Pittsburgh recently announced its second new head coach of the off-season, tabbing Todd Graham of Tulsa.
As a fan of the sport of football in Conference USA, I can only say, "Good riddance."
Rice fans still aren't a fan of the guy, ever since he left the Owls after one season at the helm, with the ink still wet on the contract extension that he had just signed, to take over conference rival Tulsa. (Seriously, the MOB's performance the next year was one for the ages.) When a coach is willing to go back on his word for such a minimal rise in prestige, it should really come as no surprise that he jumped at the first opportunity that came his way to leave the Golden Hurricane.
When he wasn't epitomizing the worst that the coaching profession has to offer in terms of loyalty (or lack thereof), he was busy making idiotic statements like, "I thought our guys outplayed [Houston] in all three phases" after a game in which the Coogs out-gained Tulsa by 161 yards, committed two fewer turnovers, returned one more kick for a touchdown, and kicked three more field goals.
Todd Graham's lasting contribution to Conference USA, and college football as a whole, may be his innovative shameful strategy of having defensive players fake cramps and other injuries to slow down fast-pace offenses like Houston's.
Fans of the Golden Hurricane may be upset over losing a coach who had some success at the school, but the rest of the conference will be glad to be rid of him, for reasons that have nothing to do with his talents as a coach. And even in Tulsa, they knew this day was coming.
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