GAs but they are simply designated for offense or defense. Coach Chryst has specified that two of his GAs are working with a position. Which probably helps both GAs for their coaching resumes.

The real curiosity for Pitt, is obviously moving Desmond Robinson from a role of actively coaching and teaching to pure scouting and recruiting. While he is still a coach and allowed to go on the road to recruit (and presumably assist help with game planning), he is definitely moving to a support/administrative position in all but name.

The decision both confuses and makes sense. It is confusing in that one of the things that Coach Chryst has emphasized and is supposed to be a strength is “coaching the players up.” Developing the kids and simply having a very good teaching coaching staff. Eliminating a full-time coach, hurts that no matter how it is spread amongst the other coaches and having a GA focus exclusively on one position.

The logic inits favor, is obviously on the focus on finding the right players for what Chryst wants. Beyond identifying the intangible, “guys who want to be at Pitt” factor or the real hard workers. It is about finding players that will fit the style and approach. Finding the under-ranked players who are being missed and developing better relationships for recruiting.

And given how Chryst’s hands-off style of recruiting has caused plenty of consternation for fans, it may be a good thing to have a coach devoted to really building those relationships.

Now here’s the other thing that might be in play with this move. Please. Please, keep in mind that this is pure speculation on my part. I have no proof. I have nothing to go on other than trying to piece this together in my own head so that it makes sense. So I could easily be dead wrong. This could be about preparing Desmond Robinson to move to a more administrative position in a year or two. Specifically, assuming the role of Director of Football Relations and Program Enhancement being held by Bob Junko.

Junko is in his late 60s and it has not exactly been a secret that he has had major health issues over the last five years. Heck, part of why he moved from the coaching to administrative side of football were those health reasons. Yet, it could be argued that the last few years has seen him work harder than ever. The work he has done in the last few years with Chris LaSala amidst all the coaching chaos is why the level of players still at Pitt is not as bad as it could have been.

So, it makes some sense to take a Pitt guy on the coaching staff. Someone with lots of experience, and excels at player relations. To put Robinson in a position where he can take over a more administrative spot. Where he can expand and develop relations further in the community and the local coaches.