KC Keeler on a List for Pitt's new coach

[Blue Hen Fanatic]

Rules of attraction for Pitt job
By Kevin Gorman, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Pick a name

Names that have been connected to Pitt's coaching search:

Name/School/team Position:

Teryl Austin/Florida/defensive coordinator

Tom Bradley/Penn State/defensive coordinator

Todd Graham/Tulsa/head coach

Brady Hoke/San Diego State/head coach

K.C. Keeler/Delaware/head coach

Marvin Lewis/Cincinnati Bengals/head coach

Kevin Sumlin/Houston/head coach
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Dennis Franchione knows what it's like to become the face of a proud college football program blushing because of a coaching scandal, so he can sympathize with whoever signs on to be Pitt's next coach.

Now an ESPN Radio college football analyst, Franchione walked into a firestorm at Alabama in 2001 when he replaced Mike DuBose amid recruiting violations that brought NCAA sanctions of a two-year bowl ban, a loss of 21 scholarships over three years and five years of probation.

Despite Dave Wannstedt resigning under pressure and his successor, Mike Haywood, getting fired Saturday after an arrest for domestic battery, Franchione believes Pitt still has a shot at finding a quality candidate.

"Most people are going to look at this and say, 'Pitt made a mistake.' I don't think coaches are going to shy away at all," Franchione said. "The biggest problem you've got to deal with is you only have two or three weeks to go out and recruit. I'm sure they lost some of their recruits, but the right guy can come in and get some of those back.

"People right now want a face and a name, an accountable guy that they can believe in to wrap their arms around and love right now. The people who love Pitt Panther football are going to be very anxious until there's a face of the program again. Then you can start to put that behind you."

Other college football and recruiting analysts aren't as optimistic.

From the disingenuous description of Wannstedt's decision to resign by athletic director Steve Pederson to the inconceivable incarceration of Haywood on New Year's Eve, Pitt has suffered one public setback after another. And that could convince attractive candidates to reconsider.

"There's a lot of history and a lot of talent on hand, but my sense is that people aren't lining up to interview for it," SI.com national college football writer Stewart Mandel said of the Pitt job. "It's not Pitt of the Tony Dorsett era. I don't think it's going to be a huge name (who gets hired), and if it is you have to be concerned that it's somebody who will use it as a steppingstone.

"I'm sure circumstances are going to scare away some candidates. Some strange things happened there for the past three weeks. The Big East, to look at its coaching ranks, six of the eight schools have changed coaches in the past two years. It's going to be hard to find somebody who views Pittsburgh as a destination job and not as a place where you go as a springboard and, as soon as you have success, you move onto something else."

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com believes Pitt's chances of hiring another current head coach have been severely damaged by the debacle and suggested Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley as a possible solution.

"They're going to get an assistant," Dodd said, "and Tom Bradley is sitting there in their lap."

Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell is amazed at how quickly Pitt's recruiting class dissolved after Wannstedt's firing and Haywood's hiring, and wonders whether the Panthers can recover.

"I've never seen anything like this -- never -- in more than a decade," Farrell said. "Usually it's very predictable: A coach leaves, a few recruits look around; the new coach comes in, saves a couple guys, and you have a huge spike the next year. There's a vision to sell, and you take it from there. This has gone downhill, continued to go downhill and hasn't stopped.

"They did it the wrong way. They got rid of Wannstedt, but they didn't keep any of his assistants. Everything they did to bungle this, if there was a 'Screw Up Your Program for Dummies' book, they would follow this step by step. It's going to take a long time to recover from this."

[Seahawks]

Pitt really made a mess of this.How about Mangini if he doesn't wind up at UConn?

[State Line Liquors]

I guess every job opening east of the Mississippi is going to have Keeler's name thrown into the ring this year.

If he interviews for a job at Pitt, one of the questions I encourage him to ask would be how long the AD reasonably expects him to be at Pitt. Since World War II, The Pitts football coach is averaging a lifespan of between 3.5 and 4 years...not including interim coaches. I could be proven wrong, but I think it would be an ironic coincidence if that happended to be about the same length as a prison term in an Allegheny County jail.

[PenthouseClosedEnd]

I bet this is becoming a big distraction for the Delaware team and fanbase.

A shame to have to experience this just before the NC game.

[Appaholic]

What about RichRod once he gets shitcanned this week?

[Appaholic]

What about RichRod once he gets shitcanned later today?

Edit
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/f ... ?eref=sihp

[89Hen]

What about RichRod once he gets shitcanned later today?

Edit
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/f ... ?eref=sihp

That was quick. Word is the top candidates are:

Teryl Austin/Florida/defensive coordinator

Tom Bradley/Penn State/defensive coordinator

Todd Graham/Tulsa/head coach

Brady Hoke/San Diego State/head coach

K.C. Keeler/Delaware/head coach

Marvin Lewis/Cincinnati Bengals/head coach

Kevin Sumlin/Houston/head coach



I guess they were just waiting for Stanford to win last night so they could announce Harbaugh quickly without distracting him.

[BlueHen86]

I bet this is becoming a big distraction for the Delaware team and fanbase.

A shame to have to experience this just before the NC game.

Yeah, you guys are lucky, after a 6-5 season nobody is looking at your coach.

[Blue Hen Fanatic]

I bet this is becoming a big distraction for the Delaware team and fanbase.

A shame to have to experience this just before the NC game.

I'll take that kind of distraction 3 times in 7 years

[Ivytalk]

Pitt?? Nawww. Do I hear East Stroudsburg?

[93henfan]

Pitt?? Nawww. Do I hear East Stroudsburg?

Perhaps Harvard? He's a pretty snazzy dresser and championship success wouldn't be a worry, seeing as how the Crimson decline to participate with the common folk. He's got the ego and everything. Perfect fit?

[Ivytalk]

Pitt?? Nawww. Do I hear East Stroudsburg?

Perhaps Harvard? He's a pretty snazzy dresser and championship success wouldn't be a worry, seeing as how the Crimson decline to participate with the common folk. He's got the ego and everything. Perfect fit?

He'd have to ditch the shades.