And no, this has nothing to do with Fraud Graham.
Pitt has shed it’s strength and conditioning coach.
Strength and conditioning coach Todd Rice has resigned from his position, a Pitt spokesman confirmed tonight. Rice spent the last two years as Pitt’s head strength and conditioning coach, and previously held the same title at N.C. State, Boston College and Cal.
Pitt did not provide a reason for the resignation, and said that it will hire a full-time replacement some time after Jan. 1.
Most of the reviews I heard from current and former players about Rice were not necessarily glowing, and Pitt dealt with a spate of back injuries (usually, though not always, indicative of a conditioning issue) along the offensive line. Left guard Cory King and left tackle Adam Bisnowaty both missed multiple games with back injuries this season.
Not glowing reviews. That may be putting it mildly considering the first source that put out word that Rice was out.
Rice was a hire that was shaky from the beginning. His biggest qualification seemed to be that Paul Chryst could trace a family connection to him.
Now since the hire is not going to be announced until after January 1, let the speculation begin.
The first is a familiar one for Pitt fans: Buddy Morris. Morris served as Pitt’s S&C coach from 1980-89, 1997-2001 and 2007-2010. He also worked at the University of Buffalo and with the Cleveland Browns. Morris is currently working as a personal trainer in Buffalo, N.Y., so it would just be a matter of convincing him to move back to Pittsburgh if that’s the direction Chryst wants to go.
The other guy is current Arkansas strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert. Herbert is a 2002 Wisconsin grad who served on the Badgers’ staff when Chryst was the offensive coordinator there. He was an assistant S&C coach from 2003-2009, and the head S&C coach from 2009-2012, at which point he followed coach Bret Bielema and took the same job at Arkansas. Hertbert is also a Pittsburgh native and a West Allegheny grad…
Is Herbert ready for a pay cut? Because let’s face it, Arkansas can easily match and raise the money.
I’m not against Buddy Morris for his — I don’t know — 5th, 6th, 90th go round at Pitt. God knows the players all love him.
But let’s face it. The announcement isn’t coming until after the bowl game. So we all know who it will be…
Matt House will be the new S&C Coach. Book it.
So what’s the problem?
The two best guys in Western Pennsylvania,” Farrell said, “are Dravon Henry and (Thomas Jefferson linebacker) Chase Winovich.”
Both are from pipeline programs. Neither picked Pitt.
That’s not just bad for perception but also reality. Pitt must own its backyard every year.
Read more: link to triblive.com
I forgot about Winovich. Isn’t the Thomas Jefferson HC, a Pitt man. Cherpak or something.
No matter how you cut the cake, that sux.
For us to get better we needed to get at least half of them. Year in and year out.
Sheesh even Wanny (who most of you thought was a dunce) knew that.
Game starts in an hour.
Will our boys rebound against ‘rent-a-win’ Cal Polygram or is it Poly. I have quite a few records with Polygram labels.
PITT is a 17.5 point favorite
Think we cover today !
As the article says; we certainly do need a dynamic closer for the Wisconsinites.
And a town full of Ped State & Wvcc alumni, with some of them being in the aforementioned media.
This is ALL MORE THE REASON, why it’s imperative to have a dynamic HC and have dynamic recruiters.
As ppl have noted, there is absolutely no ‘buzz’ surrounding Pitt football at all. An afterthought in our own city. And what little buzz there is, is negative or in ridicule.
Sad state of affairs, when the opportunity of a Lifetime was there for the picking.
and last year a recruit did not know he even had a offer they forgot to tell him look it up. it was on line the kid him self posted it.
lucky he found out and he did go to pitt.
Kid didn’t even know he was offered by us. too funny
THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM !
as you say oy vey
if they wont spend to get top asst coachs
if they wont spend say 2 million more to make pitt a top football program more for recruiting etc.
they wont spring for a new home.
1. My first quip way above, “I’ll stop whining when they start winning”, was a direct reply to someone who said “stop whining”.
It was a quip, a quick quip, and meant only as, I don’t like the blather, when one person tells another person what to do. Not a fan of that. And more to the point, it was meant as only as a funny.
2. If you took a pool of most people on here, I bet I wouldn’t fall into the category of a “whiner”. Maybe I would.
I was self-mocking myself, (I’m sure there is a proper word for what I did) for something that I believe is not even close to the truth.
Other than the past few weeks, where I’ve posted concern that we might get blown out by Bowling Green, and that
“EVENTUALLY” “IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS FOR HCPC”,
we are going to need to have better and better recruiting classes in the future,
I’ve done nothing but have HCPC’s and Dixon’s back for the last 5 years I’ve been on here.
I predicted Pitt would run the table after the Notre Dame game. Nice prediction, huh?
I’ve said I like Chryst getting big OL, sounds like his M.O..
I’ve told people that have called for Dixon’s firing they are out of their minds.
I’ve told people bitching about not getting a Nat Championship, that it took Boeheim and Calhoun well over 20 years to get theirs, Dixon hasn’t even been here 10.
I was so pro getting out of the Big East and getting into the Big Ten or ACC a couple years ago, people were getting sick of hearing me say it. And that was two years before their was even an inkling.
Then it happened and I haven’t said one little bad thing about the ACC, I’ve cheered the ACC on here continually, in both sports. All sports for that matter.
4. And finally, the crux of the matter. You questioned me, and I came on and said, I was wrong about my “winning” comment.
I thought the gist of it was pretty obvious to most . I stated I was talking about a “winning” program and that I meant a “winning” program. You know, where I used the word “technically”.
Then you decided to continue. So, I will.
I will stand by my use of “technically”.
If we have five years in a row, of 7-6, do you think the vast majority of Pitt fans and college football fans, will consider us a “winning” program?? I’ll give you the answer. No, we won’t be considered a winning program for going 7-6, hell, throw and 8-4 in there.
Winning programs are 9-3, 10-2, 11-1 consistently over the years to most people, teams that are in the top 25 every year, that’s what a “winning” program is.
You kept talking about the 7-6, when I clearly stated, that was not what I was talking about or meant.
Now, maybe I was caught in the crossfire of a rant that you wanted to get off your chest, and I presented the vehicle.
You used my name several times, so I take that as you’re talking about me. You called me out on the “winning” even after I said we’re talking about two different things.
The gist of them.
1. Let’s run Cal Poly out of the building
2. Happy Holidays to all
3. Pitt fans may not be large in numbers, but the ones we do have are as passionate as any others in the country.
Hey, if I’m a whiner, I’m a whiner, whatever.
DR TOM just gets in a bad mood some times he has done it to me but he is really not mean just pissed at things like the rest of us.
DAN YOU CAN BITCH ALL YOU LIKE I AM WITH YOU BUD AND I AM SURE EMel IS TO,
Henry: His mom is a headcase and there were issues around them going back to the summer. Bet you $ his mother is a Pain in the A#$ for whoever is coaching at WVU…
McKensie, has attitude issues and his comments at his announcement confirm it. The fact they recruited other RBs so hard shows they never we sold on his “intangibles”… and rightly so.
Nicolson??… hey he was just one of those kids that was going somewhere other than Pgh and someone said it right when they said track was important to him.
meanwhile we pick up blue chip OL and no one gives PC proper cred for that…
… and he is evening getting a few folks from Florida… that magical land of recruiting… and he gets no credit for that either.
For me the matter is can he keep improving as a coach, and improving his team along the way.
As long as each year builds on the last moving forward we are fine. Next year we have to win the games vs. Navy, G. Tech, etc. of the world… then we are an 8 win program… in a few years we get to 9-10 wins… that is as good as it will get… and if we do that consistently that is fine by me.
I can’t explain myself any better than I’ve already tried to above, so I’ll leave it at that and will just reiterate that I wasn’t picking on you or calling you out, just utilizing the vehicle. My apologies.
Moving forward on a positive note, who has a good suggestion for our next S&C coach, a plus would be a guy who is also a dynamic recruiter? And let’s start discussing how we prepare to defend against a potent BG offense led by a QB that has a chip on his shoulder, daring Pitt to flick off.
Good point in response to my post above, and I left that unspoken.
It’s one thing to target these guys. It’s another thing to be able to close and actually get them to sign their letter of intent.
The initial premise of my post was to point out where Pitt was looking for its players. The reason I wanted to look into it was to frame a response to the overall discussions I’ve seen here lately on recruiting. There has criticism that Chryst is focusing too much on a “Big Ten” type player and not enough on the speed/athletic types needed to compete in the ACC. I was curious to see if this was in fact the case, and found evidence that perhaps it wasn’t.
Either way, the bottom line is that Pitt still needs to close on these players. I think things are moving in the right direction with some of the recruiting, but not all of it. We’ll see.
S&C coach when are wonderful AD smug steve fired wanny buddy told him he was Gutless and Egotistical
good for buddy but i dont think he will be back any time soon.
H2P!
BTW – Merry Christmas and its good to be back in the Burgh.
was well liked bye wisconsin players.
he quit after 13 years was the asst strength coach
he quit when new coach took over he is 39 years old
i have no info just a guess.
but he was there when chryst was there who knows.
To Dr Tom
Will give you some unsolicited advise: many of us don’t read
your posts. Way too long. Brevity is important.