Hopefully this will take care of anymore “Dixon will leave for Cal” rumors.

Multiple sources told ESPN.com that Cal made an attempt to hire Dixon within 24 hours of firing Ben Braun. Dixon told the Bears he wanted to stay at Pitt.

Arizona State also tried to hire Dixon before Herb Sendek took the job in the spring of 2006.

There is a perception that Dixon wants to move back to the West Coast because he is from Santa Barbara and his wife is from Hawaii. In truth, he is not looking to get back there as his family thoroughly enjoys living in Pittsburgh.

That’s not to say he won’t still get a new extension and raise from Pitt.

UPDATE (11:29): Oh, and not that it was really an issue but TCU (Dixon’s alma mater) has apparently hired Jim Christian from Kent State.

There’s a Pitt legacy on the Wildcat’s squad.

Jason Richards of Davidson has a chance to match his father’s achievement of point-guarding a team to the Elite Eight. Tom Richards was in charge when Pitt got to the East final in 1974. His son, leading the nation in assists, kept the Wildcats’ offense viable with 20 points and five assists while All-American Stephen Curry gradually found his touch on the way to 30 points and a dismissal of No. 2 seed Georgetown.

Jeff Otah will likely be drafted somewhere in the middle of the first round. A second straight year for Pitt to put a player in the 1st round of the NFL draft. It’s progress. Otah got a puff piece in USA Today as they were looking at O-linemen.

“It’s the best group I’ve seen in 24 years,” says Kevin Colbert, director of football operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “The majority of them can play the left side or play both sides. It’s unusual to have that many guys that big and that athletic and that productive.”

Colbert has had a bird’s-eye seat to watch Otah’s development. “Jeff’s an interesting kid that probably hasn’t played his best football yet because he’s not a real experienced guy as far as football is concerned and having playing experience. So there’s probably a lot of upside left in him,” Colbert says.

Meanwhile, Kris Wilson may finally get a chance to play now that he is out of Kansas City and the back-up to Tony Gonzalez. He joins the Philadelphia Eagles with a 3-year deal.

“I’m coming in here to play tight end,” Wilson said. “The coaches told me I’ll be working primarily at tight end. I think my skill set definitely allows for more success at tight end.

“My strengths are stretching the field, catching the ball, beating defenders one-on-one, mixing it up and blocking guys – a lot of the all-around things that tight ends do. I think at the tight-end position, you have to be a jack of all trades.”

Some of Wilson’s tight-end numbers at Pitt were impressive. He averaged 16.3 yards per catch and scored nine touchdowns his senior season.

Wilson was one of my favorites from that period. I complained at a lot of games that he didn’t get enough balls thrown to him.

Meanwhile, if you live in the Wilkes-Barre area, you can check out Rod Rutherford QBing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers of the af2.

“Rich called me all the time around this time to see if I wanted to play but I would always blow him off,” Rutherford said. “Everyone has a dream of playing in the NFL but I realize that my window of opportunity is smaller than it was when I first came out.

“If that opportunity comes I am not going to run away from it. I gave (Ingold) a call and he was happy to welcome me aboard. I am going to take advantage of this chance and do what I have been able to do my whole career.”

Rutherford signed a free- agent contract with the Carolina Panthers when he came out of the University of Pittsburgh. The Panthers released him in 2005 and he was picked up by the Steelers where he received a Super Bowl ring.

He spent a summer in Germany, serving as a backup before trying out with the Tennessee Titans. When nothing worked out with the Titans, he volunteered as an assistant with Pitt this past season.

…

“Honestly I would love just to continue to play at whatever level I can,” said Rutherford who has no experience with the indoor game. “Whether it is AFL or even coming back here, ultimately whatever I am doing it is going to be in football. You have guys who love to play with computers, I love the game of football.”

I just hope he has been wise with the money he has received in his time in the NFL.

A power forward prospect in NJ seems to be drawing interest.

The Linden High School (NJ) Tigers’ David Bruce is definitely a player to keep your eye on, and college coaches apparently agree. I spoke with the 6’9 junior forward on Monday, and we discussed the status of his recruitment. Bruce currently has offers from Rutgers, St. Joseph’s, St. John’s, Villanova, Pittsburgh, LaSalle, and Seton Hall. In addition, UConn, Houston, Rider, and Syracuse are all interested in Bruce, with UConn giving David the most attention of the four.

Bruce has Pitt and St. Joe’s as his co-favorites. He’s not highly ranked at all. There is a question as to whether that could change.

Emerged as a junior after not playing much as a sophomore. He’s got natural basketball instincts and once he gains confidence we could be talking about a high-level prospect.

Just another name to be aware.

Today the available players and hence the focus of stories out of spring football were the sophomore safeies. Sophomore Dom DeCicco and redshirt sophomore Elijah Fields.

The goal for Dom DeCicco and Elijah Fields is to play together someday in Pitt’s defensive backfield.

For now, they are waging a friendly battle for the starting strong safety spot. The competition promises to last through the spring and perhaps well into summer.

“We’re like best friends,” says Fields, a redshirt sophomore out of Duquesne High School who missed last season because of a suspension. “No hard feelings.”

“I’m going to come out and give everything I got every day,” says DeCicco, a sophomore out of Thomas Jefferson High School who backed up Eric Thatcher at free safety last season. “He knows that. And I know he will, too. He’s a great athlete. I like to think I’m a great athlete.”

For now DeCicco is the defacto starter since he played last year. Both are athletic, but Fields is more intriguing because he seems to have a higher ceiling. Add in the fact that because he was suspended last season for “violation of team rules,” he has been tantalizing Pitt fans and observers for a longer time.

Plus because he has screwed up, he is a more interesting storyline.

But he didn’t reject, he stood and fielded questions with impressive candor.

When last year’s transgressions were brought up, Fields looked reporters squarely in the eye and said, “It won’t happen again. Trust me.”

Fields didn’t want to get into the events that led to his suspension, and they likely will never be made public. But to the Pitt staff, players and, perhaps most important, Fields, the past isn’t the important part. Instead, the future of the 6-foot-2, 217-pound defensive back from Duquesne is what is paramount.

“I’ve been down most of my life,” Fields said. “I had to learn how to always work my way back up. … I know I am playing for a lot of people. I feel I let my community down, my family down, my teammates down, my coaches down, and it is time to do the right thing.”

The buzz around camp is that Fields is doing the right thing. There also is a feeling that if he wasn’t, he would not have been asked back to the program after the suspension.

“He needs to be accountable, and we [as a coaching staff] need to be able to trust him and his teammates need to be able to trust him, and he now knows that,” Pitt secondary coach Jeff Hafley said. “With not being able to play last year, that sure opened up his eyes. He knows the most important thing is to look at the future and do the right things every single day that will keep him going in a positive direction.”

I hope he truly gets it. Beyond the potential impact he can have on the team, there’s the fact that he has only so many chances to do something with his abilities. If he doesn’t take advantage of the opportunities — education and athletics — he becomes just another “could’ve been.”