The Sports Monitor

The Pitt football team lost to Youngstown State 31-17 Saturday. Let that sink in for a minute. The Panthers, in the first game of the Paul Chryst era, lost its home opener at Heinz Field to Youngstown State. 31-17. And it wasn't that close. Youngstown State did what it wanted on offense. Pitt couldn't do much on offense or defense. An ugly loss? It was worse than that. An all-time loss. In their last season in the Big East, the Panthers didn't even look ready for Division III football let alone the ACC. There's no way to erase the stink and stench of this loss. It almost makes you yearn for the days of Todd Graham, who just happened to win his team's season opener 63-6. But Pitt fans have to live with the fact that their team lost to Youngstown State. That's not the way to start a season. On the bright side: It can't get any worse.

The Pitt football team scored six points in its spring practice game Saturday in Birmingham, Ala. The defense, however, gave up 28 points at Legion Field. OK. It wasn't Pitt's spring practice. It easily could have been. It was Pitt's BBVA Compass Bowl loss to SMU on Saturday, and it certainly wasn't any more entertaining than a spring practice. The Panthers gave up 21 straight points before you knew it and had to go through the motions for three more quarters to secure a 6-7 record. The highlights of the game included a blocked punt, a field-attempt hitting the post, a lost fumble by quarterback Tino Sunseri and a pass bounce off the helmet of one player and into an SMU player's hands. Yep. It was that kind of a day for Pitt. Actually, it was a fitting ending for a season that spiraled out of control, highlighted by former coach Todd Graham bolting before the bowl game. Now the Panthers can look forward to the future with new coach Paul Chryst. T...

There are a lot of names out there being tossed around as possible candidates as the next Pitt football coach. There's one name that I like, Mario Cristobal. Who? He's the coach at Florida International. He's turned around a program that was dreadful and has a team with two winning seasons and two bowl berths. Actually, I don't thin dreadful is a strong enough of a term. He runs a spread offense, something I think is needed in college football, despite what Todd Graham unveiled this season at Pitt. Some are quick to disqualify Cristobal because he'll leave after a couple seasons for a bigger and better job. I understand that argument, but I don't think you'll find a coach to stay that long at many places. I especially don't think you'll find one to stay that long at Pitt. The key would be finding one that would be the anti-Graham, leaving the program better than you found it, and leaving with class. That shouldn't be too hard.

I liked the Todd Graham hire by the Pitt football team in January. I was looking forward to seeing his high-powered offense in action. I liked the idea of his commitment to Pitt he said after his hire. He talked a great game. Less than a year later, I have lost all respect for the man. Graham up-and-left for Arizona State, leaving Pitt, his players and the program on a whim. Well, maybe it wasn't a whim. Maybe he knew his up-tempo style just wasn't going to work in Year 2 at Pitt. Maybe he couldn't get the right quarterback to run his offense. Maybe he wanted to leave before everyone else figured out that he wasn't as good of a coach as he made himself out to be. Maybe he didn't like the weather. He's a Sun Devil now. Ask a Pitt player, and I'd guess they'd say he's something like the devil instead. Graham notified his players by text or email -- how nice. Nothing being committed to your job. Athletic director Steve Pederson agreed: ...

I never was a big fan of the Mike Haywood hiring by Pitt last year. I thought he was overrated and got too much credit for his Miami (Ohio) team's 9-4 record. Why, nearly a year later do I bring up Haywood? A quote from today's Post-Gazette: Pitt senior Chas Alecxih: "Our first meeting with Haywood, he came in with a wrinkled suit, the worst suit I've ever seen, then acted like we owed him something. He was very arrogant. And when we walked out of the meeting we all said, 'Wow, this is going to be our next coach.' So when he got fired, I was happy, and obviously we got a great coach in Todd Graham to come in." Not exactly a ringing endorsement of Haywood. That quote alone should keep colleges leery about hiring Haywood.

That wasn't a Backyard Brawl in Morgantown, W.Va.,  on Friday. It was a display of how to lose a football game. And it was classic Pitt football from the 2011 season. I bailed on Tino Sunseri as Pitt's quarterback back in September . Pitt escaped with a win against Maine, and Sunseri looked like a quarterback better suited for Division II or Division III, not a team that had aspirations for winning a Big East championship. Nearly two months later, Sunseri hasn't changed. Left with a chance to beat West Virginia, Sunseri looked awful. I'm not sure awful is strong enough, but Sunseri stunk when it mattered most. Faced with a three-man rush, Sunseri got sacked four times on the team's final series and had an intentional grounding call, all of which were poor decisions. Sunseri can't be counted on when the game is on the line. Heck, he can't be counted on to protect a lead. Maybe things would have been different if running back Ray Graham didn't...

It's clear that it's going to take a while for the Pitt Panthers to adept and learn Todd Graham's offense. A much-closer-than-expected game against Maine last Saturday proved as much. But three things were evident against lowly Maine: Ray Graham really can play, the Pitt defense needs to get better and quarterback Tino Sunseri just isn't getting it done. The high-octane offense that's supposed to be a trademark of Todd Graham was simply the Ray Graham show, which isn't a bad thing. But if you can barely beat Maine 35-29, then there's a problem. And if your quarterback goes 21-of-35 for 224 yards and two interceptions against Maine, then there's a problem. I'd like to see the switch to freshman Trey Anderson. Now. As in this week's game against Iowa. I've seen enough of Sunseri. Graham's offense needs someone to make quick decisions, and I don't see Sunseri as one who can perform at a high level. I'd like to see And...

First, let me be up front and say I wanted to see Penn State assistant coach Tom Bradley as the new Pitt football coach. Why athletic director Steve Pederson bypassed Bradley, we might never know. It could be because WTAE-TV reported -- erroneously -- that Bradley was the next coach. It could be the Penn State ties. It could be because so many people were pulling for him and Pederson won't be told what to do. Bradley's recruiting skills were so appealing, and the idea that he might take away many from the Penn State staff had to please Pitt fans as well, knowing that JoePa would be left scrambling. But it wasn't to be. Todd Graham is your new Pitt football coach after accepting the job Monday night. As a side note, did anyone else immediately think of Alex Rodriguez's announcement during the World Series a couple years ago when the Graham hiring came about on the same day of the national championship? I guess that's one way to maximize interest to recruits...