Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Todd Graham trying to prove he's the scummiest coach in college football history
Former Pitt head coach is obviously a scummy sleazeball for leaving Pitt after just one year. I think that says it all so let's move on. Now, an excellent recruiting class will mostly be blown up, and Steve Pederson's job should seriously be in jeopardy. Not for hiring Graham, but for not keeping him. You can bitch about it here until I formulate a list of the possible next coach who will screw Pitt.
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I often tell my friends that the most difficult thing I do in life is be a passionate supporter of Pitt football....
ReplyDeleteWOW....What an asshole! How could another University hire this guy. He has 0 credibility!
ReplyDeleteHire someone that coaches a similar style of football as graham's.
ReplyDeleteThis is particularly scummy becoz Pitt basically sacrificed a year and a decent chance to get to a bcs bowl to put into place a radically different system. Who knows if it would have turned out any better otherwise ... but the program went through some major changes to accommodate graham's system and now he takes off.
It's not surprising that he would take off for a better opportunity than Pitt, but still ...
Z
Bring back Paul Rhoads!
ReplyDeleteI think Peterson's job should be in jeopardy. You pay a higher profile coach a lot of money to come in, and hopefully provide stability, and now the program is in shambles. A $2 million dollar a year used car salesman- and probably giving a bad name to used car salesman by saying that. I guess I'll have to stick to watching old Pitt Bowl games on ESPN Classic just to remind me why I was a fan in the first place. I don't know if I can muster up any support for the current administration after the past 12-months.
ReplyDeleteGo get richrod if you want this ridiculous system. pay him and he will come. Otherwise, Charlie Strong looks great and he play a Pittsburgh stule of ball.
ReplyDeleteClassless, scumbag, d-bag, a-hole, piece of shit, jagoff...
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteI'll save all the angry comments. We all know how we feel about TG. My question: do we hire a coach with a similar approach in order to try to keep recruits or do we hire a "Pitt guy" for stability? AHHHHHHHHHH my head is spinning.
Graham is a no-class, sleazy coward who didn't even have the stones to face his players and tell them. He preaches responsibility, accountability and commitment, and he leaves after one year in this fashion? Good riddance, hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteASU, be careful for what you wish, for you may surely get it.
Chris.what do you see hapening with this recruiting class? Voytik, and Shell?
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear the back story on this. The turmoil over the last year to this program is just devastating. All the news of home visits in Texas and recruits just in for officials, I don't get it. And Pederson couldn't figure out how to get him to stay? Really, WTF just happened here?
ReplyDeleteHIRE MIKE NORVELL!!!
ReplyDeleteSal Sunseri
ReplyDeletePitt guy from Pittsburgh
NFL coaching experience
Coaches top D in country
There are some key questions that we don't know yet.
ReplyDeleteDid Graham come back to Pitt hoping for a counteroffer? If so, did Pitt make one or did he just bolt? Not saying Pitt even should have made a counter offer. But if Pitt was happy with Graham and let him go for a few bills, that is a bad decision on Pitt's part. I can see not giving him $1million more after a 6 win season, but some incentive, why not if he is your man? I am not defending Graham. He is an opportunistic ass. But Pitt has a history of being penny wise and pound foolish.
2. Were there other issues over academic standards that were not compatible with who Graham wanted to recruit? If that is the case, then I'm glad he is gone for sure.
Chris, what do you think about Todd Haley? Good fit? Any chance?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm not answering all questions but I'm formulating a list of possible replacements. The truth is, Pitt paid Graham and his staff a lot of money. It doesn't make sense. I have to assume that something happened behind closed doors.
ReplyDeleteReply to anonymous's comment "Sal Sunseri."
ReplyDeleteMain problem is, with Sal you get Tino for another year.
I live in Colorado, and watched a dad try to coach his son at QB, and it was an utter disaster (they couldn't recruit another decent QB because they knew dad would of course favor his son).
And come to think of it, that kid at CU and Tino are VERY similar players.
I have to think Chad Morris is a possibility, unless the connection to Graham makes him toxic. Can Malzahn be lured from Arkansas State?
ReplyDeleteHis wife never liked Pittsburgh and Graham got eaten alive by the Pittsburgh media and fans.
ReplyDeleteAfter the crap youve said bradley carries, he better not be on your list.
ReplyDeleteI bet you do a 180 on him.
A truly terrible time for a Pitt coach to leave too with Penn State in utter turmoil and a lot of their local recruits looking for an alternative.
ReplyDeleteZ
Chris - if you know something happened behind closed doors, its your job to expose it. Pitt isnt paying you. I expect you to tell us what happened behind closed doors.
ReplyDeletebtw, voytik is gone to asu. shell to OSU. This team and program is in serious trouble. A ton of guys are going to transfer now and I mean a ton.
If we hire a "Pitt man" then we deserve another 20 years of mediocrity. We should hire someone who can help us win, not someone who will stroke the egos of alumni.
ReplyDeleteDoke is right -- we can't run a pro-style system and compete with schools that have pro players. I think Graham's system would have been fun to watch with a few years of his players in the system, but now that will never happen. Let's bring in someone who can run a more open offense.
Totally classless....f- Graham and the bullshit horse he road in on....But Pederson must be held accountable. He has now botched this hiring twice...his time has finally come.
ReplyDeletechris is tressel a possibilty?
ReplyDeletewhat happens now in recruiting?
do u think pederson is now gone?
also in the long haul this will affect dixon because pederson and dixon are good friends
it was also scummy that graham told the players over text and not face to face
also go look at devin street and the other players twitter they are ripping graham
also have you seen that picture of him on the plane with his wife in asu colors he looks like a rat
ReplyDeleteWe deserve this
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything. Nobody at Pitt has talked to me for the last two days and now I know why. Believe me, I'd tell you if I knew. I would love to expose whoever is at fault in this, and if I do find out, I will do just that.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't fire pederson over this. graham left for a better job and unless pederson played an active role in his departure and was at fault in that role, it would be foolish to fire him. I'm not a huge pederson fan but firing him right now would cause more immediate problems than it would solve.
ReplyDeleteI'm very surprised that asu went after graham, but it was probably the other way around. Anyway, I'm surprised that they hired him.
Z
Arizona State is not a better job. At best, it's equal.
ReplyDeleteWow!!!! Didn't see that coming... What a P.O.S... and he did it by TEXT!!!! Gotta luv the b@lls on this guy.
ReplyDeleteGood riddence...let's move on. Too bad another class is going to be lost.
Pedersen should get the boot... clean house and be serious or drop the d#@$ program.
I prefer the term DOUCHEBAG!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat will work.
ReplyDeleteAt BEST asu's job is equal to pitt's? Wow. What makes you feel that?
ReplyDeleteCA is rich in football talent ... it feeds those pac-10 schools outside of CA ... and asu gets a lot of talent from the area. The asu job very likely pays more. The academic ... and probably the ethical ... standards are not as high which makes recruiting easier. The conference they play for has a higher national profile than the big east or the acc. All this makes the job more attractive to a me-first coach like graham and if you look at the coaches that the two colleges have hired over the past few decades ... and the demand for their services at the time ... I think you'd find that most coaches would disagree with you. Chris. Put it this way, if urban meyer went to coach at asu or pitt, which one of the two would you be most shocked that he chose?
Z
I think if those were his only two choices he would choose Pitt. You think way too highly of Arizona State. They've been in the Pac 10 since 1978 and have won just three titles. Pitt has better facilities, they have had more success in their history, they've had more elite players, and they have a better recruiting area. Most of the top kids in SoCal are not going to Arizona State. There's a reason why they overpaid for Graham. It's because they were desperate and nobody else but June Jones wanted to go there.
ReplyDeleteSomething is strange about this whole thing. It will be interesting to see what is behind this. Very disappointed in Todd Graham, the man at this point. I am wondering if he could not take the heat of the 'Burgh's press or Pitt's fans.
ReplyDeleteHistory is history ... and pitt's history of national success is long ago history. I don't think that coaches are going to be swayed by a national championship back in 1976. I'd imagine that asu has pretty damn good facilities as well ... it's a huge college. Pitt players have definitely made more noise in the nfl and pitt has a better recruiting area. There is a lot of overflow CA talent at the so-called skill positions but not nearly as much on the line ... as you'd expect.
ReplyDeleteMoney plays a big part in what jobs most college coaches decide to take. I don't think that it can't be separated from the job opportunity when it's such a huge factor on whether the job is taken or not.
Z
ASU does not have good facilities. You need to do better research. Even Todd McShay just said on ESPN that it's a lateral move.
ReplyDeleteFunny how you want to call somebody scum but the previous article has you wanting to steal a kid from Penn State. You are a hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteThat's not stealing. Those kids are going to go somewhere. May as well be Pitt.
ReplyDeleteAnd coaches are going somewhere, might as well be Arizona State. We will see how you feel when Urban Meyer takes advantage of this fro Shell and some SEC team scoops up the QB from Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't care. Kids can go wherever they feel comfortable and I wouldn't blame any of them for wanting to leave now. Just like I can't blame Penn State recruits from wanting to bail from a child molestation cover up.
ReplyDeleteTell me where you get your info in regards to asu's facilities. Have you visited there and saw their facilities? Is there some sort of reputable national ranking service for ncaa football facilities? I do know that they dropped $8.4M on an indoor practice facility in 2008.
ReplyDeleteAnother guy that I read on espn said that most coaches would take the job over pitt's. And, again, compensation is almost always part of the equation when coaches are deciding which coaching job to take.
Z
Patterson is the interim coach ... Graham leaves for per$onal reasons:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121411aaa.html
Z
John in South Carolina:
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about a critical press. In Houston, he was lavished with praise during his one-year stint at Rice. Tulsa media loved him too. At Pitt, he was forced to endure weekly criticism (much of it deserved). Maybe the Wannstedt remarks pushed him over the edge? How much went on we don't know about?
Does not feel right at all. Not sure if wife was unhappy, I do not think the media was hard on him, just weird. To leave the way he did, even crazier. He has to know he is going to get bashed. Nobody saw this coming at all, I was getting ready to start to get excited over the recruting class we had. Now I'm just going to wait and see, cannot get more nuts for Pitt football.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteWhen you say that urban meyer would choose pitt over asu, you're very likely saying that urban meyer would accept several millions of dollars a year less to coach at pitt than he would at asu. That WOULD be a factor in his decision.
Z
It wouldn't be several million dollars more. Graham didn't leave because of money. He left because he wanted out of Dodge. I'm guessing it was his wife that wanted out most of all. ASU couldn't give Meyer 4 million a year any more than Pitt could. By the way, I just saw one article that rated the programs in the Pac 10 before Utah and Colorado joined, and they were ranked No. 7. I'm still not sure why you think that's such a great program. Even their own fans don't believe that.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that asu is such a great program, I just think it's a better job than pitt's and, again, I believe that most coaches would agree.
ReplyDeleteYou said that asu overpaid for graham becoz they were so desperate, then you said that it wasn't about the money for graham. Do you actually know how much money asu is going to pay him? If so, is there is a substantial delta between what pitt paid him and asu is going to pay him? If there isn't, did pitt overpay him too in your estimation? If so, what makes you so sure that graham didn't leave for the money?
Z
Why isn't Bradley on this list??
ReplyDeleteZ, I think you're basing your judgement on weather and not reality. Their fans don't go to the games anymore than Pitt's do. Pitt is actually a bigger TV draw. Pitt does have better facilities - and it's not even close. Recruiting base favors Pitt. Arizona State isn't taking top talent from the other Pac-12 schools and doesn't have much history. It might be a nice school but it doesn't have a football tradition. Pitt's bungling of coaches over the last 12 months diminishes the rep a little but take that out and it's no contest. ASU is going to get some extra dough because of the Pac 12 deal but once Pitt is in the ACC they'll be on par.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if previously tg was under the impression that Pitt was leaning towards a move to the big 12. When that didn't happen and instead a spot in the acc opened tg realized that his chance to recruit Texas, and his bet chance for succes, died. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteasu draws significantly better than pitt at the gate.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'm not saying that asu is a top notch program ... though I suspect that their facilities are not as bad as some of you believe, but not up to the high standards of pitt's ... it's just that it's thought of as a better job than pitt's. It probably has something to do with the destination ... though I think Phoenix pales in comparison to Pittsburgh even with the good weather. asu's program has fallen quite a bit from the Jake Plummer days though.
Z
I would hope they better attendance. Their enrollment is twice the size.
ReplyDeleteArizona State is the WVU of the west where there are no entrance standards to speak of. Everyone gets into ASU.
ReplyDeleteThey even gave room and board to Terrell Suggs for a few years and he can barely speak english.
Graham will have it easy recruiting players who have low academic expectations if any. The athletic dept. at ASU and Graham could care less about graduating players so don't be surprised if he wins 9 games a year.
Apparently graham is getting very similar money to coach at asu: $2M per season on a 5 year contract. So, he obviously didn't leave for the money as I ... and probably many others ... thought. I had thought asu was willing to pay more than pitt and that's what drew him in. I was wrong about that.
ReplyDeleteIt's also hard to see how asu overpaid for him ... purportedly due to their utter desperation to find a coach, any coach, to take over their program ... when he got paid what was in fact his current market value
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/sports/articles/2011/12/14/20111214asu-hires-pittsburgh-todd-graham-football-coach.html
Z
graham couldn't take the scrutiny here. pittsburgh has some of the most intelligent sports fans in the country. you can't bullshit them and thats what he was doing here. the media here is the same way and they called him on it at every turn. can't stand the heat get your head out of the oven which is what graham did. hope he gets bit in the ass by a scorpion the first time he sits in his office chair at asu.
ReplyDelete