I dunno. Maybe.

Pitt athletic director Jeff Long is one of three finalists for the same position at the University of Arkansas, according to sources.

An Arkansas television station has footage of Long and his wife Fanny, getting off of a private plane in Fayetteville, Ark., at about 11 a.m. today.

My first question was “who are the other two finalists?” I don’t know for sure. Since the local station wasn’t ID’d and none of the stations in Fayetteville have any footage on their site. Best I can find is mention of Tulane AD Rick Dickson being near the top. Terry Don Phillips, the Clemson AD, and former Assistant AD at Arkansas previously took his name out of the rumors. I’m stunned that Long would be up for the Arkansas job. That’s a really tough gig and a high profile/pressure job considering its nothing but Razorbacks in the state.

I was surprised to learn that Long and Pitt never signed/finished working out that extension from back in May. Seems to be a bit of a problem for Pitt and Chancellor Nordenberg with those things. Remember how long he let interim AD Marc Boehm twist in the wind? Finally Boehm didn’t want to wait any longer and rejoined Pedersen in Nebraska.
Any time I write about AD Jeff Long, it’s with a sense of “ehh.” He has done a lot of stuff in trying to bring the entire Athletic Department and its facilities up to spec. Still, he does enough other stuff that just plain misses.

I know it is reported/said that he is the reason Pitt hasn’t gone back to the script Pitt. As much as the older colors and the script matter, that wouldn’t be enough to can him and I’m not sure that it’s enough to want him gone.

From all observations, stories and rumors, Chancellor Nordenberg is very involved and cares greatly about Pitt Athletics. That is very good considering the years of neglect before him. The downside is a Chancellor being too involved and wanting to run things or (as the older fans may recall from the end of the Posvar years) putting a crony in charge of the Athletic Department. In both the basketball and football coach hirings in the last 5 years, Chancellor Nordenberg was very involved.

In basketball, with an interim/weak AD in charge, it was a poorly run search with only one actual candidate seemingly dictated by the Chancellor and a cheaper fallback. Things worked out for Pitt, but that seems more by luck. Football had Long running the search and process more and was able to look at a lot more candidates. While the jury may still be out on how that one goes, there was a better sense of order and that Long was in charge of it (even if Nordenberg also really wanted Wannstedt).

So, I’m a little concerned about losing AD Long, if for no other reason than the replacement. That’s two straight guys as AD (Boehm and Long) where the contract was never finished. Other candidates may view that warily and it might cost Pitt in trying to find a replacement.

UPDATE: Here’s the report from (apparently) the local TV Station.

Trib has a few more details from the tv vid.

KHBS-TV in Fort Smith, Ark., has video footage of Long and his wife, Fanny, arriving in a plane bearing a logo of the school’s Razorback mascot and N88UA on its tail.

Have to love obsessive details.

It seems like the “State” in Grambling State is optional, which it sort of mystifying. You can just call them Grambling and people know what you’re talking about. Or you could plug “State” on the end — yet, I digress.

GSU beat Alcorn State last week, but first-year head coach Rod Broadway thinks they should have caught more balls.

Seems Broadway can’t stop thinking about the ones that got away.

GSU quartertback Brandon Landers’ 53 percent completion rate he went 19-of-36 was only slightly better than the Carroll product’s 51 percent rate of a season ago.”We had six drops during the course of the ballgame,” Broadway said. “We can’t afford to do that, if we are going to throw the ball.”

You might recall that an Eastern Michigan player was wide open and dropped a sure touchdown that could have changed the complexity of the game. If Grambling drops some of the few golden opportunities they get, things will be that much easier for Pitt.

Broadway also did something Dave Wannstedt wouldn’t do — call out one of his players.

“We can’t have Clyde, one of our best players, drop the ball,” Broadway said. “For a player of Clyde’s ability, dropping those balls is unacceptable.

The Tigers are using Saturday’s game as a measuring stick for their program. To them, Pitt, even in our current situation (coming off a poor year last year, having a ton of injuries, etc.) is a “big time” team.

“It’s always a challenge to play up,” said Broadway, once a longtime assistant to Steve Spurrier at Duke and Florida. “It gives us a chance to measure ourselves, in order to get a better idea of what kind football team we have. It will let us know what we need to work on to become a top-level program.”

GSU’s student newspaper, The Gramblinite, predicts a Pitt win with a score of 41-17. What do they need to do to win?

Landers must continue to take what the defense gives him, and the receivers cannot drop balls. The offensive and defensive lines must be at their best on Saturday. If Grambling can establish a running game and keep Pitt’s offense off the field, it could be a little closer than many think. I just don’t think it will be.

Pretty much play perfect to win it seems.

And interesting bit on the Tigers not being scared playing in huge stadiums.

While some teams get caught up in the hoopla of playing in an NFL Facility, it’s almost second nature to Grambling State as the Tigers are guaranteed of playing in at least one NFL venue per year.

Annually, GSU plays in the Louisiana Superdome in the State Farm Bayou Classic against rival Southern University on Thanksgiving weekend. In 2005, GSU played at Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash. against Washington State in addition to Reliant Stadium in Houston versus Southern.

From the Grambling State athletics website.