The Nittany Turkey

Primarily about Penn State football, this is a tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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Does He or Doesn’t He?

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Only his hairdresser knows for sure, or so went the old Clairol ad. ????? ???? ??????

Tom Bradley
Tom Bradley

Tom Bradley, de facto defensive coordinator at Penn State has been the subject of on-again, off-again rumors tonight regarding being hired for the head coaching position at the University of Pittsburgh.

Earlier this evening, WTAE in Pittsburgh reported that he had been offered the job and accepted it. However, at 8:40 pm, Pitt released the following statement:

“The University of Pittsburgh has not offered its head coaching position to anyone, and no decisions about an offer have been made.”

As usual, the WikiPedia pseudo-wonks are Johnny on the Spot. Bradley’s WikiPedia page says he is Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers. Of course, when I looked at Joe Paterno’s page the night Dave Wannstedt was fired at Pitt, Joe was said to have accepted the coaching job at Pitt. Anyone can change WikiPedia pages.

The latest bit of non-information has come from the tweeting fingers of Nate Stupar, one of the more outspoken Nittany Lions on Twitter. Buried somewhere amidst the trash-talking between former quarterback Daryll Clark and former wide receiver Derek Moye about a mythical one-on-one basketball competition between them was this gem:

“Tom Bradley got Pitt job. Congrats!”

Around the same time, David Jones of the Patriot-News retracted his story about Bradley texting all the Penn State players telling them goodbye.

Mike Fink, a sportswriter in Green Bay, tweeted in response:

“@NastyNate34 Do you know something the rest of us do not? The stories have been retracted regarding Bradley being hired by Pitt.”

Stupar took a lot of tweetheat, and responded:

“@mikefinksports I just heard from @JasonAversano that he got it. Just relaying info.”

Mike Fink is in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Jason Aversano is a communication major at Penn State. He said, she said? We’re on the merry-go-round of misinformation. Finally, Stupar writes:

“To all followers…I hear what you hear.#don’t-hate haha”

So we’re back to Square One! Only his hairdresser and a few select others know for sure.

Stupar later tweeted the first period score of tonight’s Penguins game about three hours after the fact. ???????? ??? ????????? Turns out that he was watching a replay. So much for our intrepid reporter. ???? ?????

Later during the overnight hours the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette weighed in on the subject with a strong suggestion that Bradley would get the job.

Meanwhile, Scout.com’s Fight On State says its sources proclaim that there’s not a shred of truth in any of the rumors.

Reports that Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has been offered and accepted the head coaching position at Pitt are untrue, according a source close to Bradley.

“Those reports are erroneous, false and absolutely deplorable,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They are entirely false. This is what happens when people don’t do their homework.”

Sure is interesting watching rumors and innuendo evolve! The process is unfolding before our very eyes in real time as I write this.

Pitt Interviewed Five (Scrap Not One)

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According to ESPN’s Joe Schad, the University of Pittsburgh interviewed only five candidates, all of whom were current sitting head coaches, before signing Mike Haywood of Miami University (Ohio) to a five-year deal.

Thus, it seems that Pitt’s hiring strategy involved bringing in someone with existing head coaching experience, which left PSU assistant Tom Bradley out in the cold.

The doors are rapidly closing for Bradley, who has long been considered the heir apparent to the head coaching throne at Penn State. The only way I see that happening now is on an interim basis, if Joe Paterno’s health should suddenly worsen, precluding him from playing out his contract. Of course, if he serves as interim head coach for a year and compiles an 11-1 record, there’s little doubt that he would be included in the mix for the permanent job.

Wannstedt Fired by Pitt

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After a 7-5 season and an invitation to the prestigious BBVA Compass Bowl on January 8, head coach Dave Wannstedt was summarily canned today by the University of Pittsburgh. Crappy year in the Big East. Crappier year for the Panthers. Poor Wanny.

It was expressed as a resignation, with the possibility that Wanny would assume a non-coaching position somewhere at the University. I doubt that it will be as Professor of English.

This leads me to wonder whether there is a deal in the can with Tom Bradley, Joe Paterno’s number one assistant and defensive coordinator at Penn State. Would Pitt even consider Bradley? ???? ??? ?????? Without big-time head coaching experience, he is an unknown, and the last thing that a struggling program needs is uncertainty. ?????? ??????? Pitt can afford to be competitive, so why not go after the big names that are out there?

Should they go for Bradley, it probably wouldn’t change anything at PSU, but ya never know. Assuming that Joe still will be coaching next year and his “promote from within” policy is still flying, it is easy to speculate that Larry Johnson, Sr. would assume Bradley’s responsibilities if he gets the Pitt job. I wouldn’t expect to see a major transformation away from the soft zone two deep pass defense we all despise, which was originally implemented by Bradley’s predecessor, Jerry Sandusky, but who knows? ??? ???? ????? Maybe Johnson would have the balls to retool the defense, but I doubt it because the handwriting will be on the wall for him, assuming that next year is Paterno’s final campaign.

Of course, this is all wild-ass speculation and it has nothing at all to do with the subject of this post. I’m just inventing news like the big boys do. The only thing we know for certain is that Wannstedt has gotten the axe. Beyond that, let the rumors begin.