So, so weird that this isn’t football related.

Have we got the Miller boys out of our system yet, or is this going to be an ongoing thing?

I don’t know that there is much to say after yesterday’s 15 minute flurry. Neither Sean or Archie were ever going to be interested. Sean is at a basketball school, in a major conference, with tons of resources, easier access to talent, makes big money, etc. Yes, he’s a Pitt alum and local, but he wasn’t coming back.

Archie is waiting for his spot. He had offers/interest from Alabama and others and passed last year. I don’t even know for certain that he would go back to his alma mater of NC State when they get tired of Mark Gottfried (related note, good luck to Cat Barber in the NBA Draft and good riddance).

Okay, now what?

I’m not trying to be contrarian, but can I ask why so many seem to have an almost religious zeal in their faith that AD Scott Barnes will hit an absolute home run with the hire? I like Barnes. (He’s not Steve Pederson.) He gets a lot of the things that you want to see in an AD. He’s absolutely said all the right things. (He’s not Steve Pederson.) I like the odds he will hire a good coach. (He’s not Steve Pederson.)

But why the absolute faith? (HE IS NOT STEVE PEDERSON!!!) He hired Gary Anderson for Utah State’s football job. Great hire. He promoted Tim Duryea to replace the retiring Stew Morrill for Utah State’s basketball. Not a hard decision.

Even Louisville AD, Tom Jurich — considered the gold standard for ADs — hits a clunker. Remember Steve Kragthorpe? The time it can take an AD to go from god to clown is very short.

Barnes has said the stuff about a national search, executive search firm will be used to provide deniability and backd00r access vet candidates and help, and a sop to the fans with use of the phrase “up-tempo style”

Barnes told 93.7 FM, the Pitt radio affiliate, Tuesday that he is looking for a coach who would implement “a fun style” that is “more free flowing,” although he said he is “not married to one system.”

“We want a little more uptempo style … that style of play that connects and you can recruit to and you can win with,” he said. “We need to broaden our perspective on how we recruit. … There are a lot of really good basketball players in the ACC footprint.”

Sorry. Coaching searches — for Pitt and watching everywhere else — is fascinating to me, but also brings out my most cynical side.

Okay, so there are lists out there of candidates. Everyone has a list.

Before I list a few, let me just dismiss Greg Marshall from Wichita State up front. Not happening. He’s not leaving. Alabama couldn’t dump enough money for him. He’s making north of $3 million thanks to the Koch Brothers. He isn’t leaving for anything short of a blue blood job — maybe not even then.

From Gary Parrish at CBS Sports.

Let’s cross Fred Willard off the list, shall we? One good year at Seton Hall does not cover everything else. Not going back to a Willard. Mick Cronin (Cinci). No. Herb Sendek (unemployed, former NC St. and ASU coach, went to Carnegie-Mellon). No. No. No. Greg Kampe (Oakland). He’s 60 years-old. No.

Andy Enfield at USC is mentioned. Would probably be a great hire, but USC can pay him. He just got them up and running. And I don’t think simply being from Shippensburg, PA is much of a lure.

Mike Longeran, George Washington. Knocked Pitt out of NIT in opening round last year. Respected, good X-O coach. Recruiting is a question mark. He climbed from D-III to Vermont to GW. Success all along the way. Not exactly considered a rising star, but a safe pick.

Bryce Drew, Vaplo. The question everyone seems to have about him is if he’s interested in moving to a power conference job. He’s turned down others. Otherwise a very good choice.

Ed Cooley. He’s recruited talent to Providence. Providence! Definitely an excellent recruiting coach. He plays up-tempo. Little concerned about the coaching part of the job.

Dan Hurley, Rhode Island. I like this one a bit, so I’m going to quote directly.

Yes, Hurley just passed on Rutgers to remain at Rhode Island. But the Pittsburgh job is way better than the Rutgers job, and Hurley is smart enough to know that. He has a nice team returning; it would be difficult to walk away from URI right now. But the Pitt job is the type of job that would make Hurley at least look, and he’s a sensible option worth consideration.

Colin Dunlap had his list. He mentions Larry Krystkowiak from Utah. That would absolutely be a home run hire. But his contract with Utah has 7 years on it and he gets $2.4 million/year. I’m having trouble seeing him leaving for Pitt.

Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa. He’s been there 10 years as head coach but is only 45. Can he recruit? No idea. Is he up-tempo? Not in the least. This UNI team was 5th slowest out of 351 teams this past year. Right behind Wisconsin.

Kevin Keatts, UNC-Wilmington. His name is getting a lot of traction among fans. He checks a lot of boxes, with recruiting and style of play. Two concerns. Only been a head coach for two years. He is from the Rick Pitino coaching tree. Admittedly not as bad as being from the John Calipari coaching tree, but outside of Billy Donovan its mediocre at best. The other is the stripper scandal at Louisville. Keatts was on staff then. His name has not been mentioned — and I want to stress that there is no indication he had any involvement. Yet the investigations are ongoing. So, there is risk there.