Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and holiday. Tried to get started on the long, long list of outdoor projects around the house, but the rain has been so frequent that not much was really accomplished. Well, aside from a lot more crap in the garage that needs to get out of there. Not sure if there has been two consecutive dry days in the Cleveland area for the past few weeks — well without the temperature dipping below 40. The lack of a spring this year has been worse than normal. That or I’m just old and cranky, and less tolerant of the weather.

So, for nearly a month, the links have been accumulating related to football. I’ve been lazy. The writing of Reed has let me slack off on this stuff. Now it’s time to clear it out — even if it’s a little dated.

Starting with the newest news, though, another Michigan transfer (paywall). Cullen Christian asked for and received his release from Michigan last week. Since Christian went to Penn Hills and several of his coaches at Michigan are now at Pitt — well, the math seemed obvious. This is a really good get, though. Christian was one of the top recruits in Pennsylvania in 2010. One of the top CB recruits in the country. He was a 4-star recruit and an US Army All-American. Injuries and attrition at Michigan forced him to play a lot more than he should have — 10 games. Look forward to seeing him out there in 2012.

Here’s a summary of some of Coach Todd Graham’s hour-long appearance on 93.7 The Fan last Wednesday. Unfortunately the interview itself hasn’t been posted.

Devin Cook was one of the only members of the 2011 recruiting class from Western PA that was offered and committed to Pitt after Todd Graham took over. He started receiving late interest — but then the madness started.

Pitt’s interest in Cook started in December. In fact, then assistant coach Greg Gattuso was in Beaver Falls to visit with Cook the day head coach Dave Wannstedt resigned under pressure.

Then on New Year’s Eve, Matsook got a call from Bill Elias, who was the recruiting coordinator for then-Pitt coach Mike Haywood, who had been hired to replace Wannstedt.

When Haywood was let go by Pitt, Cook was back in limbo. But coach Todd Graham and his staff picked up on Cook once they got settled in.

That is some astounding timing. Honestly, if that was me and that happened twice, I probably would have taken that as a sign to look elsewhere.

You know, when Coach Wannstedt was hired at Pitt and Dick Rod was running things in Morgantown, everyone thought that the Backyard Brawl would pick up intensity with alum in charge of both programs. Pitt being non-competitive for the first couple years kind of dampened that theory.

Now that Coach Todd Graham is at Pitt along with a bunch of coaches who were down at WVU at the time, there was a new edge. Another factor — WVU’s coach-in-waiting/OC Dana Holgorsen does not get along particularly well with Coach Graham.

Finally there is the fact that both teams are looking to be a lot more offensively oriented.

The numbers show both programs need the sort of offensive jolt their coaches hope to bring. Pittsburgh got overwhelmed in 2010 by athletic defensive lines at Miami (Fla.), West Virginia and Notre Dame. The Mountaineers, meanwhile, didn’t allow an opponent more than 23 points in a game last season, yet lost four times.

Both teams struggled in the red zone as well: Pittsburgh scored touchdowns on just 50 percent of its trips inside the 20-yard line and WVU didn’t score at all on 13 of those possessions.

Todd Graham and Holgorsen plan to boost those numbers and deliver more victories. If they’re successful, the 2011 Big East Championship might be decided in an up-and-down Backyard Brawl.

“The no-huddle thing works for us,” Ray Graham said. “I don’t know if anybody is moving as fast as us. We’re coming along. We’re starting to get this offense now.”

The thing is, other than bad teams, has there been anything that lowers the intensity of the Backyard Brawl in recent years?

Back in early April, Dr. Saturday offered an absurdly premature assessment of Pitt. Most of it is still unanswered after spring practices.