by Stoosh on Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:51 am
Would've loved to have seen Charlie Partridge come back as defensive coordinator, but he followed Bielema to Arkansas and took the DL coaching job. Rumor has it his salary as an assistant will be in the $375K range. Patridge would've been terrific because of his extensive recruiting ties to Florida.
Olsavsky may be interesting. Not as big on experience as some others (2 yrs as Def. Assistant with the Steelers, 7 yrs as LB coach at YSU), but he always struck me as a very cerebral player - one of those guys you could always tell was just destined to be a coach when he was done playing. Spending two years working with Dick LeBeau would help any coach, college or pro. I just wonder if the jump to DC would be too big at this point.
I'd love to see Gattuso get a look, but I don't think that's going to happen.
I've heard Todd Orlando (currently DC at Florida International) mentioned quite a bit as well. Cut his teeth as DC at UConn and oversaw some pretty damn good defenses during his time there.
Shaping up to be a pretty interesting few weeks for Pitt.
They got a pretty underrated commit a few days ago with OL Alex Officer from New York. 6'4", 310 lbs. Had offers from Louisville, Syracuse, WVU and Rutgers among others. Most scouting reports describe him as the type of lineman that Chryst preferred in his offenses at Wisconsin - mauler style of play with great feet.
The big, big news may start rolling in Friday when Central Valley WR Robert Foster announces his decision. Anything can happen, but people who follow these things much closer and are much more connected than I am have said he's been a solid commitment to Pitt for a long time now. Foster is sick. It's probably not a stretch to say he'd be the most gifted receiver Pitt would've seen since Fitz.
They've also made huge progress on Tyler Boyd from Clairton as well. Two months ago, Pitt was mostly off his radar. Since then, they've made up a ton of ground and seem to be running neck-and-neck with WVU for him. Boyd is the versatile type of athlete that can pose a threat from anywhere - RB, WR, slot receiver, DB.
Western PA obviously isn't what it used to be in terms of recruiting, but a key thing for Chryst is to keep as much high-level talent here as he can. The big three this year are Dorian Johnson, Foster and Boyd. Getting two of the three in Johnson (already committed) and Foster would've been a huge win for Chryst. If he manages to reel in all three, that's a huge recruiting victory for him, especially with some very good players coming down the local pipeline in the immediate future.
