Thanks to Michael Franklin and Chelsey Rovesti
Big thanks to Michael Franklin for the idea, Chelsey Rovesti for executing it, and both of them for the permission to use the image.
The press conference is scheduled for 3:30 pm on Tuesday. Presumably it will be streamed live on Pitt’s website.
I won’t lie. I am extremely curious to see how AD Pederson dances around the Haywood stuff. I’m guessing the focus on Graham will be on his on-the-field success. Not his integriy, discipline and intangibles.
The other thing that I will be curious to hear. His staff. Already rumors that he is bringing a bunch of his Tulsa staff and/or guys that worked for DickRod at WVU/Michigan.
In case you haven’t gotten the official press release from Pitt:
Widely regarded as one of the finest offensive coaches in the country, Todd Graham today was named the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh by Athletic Director Steve Pederson. Graham will be formally introduced at a news conference on Tuesday, January 11.
Graham comes to Pitt after a highly successful head coaching tenure at Tulsa, where in four years he had three 10-win campaigns and three bowl victories. He compiled a 36-17 overall record with the Golden Hurricane, including a 10-3 mark this year highlighted by a 28-27 victory at Notre Dame and decisive 62-35 win over 24th-ranked Hawai’i in the Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl. Tulsa’s win over Notre Dame was called the biggest upset of the year by ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit.
Prolific offenses have been Graham’s hallmark. Under his direction, Tulsa led the nation in total offense twice (2007 and 2008) and ranked fifth this year. While he has a well-deserved reputation for devising high-octane offensive game plans, the 46-year-old coach built his career on defense and has also distinguished himself as a defensive coordinator and position coach.
This will be Graham’s third collegiate head coaching appointment. In addition to Tulsa, he served as the head coach at Rice for one season (2006), leading the Owls to their first bowl game in 45 years and earning Conference USA Coach of the Year honors. Graham’s career head coaching record is 43-23 and includes four bowls in five seasons.
“We are thrilled that Todd Graham has agreed to become the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh,” said Pederson. “His innovative, creative and energized approach to football makes him an exciting leader for our program. He has a proven track record of success at all levels of football and his wealth of experience on both sides of the ball gives him a unique set of credentials.
“The outstanding job he has done at Tulsa – double-digit win totals in three of the past four seasons and an undefeated bowl record – has been noticed across the country. I know he is excited to meet his new team and the great people of Pittsburgh.”
“My family and I are honored to join such a prestigious university and rich football tradition like the University of Pittsburgh,” said Graham, who becomes the 35th head coach in Pitt football history. “Pittsburgh is a tremendous football city with great fans. We will work diligently every day to earn their respect and build a program that competes for and wins championships. I’m also excited to return to the Big East, a conference that plays tremendous football.”
Graham’s 2010 Tulsa team rolled up 505.6 yards per game to rank fifth nationally and averaged 41.4 points to rank eighth. The Golden Hurricane also took exceptional care of the football, ranking second in the country in turnover margin (plus 17).
Under Graham’s watch, All-America all-purpose player Damaris Johnson was one of the most exciting performers in college football. The 5-foot-8 dynamo led the country in all-purpose yards for the second consecutive year (202.2 yards/game in 2010) and established himself as the NCAA’s career leader in that category with 7,796.
“I don’t think I can say enough good things about Todd Graham,” said College Hall of Fame coach John Cooper, who formerly coached at Tulsa as well as Ohio State and Arizona State. “If I was named the head coach of some school tomorrow, I would send my entire coaching staff down to Tulsa to learn a few things. I really believe TU’s football staff is on the cutting edge of what is going on in college football these days.”
In Graham’s first two seasons as Tulsa’s head coach, the Golden Hurricane made program history by posting consecutive 10-win seasons and winning a school-record 11 games in 2008. He went 21-7 his first two years, the best start by a Tulsa coach ever. Tulsa was one of just 11 schools on the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level to achieve back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2007 and 2008.
In 2007, Tulsa led the country in total offense, averaging 543.9 yards per game, and set 29 school records, 15 Conference USA marks and four NCAA records. The Golden Hurricane routed Bowling Green, 63-7, in the GMAC Bowl, the largest bowl margin of victory in NCAA history.
In 2008, Tulsa again led the country in total offense (569.9 avg.) while ranking second in scoring (47.1 points/game), fifth in rushing (268.0 yards/game) and ninth in passing (301.8 yards/game). Graham’s team finished with an 11-3 record, capped by a 45-13 victory over 22nd-ranked Ball State in the GMAC Bowl.
Tulsa’s 661 points in 2008 established a school record and marked the second highest single-season total in the modern era of the NCAA (second only to Oklahoma’s 2008 total of 716 points).
Before elevating to head coach at Tulsa, Graham served as its assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 2003-05. The 2005 team finished with a 9-4 record, captured the Conference USA title and shut down a high-flying Fresno State team, 31-24, in the Liberty Bowl. Graham’s defense ranked among the nation’s top 40 in five categories, including takeaways (third), interceptions (third), pass efficiency defense (11th), pass defense (17th) and total defense (40th).
Taking over as head coach at Rice in 2006, Graham led the Owls to a 7-6 record and the school’s first bowl berth in 45 years. That historic success earned him Conference USA Coach of the Year honors. Rice began the year 0-4 before reeling off victories in seven of its next nine games, including six consecutive wins.
Graham broke into the collegiate coaching ranks as defensive coordinator at East Central University (1991-93) in Oklahoma, where his work as defensive coordinator helped transform the Tigers from a .500 program to NAIA national champions in his final year.
During the 2001 and 2002 seasons, Graham served at West Virginia under Rich Rodriguez and helped the Mountaineers achieve the biggest turnaround in college football over that period, improving from 3-8 to 9-4. After coaching WVU’s linebackers his first season, Graham was promoted to co-defensive coordinator, defensive scheme coordinator and safeties coach. The 2002 Mountaineers forced 34 turnovers, including 19 interceptions, and ranked fourth nationally in turnover margin (plus 19).
From 1995-2000, Graham distinguished himself in the ultra-competitive Texas high school ranks as both a head coach and athletic director. As head coach at Allen High School, he led a program that had no district wins the year prior to his arrival to five playoff berths in six seasons. His final year, Allen posted a 9-3 record and captured the 5A Division II bi-district title while defeating four teams ranked among the top 10 in the state of Texas.
A native of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Graham was an all-state defensive back at North Mesquite High School. He went on to play at East Central University in Oklahoma, where he was a two-time NAIA All-America defensive back and three-time all-conference performer.
Graham earned his bachelor’s degree in education in 1987 from ECU before signing a free agent contract with the NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals. He later earned his masters degree, also in education, from ECU.
He and his wife Penni have six children: Bo, Natalie, Hank, Haylee, Dakota and Michael Todd Jr.
TG had an “distinguised” career coaching Texas High School.
Meanwhile since 1980 Tom Bradley is 11-5-1 against Pitt.
I don’t know Todd Graham but after all the slime over the past month I’m totally disgusted.
We have no idea how well or not he will perform, nor would we know how well Bradley or any other coach would until they actually coach some games.
Have a nice life IowaPanther.
When I have the chance, I love watching teams like Tulsa, Boise St., Nevada, etc. Unconventional offenses that make the game significantly more exciting to watch.
Graham will make Pitt football more exciting to watch. Even if he goes 5-7, they’ll be more exciting to watch, and I’d rather lose to Miami or WVU 56-39 than 35-0.
Great bold move by Pitt, and a necessary move for Pitt to keep up with the Joneses in the Big East (TCU/WVU).
I frankly could care less who on what committee made it happen or tried to stop it – he’s our coach and can’t do worse that what we’ve seen the past decade.
Bradley man here…and I agree. Graham’s job is going to be hard as hell. Harder than it needed to be.
winning will heal this rift, but losing will also exacerbate it. There is a shorter leash because of how this was handled by the administation.
The Bradley thing only makes that harder. I am hoping he succeeds…I just hope that implementing a new system will result in a 5-7, 6-6 record.
That would not be a good thing.
DaveD
you mean the coach that was not good enough to hire the 1st time around?
I don’t know the new coach, I’m more concerned with the AD, how this process was conducted, and how Pitt has lost a considerable amount of credibility. Faulting Bradley for being loyal and successful for several years at PSU is silly -only if we had such a problem!
I wish the new coaching staff success. That said, if I chose to withold my “ball” (funds)until full discovery of this process is unveiled that is my choice.
I’m tired and done for the night – watching the BCS game – amazing how all of the posts desiring strong offense are watching a game that will be decided by defense – as it alway is!
I understand the idea of stability with Bradley – which makes some sense – but honestly, I’d rather they shoot and miss then re-load with a DW clone.
Screw Bradley! and all the PSU’rs that were pushing him out of state college making up names on this web site. What an idiot, leaking news of a potential hire!
Pressure is already on. He gets no slack. No excuses. Time to win.
Why do you assume that Graham was not good enough to hire the first time. My guess is that he was SP’s choice the first time, but his salary demands got him nixed by Pitt Admin. After the Haywood fiasco they realized they needed to open the purse strings to avoid another embarrassment.
HbgFrank, great post.
I hope Graham keeps Buddy Morris and gets rid of the 3-3-5 defense I believe he ran at Tulsa.
I don’t think Pederson mentions Haywood. And it’s not like it’s his fault Haywood didn’t work out. I mean he was cleared by one of the top national search teams. It was unfortunate, but not something that could be forsee.
Rich Rod as OC? …..very intriging.
Comment by auggie from latrobe 01.10.11 @ 11:54 p
Graham gets instant local credibility
Rich Rod get a shot at his wvu haters and buys a yr or two
Feel bad for Hyno. Hopefully some team in NFL wants a very good FB. Probably no place for him in Graham offense.
I am guessing that most if the offensive recruits we lost would not have worked in Graham’s system anyway.
Should we really expect Graham to win big games right away? Won’t it take ar least until 2013 season until he has the players to run his offense and defense?
Can’t Ziese put a rumor just for kicks?
Auburn ran out the spread all night, Oregon tied the game on a running play.
We won’t need three years to get players in here..that was a Wanny excuse as to why he couldn’t beat a drum his first few years even with Palko starting at QB.
Also, can we please stop the bradley BS! If he wasn’t such an insecure whiny pansy and didn’t leake the story that he had the pitt job in the first place he’d had been better off. Time to move one, graham is the man, htp!
Hail to PITT!
-al-
On one hand, I can see him being quite successful, but on the other I can see him leading a 9 win team to a Fiesta bowl win against a run-of-the-mill Big 12/MWC team and jump ship to climb further up the ladder, just to have us reset the program once again.
Bradley I could have seen sticking around forever, but who’s to say he would have been good enough at the helm. He’s a great recruiter. Hopefully he’ll get a shot at a HC position so we’ll be able to compare the two.
One thing is for sure, DickRod as OC is so far outside the limits of reality, it’s not even funny. The Rod returning to his old conference with his tail between his legs as a OC would be way too much. Plus, once he steps away from HC openings, he ain’t never goin’ back.
your son is seeing two girls – one a wholesome pollyanna, attends church, personality galore, helps mom with the dishes, and will always be in bed by midnight;
the second, is a girl who is just trying too hard. She’s seen way too much sun in her life. Her skin is like an old piece of luggage. Her hair is over-processed, usually way too blonde. The hair is almost always a bit big. Her nails are usually long and acrylic, sporting the Carmela Soprano french mani. Her clothes are just a tad too snug. She has her boobs on display, with a wrinkled, freckly chest exposed. There are rhinestones. Perhaps an ankle bracelet. Occasionally said anklet may be seen over/under suntan colored panty hose. You can tell she’s been around the block, so to speak. She’s lived hard. Lots of booze. She’s a bit puffy in the face. She’s got her cocktail and she’s laughing a bit too loud.
He chooses door number 2. What are you gonna do? Hey, she’s family now so you just put the clothespins on when she comes for dinner, because you will always love the grandchildren no matter what.
This was the last, best opportunity to heal old wounds. Pitt let Bradley twist in the wind and kicked him to the door for the world to see. Nordy and Steve made this bed and we all have to sleep in it.
Graham will probably win. Even if he does, a lot of us will not go to Fathead’s after the game to celebrate. We will be going home to take a shower.
1.) He runs a system that Pitt is not equipped to run. I am afraid we could see a downturn like Michigan. Pitt has a good foundation and is a team that can win right now. I am just afraid that a major shake up will really set us back. And having said all that, I would be ok with a major shake up if I was convinced that Graham was here for the long haul to see it through. But I think he is here a max of 3 years successful or not.
2.) Second concern is as stated above. I dont see him staying at Pitt any longer than three years wether he is fired or leaves for more money. At which point we will have to do this all over again and endure another “system change” that could take years.
3.) Graham, despite a good resume, is a risky pick especially when we had a guy like Bradley in front of us for the taking. He seems to be a little bit of a maverick and judging by some of the comments from Rice and Tulsa fans he is not that well liked with the games he plays.
4.) It may be a dumb reason to not like a coach but if Steve Pederson wanted him, I am skeptical to say the very least.
5.) Over time Graham may be a great recruiter in this region of the country be he has to start from scratch. He has no ties, no relationships, no inroads – this is ground zero.
6.) Grahams strength is obviously his high powered offense and his OC isnt coming with him!!! This troubles me.
7.) Graham’s defenses have not exactly been the steel curtain. As much fun as it is to watch a high flying offense you still need a stout defense to win. As seen last night when Auburn held down the most potent offense in the country.
8.) Obviously discipline issues played a big part in the reason for DWs departure, what kind of a program does this guy run??? Havent heard one word??? I undertsand why they want to de-emphasize this after Haywood but I think its important to ask.
9.) And finally, the interview process. I was very disenchanted with the way this was handled from start to finish. Of all the candidates they paraded around, Todd Graham is the ONLY one that got to meet with Nordenberg!!! After the Haywood fiasco I expected Nordy to put the tight leash on SP and be more involved…obviously he was not. Maybe he purposely stayed away to let Steve know this hire was his career. This is your guy – if he fails you fail. Never the less, just disappointed that other candidates weren’t given more serious consideration. Why even bother if they knew Graham was their guy. Had they done this sooner we may have been able to salvage our dead on arrival recruiting class.
So, I have a lot of big concerns with this hire. I think it was a big gamble. This is the kind of gamble you take when you need to rebuild a program not when you have a solid foundation that is close to winning at a high level right now. Again, just my opinion. I will eventually come around but he has a lot to prove to me and many others.
Steve Pederson needs to begin his ass kissing tour right now. Ticket prices better be coming down, script logos should be coming back, and we better win!
1) Graham HC’d at Tulsa and Rice. The average East Coast football fan doesn’t know him and doesen’t care about his non-BCS accomplishments. I am worried he will have trouble recruiting locally and he won’t be able to bring any decent prospects from Big XII country because those kids don’t give a damn about the East Coast.
2) Most local people including myself salivated over Tom Bradley. Why? 1) Diehard Pitt fans hate PSU because they are better than us and we would have stolen half of their coaching staff. 2) Bradley could have had a chance to rekindle Pitt vs. PSU 3) Dream staff with Mike McQuerry, Larry Johnson Sr., and Terryl Austin possibly, these are people we know and are relevent to us in PGH, also non-Pitt people in the tri-state area may have become interested in the program
3)The Graham hire reeks of Pederson arrogance. It was Steve’s hire. He most likely thought the hiring of Bradley was provincial and how dare he do anything to excite the average folks of Western Pa.
4) Todd Graham’s offense is going to take years to evolve at Pitt. We do not have the personell. Is Kolbe Gray or Gonzales the new QB?
5) Bye bye Mark Myers. Even though you have the arm, the size, and they hype, you will not stay with the spread because you want to make it to the NFL.
6) Why did we fire Wanny now and not after the first three years? The last 3 years have been a blast. What am I talking about? Those that hated Wanny may not remember the early and mid 90′s when we would be lucky to win 3 games a year. Wanny was starting to be a consistent winner. He was fired because the fans wanted more…but we are not Florida, Texas, Alabama, or even PSU. We should have been happy the way things were.
Good luck Mr. Graham. I am rooting for you, but things look bleak now.
*the Pollyanna wouldn’t have “personality galore” in the Bradley analogy. She’d be a bit boring and you’d always wonder if life should have been a bit more exciting when you’re with her. Girl #2, on the other hand, would be more vivacious, but you’d always be wondering if she was laughing a bit too loud at everything you said and you’d be worried about why she just smiled at the guys at the table behind you.
* Why would you put the clothespins on when anybody comes to dinner? What does that mean? 
He marries girl #2 because she is totally getting it done in the bedroom. He gets five great years of fun out of her before she moves on to some other dude with more money.
That’s the best case scenario for Pitt. Graham gives Pitt fans an exciting brand of football for five years. He brings high octane offense, boom or bust defense and hopefully a Big East championship or two. Then he’ll be off to Texas or LSU or someplace where they’ll pay him more money and give him a shot to win the national championship.
And seriously, how many Pitt fans in the end of November would have wanted Pitt to fire Wanny in order to hire Tom Bradley? I think most people would have thought that would make little sense. I mean just a year or two ago people were suggesting Wanny should hire Bradley as D-Coordinator.
Also, people seem to be attacking the character of Graham. I mean what indication is there that he has done anything shady? And no leaving one school or entertaining interviews in order to make money is not shady it is the name of the game.
Finally, people are talking as if being like RichRod is a bad thing? I never knew winning BCS games and getting close to national championship games is a bad thing? I would have taken the RichRod WVU year over the Wanny years in a second.
Coach Ditka,
1.) Graham won right away at Rice and at Tulsa with another coach’s players. He will have more talent at Pitt so I think they will win his first year.
2.) He won’t be fired within 3 years. There is no way Pitt will pay 3 coaches at one time. If he leaves for a better program that means Pitt was in a BCS game. I’ll take a BCS birth over the next 3 years and another coaching search than 3 more years of lame Big East bowls.
3.) Bradley would have been as risk or even more risky, as he has no head coaching experience. Graham has won has a head coach every where.
4.) No one likes Steve Pederson.
5.) He doesn’t have to start from scratch. He coached at WVU before, and is rumored to bring in coaches who can recruit in Western PA. High schoolers are going to go Pitt if they think they can play and win. Not because their head coach is buddies with the Pitt coach.
6.) This isn’t the first time Graham has had to replace an OC. He was smart enough to hire the offensive genius Gus Malzhan and then get another good offensive coach. So he has proven he can find good assistants.
7.) BCS title games have routinely been low scoring, which may be more of an indication of rust. Also, withtout a high powered offense Auburn doesn’t win the title because there is no way they come back from being down big to Alabama.
8.) Haven’t heard anything bad about how he runs his programs. And while Bradley has been at PSU there have been quite a few problems.
9.) You really have no idea how much consideration other candidates got. I mean there was enough buzz within Pitt that people thought Bradley got the job last week, which means he was obviously given serious consideration. And the recruiting period isn’t over, let’s see how the class turns out.
A program that is close to winning at a high level? Pitt took a slide back this year. Pitt was beginning to stagnate under Wanny. I think a change was needed.
And I really should have been keeping track of Pitt script comments the past week…
So we know he’s a liar…
Honestly, though, I’m pretty happy about this. We’ve been wanting a team that can score for forever, and we’re going to get it. The defense should be interesting, and hopefully Graham can get the kind of athletes he needs to make it work.
I feel bad for Bradley, but there’s got to be a reason he hasn’t gotten a head coaching job in 30 years at PSU. I know we think SP didn’t want him, and that’s probably true, but there must be something about him must not inspire confidence from administrators. We may find out soon enough.
Mostly, just glad this nightmare is over. Hail to Pitt.
Recruiting, stability, loyalty, experience were all things that I thought that Bradley would have offered.
Now that Todd has been hired I will be open minded and hope for the best. He certainly has all the credentials.
TCU, Cincy, WVU, Pitt. These teams will all have high flying offenses in the next few years. The Conference has a chance to get much stronger with the new faces and offenses.
I guess having a Coach who not only can compete in that environment but thrive in it is the best thing for Pitt. This coach is the number one guy at running that kind of system.
So although there may be a transition in the long run it may be for the best.
Wow, if Pitt and WVU can get moving (yes, WVU, as much as we may hate them, better for the conference to have them winning) and adding TCU, we could have one wild conference in 2 or 3 years!!
Holgerson and Graham apparently have a history mouthing off at each other, excellent, should give the Backyard Brawl a nice little extra.
Hell ya, bring DickRod in, would be hysterical to see him on the Pitt sideline in WVU. Would have to go in a protective bus, but, what the hell!!! LMAO
He was making $2.5 mil a year at MI, you really thinks hes coming to Pitt for a few hundred thousand???
What about DC?? Any rumors? Thoughts??
Dear Mark:
Wow! What a month. First you fire a coach with a winning record, to bring in a coach with a record.
Then so disenchanted with Stevie, you don’t let him cross the street without asking permission, you set up a search committee to find a new coach.
Did you find the right one? I have no idea. I know the process really was handled poorly.
You went on the cheap and you got a coach in an orange jumpsuit.
It is a positive side that you spent money for a coach and staff.
Now it’s time. Steve must go.
He has alienated alumni everywhere he has been. At PITT, at Nebraska, at PITT.
I don’t want to hear about Steve and the Pete. The Pete was on the drawing board several years before Steve got here. I know because as a donor, I was shown the plans and asked for more money.
Steve is a snob. He is NOT the smartest man in the room and he needs to learn how to deal with fans and donors.
I am not a big time donor by any stretch of the imagination. In the last ten years, I have averaged $7,500. a year, which is down from the previous ten years of $12,500. All of that is peanuts to you. I bet your wine bill at the Pitt Athletic Club is bigger than my donation.
But you know what? As long as Steve remains the AD, my $7500. will stay in my pocket. So will the $750 per seat (I have 12) in the club section. I will keep my 6 seats in the end zone because I don’t have to donate to the fund. I also won’t be renewing my membership in the Athletic club.
I don’t care what you or other members of the school think. You don’t care what the regular guys who pay the freight think.
Fire Steve and my money will be back.
I don’t think I am the only one who feels the same way. From what I have read, the guys with the “real” money are thinking the same thing.
Which makes me think…
Serious question to everyone: If you were told, right now, that Pitt won the Big East outright three out of the next four seasons, two of those three BCS bids representing BCS victories, and that Graham has bolted for a higher paying job. Would that scenario upset you?
Personally, it’s great news when your coach is being mentioned as a potential candidate to get stolen for higher paying jobs. Obviously, you don’t want to see him go, but I’d rather that than to have a coach that no one wants.
Yes No one likes Steve Pederson and yes we all want the script back.
If Todd wins the big games as a Pitt coach, his salary will be a good investment for the university. If he stays at Pitt only 4 or 5 years, there will always be another young gun-slinger out there to take his place. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the ride. And please keep me entertained on this Blog. I’m getting cabin fever with all this snow and ice down here in SEC land.
What to do? Simple. Fire DW while continuing to pay his salary. Hire a new coach at twice DW’s salary. (Hey, that is for each year, not just a one-shot, one-year occurrence.) Pay the new assistances much more than the old assistants. The recruiting class? Who cares if they go elsewhere and leave a gaping hole in the system? It will have a negative affect for, perhaps, only two seasons.
I’m waiting for the call from the Pitt athletic department. “Hey, BigGuy. We need your help in paying for all this.”
“Er… ah. I’d help, but all of a sudden I’ve lost interest in Pitt football.”
I picture the opposite, a Dick Rod like three year period where Pitt struggles to adjust and TG is forced out. Is that really a stretch??? remember it took almost four years to make a rather simple adjustment from Walt Harris to Wannstedt. Im just saying, I think this is going to be a much tougher transition than people think.
Gonzalez, Graham, Street and Shannahan will make a nice core to start the spread development in 2011. We need an innovative offense and a QB that can run it, and we are on the right path now. I’m a little concerned about the talk of bringing BitchRich’s UM defensive coordinators & co to Pitt… did you see Michigan’s defense…ugh!
Not sure QB Myers would have been as good as advertised…the kid only started one year in HS and looked relatively pedestrian; definately has the size, but not sure why everyone had him as the next Dan Marino?
One thing for certain– no more Tino the meatball or Billy Boy Stull or Cry Baby Bostick types…. maybe now we can get true production and value out of the QB position!
The big issue right now is salvaging some of this recruiting class. Can he do it? We’ll see.
“Balls,” said the Queen, “if I had them, then I’d be king!”
Hopefully they will.
Pauly P, you and I are not following the same Pitt team. Your post is so ridiculous, I am questioning why I am lowering myself to respond.
These mistakes became patterns in the DW era. Its ludicrous to say that if the ball bounced a different way or we made an extra point we would have played in BCS games the last two years. With the talent DW had we should have blown UCONN out of the water.
do you derive joy by going on every single Pitt Blather thread and saying “gee oh boy we were so close why did we fire wanny hes the best coach ever”
kinda weird that he never got another offer and will probably be unemployed?
you may judge your football program on how close it was and all the players it sends to the pros who win there and all these fuzzy dreams on what would have happened had a ball bounced right (dave’s been saying that since Chicago days… this place is in pieces, anyone?)
im sorry, i judge it by success… you know, winning?
ill take graham and a bcs bowl versus an undisciplined team of wannyball who looked like they wanted to go home during the 3rd quarter of the backyard brawl… the one where an average team whacked them at home by 4 touch downs
do you derive joy by going on every single Pitt Blather thread and saying “gee oh boy we were so close why did we fire wanny hes the best coach ever”
kinda weird that he never got another offer and will probably be unemployed?
you may judge your football program on how close it was and all the players it sends to the pros who win there and all these fuzzy dreams on what would have happened had a ball bounced right (dave’s been saying that since Chicago days… this place is in pieces, anyone?)
im sorry, i judge it by success… you know, winning?
ill take graham and a bcs bowl versus an undisciplined team of wannyball who looked like they wanted to go home during the 3rd quarter of the backyard brawl… the one where an average team whacked them at home by 4 touch downs
Hail to Pitt
this season was reality… 5 losses against teams that all finished outside of the top 25!!!!
cant wait for Graham vs Holgerson
I really don’t see what the big issue is. Sure each step in this saga a debatable decision was made but every single step reasonable things were done:
-Fire or keep wanny? reasonable to fire him.
- Pedersen being arrogant? If it gets you the right hire, WHO CARES!?!?! Look I don’t think the guy is perfect and maybe we should consider a new AD. However, from my perspective the vitriole is more about whiney and/or small-minded alumni than an arrogant AD.
-Hire Haywood? Reasonable considering that NOONE forsaw the arrest, even the Miami (OH) people.
-Fire Haywood for the arrest? Very reasonable thing to do.
-Take the necessary time to choose a new coach? Of course. 9 days is not that long.
- Not choose Bradley? Very reasonable considering he would have been Wannstache without the ‘stache. If he was such a good candidate, then he wouldn’t have been an assistant for 30yrs.
- Hiring Graham? Look i don’t know how his coaching style will translate to western-PA, but this is not a terrible choice by any stretch.
I just can not see why there are people who are so upset that they’ll cut off their nose to spite their face (ie withhold money from a program they want to do better). SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL! HAIL TO PITT!
Woke up this morning checked the Trib and wallah ,
we have a new HC. Everything appears brighter today, uncertainty will do that in any aspect of life.
Welcome Coach Graham to Pitt !
We alumni are all rooting for your success.
that is 100% incorrect
talked to notre dame boosters… said he was a disaster, couldnt recruit like he promised, couldnt call plays, was partying
talked to notre dame grads… said he had a baby mama and was out of control
some background check
Please go back to the State Pen or Hoopie U blog you came from. The Gig is up !
“And what are your excuses for the Miami and WVU games?”
We got our asses kicked.
“Balls,” said the Queen, “if I had them, then I’d be king!”
“Hey, how come the grass in the picture looks greener than our lawn? I think that we should hire the guy holding the rake in the picture to be our gardener.”
As far as schedules are concerned, maybe we should toughen up like our brothers to the east have done: Youngstown State, Kent State and Temple.
DeVanzo, the logic of your posts about Pitt being favored in every game and that is a negative escapes me. Help me out. Pitt has done such a good recruiting job and as a result is favored; however, that is bad. If Pitt would have not done a good recruiting job and would not have been favored, why that would be a positive.
For all those saying it is rebuilding time, I have a few thoughts. First, his track record and Rice and Tulsa does not show the need for transition years, which was done with surely alot less “in the cupboard” than he has at Pitt (if DW’s recruiting classes were as good as reported). Second, just because he is not from here does not automatically say he cannot get recruits from here. Plenty of successful D1 coaches get recruits to come play at their schools, despite not being natives. Third, I don’t understand the “we won’t get any more NFL players through here” opinions. Last time I checked the NFL is becoming a spread/ pass-based league. Kids are growing up w/ exposure to these systems more and more, thus increasing the pool of potential fits. One of the main issues with power-I running game is that the really good kids to fit that system are increasingly rare.
The healing can finally start – boy does the administration got its work cut out for them. I suggest they call the Pens for some PR tips….
But really, everyone on here knows you still Wanny to be coach. But he’s not coming back.
See what happen to Michigan when Carr left and Dickrod took over.. The foundation was laid but Dickrod destroyed and lost first round qb in mallet and the offensive lineman to their rival school…
I am nervous about this hire.. No matter what we will be in this process 3 years from now bc graham will get fired or jump ship..
I hope the powers to be know more than we do….
My neighbor says to me, “My son is leasing a car and I am helping to pay the cost on the lease. Some of the roads in our area are bumpy and when he hits a bump, he is unhappy. But on the whole, the car is relatively comfortable. He now leased another car at twice the payments of his current lease. The current lease will continue along with the new payments. He hopes that the new car will be able to travel over the bumps better, but no one can tell for certain. My son wants me to help him pay for the new car and the old car at the same time.
“BigGuy, what should I do?”
Also, Dickrod’s offense at Michian was pretty good, he just couldn’t stop anyone.
Pitt fans will find a reason to gripe about anything. Everyone wanted lots of scoring and a spread offense weeks ago and now they are terrified of it for some odd reason. Why didn’t we just keep Wannstedt if we wanted local recruiting and pro-style bore me to death offense. Because it was not, and will not be successful here, you can’t recruit the level of talent and depth you need to dominate with that kind of offense in the Big East.
If Pitt hired Graham the first time around I think people would have been thrilled, but the Haywood debacle caused so many recruits to jump ship that I think many fans were more concerned with getting our recruits back this year and a coach that could do that, rather than finding the right coach, thus they wanted Bradley. I don’t remember as many friends being gung-ho for Bradley until the second attempt at hiring. One recruiting class won’t make or break a program, but hiring the right coach can do wonders. I think Pitt got its guy.
Comment by Justinian 01.11.11 @ 10:16 am
Justinian, Graham’s record suggests otherwise.
He was only at Rice one year and took them to their first bowl game in 40 years and in year one at Tulsa his team won 10 games and averaged over 40 ppg. Just sayin.
I don’t think Haywood, even without the arrest issues, was the best choice. It was the low point in the saga. But I don’t think it was a fireable offense, it doesn’t warrant the extreme response it got and it doesnt warrant anyone withdrawing support for the program. Any of these “big money” boosters who are considering withdrawing their money are only doing so because one of their buddies wasn’t hired. I’m glad Pitt didn’t submit to the nepotism.
I say there is no honeymoon period – better start winning immediately, especially with how this all went down and 8 home games.
http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2011/01/don_boscos_gary_nova_will_foll.html
I think most of that stuff about personal is vastly overrated. If a kid is a good athlete he can play any offensive style. The only players that might be affected are fullbacks & quarterbacks. The 2 or 3 fullbacks on Pitt’s roster can be converted to LB’s or TE’s and I believe the backup to Hyno was a walk on so…..
As far as QB, that is a good thing if we change QB’s, but I found it hilarious to hear Congemi mention several times during the Compass Bowl ,,,
‘how athletic Tino is”. Can’t remember him saying that in the other Pitt games he was color announcer on, which were several.
Anthony Gonzalez led Bethlehem HS to the PA 4A championship as a dual threat QB and Kolby Gray quite by coincidence is a Texas dual threat QB, who made the big recovery on the blocked punt in the bowl game. So I’m not worried about who will play QB, basically ABT.
Nice spin by the writer on that Gary Nova story.
Tom Savage was rated the #3 QB in the country when Rutgers recruited him and he had a great true freshmen year.
Gary Nova while a good recruit, was nowhere close to #3 QB in the country, I don’t think he was even #3 in NJ, article mentions he is a 3 star rivals. That doesn’t seem to quite equal losing Savage, does it ? But good try by the writer.
DeVanzo, the logic of your posts about Pitt being favored in every game and that is a negative escapes me. Help me out. Pitt has done such a good recruiting job and as a result is favored; however, that is bad. If Pitt would have not done a good recruiting job and would not have been favored, why that would be a positive.
they were favored in every game BECAUSE THEY DIDNT PLAY ANYBODY THAT WAS GOOD!!!!!
you are delusional man
they played ONE RANKED TEAM ALL YEAR… it was the easiest BCS schedule I have ever seen (save Rutgers this year?)
and they played that ranked team at home! then that ranked team got beat by 532 points by the 2nd place SEC team… SMOKE AND MIRRORS
played ZERO major BCS teams (no, UNC and NC State dont count!!!!!)
we would not have been favored had we scheduled any Big 12, Big 10, Pac 10, SEC teams… unreal dude… WAKE UP!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Pittsburgh_Panthers_football_team
But I have to admit it’s a refreshing change from some of the psychitzophrenic conversation that’s gone on here over the last few weeks from “experts” who never post otherwise.
Hopefully, this coaching search and search brought Pitt Blather some new fans who will be valuable contributors on other topics.
DeVanzo, your post was a real eye-opener. I didn’t realize that even the bottom feeders in the conferences that you cited would have all been favored to kick Pitt’s ass. Good thing that we didn’t play anyone in the SEC. We really would have been thumped.
BTW, whoever authored that Wikipedia piece did a nice, informative job.
bigguy…your boy wanny got fired… accept it, move on… or go root for him at his next job
oh wait hes clueless and wont be hired by ANYONE
The spread doesnt equate to more pro prospects.. Wanny is gone but Wanny developed a strong pipeline from Pitt to the pros.. Pitt is a blue collar town and I know this spread offense wont go over well in the city..We will be back to gimmick trickery and will get bullied by any team that plays power football.
Pitt was developing into a very balance team which was attracting the top prospect in the tri state area.. Yes, lineman didnt developed the way we hope along with corners and qb but they were improving…Now it is ALL gone.. Everyone knows that Bradley would have been able to salvage this recruiting class and would have provided pitt with stability.. Pitt would have been preseason ranked, favored again and would have had a top 10- recruiting class.. It aint happening now
I guarenttee that in three years we will hear the following- We need to hire a coach who is defensive minded instead hiring an all around coach..
Todd Graham is not that.. He only cares about offense ..
Well.. it is done.. I will have to stick behind the decision and hope it works out..
KISS all top prospects in PA buh bye
Bradley would have secured a PITT/PSU game which always beneifts pitts with recruits.. There is no chance that is happening again….
I spoke my peace…
I’ll be interested in seeing whether Coach Graham is a winner or a whiner……….
it sounds like youd rather have 4 guys go in the draft then win a national title with the spread?
so would you rather be Pitt under wanny or Oregon/Auburn?
that logic is nuts… john calipari much?
winning over everything
And as for the spread offense like it or not it is the only way to win the Big East (unless its a year where its a shared title and you have 4 losses), beat non-Big East top 25 teams and win a BCS game. Why? The only way to beat talented, top 25 teams consistently when you are a Big East team is to have an innovative offense that allows you to use the skilled players you have and hide those that aren’t as skilled. A pro-style run focused offense can work if you are a team like Alabama, or USC and bring in so much talent that you don’t have gaps at certain positions. You can simply overpower people. This will never work for a Big East team in today’s football…they simply cannot accumulate the talent that is necessary. They don’t have the recruiting areas, reputation, or media attention to get that much talent. Pitt would forever be doomed to an automatic 2-loss and probably more season by running the run-based prostyle. The margin for error is so small that you must be able to out talent and overpower teams that you play. This would never happen.
Spread teams are able to confuse defenses, dictate favorable matchups, take chances, and score quickly. These are all things that Big East teams must do to succeed nationally in college football. If you want to be respected, win championships, and want to beat teams that are in better recruiting areas than Pitt, you must have innovation.
I agree with you. The new standard going forward must be 10 win seasons and BCS bowls. Pederson has left this program in shambles.
We were 8-5.. Isnt that winning?? We were tied for 1st place in the big east. We won our bowl game and the big east had a winning record in the bowl season… Im sorry…. If we dont go on a uconn women’s basketball win streak we arent winners..
Questions- How excited were you about Pitt football this preseason? I betcha you were so excited that you were blinded by the glaring holes we had that Zeise highlighted… Zeise called this- 8-5 or 11-2 – 11-2 if everything went well which it didnt and never will…
Auburn got lucky and got the Number 1 qb.. Oregon played ONE team Stanford.. TCU was the best team this year and they arent consider winners…
The spread is not the answer for a blue collar city.. We need to run the ball and punch people in the face… That wont happen with the spread…
BTW- You werent proud of our team this year?? I thought they did very well. Yes, losses hurt but they happen.
To answer your question- I want our young men to have every opportunity to win, grow as player, student, man and also extend their football career. If the NFl converts to spread than I am all for it..
Did you enjoy watching Michigan this year? That was bad sandlot football..
BTW- We havent won a national championship in many years so I am happy with a winning record, players graduating and playing in the pros.. Oh yeah, i really enjoy hearing nfl players claiming Pitt Panthers as their college…
HAIL TO PITT!!!!
Again one example of a spread failing (even though Michigan did improve each year) does not prove the spread fails. It works countless places. This Michigan example needs to stop being brought up.
This season was a major league disappointment, if you are happy with a team that tries to “run the ball and punch people in the face” and then gets smacked back even harder, has no response, and loses to less talented teams important game after important game then yes, lets keep the power offense, run the ball when 9 guys stack the box, keep Dave Wannstedt on the sidelines and be happy with 4 loss seasons when we have more talent then the rest of the league.
“DeVanzo,
We were 8-5.. Isnt that winning??”
NOPE
we were 5-2 in the worst BCS conference in football. we went 2-3 in the non conference, 0-3 against real teams
we went 0-3 against teams that did not finish ranked, and went 1-2 in bowl games. the one win coming because two played each other, and somebody had to win that pillow fight
“We were tied for 1st place in the big east. We won our bowl game and the big east had a winning record in the bowl season… Im sorry…. ”
AHAHAHAHA come on!!!! The big east played NOBODY in the bowl season. Oh wait, we played a team that went 2-5 in the SEC… BIG EAST > SEC!!! we would have lost by 40 to Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, etc etc etc. UCONN got blown out by Oklahoma. WVU got blown out my friggin NC STATE!!
The big east had ZERO ranked teams, and rightfully so. Conference USA had two teams!!! UCF>Big east this year… wake up!!!!
“If we dont go on a uconn women’s basketball win streak we arent winners..:”
that joke wasnt funny
“Questions- How excited were you about Pitt football this preseason?”
VERY… this team had 10-2 or 11-1 talent against its putrid pathetic easy schedule
“I betcha you were so excited that you were blinded by the glaring holes we had that Zeise highlighted… Zeise called this- 8-5 or 11-2 – 11-2 if everything went well which it didnt and never will…”
PLEASE WANNY APOLOGISTS LISTEN UP!!! THIS IS WHERE YOU FALL FLAT ON YOUR FACES!!!!
pick one….
a – the team was weak and we shouldnt have expected to do so well
-then he should have been fired for gaining zero ground in 6 years and regressing from where walt had us
b – the team was really really good and he underperformed as coach countless times in countless games and the team massively underachieved for its talent level
-then he should be fired for being a terrible coach
wow that was easy
“Auburn got lucky and got the Number 1 qb..”
you know absolutely nothing about college football… that defense is stacked wtih NFL talent and their d-line played an incredible game including a goal line stand from the 2 that probably won the game… oh, and a safety
wow dude… you are clueless
“Oregon played ONE team Stanford.”
SO HOW MANY TEAMS DID PITT PLAY THEN???
Because Oregon was 6-1 against the top 30 according to Sagarin
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt10.htm
pitt was 0-2 hahaha
please define TEAM as you mean it here… come on, list for me 10 teams you think were worthwhile? got some big east ones on there haha
“TCU was the best team this year and they arent consider winners…”
possibly, thats the fault of the BCS system and has ZERO relevance to the flawed argument you are fumbling through
“The spread is not the answer for a blue collar city.. We need to run the ball and punch people in the face… That wont happen with the spread…”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
thats why we went 7-5 in a joke conference and lost countless games to inferior… Bowling Green, Ohio, UConn, Utah, Navy, NC State etc etc (and yes, Utah wasnt that good… please look at their last 4 games)
“BTW- You werent proud of our team this year?? I thought they did very well. Yes, losses hurt but they happen.”
Nope they played like cowards in the biggest game of the year… quit in the WVU game during 3rd quarter, never seen anything like that. They pouted, played undisciplined, yelled at each other, talked trash in crucial game situations (Uconn tino), and didnt look like a team until wanny was gone for UK game
“To answer your question- I want our young men to have every opportunity to win, grow as player, student, man and also extend their football career. If the NFl converts to spread than I am all for it..”
So we should be a farm team for the NFL?
This team was not disciplined on or off the field… you are delusional
Walt had just as much NFL success as Wanny with half the arrests
“Did you enjoy watching Michigan this year? That was bad sandlot football..”
wow got me there… indictment for whole spread system
right back at you with Auburn and Oregon
“BTW- We havent won a national championship in many years so I am happy with a winning record, players graduating and playing in the pros.. Oh yeah, i really enjoy hearing nfl players claiming Pitt Panthers as their college…”
Who says that the most?
Revis? who walt recruited
Larry? who played for Walt
Joe Flacco? who was recruited by Walt but….
Lousaka Polite? who played for Walt
Andy Lee? who played for Walt
etc etc etc
Ill give Wanny LeSean McCoy… but dont think he had anything to do wtih pitt success in the NFL
My facts > your feelings…. be rational pitt fans… the wanny years were a sad time… 4 crap bowls and no real success (insert Bigguy yelling about the 2009 delusional 10 win cupcake season)
Let’s say you are 100% correct. We are on in a weak conference and should have won the BCS bid the last 2 or 3 seasons. Given this, by what standard do you judge the next 3 seasons? Or even the next season?
I fully support the goal of winning the Big East every year and think VTech is an aspirational model for winning a weak conference every year. But what I think is missing from this discussion is why the so-called Wannstedt apologists were against the coaching change. It’s not the belief that Wannstedt was Urban Meyer but that Pitt was unwilling to invest in the program to bring it to the next level, and Wannstedt was a good return on a small investment.
We fired an underpaid coach who was producing 9 win seasons the last three years and went with Haywood. Now we are paying double to Graham. I hope he succeeds because I am a Pitt guy. But the underlying point is that Pitt (possibly just Pederson) exposed itself as talking about having a top tier program but really did not want to do anything to actually achieve that. If they had not been cheap, Pitt would have hired Graham in December and avoided the entire Haywood debacle.
Again, I want Graham to succeed. I want Pitt to invest in a winning program. I just remain skeptical that he will win any more than Wannstedt did. The standard by which I judge the next three years is 28 wins and a BCS berth. I hope we get there.
Michigan was ranked 9th in total offense and Tulsa was ranked 8th in total offense. This team WILL put points on the board.
Graham: all fell right in to it. We love to put points on the board.
Coach Graham came from the heart, like Hafley.
Graham says we’re related (lots of guffaws)
Ray: just try to stay focused over the last mo. Wanny a great, great person.
We’re ready to get this thing going. Everone in lockerroom fired up.
Q: no huddle? whatever it takes to win. Coach is going to get us over the edge
Q of Cam: The most excited person on the team. Was considering WVU
“A great day to be a Panther”
(They’re clearly psyched)
