OT: Pitt Hires Tulsa's Todd Graham

Submitted by Zone Left on
Well, I guess he's not Tulsa's anymore. This should create more speculation into Rodriguez's and Magee's future plans.

me

January 11th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^

that Magee, Dews and Gibson are headed to Pitt while Smith and Tall are headed to Indiana.  RR is likely taking the year off

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Magnus

January 11th, 2011 at 9:45 AM ^

This ought to be a good hire for Pitt.  They seem comfortable having good-but-not-great seasons, and Graham should keep them right on track.

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profitgoblue

January 11th, 2011 at 10:53 AM ^

Pitt needs this kind of jump-start to its offense and, once installed, its going to be exciting for this Pitt alumnus to watch.  Even if they stay middle-of-the-road, at least it will be much more fun than what Wannstadt ran - boring!  Hopefully Pitt will have enough sense to give Graham 4 years to get it all set up . . .

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Drenasu

January 11th, 2011 at 11:59 AM ^

One likely problem that we'll have (that probably benefits Michigan) is that the Wannstache was a remarkably good recruiter.  Pitt routinely pulled some skill guys at WR and RB that they really had no business getting.  I think the game management will be a lot better better with Graham but it might be with less talent in the short-term - especially with the defections to the NFL.  The Pitt athletic department has really gotten its act in gear with the b-ball team.  Now it's time to get the football team going.

Also, I can't even express how happy I was that Pitt didn't move to the Big Ten.  The last thing I wanted was a yearly matchups between Pitt and Michigan.

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STW P. Brabbs

January 11th, 2011 at 10:31 AM ^

Do not want.  I haven't seen a single LSU fan defend Crowton, either.  You're aware that LSU's offense was a complete shitshow this year, right?  And that Russell Sheppard plays WR over there?

Now let's talk John Chavis.  We bring that man in and I feel much better about having an unscrupulous and potentially somewhat deranged head coach at Michigan.  (Actually, I'm practicing telling myself that Les only oversigned and committed recruiting violations because he's a special boy that doesn't always understand what he's doing.)

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Magnus

January 11th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^

There really wasn't much to work with at the QB position this year.  I don't think anyone expected much from LSU's quarterbacks this past season.

And Russell Sheppard wasn't a great QB coming out of high school.  He was just kinda good and really fast.

I'm not defending Crowton.  I just don't think LSU was going to be that great on offense this year, regardless of the OC.

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NomadicBlue

January 11th, 2011 at 9:54 AM ^

Is he a true "Pitt Man".  That sounds a little weird/gross, huh?  Oh, wait!  Other fanbases and alumni groups aren't avid advocates of inbreeding.  I almost forgot.  Sorry, won't happen again.  Neg away.  Oh wait!  You can''t.  HA! HA! HA!

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Cromulent

January 11th, 2011 at 9:54 AM ^

 I don't think Graham is all that and a bag of chips. He had Gus Malzahn and Chad Morris running his offenses for 3 of 4 seasons. That is the reason Pitt is hiring him. No Morris or Malzahn in 2009 and things didn't look so good. I highly doubt that Magee - if he gets the OC - is as good as those two.

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Cromulent

January 11th, 2011 at 10:22 AM ^

True enough. But Hatfield's team looked worse than it was in 2005 because he was committed to developing QB Chase Clement, who was just a freshman. Clement looked predictably freshman-like in '05 and Graham got himself a good young QB with seasoning in '06. In '08, long after Graham was gone, Clement's passing numbers put him near the top of FBS.

I'm not saying Graham is a *bad* coach. I'm saying the value he brought Tulsa was directly linked to his hiring of Malzahn and later Morris. Who is really Malzahn II.

I might have it wrong, but if Magee gets the Pitt OC I predict he'll prove to be another Herb Hand - good coach in support of the top dog, but not a top dog himself.

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MI Expat NY

January 11th, 2011 at 10:59 AM ^

You don't go from 1-10 to 7-6 based only on going from a freshman quarterback to a sophomore quarterback.  And when that quarterback was a junior, under a third coaching staff, they slipped back to 3-9.  He had to have done something right at Rice.  

Also, as we know, identifying competent coordinators is a skill that bodes well for head coaching success.  

There is no guarantee of success, but 4 winning records in 5 years at Rice and Tulsa have to be considered a good sign, regardless of who his OC's were. 

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Cromulent

January 11th, 2011 at 12:31 PM ^

Don't be fooled by that season at Rice. They were 5-1 in games decided by less than 7 points. They were outscored by 6.5 pts/game. They were outrushed by 1.36 yds/carry and outgained overall by 1.5 yds/play. They were *lucky*. Damn lucky to be 7-6. For stats like that the usual record is 4-9.

I agree that identifying and hiring good coordinators is part of a head coaching skill set. But Graham got lucky with Malzahn. Malzahn had a deeply dysfunctional relationship with Houston Nutt at Arkansas. Nutt probably hired Gus only for his recruits that followed him from Springdale HS. They fought over the direction of the offense often.

At the end of season Nutt told Malzahn that David Lee would take over most of his already diminished responsibilities. So when Graham offered Gus a place where he could get his no-huddle schwerve on without oversight Gus said yes even though it was a major salary drop.

And six, coun'tem, six Arky staffers were so enthralled with Gus they up and followed him to Tulsa. The recognized genius when they saw it.

But if Nutt had treated Malzahn with the respect he deserved Arky would have had a title by now and Graham would never have had the opportunity to hire him.

Of course the irony is that Nutt goes to Ole Miss and needed a QB this season after Jevan Snead left. So who does he grab? Jeremiah Masoli the miscreant from Oregon who just so happens to specialize in a spread attack quite similar to Malzahn's. Hilarity ensues when Nutt tries to craft an offense that suits Masoli but can't because he just doesn't have Chip Kelly or Gus Malzahn's mad skilz.

In sum, Todd Graham was very, very lucky to get Gus. And he was very, very lucky at Rice.

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Geaux_Blue

January 11th, 2011 at 9:57 AM ^

Going to a Cincinnati-level team. That or the next minor conference school to have their AD/President make a public announcement that their school is now going to "get serious" about football

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