Warning….there will be some strong language in this one.
To borrow a line from the end of the controversial 1995 movie, Kids….”Jesus Christ, what happened?” Seriously though…WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!?
I was having lunch, received a text from the Rivals’ site with the news and just sat there for a full 2 minutes probably. I left a message for my brother with the news and took to twitter. Checking it over and over again and hoping for a cruel joke finish to the whole thing.
The punch line never came. The joke was on Pitt the whole time. Todd Graham is headed to Arizona State and leaving Pitt. To add insult to injury, he texted his resignation to Assistant Athletic Director/Football Operations Blair Philbrick. Philbrick then sent it on to the players. Hell of a way to find out. I knowhow that would make me feel.
So much for doing things “the Pitt way” or being a “Pitt man” about this whole situation, as Graham acted in a VERY classless way (please note that everyone associated with Rice football told us this would happen and no one there is shocked). In the aftermath, Keith Patterson will step up and coach the Panthers in Birmingham on January 7th.
Some Pitt players took to twitter, and my favorite is courtesy of senior defensive end, Brandon Lindsey:
"For someone who said they read the bible everyday, he must've missed the pg that said 'thou shall not lie'"
I really don’t even want to speak of his name anymore….except to find out exactly what happened. According to Graham, this was his dream job and they were going to win championships here. Just last week he called the three assistants who followed Rich Rodriguez to Arizona “mercenaries” and then spent the next week recruiting players and finishing up this recruiting class by selling them on him being at Pitt. According to Pitt beat writer, Paul Zeise, Graham also just spoke at an engagement emphasizing loyalty and trust. He can take all of that shit and him and his self-obsessed wife can shove it up their asses. What a bunch of bullshit that he fed Panther fans.
Fuck him. Let’s turn to what will surely be a circus of a coaching search. Here are just a few names that I have heard tossed around and quick thought about them:
- Jim Tressel – Doubt it. Too much baggage and too expensive, but I wouldn’t mind.
- Tom Bradley – Please no. Not this again. No way Pitt can touch him until this is all resolved. If you don’t think he knew about the whole mess at Penn State, you are kidding yourself.
- Russ Grimm – I just don’t know….I like, but I just don’t know.
- Teryl Austin – See the note next to Grimm.
- Todd Haley – Kind of like it.
- Greg Gatusso – I like it, but the fact that over 20 kids have left the Maryland program since he and Randy Edsall joined the staff scares me somewhat.
Things should be very interesting. The coming posts may not be long and may be just links to articles, but I’ll try and keep it up to date.
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