For oh, so many reasons.
The obvious is that he will manage to be the 4th Pitt football head coach in just the last 12 months. Yeah, yeah, 62 years for 2 PSU coaches or whatever.
That’s not why the next coach has it so bad.
The fan base is at an all time low in terms of just coping. Expectations are low, and I’m willing to bet so are the willingness to hear any excuses.
All that talk about how Pitt is now a basketball school and blaming it on the move to Heinz Field and no on-campus stadium. Bull.
It’s about the W-L.
There’s a belief. There’s hope. There’s an expectation with Pitt basketball of success. When was the last time you truly felt that about Pitt football? Not just for the season, but the next few years? I mean, you could look back on the previous couple and then look ahead and say, “yeah, it’s happening.” Instead, it’s been, “this year could be the breakthrough to start something… I hope.”
Coming into 2011, I thought Todd Graham was going to have a rough time if Pitt didn’t win right away. Partially because of the way he pushed and promoted high expectations. But because the media wasn’t going to play as nice as they did with Wannstedt at first.
Dave Wannstedt got a lot of rope to hang himself. He struggled to get this program to bowl eligibility in his first 3 years. He was given a lot of slack despite that. Changing styles. Not really good talent. Etc. Yet frustration did grow with the fans.
Despite the supposed increase in talent, Pitt had already plateaued after 2009. The media, however, still was playing really nice with Wannstedt. Despite fans frustrations. Wannstedt has always known how to get along with the media. More so, than with the fans. The fans see wins and losses. The media sees access and to some extent the people themselves.
When Wannstedt was finally fired, the media was surprised. And took abuse. They seemed too personally caught up with Wannstedt. Biased.
The 2010 coaching change was initially met with much relief by the fans, however. Debacle-squared managed to make that a problem. So, the next coach wasn’t going to get the same kid gloves. More skepticism. More questions. Media and fans just were not sure.
Within a short period, though, they bought in. Because, the alternative is to be miserable and alone. Being the miserable hater. Seemingly rooting against the program. The majority of the fans, however, were relieved or plain happy. That caused a media adjustment to the market.
The local guy. The Pitt guy has just failed. Now Graham has bolted. The good resume guy turned out to be a complete carpet-bagging piece of crap. Who do you believe? Who do you back?
Regardless of who gets hired, how much trust, faith, whatever are you willing to put forth? How does he get you to believe? To hope?
Or more to the point: how many tickets does he get you to commit?
Bottom line – if Cristobal is the best candidate, hire him.
but i think they are past the coach that would bring flash.
they will play it safe this time they will go with rhoads or some old retread that wont run away
but who ever it needs to be fast there is no time we will lose this class for sure if they take mutch time there is no time.
Now, I agree that Cristobal could be a guy that moves on at some point. But I think that he would do well enough here.
I think he was making $2 million a year at Pitt and that buys a little material happiness and have you ever been to Tulsa? It’s not the cultural mecca of the universe. I have lived in a lot of places in my life and I have to say Pittsburgh is a great town.
He really talked a good game but he really failed to deliver on the field and the way he resigned was just the mark of coward.
1) The world gets to see what an asshole this guy is!
2) We are rid of this guy. He’s a lousy coach. Remeber the Iowa game. He’ll do for ASU what Walt Harris did for Stanford.
That we should be 3 yards and a cloud of dust because that’s what the recruiting is in Pa, Oh, and NJ???
You may have also called it right on Graham.
You were correct.
Again, correct me if I’m wrong, I went back and forth with several people on some of these points, so, really, maybe it was not you.
1. If you think any of us (maybe a couple) want anything to do with Wanny, or are remembering the gool ol’ days of Wanny, you are sorely incorrect. (Please don’t make me go back and talk about him, his statistics and walking out in Miami again, please)
The correct decision was made to get rid of him, the next hire was poor, obviously, we can all see that now. These are two separate issues.
As for Michael Myers, putting a square plug into a round hole does not work anywhere, and that is exactly what that was.
As for the type of offense needs to be a certain way, to recruit Pa., Oh., and NJ is absolutely ridiculous. Number 1, the area you are speaking about is a shell of it’s former self. Recruiting, top recruits are coming from Fla., Tx., Cali., S. Carolina, Georgia, “the south” in general.
Yes, we will still have some 5 Star and top prospects in the 3 state area you mentioned, but, you don’t hire a coach or run an offense, at least not anymore, on the recruits of the Mid-Atlantic.
As for King Whore Graham. Again, you were right and correct.
However, don’t confuse people saying he is
“the answer, the savior, he is great, fantastic and will lead us to the promised land”, with people saying,
“well, he’s the coach, let’s get behind him and hope he can do good things here”
I really didn’t hear anyone say the first thing when he was hired. Let’s be honest, none of us ever heard of him before. Most of us didn’t know what to think.
Also, asshole that he turned out to be, still doesn’t negate the fact, that the QB’ing of Tino Sunsersi was absolutely abhorent and certainly cost us several games.
Good way to put that, would be, good for you Tino, it came out Coach Graham is a real A.H., however, Tino, you still stink, doesn’t change that.
Also doesn’t change what I said ad nauseum, any coach, any sport, pro, college, whatever, gets at least 2 years, if not 3, before you can tell if his offense and defense are any good, and until he can get his recruits in his system. That has not changed.
I gave Harris and Wanny, that, and was going to give Graham that, and will give the next coach that. (unless I bag this whole Pitt football thing).
I admit I was duped, some of you saw the ‘snake oil salesman’ right away, you were right.
Most of us didn’t claim “savior” though, we just got behind the Pitt coach and late in the year, got behind his excellent recruiting class.
**Public disclaimer. Apology in advance to DRW if a lot of these points weren’t yours also, I sincerely may be getting you confused with someone else with initials or a short moniker**
If all you ever stated was the guy was a snake oil salesman, DRW, you hit the nail on the head.
I was surprised you, Reed, Chas, Dokish and about 50 more here didn’t go down to SS complex and offer oral to this guy!
The fact is that there were plenty more than just DRW saying that Graham was a fast-talking fraud from the get-go … but were ridiculed away from this site by the masses.
Hangovers suck!!
Hail to Pitt!!
The investmeant of heart, money, changing family plans around games, taking a couple away trips every year, went to two of the bowl games the past 10 years or so.
I got some thinkin’ to do.
link to en.wikipedia.org
Go ahead, Chas keeps the posts up. They are there for your perusing.
Your ball, quote me brother. Do it!!
Other than to support the guy, support the team, support Pitt.
Many a time, questioned his pooch punting, his game decisions, and leaving Tino in at qb. Questioned that a lot.
Did say quite a bit, guy gets 2 or 3 years.
So, if you’re gonna make a claim, back it up. List any of the pages where I or anyone else ever said things, like, “Todd Graham is fantastic”, “Todd Graham is the best thing to ever happen to Pitt”, or anything like that.
Go ahead Friedman, the pages are all there!!!
Let me guess your answer, “I don’t have time to look up previous posts” !!!!
Go ahead FRIEDMAN, make a claim, back it up, would only take me about 10-15 minutes to go back and get quotes from people.
Go ahead, I’ll be waiting!!!
What, you some kind of pu**y, that you can get ridiculed off a sports blog???
Someones gone call me out, and put words in my mouth got me ramped up a bit.
I don’t apologize to you Friedman, still waiting.
Go get the quotes where I was so thrilled, “we would have given oral to the guy”,
Make sure you put the date, and posts’ titles so everyone can check them out.
i bet it is Ron Zook i read to day that he is a very close frend of steve pederson they have known each outher for years the only thing wrong with that is he is not a big winner just a so so coach a retread.
I don’t see his wife leaving a very good job and executive director position for Pittsburgh. If she does, it will be short term. Sorry.
1.)Teryl Austin
2.)K.C. Keeler
3.)Chad Morris
3.)Paul Chryst
Anyway with a team that produces over $75 million a year and is the university cash cow, what’s a little buyout money. They get the coach they want, new staff and everything and get to screw with Pitt again.
Hiring a guy from C-USA was a gamble, hiring a guy from the Sunbelt, considering all that’s gone on here at Pitt here in the last year, would be insane.
That guy is worse than Wanny, he didn’t have anywhere close to a .500 record at Illinois, in fact I think it was close to 20 games under .500.
That would be a death knell for PITT football.
Of course Smiley is good with that sort of thing.
He by himself, almost killed a far heartier program at Nebraska. And then well, we don’t need to talk about the last couple hires at PITT anymore do we?
cristobal
chryst in that order but i think it will be rhodes
but it needs to be QUICK who ever it is.
Fact, failed alum Dave Wannstedt was 7-5 last year and finished in a tie for first place in the Big East. Resume guy finished 6-6 and in fifth place in the Big East.
Graham will now be crushed annually by the likes of Oregon, USC and Stanford. It couldn’t happen to a worse human being.
Hell, there are people locked up behind bars that look good in comparison to Graham at this point IMO.
I think people need to separate Graham’s football actions from his personal issues when discussing things like this. A lot of us didn’t hold any real strong views one way or another on his personality or background any more than how it applied to what he was actually doing with the PITT team and program in 2011. At least that was what I was most concerned about – my focus is and always will be PITT football and the players.
I figured he had a shtick and was working it.
But I’ll say now that I wasn’t overly disappointed as some were in what he did while he was here and that I was optimistic that we’d be better each year he stayed. His recruiting was top notch IMO and his players all seemed to have really appreciated his being their HC… up until Wednesday.
That was why thier reactions to his deceit and duplicity were so strong, because they liked the guy very much, bought into what he was saying not only about football but about other areas of life and you could tell this by what they had said publicly and how they acted before Dec 15th. Of course, that all came crashing down around their shoulders on Wednesday and they were understandably shocked, hurt and angry as they well should be.
Of course now I am very concerned about what his lack of character and just plain decit has done to the kids and the program. They and PITT don’t deserve one iota of what he has visited on them. I hold a large amount of contempt for him now like every other PITT fan does.
And yes, those who held that same contempt for Graham earlier, regardless of thier reasons for doing so, have been proven correct in their emotions and statements.
Yeah.
(Don’t get me wrong I love the ‘Burgh, but it ain’t exactly a hotbed of latino activity…)