Paul Zeise has a tidbit loaded post after landing in Birmingham.
Let’s hit the highlights for coaching carousel stuff only.
(1) The search is going to expand to include a larger group of candidates – and that includes some candidates who don’t have any head coaching experience. That brings up the obvious name – Penn State’s Tom Bradley – but as of this morning he had yet not been contacted by Pitt. I’m told, however, he will at least get a phone call this time. Incidentally in case you missed it – our own Steelers reporter Ed Bouchette reported that Dan Rooney called Steve Pederson last month to recommend he talk to Bradley and the fact that he didn’t even pick up the phone and give Bradley a call has strained the relationship with Pitt and the Steelers. That is bad news for Pitt as they share facilities with the Steelers and have prided themselves in having a great relationship with the city’s most important sports organization.
(2) Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and several other key members of the University administration will have a bigger hand in the search now and will be involved earlier in the process from helping to identify candidates to being more involved with the early interview process on some level. This isn’t a sign that they have lost total faith in Steve Pederson, it is a sign that they know they have to get it right this time and have no margin for error as this is a make or break decision for a lot of people.
I know there seems to be a big split on Bradley. I’m not against the possibility. Is he my first choice? Probably not. I suppose the one big question is what he would do with the offense? Still, he should at least get an interview this time. Find out what he is prepared to do. What he thinks the plan should be.
Again, more Pederson arrogance. No, Pitt and the Pitt AD shouldn’t be doing whatever the Steelers say. And at least he didn’t directly tell Rooney to ‘eff off. That said, any AD with any intelligence — and once upon a time Pederson had that — is wise to at least give token respect to figures of significant influence on the program, university and/or city. Dan Rooney fits that bill, and Pederson showed none.
Of the five coaches who were “extensively” interviewed the first time only one – Tulsa’s Todd Graham – is still in the mix for a variety of reasons … Graham would be a good choice for Pitt given his background and is said to be very interested in his job. He currently makes $804,000 in base salary and about another $300,000 in bonuses and other compensation so Pitt would likely have to start negotiating at about the same salary range Wannstedt made (he had a base salary of $1.01 million with about $325,000 in bonuses and other compensation) and will likely have to go to about $1.7 or $1.8 million to bring Graham in. It will be interesting to see how this plays out because Pitt is going to have to pay to get a great coach but the tab on coaches, search firms and buyouts is starting to get high.
Graham is my top choice at the moment. There is concern of the Kragthorpe factor since Tulsa is also where Krags was winning before his flame out in Louisville. There is also legitimate concern over how he would recruit in the East.
That said, he won at Rice before going to Tulsa. Think about that: Rice. That was impressive. My sister and brother-in-laws are Rice alums and everyone there was bummed when he left. Graham was also the guy to go get Gus Malzahn after the Arkansas mess, so you know he is willing to be adventurous on the offense.
Graham also strikes me as the best combination of relatively safe hire — that I’m sure Pitt wants right now — and enough “splash” to placate fans.
