Who are the Pitt Coaches?

The Pitt Panthers are led by 1st year head coach Todd Graham. Graham comes to Pitt after spending the last few seasons at Tulsa making a name for himself with his "high octane offense." While at Tulsa, the Golden Hurricanes went 36-17, including 3-0 in their bowl games. In his final year last season, Tulsa had a huge upset win against then #24 Houston and even beat Notre Dame in South Bend, so winning over big teams is nothing new for him. Graham took Tulsa to their first bowl game in 2006, their first in over 45 years and was named Conference USA coach during that season.

Graham likes the up-tempo offense and expects to get his team back to the line of scrimmage within 20 seconds after a play. The high octane offense can cause a lot of issues, getting the ball out fast to the receivers and skill players. The USF defense will have to keep up with their speed and tempo and try to fight right back and put more points on the board and control the ball.

The USF defense practiced all off season to prepare for this kind of speed and got to deal with it first hand in week one at Notre Dame with Brian Kelly's speed offense, so the team is conditioned for it. Pitt has a lot of weapons and will be a huge challenge for Snyder and company.

The defensive coordinator for Pitt is Keith Patterson, who is in his 1st season at Pitt (16 years of experience). Patterson spent the last 8 years at Tulsa with Graham and runs a 3-4 set, something USF has seen before. In 2010, Tulsa had 24 interceptions, showing their aggressive style and ability to cover the field. They also ranked 3rd in the country causing 36 turnovers, so ball security is huge for the Bulls. Patterson also worked with Graham at the high school level, so they go way back in familiarity and have a strong trust in their play calling.

Pitt has two co-offensive coordinators. Michael Norvell is in his 1st season at Pitt. He is also the wide receiver and recruiting director for Graham. He spent the last 4 seasons at Tulsa with Graham, helping lead the Golden Hurricanes to average 569.9 yards per game of total offense. They averaged 301.8 yards passing per game and scored 47.1 points per game at Tulsa, so the high octane offense can put up the points. So far they have not been that successful this season, but have the experience needed to get the job done.

Calvin McGee is the other coordinator and running backs coach. He is in his 1st season at Pitt after spending the last 3 years at Michigan. While at Michigan (under Rich Rod) they averaged 488.9 yards per game, so another coach that is great at spreading out offenses and getting big numbers on the board. Prior to his stop at Michigan, he spent the last 7 seasons at WVU (2001 to 2007) leading some great tailbacks and getting a good look at USF. He spent his last 3 seasons there as the offensive coordinator. Prior to all of this, he was an assistant at USF (1996 to 200). He was at first the tight end coach before coaching to the running backs (run game coordinator in 1999).

McGee's connection goes back even further when he played for the Buccaneers. From 1985 to 1988 he was a tight end for the Bucs. He led the team in 1985 with 45 receptions, 564 yards, and 5 touchdowns. He was an alternate for the Pro Bowl in 1986. He also earned a bachelors degree at USF.

Overall, this is a very experienced coaching staff that will be working very hard to get USF out of position and get the offense going to get the upset win they are looking for.