The Confidential

Where Does Pittsburgh Football Go From Here?

As noted yesterday, Todd Graham fled Pittsburgh his head coaching position at Pittsburgh yesterday to take the same position for Arizona State.  The question is–where does Pitt go from here?

Before even addressing who the next coach should be, there is the business of anger management.  The blogosophere is none-too-pleased with Mr. Graham.  The folks over at Cardiac Hill did not hold anything back:

Now comes the hard part, Todd. The part where we part ways. Parting is such sweet sorrow, isn’t it? I’ll be watching you out in Arizona State, Todd. Don’t get me wrong – there’s no way I’ll root for one of your teams. You’ve joined my list of people I’ll love to see fail. That’s because, Todd, you’re the worst type of person.

You’re a fraud.

We don’t expect to hear back from you … unless it’s by email, that is.

So there’s that.  Meanwhile, other bloggers put the blame squarely on Pittsburgh athletic director Steve Pederson for what will now end up being four head coaches in one 12 month period (off in the distance, Nebraska fans are struggling to not say “we told you so”).

Next up is the question of who coaches Pitt in their upcoming bowl game.  It looks like defensive coordinator Keith Patterson will get that particular job.

Only after that does the question turn to who gets to be the head coach for the next 30 years 5 years 1 year.  Can Pitt get one full year out of a head coach before he gets arrested or flees?  Let’s hope so.  Here is an early list of potential candidates in no particular order or level of seriousness:

• Jim Tressel.  Why not?  He is unemployed.  From the same general area.  Pitt is a AQ job and is headed to the ACC.  Seems like a good fit.  Except for that whole NCAA issue looming.
• Dave Wannstedt.  Oh yeah, Pitt fired him.  Nevertheless, the fan base seems pretty interested in having him take over as A.D.  Interesting.
• Tom Clements.  “Packers’ QB coach, long history in western Pennsylvania,” as per ESPN’s list of Penn State candidates.
• Tom Bradley.  C’mon, Western Pennsylvania roots and zero.zero chance of being the Penn State head coach.
• Johnny Majors.  You do the math.  Coached Pitt from 1973 to 1976.  Coached Pitt from 1993 to 1996.  Why can’t he coach from 2013 to 2016?  If only it was 2013.
• Russ Grimm.  Former player and coach for the Arizona Cardinals.
• Keith Patterson.  A solid bowl game win and who knows what happens.  A jilted team can get emotional and plea for an assistant to be hired full-time.  Right West Virginia?
• Everyone else.  See this uber-exhaustive list prepared by a Pitt blogger.  The key names here are Paul Rhoads (Pitt coaching ties) and Mario Christobal (rising star in coaching).

This will be interesting to watch play out.  Will Pitt get cautious and make a very conservative selection?  Will Pederson feel the pressure mounting and make a splash by throwing a ton of money at a name?  Time will tell…