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February 21, 2012

Just Disrupted

Filed under: Admin — Chas @ 10:39 am

No the basketball season has not beaten me down so far I stopped posting. The offline world has conspired against me. Some family stuff. Kids being sick –which of course led to me getting taken down as well.

Then the topped being my car abruptly giving up the ghost. So I am trying to work quickly to replace my car without being reckless and stupid.

Hopefully I will resume consistent posting soon.





should have stolen the Audi or Volvo (whatever it was) when you had the chance.

I believe Chryst is having a presser today .. hopefully, he is not leaving to become Schiano’s asst head coach .. but anymore, I wouldn’t be shocked

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 11:13 am

Relief at last! The woes of Pitt football and basketball have been blogged to death. Lets help Chas with his car.

Was it a good car? How long has it been your car? Was it a good game day car? Did it get you to bowl games? BCS bowls?

Did your car quit to take a postion at ASU? Does it have family out west?

Are you going for a big name replacement? With head car experience? Pay the price for a car that will take you to the next level?

Can the assitant cars keep the carpool together until the search is complete?

Seriously Chas, good luck with your car troubles.

Comment by dinosaur 71 02.21.12 @ 11:18 am

Interesting article by Brady McCollough in the P-G about Woodall (link to post-gazette.com)

A poor college kid from a dysfunctional home shares a fifth-floor Washington Plaza Uptown apartment with Dante Taylor. I don’t know the specifics of their pad, but I suspect that it may be upscale from the standard Pitt dorm. I assume that he is on a full athletic scholarship; however, he is also the recipient of a $5000 Pell Grant. He is also the owner (purchaser) of 80 pairs of quality sneakers as well as an up to date wardrobe. He must have had pretty good jobs in the month off between semesters. It’s really not a bad country.

Comment by BigGuy 02.21.12 @ 11:35 am

@Dino LOL

@ Chas – Good luck w/car

Personally, I don’t have or drive any vehicles younger than myself (b ’52). But just like a good woman, they can be temperamental, but you don’t mind investing the time and money cause they are worth it!

Comment by CompLit 02.21.12 @ 11:36 am

Did you guys see we lost Bostad?

Comment by Pittastic 02.21.12 @ 11:38 am

just read about this chas. could be useful for you, but i’ve never used it. I’m not connected to this guy in any way.

link to money.cnn.com

Comment by Ronald 02.21.12 @ 11:42 am

Take a rest and get better Chas’! You do plenty.

Comment by Dan 02.21.12 @ 12:13 pm

Pittastic, Apparently you missed FrankCan’s 42 postings on losing Bostad?

Comment by Justinian 02.21.12 @ 12:15 pm

Chas, if you go the new car route let me know as I can maybe get you an employee code discount.

Comment by wally 02.21.12 @ 12:19 pm

Chas, Like Hugh Hefner’s taste in women, I like my cars to be………… fast and a great deal younger than me.

Comment by Justinian 02.21.12 @ 12:21 pm

Interesting post on FootballScoop, Bostad leaving has freed up cash for assistants and HC phone ringing with many calls from well qualified interested assistants.

Comment by Pitt Letterman 02.21.12 @ 12:26 pm

Sorry Justinian I was out of town.

Comment by Pittastic 02.21.12 @ 12:35 pm

HC posting on ESPN;
link to espn.go.com

Comment by Pitt Letterman 02.21.12 @ 12:44 pm

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 1:49 pm

Anyone notice that all of the former Pitt assistants that went to Rutgers last year are no longer there!

Comment by markp 02.21.12 @ 1:50 pm

Hey, I have a question that some of you may be able to answer, or at least give your opinion.

I for one, am not taking the ledge for anything, however, I am just wondering aloud…..

1. we only have 20 or 30 offers to recruits, while many other schools have 70 or 80 out???

Is this true?? If so, is it a big deal, we do have a year I realize, but does seem a little bit odd.

Nothing to get excited about?? They are just getting their feet wet?? I’m ok with those answers, does just seem odd, if true.

Comment by Dan 02.21.12 @ 3:14 pm

Its really too bad Dave Wannstedt was a complete blockhead on gameday. He really wanted to be at Pitt and was loyal to the school and his assistants. Obviously thats pretty hard to find these days.

Bostard was obviously throwing his name out to NFl clubs before he ever boarded a plane to Pittsburgh. The level of sleeziness and undermining is really unbelievable.

Comment by Coach Ditka 02.21.12 @ 3:18 pm

Chryst had his presser. Not much said and no hiring yet of assistants. Much faith in Hueber and Randolph to do job.

Todd Thomas out for spring with knee injury. 1AA team to be put on schedule to replace WVU.

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 4:15 pm

Wbb bostad leaving has freed up money he is now
geting call from quality guys who want to join
his staff.
So you were right it was money pitt must have
going cheap on the amount he could pay his coachs.

so PITT was to blame more than the coach as far
as the RB coach not being hired so i admit i was
wrong.

Wbb how did you know that it was the money and
there for the ADs fult and not the coach.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.21.12 @ 4:24 pm

FRANKCAN – I read that he was paying Bostad a lot and his leaving freed all that money up.

Comment by Pitt Letterman 02.21.12 @ 4:33 pm

FRANKCAN – I read that he was paying Bostad a lot and his leaving freed all that money up.

Comment by Pitt Letterman 02.21.12 @ 4:33 pm

(1) empirical data that Pitt does not pay its coaches competitively. This is why we got stuck with Haywood in the 1st place. You may remember that Pitt wasn’t even in the ballpark in its original search salary-wise when talking to Sumlin and Graham, etc.

(2) Our clueless AD had no idea what the market is for salaries as shown above. The staff under Wanny was one of the lowest, if not the lowest, in the BE … thus one of the lowest in the BCS, and his recruiting budget was cut a few years ago. Now I’m not sure how much this is a reflection on Nordy … or the AD not fighting for his coaches.

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 4:36 pm

Having said that … I suspect that Bostad was adequately paid but Pitt just could not cpmpete salarywise wiht the NFL. However, there is a budget for each staff, thus, there is only so much to go around to fulfill all the positions. I see that WVU had little issue when it had openings .. and the point I was making before was that allegedly Pitt was in line for the Giants’ def asst to become our DL coach .. and WVU hired him right under our noses.

I can only come to the conclusion is that WVU coachingf budget is much higher than Pitt’s

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 4:41 pm

Dan how are you
justinian i think it was 10 not 42
Dan i dont know if you should ask abought the recruting.
if you do they will jump on you for not giveing him a chance.

only EMEL and you and i have noticed that and
so i dont think you want to go there i no i wont
untill i see the results at the end of the year.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.21.12 @ 4:42 pm

Wbb thanks for the info and i say once agein
you were right.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.21.12 @ 4:47 pm

Hey Frank. Doing well, hope you are too.

You know wbb, if this is true, why don’t they just come out and say it, and save a lot of us, a lot of grief.

Couldn’t compete coaching staff salary wise in BE, what’s gonna happen in the ACC?????????

If you are gonna pay peanuts, that’s what you’ll get on the field, and in the stands. It’s that simple.

Hey, maybe thats what Nordy and Steve really want with the ACC. The academic thing, and don’t care about football. Maybe they want to rub elbows with the Dukesters and Techsters and if we field a half decent team, fine, if not, that’s fine too.

Depressing to even hear the talk of we’re still low rent with staff salaries.

Comment by Dan 02.21.12 @ 4:51 pm

Wbb, now I understand. If SP would have paid Phil Bennett, Frank Cignetti, Jeff Hafley and David Walker more money, they would not have bolted after 2010 season These were coaches in demand.

Comment by BigGuy 02.21.12 @ 4:52 pm

PITT LETTERMAN thank you
read what Wbb posted at 441 WVU must have a higher budget than us it is very intresting.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.21.12 @ 4:53 pm

No. the new head coach is repsonisble for hiring his staff with the budget presented. What it implies is that after the OC and DC were hired, maybe Wanny couldn’t pay a competitive price for good position coaches.

The only thing I suspect is that chryst is having a harder time in hiring assistants than many others due to salary budget restrictions. Just a guess .. but Pitt has a history of not being competitve.

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 4:57 pm

Wbb that means i was right abought the DL coach
after all and WVU just stole him away.
i wondered why you did not rake me over the coles
when we ended up with the coach from UCLA
thanks Wbb
but every thing that goes wrong is still TINOS fult just kidding Wbb .

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.21.12 @ 5:00 pm

Chas, Always a bummer when life gets in the way of your hobbies.

My car broker tells me used cars are overpriced due to short supplies. Dealers still have good interest rates, time to bite the bullet. Good hunting.

Comment by gc 02.21.12 @ 5:07 pm

Chryst was ready for this spring ball starts soon enough we have a great class coming in. Schiano will flame out good riddance. Hail To Pitt

Comment by 63Team 02.21.12 @ 5:07 pm

DON’T buy a used Passat. I learned the hard way.

DO buy a retired Crown Vic Police Interceptor. Owning one myself I get respect I certainly don’t deserve.

And, best of all, you don’t get tailgated!

Comment by steve1 02.21.12 @ 5:13 pm

WVU will always have a higher athletic operating budget and lower academic standards that Pitt. They take sports seriously and the trade-off is academics for Big East titles and BCS bowl games.

Many schools share a similar philosophy.

And, beer sales inside the stadium does help pay for it along with fans that actually show up to games and very influential boosters who help call the shots because money talks.

Pitt = CHEAP. Pitt is also not serious about making Pitt football ELITE.

Unless Pitt lowers standards, somehow finds new revenue sources to pay for highly regarded coaches and recruiting trips, coddles players and tell them what they want to hear, look the other way when kids throw people through windows, and yes, find the money to ‘pay’ players or their handlers, Pitt will always be non-elite unless they catch lightening in a bottle one year.

I’m not suggesting Pitt becomes WVU or Miami or USC or tOSU or any other program considered elite if you have to do those things to get there.

But, let’s not fool ourselves thinking Pitt will be a consistent 10 win program each year in a BCS conference. I’m hoping for a conference title every 4 years on average by doing things the right way and not having to sacrifice one’s integrity.

It would also help if Pitt’s football program experienced some stability and had a more competent AD. That is wishful thinking. I do think Pitt got the coach right this time but only time will tell.

Comment by TX Panther 02.21.12 @ 5:20 pm

I had a Passat and it drove great. Howver, it was forever showing a faulty warning light, or the sky roof didn’t open, or the trunk hydaulic was screwed up, .. one piece of crap thing after another. Al under warranty but I bet I brought into the shop for minor repairs at least a half dozen times for repair … plus you have to pay an extra charge for an oil change due to the guard underneast the oil pan.

Traded it in after only 40k and bought another Accord

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 5:21 pm

I can’t tell you, wbb, how much a 2001 Passat cost me to get it to even run well enough to unload.

The machine suffered from negative synergy…there was never a time everything worked.

And the guard thingee? It fell off after 60,000 miles!

Comment by steve1 02.21.12 @ 5:25 pm

This is why no bigtime names (other than alumnus Wanny) ever consider PITT. Being known as Cheap gets around pretty quickly. Hell even Washington State in Pullman, Washington opened up their purse strings to get Mike Leach.

Peeps don’t realize Wanny was giving PITT a hometown discount. And so was his staff.

Smiley then has the nerve to hire a nobody like Haywood to replace a PITT man. And I remind you Smiley is NOT a PITT man and I think he has antipathy against PITT men. Other than Nordy of course, his BF.

Smiley’s hires to date(major sports only): Walt Harris, Ben Howland (pure luck), Bill Callahan, Mike Heywood, Fraud Graham, Paul Chryst .

Chryst was more a selection by committee after the last two disasters that Smiley hired.

Hey we got thru the presser without Chryst resigning, things are looking up !

Comment by Emel 02.21.12 @ 5:28 pm

Add to your list Emel that when Pitt was trying to decide whether to give Dixon the job, they reached out to Smiley for an opinion, and he gave it a thumbs down.

Comment by marcus of schaumburg 02.21.12 @ 5:46 pm

“This is why no bigtime names (other than alumnus Wanny) ever consider PITT”

Emel, refresh my memory. There are (were) 20 teams combined in the BE and ACC. Excluding Miami, name for me the “big time names” that took jobs at the 19 colleges. BTW, how has Miami fared during the past couple of years?

Comment by BigGuy 02.21.12 @ 5:47 pm

But wait. Don’t even bother worrying about football or Fraud Graham, Pitt is really a basketball school. Just wait till basketball season gets here. Then you can forget about football. After all, we don’t even have our own football stadium. You know Pitt is a city school, not rural like Ped U, so it makes sense that its a basketball school. I can’t wait until basketball season gets here.

Comment by IH8PITT 02.21.12 @ 6:21 pm

EMel how are you Wbb nailed it he is smart
except abought TINO just kiding Wbb dont rip me a new one
well got to go furnece is broke will freeze till new part gets here in two days
will be back on tommarow we all have are trails
in life.
have a drink for me EMel you to DAN.
chas they are haveing real deals on subarus now
and they say 97 percent of them that were ever sold are still on the road read that some were

i dont have one have a old dodge truck my self.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.21.12 @ 6:29 pm

Pittastic, That’s ok, it’s just as well that you missed Bostad-Gate. I really don’t think it will have the apocolyptic rammifications that were forcsted.

Comment by Justinian 02.21.12 @ 6:31 pm

IH8PITT very good we all thought that a few weeks ago dident we very funny.
must go to room with the fire place in it good night all.

Comment by FRANKCAN 02.21.12 @ 6:35 pm

interesting tidbit from Chryst’s presser. Both Anthony Gonzalez and EJ Banks will be tried at QB

Comment by wbb 02.21.12 @ 6:37 pm

Frank, I’m sure Paul Chryst felt the Bob Bostad was worth the money if he could get him. But now that he’s gone, it’s nice that it freed up enough money to make the open positions more enticing to other qualified coaches. When Todd Graham got the job last year Pitt doubled the head coach’s salary and reportedly gave him 2 million for his staff. So they allowed Graham the discretion to pay the salaries as he felt he needed. If that is the same case with Chryst then losing his highest paid coach could bring in some added benefits. I am sure he had to offer Bostad a lot of money to leave a powerhouse program like Wisconsin.

PS I hope your not mad at me for having fun at your expense.

Comment by Justinian 02.21.12 @ 6:48 pm

Wbb, the same ej banks that transferred from unc?

Comment by Pk 02.21.12 @ 7:58 pm

Stupid question. Thats interesting though. I thought he was going to be a wide reciever

Comment by Pk 02.21.12 @ 7:59 pm

E. J.Banks transferred from Notre Dame where he was rumored to have some academic issues.

Banks is a 5′ 11″ 185 lb cornerback. Quarterback ?? What position did he play in high school?

The fact that Chryst is shopping around for another body to play QB tells you all you want to know about Mr. Tino. Chryst will say nice things about Mr. Tino, however. one look at the films of his playing abilities has to send Chryst shopping for help. Obviously, Chryst will try to keep Voytik as a red shirt in order to work him into whatever system he finds workable with the talent pool (or lack of talent) that he has on hand.

Comment by isnore 02.21.12 @ 9:35 pm

May I suggest, gentlemen, that you read the bio in the Pitt roster about Mr. E.J. Banks of Montour. You will find he is not unacquainted with the QB position. As a matter of record, he was a 1000 yard passer in each of his last 3 seasons. He is a bit small for a big-time signal caller, BUT, so is Brees, and several others over the years. Coach Chryst has been around the track and knows what he is doing. I’m not saying Banks will be the Panther QB what harm is done in giving him a shot? Rev. George from Columbus, where a shortie named Miller is already numero one behind the center and he too is a soph.

Comment by Rev. George Mehaffey 02.21.12 @ 10:20 pm

Like it or not, Pitt’s athletic department is still 5 years behind the times.
NFL coaches do not have to recruit. That alone makes it a better job. People leave jobs all the time, unless and until Pitt becomes a destination, I have zero problems with being perceived as one step away from the NFL.
I think Chryst will use many players at the “QB” slot: wildcat, etc…
Thomas being out is no surprise but I would love an update on Ray Graham.
Go ahead and laugh now…if Pitt needs an FCS foe, make it Duquesne. Goodwill, money stays in area, will sell some tickets and get attention. Don’t give me ” we don’t want to lose to Duquesne” as an excuse not to play. I will laugh last and loudest.
HTP

Comment by SFPitt 02.21.12 @ 10:25 pm

Can’t play Duquesne, they the NEC doesn’t offer enough scholarships for an FBS team to play against their teams.

Comment by Twink 02.21.12 @ 11:11 pm

Thanks Twink for the cold hard facts. But then Villanova must offer enough scholarships to satisfy that criteria then. IMO, that is a distinction with very little difference.
We may end up playing someone like that..ain’t a whole lot of options left.
Does McGill have an American football team?

Comment by SFPitt 02.22.12 @ 3:37 am

link to post-gazette.com

Here is the write-up about Chryst’s presser. Note the emphasis on designing the offense to fit the skills of the players as opposed to ….

Comment by wbb 02.22.12 @ 7:42 am

Frankcam, WVU makes a lot more money on its FB program than Pitt .. probably why they can spend more. But Pitt needs to be competitive in spending

Comment by wbb 02.22.12 @ 7:44 am

Pitt also needs to spend money wisely. State Penn actually just barely outspends Pitt on football (per Doke) yet the revenue to expense is about 3 to 1. Pitt might actually have a negative ROI. That’s all on Smiley and why Pitt needs a change in the AD department.

Comment by TX Panther 02.22.12 @ 11:22 am

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