You know, for a team that finished 5-7, Pitt’s coaches seem to be in demand. Ball, Rhoads (obligatory, awkward self-high five) and now WR Coach Aubrey Hill. He is taking the WR Coach spot at Miami.

A Miami native, Hill played at the University of Florida and was a graduate assistant there from 1996-98 and an intern with the Miami Dolphins under Wannstedt in 2002.

“The personal reasons for him going back to Miami make sense,” Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said today. “He went to high school there in Miami. It’s a great opportunity to come back home and personal reasons were a major factor in him returning home.”

Hill did a very good job at Pitt, and will be working with probably the worst position on the Hurricanes (okay, QB was rather shaky as well). If he can help that group, he will be moving up the coaching ladder.

Coach Wannstedt said in the statement that he has no specific timetable or rush for hiring a new WR Coach. Clearly he doesn’t think it is a major issue with the recruiting class for that spot.

You know, when this AP story on how the Pitt win over WVU has produced such huge dividends, it was even before Paul Rhoads was able to ride finally getting a handle on the WVU spread to jump for the Auburn Defensive Coordinator gig. Words can’t adequately express how happy that Rhoads has finally moved on.

I didn’t think it would happen. I now have such optimism for 2008, that I am a little stunned. I do get a kick out of how he got characterized as an “excellent recruiter.” There’s little evidence of that. The talent on the defense started sliding after he got there, it has only rebounded since Wannstedt and Gattuso came to Pitt and started recruiting. As much blame as Walt Harris gets for letting the recruiting slip, after a good few years, there has been little evidence to suggest that Rhoads did much to help.
Consider, the areas Coach Wannstedt most wanted recruited were Western Pennsylvania and the rest of the state. Ohio was where Rhoads was assigned geographically. He had him recruit the area, of least concern and lowest expectations. That seems telling.

The good news for Auburn is that they have a good recruiter and coach in Tuberville. And Tuberville is a defensive guy.

Don’t toy with me, Auburn.

Don’t get my hopes up for no reason. I have trouble believing it true. Pitt couldn’t have this many good things happen in one week.

The rumors are rampant that Paul Rhoads may be heading to Auburn to take over as Defensive Coordinator there. He once turned down the job — leading to his huge contract.

A few days ago the Auburn beat writer said this was the search for a new DC was a very tight-lipped affair. More than any other he had encountered covering Auburn. Then he still speculated on some of the names out there.

Pittsburgh coordinator Paul Rhoads: He’s not a serious candidate and hasn’t been. UPDATE: There is talk that Rhoads might be in the picture after all. I doubt that’s the case, but we will see.

Tuberville refused to comment about the job or Rhoads specifically a few days later.

Jeff Long is gone as expected at this point. Hell of a bump in salary. He was making around $200 K at Pitt, and Arkansas came in with $450,000. That sort of cash will go a long way at Wal-Mart.

No way Pitt was going to match that — especially when Pitt’s extension negotiations stalled out earlier this spring/summer. That kind of bump in salary  comes at a cost. Dealing with the Houston Nutt/Las Cronicas Locas De Boss Hawg stuff. Not to mention a fanbase with contingent unable to distinguish reality from satire. Wow.

I have no idea who will be the next AD. I can tell you it won’t be any former player now doing commentary for the WWL. As I tried to point out earlier, the nature of the AD job is so different from even 15 years ago. Gladhanding and raising money for the Athletic Department is vital, but it is only a component of what the job demands these days. I only want Pitt to find and hire the best person for the job.
In the interim, Donna Sanft, the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration, Compliance and Student Life can add “interim AD” to her resume.

Chancellor Nordenberg has already formed an athletic director search committee to be chaired by Jerry Cochran, Pitt’s executive vice chancellor and general counsel. The committee will include Susan Albrecht, Pitt NCAA faculty athletic representative; Tom Bigley, a member of the Board of Trustees and former chair of the athletics committee; Marcus Bowman, director of athletic business operations and former walk-on basketball player under Coach Dixon; Kirk Bruce, assistant athletic director for Olympic sports and former Pitt basketball player in the early 70s and Pitt women’s basketball coach in the 80s and 90s.; John Conomikes, a member of the Board of Trustees and chair of the athletics committee; and Carol Sprague, senior associate athletic director.

They have, apparently, started work immediately. Whether Chancellor Nordenberg will do anything with their recommendations is a different issue (see, 2003). I do expect the job to draw a fair amount of interest. There are still only 65 BCS schools (and only 64 of them have athletic director positions).

I dunno. Maybe.

Pitt athletic director Jeff Long is one of three finalists for the same position at the University of Arkansas, according to sources.

An Arkansas television station has footage of Long and his wife Fanny, getting off of a private plane in Fayetteville, Ark., at about 11 a.m. today.

My first question was “who are the other two finalists?” I don’t know for sure. Since the local station wasn’t ID’d and none of the stations in Fayetteville have any footage on their site. Best I can find is mention of Tulane AD Rick Dickson being near the top. Terry Don Phillips, the Clemson AD, and former Assistant AD at Arkansas previously took his name out of the rumors. I’m stunned that Long would be up for the Arkansas job. That’s a really tough gig and a high profile/pressure job considering its nothing but Razorbacks in the state.

I was surprised to learn that Long and Pitt never signed/finished working out that extension from back in May. Seems to be a bit of a problem for Pitt and Chancellor Nordenberg with those things. Remember how long he let interim AD Marc Boehm twist in the wind? Finally Boehm didn’t want to wait any longer and rejoined Pedersen in Nebraska.
Any time I write about AD Jeff Long, it’s with a sense of “ehh.” He has done a lot of stuff in trying to bring the entire Athletic Department and its facilities up to spec. Still, he does enough other stuff that just plain misses.

I know it is reported/said that he is the reason Pitt hasn’t gone back to the script Pitt. As much as the older colors and the script matter, that wouldn’t be enough to can him and I’m not sure that it’s enough to want him gone.

From all observations, stories and rumors, Chancellor Nordenberg is very involved and cares greatly about Pitt Athletics. That is very good considering the years of neglect before him. The downside is a Chancellor being too involved and wanting to run things or (as the older fans may recall from the end of the Posvar years) putting a crony in charge of the Athletic Department. In both the basketball and football coach hirings in the last 5 years, Chancellor Nordenberg was very involved.

In basketball, with an interim/weak AD in charge, it was a poorly run search with only one actual candidate seemingly dictated by the Chancellor and a cheaper fallback. Things worked out for Pitt, but that seems more by luck. Football had Long running the search and process more and was able to look at a lot more candidates. While the jury may still be out on how that one goes, there was a better sense of order and that Long was in charge of it (even if Nordenberg also really wanted Wannstedt).

So, I’m a little concerned about losing AD Long, if for no other reason than the replacement. That’s two straight guys as AD (Boehm and Long) where the contract was never finished. Other candidates may view that warily and it might cost Pitt in trying to find a replacement.

UPDATE: Here’s the report from (apparently) the local TV Station.

Trib has a few more details from the tv vid.

KHBS-TV in Fort Smith, Ark., has video footage of Long and his wife, Fanny, arriving in a plane bearing a logo of the school’s Razorback mascot and N88UA on its tail.

Have to love obsessive details.

Two days ago the Des Moines Register published an article about Big Ten commish Jim Delany talking about possible expansion from 11 to 12 teams (link via USA Today). Since then it’s been a strong point of discussion on TV, in newspapers, and on blogs.

The expansion talks come with the upcoming release of the Big Ten Network. The network, which is scheduled to launch Aug. 30, could use another big-name university in a large television market to gain more exposure for the network and its sponsors.

So who could be that extra team? Obviously the first team that the conference will give significant attention to will be Notre Dame, but it’s more than likely that ND will quickly turn down the offer. A national TV deal, the ability to schedule whoever they want, and the fact that they can take the Big East’s bowl bids. As long as the Big East is getting a BCS bid then ND will gladly take it. Might as well cross the Irish off of the list of possibilities right now.

Then next tier of possible teams include Syracuse and Rutgers. Syracuse first: they allow the conference’s reach to extend to upstate New York. It’s a decent media market but wouldn’t get the attention of NYC residents. Plus they’re primarily a hoops school and the Big East, while not one of the top two or three football conferences, is one of the best for basketball.

What about Rutgers? They might feel as though if they add Rutgers they will gain a hold on New York City, the #1 US market, but that’s hardly true. Piscataway is over 40 miles from NYC and even after the RU football team has picked up a ton of hype, the NYC market barely notices. NYC is a pro sports town dominated by the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, and both NFL teams — not much room left for a college team, located a half hour away no less, to get attention.

The last tier of possibilities likely includes the following teams: Louisville, Missouri, your Pittsburgh Panthers, and maybe a handful of others. Louisville is a program that as a whole is on the rise…but they’re TV market isn’t all that appealing. It’s no secret that Missouri wants to join the Big Ten and adding them opens up the state of Missouri including possibly St. Louis. But what about Pitt? Well, what are the current B10 members saying about Pitt? One of the best college football bloggers (Brian Cook) on one of the best CFB blogs (MGoBlog) has this to say about the Panthers:

PROs: Geographic and academic fit. Also provides natural rival for Penn State. Football program has rich history; basketball program would be a fine addition.

CONs: Michigan and OSU are already raiding the hell out of the WPIAL. Adding Pitt opens no new recruiting grounds and only marginally raises interest in the Pittsburgh market. Their football fanbase would be amongst the worst in the conference.

Verdict: I guess. I would rather take a chance on Rutgers, personally.

Black Shoe Diaries has this to say…

2. Pitt - This isn’t the smartest choice for the Big Ten, but then this is my wish list. For all the crap I give Pitt around here, I want to see this rivalry played every year. Everyone does. Adding Pitt makes that happen.

But this doesn’t jive with Delany’s wish to expand the market for his new network. If it’s true he has an eye on the New York market, Pitt isn’t going to work.

Basically it comes down to this — the pros vs. the cons. We’re here in Pennsylvania, so we’re close enough for consideration. We have a long traditional rivalry going with PSU. As Brian says, we have a football program with a strong history and I don’t think things are going to be much worse than last season — things can really only go up. Our basketball team has been one of the best in the nation over the last 5 years and it doesn’t look like it’s going backwards any time soon. Pitt is also more than a two sport school. Many of our other sports are doing well, including a women’s hoops team on the rise. We have great facilities for football, basketball, and swimming, and with the planned renovations, the “Olympic sports” will have upgraded facilities as well.

That’s the good stuff…so what about the bad? Firstly, adding us doesn’t exactly open up a whole new market. Whether we like it or not, there’s a large contingent of Penn State folks here in Pittsburgh, so the Big Ten already has a portion of the city’s attention. We’re not in a recruiting area that hasn’t already been tapped into by Big Ten teams like they might get from a team like Missouri.

So what are the actual chances that we’d ever get seriously considered/invited? If I had to guess, I’d say the list looks like so (remember this is not who the B10 WANT, but the chance of it actually HAPPENING):

1. Rutgers
2. Missouri
3. Pitt

MGoBlog has the same three but instead has Pitt at #2 and Mizzou at #3. Black Shoe Diaries has Pitt at #2.

Say next year we do, in fact, have an offer extended to us. What’s our answer? Do we stay put in the Big East or take it? Personally I don’t know what I want us to do. Maybe we’ll just have to wait and cross that bridge when it comes, but the fact that we’re even in the consideration is interesting enough.

The Pitt Athletic Department has hired someone to assist in developing the facilities for the non-revenue sports and help with raising funds to pay for them. Paul Klaczak is the new Associate Athletic Director for Business Development, Facilities and Special Projects.

Klaczak, a Pittsburgh native, comes to Pitt from Cincinnati where he served as an Associate Director of Athletics for nine years, overseeing operations, facilities and numerous other areas within the athletic department.

“Paul’s extensive background and success in athletics, particularly in the areas of facility construction and renovation, will be a great asset to us in the near future,” Long said. “A focus of the Pitt Athletic Department is to provide the best facilities, equipment, training and health care to ensure our student-athletes have the opportunity to excel. The addition of Paul to our staff continues to move us in that direction.”

The Marietta College undergraduate earned his Master’s degree in Sports Management from Robert Morris in 1988. Since that time, he has been with the Bearcats in various roles including serving as a member of the Senior Staff.

Klaczak was the project leader for Cincinnati’s $112 million Varsity Village, including its construction projects and all facility renovations. He assisted in raising more than $40 million from the private sector and played a key role in the strategic planning, presentations and solicitations.

The project at Pitt is “only” around a $35 million affair.

Hmm. He’s coming from Cinci. Maybe he can pass along the Redlich’s address and phone number to AD Jeff Long.