ESPN College Football

It is well documented that coaches leave the Big East -- in less than graceful ways.

But I contend that nobody left their program more in the lurch than Todd Graham at Pitt.

What he did was cold and callous, resigning after he was not given permission to interview at Arizona State last December. Refusing to open the door when Pitt officials came knocking. Sending out a goodbye text to his players, the very ones he sold on honor, loyalty, trust and commitment. Now, this does not make him different than many other head coaches, who say one thing today and are gone tomorrow.

What makes his situation different are the circumstances surrounding his departure. Yes, Greg Schiano left Rutgers in the lurch for the Tampa Bay Bucs, less than a week before signing day. But he had been at Rutgers for 11 seasons and built a successful program on his own. Maybe you overlook some of the more unsavory details about the way he left because you can appreciate what he did while in New Jersey.

Graham? He stuck around for one miserable 6-6 season. He did nothing but hurt Pitt. Because his one-year tenure left the Panthers looking for their fourth head coach in a two-year span. No other program has had to deal with that type of coaching turnover. Most importantly, no player has had to deal with that type of coaching turnover.

If college football is supposed to be about the student-athlete experience, then I cannot imagine anybody at Pitt can say they have had an unbelievable time when you consider the drama.

Dave Wannstedt recruited this group of seniors. Then he got fired after delivering a share of the Big East title. New coach Mike Haywood came along from Miami (Ohio). He was then fired after less than three weeks on the job after an arrest on domestic violence charges. In came Graham, who arrived selling high-octane football in a blue-collar Pennsylvania town. Was he all about the Pitt student-athletes?

Not if you consider billboards around the city with his face on it. Not when you consider the way he criticized his players for failing to pick up his prized system. Not when you consider the way he treated quarterback Tino Sunseri. It was always about Graham, which is why he ultimately left. The job was a mistake, he says now. His kids did not like Pittsburgh, he says now. Yet during the season, his wife proudly posted photos of herself and her kids in Pitt jerseys before games and practices.

He failed Pitt, and he failed his players, who came out on Twitter to blast him publicly for the way he left. Not one player ripped into Schiano. That shows you the big difference between the two.

Now, the Panthers players have to start over again. Sunseri has to learn his third offensive system in three years. Who can blame him for being slow to pick it up this spring? Changing playbooks once in four years is hard enough. Doing it three times in three years is almost too much to ask. Credit the Pitt players for not complaining about the lot they have been given.

They are happier to have new coach Paul Chryst, a man who at least seems to want to put roots down in Pittsburgh. He is going back to the way Pitt likes to play offense, another positive step. If hindsight is 20/20, Pitt should have just hired Chryst instead of Haywood when it had the chance. Instead, the Panthers went through an unnecessary and overly straining rigmarole.

Pitt is hoping all that is in the past. It cannot afford to have another coach leave it in the lurch yet again.

Time for a little game. Think of the most vilified college football coaches today.

Your list probably looks something like this:

Bobby Petrino.
Rich Rodriguez.
Todd Graham.
Randy Edsall.

You know what they all have in common. They all were Big East coaches at one point in time. Really great Big East coaches, to boot. But alas, great coaches never stick around for long in this league, a common lament among Big East fans. Perhaps the bigger question is -- what has made the Big East a breeding ground for villainous coaches?

Consider the recent history.

Exhibit A. Petrino got his first head coaching job at Louisville, and did one heck of a job, going 41-9 in four seasons. But the Cardinals were never just right, were they? I mean, how could they be when you 1) Try to negotiate a deal to become head coach at Auburn behind your boss' back. 2) Interview at Florida, Mississippi AND LSU the following year, while pledging love and loyalty to Louisville in between. 3) Forget loyalty and interview with the Oakland Raiders after Year 3 in Louisville. 4) Finally end the misery and leave for the Atlanta Falcons after a 12-1 season and an Orange Bowl berth.

That Atlanta dream job was not quite right either, so he left with good-bye statements taped to his players' lockers before the season even ended and headed for Arkansas. You all know how well his stint ended there.

Maybe all these aforementioned Big East coaches just hate good-byes.

Edsall left for Maryland after UConn lost the Fiesta Bowl to Oklahoma in January 2011 and never told his players word one about his plans. In fact, he did not even take the team charter home with the team. What may even be worse than that -- he made Jordan Todman get up in front of the team to explain why he was leaving early for the NFL draft. Edsall just finished a 2-10 season at Maryland in which he took a beating and lost 24 transfers. He is working hard to right the ship -- but you can bet some folks in Storrs are thinking, "Karma!"

Meanwhile at Pitt, Graham also had a tough time with good-byes at the end of last season. He told his players he was leaving via text message and hightailed it for Arizona State after a 6-6 season in which he had his players buying into an "high-octane" and "high-energy" offense. This, of course, came after he pretty much begged for the Pitt job after the Mike Haywood fiasco. But his shenanigans started at Rice, where he also had a one-year stint before leaving for Tulsa. ESPN.com columnist Mark Schlabach dubbed Graham the new president of the Liar's Club after his Pitt exit.

Rich Rod? Well, he is persona non grata in two states, West Virginia and Michigan. Who can forget the drama after he left the Mountaineers for the Wolverines in 2007, a few short months after signing a new contract and pledging his commitment to his school? West Virginia sued Rodriguez in the wake of his departure, and Michigan turned out to be an absolute disaster. It sure ain't easy being hated in as many spots as these guys.

There are others who left in less-than-ideal ways. How about Brian Kelly at Cincinnati, waiting until the end of his team banquet to announce his departure for Notre Dame? This was hours AFTER players began hearing news reports that they had lost their coach. Most recently, Rutgers coach Greg Schiano left for Tampa Bay less than a week before signing day, not even telling his loyal assistants, who were out on the road recruiting without any idea about what was happening.

His departure was tame compared to the rest. As for the others, I think they would make an excellent subject for a new television series.

"College Football Coaches Behaving Badly."

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Any time former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was asked about his embattled offensive line, he always had a stock answer prepared.

Rutgers did not decline overnight, he would say. And Rutgers would not emerge from the decline overnight, either.

Schiano used to point to several recruiting lapses following the 2007 season -- first-round pick Anthony Davis was the lone bright spot. The season after Davis' departure was the low point, as Rutgers gave up 65 sacks in 2010 and had one of the worst lines in the nation. There was a change in scheme that contributed to the slide. Plus, Rutgers always seemed to move its players all over the line.

A move back to the preferred pro-style offense last season helped the Scarlet Knights improve, though they still struggled in the run game. Schiano continued to maintain there was a long way to go, even with the development of freshman All-American Kaleb Johnson.

Through all of this, we rarely heard from the man in charge of coaching the offensive line. The man who is now head coach at Rutgers, Kyle Flood. Schiano did not make his assistants available to the media; hence, there never was much of an opportunity to hear what Flood had to say about the struggles.

So when I visited campus last month, I asked Flood for his perspective on the decline of the offensive line, considering this was the position he had coached since 2005.

"I think that happens in programs," Flood said. "Recruiting is much more of an art than it is a science. Offensive line is the position probably where the recruiting part of it is projected more than other positions, and the game is significantly different up front. What makes you effective as a high school offensive lineman doesn't always make you effective in college. But with that being said, what we do have is some really good, young offensive linemen in our program right now. A guy like Kaleb Johnson, a guy like Betim Bujari.

"We’ve also had some success with guys who have moved over from defense. One of the things that maybe kept us from being what we wanted to be was Desmond Wynn not being healthy. Desmond Wynn was healthy finally for an entire season last year. When you lose a player like that, it’s a significant loss. But I don’t think we’re the only one who’s gone through that situation where you recruit a kid and it doesn’t work out. But when you have that, and then you have an injury situation it makes it harder for sure."

Taj Alexander, a defensive tackle who switched to offensive line last season, won the most improved offensive player award this spring. He played both guard and tackle. What really hurt Rutgers was losing time with players because of injury: Johnson missed all of spring, Bujari was out for most of it with an ankle injury, and center Matt McBride missed a few practices with an injury as well.

There really is no set offensive line headed into the offseason. Guys like Dallas Hendrikson and R.J. Dill are going to be counted on to step up. And Rutgers did just sign one of its best offensive line classes in recent history as well.

"What I’m excited about is how many young offensive linemen we have," Flood said. "The key is where do they fit and we have to leave them there and let them grow. Any time you move a guy it stunts his progress a little bit.

"I’ll know more about the line in August. Right now it’s hard to gauge. To me, the biggest factor in all that is who is going to be our starting center? Is it going to be Dallas, McBride, Betim? That one is still up in the air. I’ve got a good feeling for what I think Betim can do in there. Now we have to see how everybody else does and go from there."

Whatever bond the two might have had changed right then and there on the Meadowlands turf on a cool October day in 2010.

Eric LeGrand lay there motionless. Greg Schiano stood above him, praying.

Schiano has spoken at length about how that day changed him as a man and as a coach. How it changed his relationship with LeGrand, paralyzed from the neck down after he made a tackle against Army that day. In that one devastating moment, football meant less than humanity, brotherhood, family. All the little things Schiano spoke about every day at Rutgers meant living them out in more ways than he, LeGrand and every single player on the roster could have ever imagined.

So what Schiano, who is now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' coach, did Wednesday morning seemed incredibly fitting, in his symbolic signing of LeGrand as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers free agent. Downright amazing, really, given the cynical times we live in today. More than ever, sports is about business. We hear it all the time. Schiano made a business decision when he left Rutgers for Tampa Bay with time ticking down to national signing day.

The future four-team playoff will be terrific for business. Branding stadiums is about business. Increasingly, bottom lines are all that matters. Fans are having a harder time finding good intentions without raising their eyebrows and wondering if there is something else going on behind the scenes.

But then a story like this comes along, and we are reminded of what we love about sports. The brotherhood, determination, hard work, perseverance, love, joy. Dreams coming true.

"Coach Schiano is like a father figure," LeGrand said on a conference call. "Going into Rutgers as a little boy and coming out a man. When you're faced with adversity, he's not going to say you back down at all. You deal with whatever it is. In life, you can't control what cards you're dealt. That's what's helped me through my whole situation. Sometimes it's hard, but I think about all the stuff I was taught at Rutgers. You fight through it. Tough times don't last. Only tough people do."

One of the biggest regrets Schiano had about moving on to Tampa Bay was leaving LeGrand behind. The two have grown incredibly close. Schiano has helped with the Believe Fund that was set up to help LeGrand. He helped get LeGrand into the radio and television booth for games to begin a sports broadcasting career. Schiano had LeGrand lead the team onto the field before the West Virginia game last year, the one-year anniversary of the injury.

Schiano also has lobbied for the elimination of kickoffs, the play that ended up changing LeGrand's life.

It is incredibly easy to see Schiano has been his biggest champion. So it is easy to see why Schiano and the Bucs decided to sign LeGrand, announcing the move on May 2 in honor of the No. 52 LeGrand wore at Rutgers. Tampa Bay has shipped a No. 52 jersey up to New Jersey for LeGrand along with a helmet.

For his part, LeGrand had no idea Schiano was going to do this. The two still talk about once a week, but Schiano never mentioned he had planned on signing him. Schiano called his mother Monday and told her his plan. She got off the phone with Schiano and merely told her son, "Coach is going to call you tomorrow. Make sure you are by your phone."

The phone rang Tuesday afternoon. LeGrand picked it up and got the news. His response: "Are you serious?"

"He said, 'It's the least we can do,'" LeGrand recalled. "[I said] 'I don't know what to say to you right now. Coach, this is amazing.' This is something I always dreamed about. Dreams do come true if you really believe. He did this out of the kindness of his heart, and he wanted to do it. I had no idea this was going to happen."

"I really appreciate it. Just shows the man he is."

Tampa Bay has done something pretty amazing.

The Bucs announced today they have signed defensive tackle Eric LeGrand, the former Rutgers player paralyzed during a game in 2010. Tampa Bay, of course is now coached by his former coach, Greg Schiano.

“Leading up to the draft, I couldn’t help but think that this should’ve been Eric’s draft class,” Schiano said in a statement. “This small gesture is the least we could do to recognize his character, spirit, and perseverance. The way Eric lives his life epitomizes what we are looking for in Buccaneer Men.”

Despite being told that he would be a quadriplegic, LeGrand persevered. Five weeks after the injury, he resumed breathing on his own. Later, he even became able to stand upright with the help of a metal frame. LeGrand is planning to graduate next fall with a degree in labor studies. He has been featured on several Rutgers television and radio broadcasts as well.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The story of how Kyle Flood ended up at Rutgers has nothing to do with deep personal connections, or networking, or a long-standing relationship with former coach Greg Schiano.

It has everything to do with persistence, perseverance and a relentless determination to go after what you want -- the atypical way of doing business these days.

So let us go back to 2005, when the job to coach the offensive line at Rutgers opened up. Flood was at Delaware, but he always wanted to coach at Rutgers, having grown up in Queens, New York. It was as close to returning home as he could get.

So he sent his resume to Schiano.

"I don't know that Greg was looking for me," Flood recalled recently. "I had no relationship with him or anybody on that staff . It was a situation where I did everything I could to see if I could get my resume on his desk. The one on the top of the pile must have fallen off the desk, and he called me."

Flood had recruited the area for years, so he had long-standing relationships with high school coaches in the area. Could that have helped? "I may have had one or two or 300 people call him on my behalf," Flood joked.

Now here we are, seven short years later, and Flood is the new face of the Rutgers program. That doggedness should not be lost on anybody who is wondering how the Scarlet Knights will fare now that the chief architect of the Rutgers revival is off to Tampa Bay.

Flood has been preparing for this job since he arrived, believing that one day his opportunity would come. It just so happened that day arrived in January amid a pressing need to get a hire in place to save a recruiting class and steady the ship. Flood sold athletic director Tim Pernetti the same way he sold Schiano all those years ago.

He was the right man for the job. The only man for the job. He had the recruiting ties, the Northeast roots. His parents still live in the same home he grew up in, and his father has already been a fixture during spring practice. His mother is a huge football fan, and checks the Internet and message boards daily to track what everybody is saying about Rutgers and Flood.

There is no question he wanted this job, and wanted it badly. But the big question is how do you prepare for your first head coaching job when you have spent your entire career as an assistant?

"Bill Walsh said, 'You’re never ready for your first head coaching job," Flood said. "Well if Bill Walsh felt like that -- he is one of the great football minds of all time -- certainly if I have a moment of angst, I’m not the only head football coach to have one. What I go to bed every night feeling good about is, we have good people in this program. The assistant coaches I’ve been able to bring here are good family men, they’re good football coaches. On defense, we have three assistants who have been coordinators, two on the Division I level. On offense, three of the coaches have been Division I BCS offensive coordinators. We have the football minds here.

"If you trust the people you hire, that allows you to feel really good when you come to the office. You have to hire people who can do their job."

In that way, Flood and Schiano may be different. Flood has delegated much more to his assistants, particularly at practice. He does not yell the way Schiano did. But if there are going to be difference between them, there are not going to be many. Particularly when you consider the two worked together for so long.

Flood took diligent notes as he watched Schiano. He has got file folders filled with those notes, referring to them nearly every day.

"I tried to stay very close to Greg," Flood said. "I would ask him questions in private a lot of times: 'Hey, tell me why you did this or tell me where you think this is going,' and I got some great feedback. I just kept files and notes on things. Everything from the organization to spring practice and training camp to here’s what you need to talk to these players about."

He did the same at stops in Delaware and Hofstra, giving him plenty of information to work with as he continues to settle in to the job. From a player perspective, there has not been much of a transition. The offensive, defensive and special teams schemes have remained the same.

"The biggest thing we appreciate is he didn't change," quarterback Gary Nova said. "He's been the same guy. We really love him, and we're looking forward to him taking us to where we want to go."

Developing those relationships with players is one of the biggest reasons Flood got into coaching. Right out of college, his dream job was to be a high school teacher. So he did that, teaching algebra and algebra II at his old high school. He eventually took a part-time coaching job at C.W. Post on Long Island, juggling his teaching responsibilities during the day before heading to practice in the afternoon.

"As a young person, you get curious," he said. "I was 26, and I wondered, 'Can I do this? Can I advance in this profession?'"

He had an opportunity to take a job as an assistant at Hofstra. Now here he is, all those years later.

Flood advanced in this profession all right. All the way to the top.

Now we move on to your pick for the best defense in the Big East in 2012.

Over 1,600 of you participated in my highly unscientific poll and chose Rutgers, with 37 percent of the vote. The "other" category was next with 23 percent, while Louisville got 20 percent of the vote. Remember, our polls only allow for five choices, which is why I included "other." I wanted to hear your take on the other teams in the league who could have the best defense.

My preseason choice is Rutgers, then Louisville. With all the returning starting talent the Scarlet Knights have, expectations are high for this team to build on last year's No. 1 defense.

And for the record, Rutgers was tops in the polls for best offense and defense in 2012.

Here is what you had to say:

VDScales: PITT's defense played better the last 6 games of the season and was 4th (350 total yardds) in the Big East. Going back to the defense they all were recruited to play. I see the defense being better than last year without a doubt, if not 1st in total D, 3rd as the worst!

AnthonyV6292: If the Rutgers coaches can get the play-calling right this year, the Scarlet Knights have a GREAT chance of winning their first Big East title this year. GO KNIGHTS!!!!!

Snubbed1: L'ville gets the nod on this one, only because of the coaching change at RU, otherwise it's a push between the 2 at this point.

CardsFanTX: Louisville. No new coaches to break in and tons of talent all over the field on defense. Rutgers will have a great D, too, but I think they'll miss (Greg) Schiano this first year.

CMerr: I think this new coach thing is way overblown. They were adamant about continuity in the hiring and I don't think they would have hired anyone who didn't have the same defensive and offensive philosophies as the previous coaches. I'm not saying RU is gonna go down and beat Arkansas, but it won't take a whole season for the team to get acclimated to the change. They should be ready to by the time the BE season begins.

CtThunder10: I'm not saying that Uconn will have the BEST D next year, Nor am I saying that we will be as bad as last year.. I'm being very optimistic when saying that UCONN will be in the Top 4 of the League for O and D.....

Bryand85: UConn will dominate next season. Thy return the most of any team on defense. Blidi (Wreh-Wilson) will be back at full strength to lead a secondary that saw a lot of time last year. Sio Moore is leading a much deeper linebacking core than last season. Also we return 3 great DEs in (Trevardo) Williams, (Teddy) Jennings and (Jesse) Joseph. The beast, Shamar Stephens at 6-5 and 317 lbs, will replace (Kendall) Reyes on the line. Shamar already has a lot of experience in the middle starting for Reyes as a freshman when he moved outside. As long as they stay healthy, no one will be throwing for 400 yards on us anytime soon.

When the 2011 season ended, all appeared tranquil throughout Big East coaching land.

Of the eight headed coaches in the league at the time, only Greg Schiano had more than five years at his school. The other seven had three seasons or fewer under their belt. Louisville Charlie Strong had already signed a contract extension. Cincinnati coach Butch Jones was in line for one of his own.

So maybe, just maybe, there would be a bit of stability among the head-coaching ranks.

Maybe not.

First, Todd Graham bolted for Arizona State without so much as a good bye. Then Schiano stunned everybody when he left for the Tampa Bay Bucs. Their departures mean the Big East goes into 2012 with at least one new head coach for the fourth straight season.

But they also continued a trend that has hit the Big East harder than any other automatic-qualifying conference -- their head coaches leave for other head-coaching jobs more frequently than every league. So you see why there are many who believe the Big East is a stepping-stone league for head coaches. Here is the unvarnished numerical truth.

Since 2004, there have been 15 head-coaching changes in the Big East (including West Virginia). Of those changes, seven coaches left for another job either on the FBS level or the NFL. They comprise a who's who list of some of the most well-respected coaches in the game today. Some have gone on to great success (Mark Dantonio). Others, not so much (Rich Rodriguez, Randy Edsall).

During that same time period, only the MAC had more head coaches leave for another job, with nine. Conference USA also had seven head coaches leave for another job.

If you look at the schools in automatic-qualifying conferences, the Pac-12 was second behind the Big East in coaches leaving for another head-coaching position, with three. Of the six automatic-qualifying conferences, the Big East is the only league that has had at least one head coach vacancy at each member school since 2004.

But there is also another way to look at these coaching moves. When looking at the number of coaching vacancies during this time period, the Big East had the highest percentage of openings because coaches left for another job: 46 percent. In the MAC, that percentage was 40 percent.

The departed Big East coaches have cited many reasons for leaving -- better opportunity at a more high-profile program; NFL aspirations; better fan, institutional support; more stability. Leaving for more highly respected conferences has to play a role as well. The chance to prove yourself in the Big Ten versus the Big East may be appealing to some.

But maybe not all. As mentioned above, Jones and Strong recently signed contract extensions to stay at their respective schools. By no means does that tie them to their jobs forever, but it is a show of commitment from both -- especially when you consider their names came up for several job openings this past offseason.

"I believe in what we're building," Jones said in December. "I think there's so many great things to building a really successful football program and not just a successful team. We have great practice facilities now. We have very good facilities. We're in a conference that we can be extremely competitive in. We have a great fan base. We've got a great place to attract the top-caliber student-athletes to."

Still, it is always unsettling to see that Doug Marrone -- going into Year 4 -- is the longest-tenured coach in the Big East. At least nobody goes into 2012 on the hot seat.

But on the other hand, everybody goes into the year on high alert. This could be the year they lose their head coach, if history is any indication.

A growing trend has surfaced throughout college football this offseason, particularly in the Big East -- newly hired assistant coaches have turned to different jobs in the span of just a few weeks.

Rutgers is the latest school to take a hit. A little more than two weeks after announcing his first staff, new coach Kyle Flood has lost three assistants -- special teams coordinator Phil Galiano is leaving for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; running backs coach Ben Sirmans is heading to coach the same position with the St. Louis Rams, and graduate assistant Andrew Janocko will become the Bucs' offensive quality control coach.

The school confirmed the moves, first reported by footballscoop.com and The Star-Ledger.

Galiano and Janocko reunite with former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, now the Bucs' head coach. Schiano has now taken six Rutgers assistants with him. That includes former receivers coach P.J. Fleck, who left Rutgers to become Northern Illinois' offensive coordinator. But Fleck changed his mind after one day to join Schiano in Tampa.

Pitt also had an assistant coach leave shortly after his hiring was announced, when running backs coach Eddie Faulkner departed for Wisconsin. Rival West Virginia also had newly hired assistant Mike Smith decide he wanted his old job back with the Jets. Newly hired defensive assistant Keith Patterson was lured away from Arkansas State, where he has served a stint that lasted a little over a month.

If Greg Schiano had stuck around at Rutgers, no doubt he would be applauding the latest NCAA rule change to kickoffs -- even though it doesn't go as far as his own proposal.

The NCAA playing rules oversight panel approved a significant change to kickoffs last week -- they will move from the 30 to the 35 yard-line in an attempt to keep players safer. In addition, a touchback on a kickoff means the ball will be placed on the 25 yard-line, instead of the 20. In addition, players on the kicking team will only be allowed a running start of 5 yards.

The desired result is for more touchbacks. The reason? It is believed that kickoffs cause the most injuries throughout the course of a game. Last summer, Schiano proposed eliminating kickoffs all together after watching one of his own players, Eric LeGrand, suffer a serious neck injury on a kickoff during a game against Army in 2010. LeGrand is paralyzed from the waist down.

At the time, Schiano made headlines when he first told Steve Politi of the Newark Star-Ledger that he felt all kickoffs should be replaced with a punting situation. “I don’t think we’d lose that much,” Schiano said, “and we’d gain a bunch for the welfare of the players.”

The NFL moved its kickoffs up to the 35 yard-line for the 2011 season in an effort to lessen injuries. Schiano told Politi, "I think we’re wrong in college football. We should at the least do what the NFL is doing -- at the least. For us not to follow the league with the most research on anything? I don’t think we’re being as responsible as we should be. They wanted the fan excitement. But at what cost?"

After Schiano made his comments, Georgia coach Mark Richt stated that he, too, would be in favor of eliminating kickoffs. Richt also saw one of his players break his neck on a kickoff in 2003.

That idea proved to be radical for many. But if these rule changes work as intended, kickoffs might very well go the way of leather helmets and $5 tickets.

Spring practice is right around the corner. Let's look at some quick snapshots of each team.

CINCINNATI

Spring practice start date: March 1

Spring game: April 14

What to watch:

• Replacing Pead. The biggest position battle looming might be at running back, where Isaiah Pead is gone, leaving a big hole in the offense. Pead won Big East Offensive Player of the Year honors and was the MVP of the Bearcats this past season. Pead and quarterback Zach Collaros combined for 64 percent of the carries and 64 percent of the rushing yards. Cincinnati might go with much more of a rotation this year. George Winn, Jameel Poteat, Ralph David Abernathy IV and a promising group of freshmen all figure to be in the mix.
• Quarterbacks. Collaros is gone, but at least Munchie Legaux and Jordan Luallen have game experience. Coach Butch Jones says the competition is wide-open in the spring, but you can bet that getting timing down with receivers has to be at the top of the agenda for all the quarterbacks. That was really lacking this past season.
• Man in the middle. Linebacker J.K. Schaffer has been the heart of this defense for the past three seasons, getting more than 100 tackles in each of those three campaigns. So who fills his shoes? That is one of the biggest position battles to watch for the Bearcats. Dwight Jackson, Greg Blair, Solomon Tentman and Kevin Hyland are all in the mix this spring.

UCONN

Spring practice start date: March 20

Spring game: April 21

What to watch:

• Quarterbacks. We finally get to see how highly touted freshman Casey Cochran looks when he takes his first snaps under center for the Huskies. He is the man many are tabbing as the starter for 2012, so his development beginning in the spring will be huge for the team's prospects in the fall.
• Offensive line. The Huskies have to replace Moe Petrus, who started the past three seasons at center, and Mike Ryan, who's as solid as they come at tackle. Coach Paul Pasqualoni decided to shift coaching responsibilities for the line to offensive coordinator George DeLeone in order to boost this unit. DeLeone's background is primarily in coaching the offensive line, so this move could pay off nicely for the Huskies.
• Improving pass defense. Perhaps more than finding a replacement for Kendall Reyes, improving the pass defense has to be priority No. 1 this spring. The Huskies are losing starting safety Jerome Junior, but there are young players capable of taking over. Having Blidi Wreh-Wilson healthy is obviously huge, but I am guessing that technique, fundamentals and coverages will be emphasized this spring.

LOUISVILLE

Spring practice start date: March 21

Spring game: April 14

What to watch:

• Growing up. Gaining maturity has been a big theme since the season ended. It is only spring practice, but I think coach Charlie Strong wants to get a good sense from his players about their focus. How committed are they to getting to a BCS bowl game? To starting the season as a preseason Top 25 team? To going undefeated? All coaches say championships are won starting in January.
• Young linebackers. Louisville has to find a replacement for Dexter Heyman and gain some depth at the position. So it will be intriguing to see how early-enrollee linebackers Keith Brown and James Burgess do during spring practice and whether they can emerge to be contributors in 2012.
• Kicker/punter. With Chris Philpott gone, there isn’t anyone on the roster with game experience at punter or kicker, so expect a wide-open competition in the spring. Redshirt freshman kicker John Wallace may have an edge, if only because he is on scholarship. Walk-ons Andrew Fletcher and Matthew Nakatani also will get long looks. Ryan Johnson is probably the leader at punter. Incoming freshman Joshua Appleby is talented and will compete when he arrives on campus.

PITT

Spring practice start date: March 15

Spring game: April 14

What to watch:

• Quarterback. At some point, we all must put Tino Sunseri's 2011 season behind him. That has to begin in the spring, when coach Paul Chryst anticipates getting a good look at all his quarterbacks, including Mark Myers and Trey Anderson. This will be the third system in three seasons for Sunseri; can he turn the corner?
• New coaches. How will the Panthers adjust to their new coaches and new scheme? This is Chryst's first head-coaching job, and he's already had to deal with staff reshuffling because two guys he brought in changed their minds and moved on elsewhere. How equipped are he and his new coordinators to handle their roles, and how well do the players buy into their system?
• Offensive line. Bigger problem area -- quarterback or offensive line? The two go hand in hand, and this is one position that clearly has to be addressed. The good news is some young players got experience, and they will leave the spread hurry-up that was not so friendly to the line. The bad news -- still not much in the way of depth or options. We'll see whether the Chryst system that worked so well at Wisconsin works with a group that clearly underachieved in 2011.

RUTGERS

Spring practice start date: March 27

Spring game: April 28

What to watch:

• New staff. Just like Pitt, Rutgers goes into the spring with a new head coach and new offensive coordinator. But there should be much more familiarity for the Scarlet Knights. For one, they are going to continue running a pro-style set, even with a new coordinator. For another, assistant Robb Smith has been elevated to defensive coordinator and will employ the same aggressive 4-3 scheme that Greg Schiano used. Still, Kyle Flood is a first-time head coach and is going to need to get his bearings, to put his own stamp on this program.
• Quarterbacks: Chas Dodd and Gary Nova go into the spring in a competition to earn the starting job. Neither was spectacular last season, but there are those who believe Nova has more room for improvement because he has a stronger arm. He just needs to cut down on his mistakes.
• Receivers stepping up. Last spring might as well have been a coming-out party for receiver Brandon Coleman. But he was virtually silent during the season, as Mohamed Sanu got all the headlines and the catches. With Sanu gone, there remains talent in the receiving corps with guys like Coleman, Mark Harrison and Quron Pratt returning and a group of up-and-coming redshirt freshmen as well. Who is going to step up?

USF

Spring practice start date: March 21

Spring game: April 7 and 14

What to watch:

• Rebound. USF is always a team that looks good on paper and in the early season. But then the usual collapse ensues. What has coach Skip Holtz learned in his first two seasons on the job that will allow him to fix what has continually plagued this team, and how can that be worked on during the spring? Folks will pay attention more than ever because USF has one of the most talented and experienced teams returning.
• New DC. Chris Cosh takes over as defensive coordinator, and one of his first orders of business is making sure he molds his group into a much more passionate but disciplined unit. This group needs a beating heart, and DeDe Lattimore might be the perfect player to step into that role. The bigger question is how these players will adapt to their third coordinator in four years.
• Depth in secondary. The Bulls need to work on depth in the secondary, especially after losing starting safety Jerrell Young and starting cornerback Quenton Washington. That departure in particular means all eyes are going to be on early enrollee Chris Bivins, a four-star cornerback out of Gainesville, Fla. Spring will give him time to really work on bulking up -- he was listed at 166 pounds out of high school.

SYRACUSE

Spring practice start date: March 20

Spring game: April 21

What to watch:

• Receivers. There is plenty of opportunity for this group to get better and have somebody emerge this spring. With Alec Lemon sidelined, plenty of young players should be getting reps and a chance to get some rhythm with Ryan Nassib. Watch for Keenan Hale, Kyle Foster and Jarrod West. Still no word on whether Marcus Sales will be reinstated in time for the spring.
• Quarterback. Not necessarily Nassib, but early enrollee Ashton Broyld, a dual-threat QB who played last season at Milford Academy. Coach Doug Marrone already has talked about potentially getting Broyld reps in games as a change-of-pace quarterback, and there are plenty of Orange fans who want to finally see what it is that Broyld can do.
• Defensive line. One area that has to improve is along the defensive front, where Syracuse struggled to get a consistent pass rush. Their best two players are gone in Chandler Jones and Mikhail Marinovich, leaving guys like Micah Robinson and Brandon Sharpe as likely first-teamers in the spring. More help comes in this summer in the form of junior college transfers Zian Jones and Markus Pierce-Brewster.

Breaking up is hard to do.

• Pitt is very interested in what happens with the lawsuits between West Virginia and the Big East.
• Rutgers assistant Jeff Hafley gets props for his recruiting efforts. So do Daron Roberts and Robert Gillespie for West Virginia.
• A report claims that high school administrators conspired to raise grades for Ryan Sloan to get him into Syracuse.
• Bruce Irvin is focused on his NFL dreams.
• Big East coaches give a glimpse into the mind of Greg Schiano now that he is en route to Tampa Bay.
• A split is nearing between the Big East and West Virginia. The Mountaineers picked up another commitment, this one from a kicker.

I had a chance to catch up with Rutgers coach Kyle Flood at the end of his whirlwind week as new head coach and recruiting class savior. Here is a little of what he had to say:

You told athletic director Tim Pernetti you were the right man for the job, but did you have to prove it with the recruiting class you signed?

KF: It had to be both. The relationships we had with this recruiting class were critical. The reason for the long days was we wanted to stay in constant contact. From the very first moment we got on the phone my message was always the same. I'm the interim head coach, and I expect to be the head coach going forward, and I expect to be the head coach for a long time. For the recruits, what happened was unsettling. The only way to get them to understand that was to stay in constant contact. When you’re trying to do that with 18 signees not enrolled with us, that takes time because you’re not just talking to the recruits. You’re talking to parents, aunts and uncles, whoever the important people are in the recruits’ lives.

What did you say to Tim during your interview?

KF: I said to him at one point in the interview, we were into it for a little while, in our profession secrets are not very well kept. I know you’re going to talk to some coaches. On paper, they're good football coaches. But I can tell you this: there's nobody better for this job than me, and nobody who will care more for Rutgers football than me.

Now that you do have the job and recruiting is over, what is your first order of business?

KF: The first order of business for us is to organize our winter workouts. We have to hit the ground running, and then start working on spring practice, summer, preseason training camp. I can't wait to get going.

Greg Schiano took a lot of heat for the way he switched quarterbacks. You have two in Chas Dodd and Gary Nova coming back for the spring. What is your plan for the quarterback position?

KF: We're very fortunate we have two guys in the program right now in Chas Dodd and Gary Nova. They’ve won very big football games for us at Rutgers. It’s a unique position to be in. I'd much rather be in that position than any other. We've got spring practice to figure out the rest.

Greg talked at length about getting the offensive line shored up, and you guys turned a corner this year under your leadership. What was the biggest change?

KF: Having just gone through the season, what really helped us was getting back to the basics of what we believe in. The style of offense, the pro-style system as an offensive line coach, that type of system is what an offensive lineman wants to play in and generally what an offensive lineman thrives in. What I've said to people is if you want to know what the Rutgers offensive line is going to look like moving forward, look at the Cincinnati game and the Iowa State game. … We have Kaleb Johnson coming back, Betim Bujari and got some great pieces to build around. You can see where we're going.

Is Savon Huggins going to be healthy for spring practice? How do you envision the running back rotation working with Jawan Jamison coming off a good season?

KF: Yes, Savon will be healthy for spring practice. Savon and Jawan are really talented running backs, and we've got others behind them who are excellent players as well. We have an opportunity this spring to get a good look at all of them.

What is your thought on hiring a defensive coordinator, particularly since Greg made the calls last season?

KF: The way we play defense here is not going to change. The system is going to stay intact. We are going to be a high pressure defense as long as I’m the head coach.

What will change?

KF: What I've said is the core values are going to be the same. My personality is different. I think as we go through this, I want to take the things that are really good and I want to make them great. It’s not a situation where the head coach was let go because they weren’t winning. This is a team that's won five straight bowl games in the last six years. This is a really good team and we want to advance it forward.

How do you do that?

KF: By taking the little things and making them better. It’s going to be the little things.

Plenty can happen in a month. Just ask Rutgers. So with that, we are taking another stab at our way-too-early 2012 power rankings. These are subject to change after spring practice and again before the season starts, but it's never too early to let the debate begin.

Only one change since the first version after the national championship game -- I swapped Louisville and Rutgers.

1. West Virginia:* Every day it seems more apparent that the Mountaineers will do whatever it takes to get into the Big 12 for the 2012 season. But if they are held up in the Big East, they'll be the consensus preseason pick to win the league.

2. Louisville: I moved the Cardinals up from No. 3 to No. 2 based primarily on the upheaval with the Scarlet Knights. As you have seen me say already many times, I think Louisville and Rutgers will be the top two contenders to win the Big East if West Virginia leaves.

3. Rutgers: I still think the Scarlet Knights have an excellent shot to contend for a title, but now there is more uncertainty surrounding this team than there was in January with former coach Greg Schiano gone. I think Kyle Flood can keep the train going, but there are still questions at quarterback and about who will run the defense -- and whether he will be as good as Schiano was in 2011.

4. Cincinnati: I know Bearcats fans continue to harp on the "keep doubting us" mantra, but there is no denying this team is losing a good chunk of its starters and will be one of the least experienced teams in all of college football next season. There is talent, but how does everybody come together?

5. South Florida: The Bulls will have one of the most experienced teams in college football. This should be the year they seriously contend for a Big East title because of all the players coming back. Plus, they made some good junior college pickups and signed several players who can contribute immediately. But they have to show me something before I start bragging about them.

6. Pittsburgh: There are many question marks, even with a terrific signing class. Who is going to be quarterback? Will the offensive line be better? How will the young defense do? How does Ray Graham look in his return from a major knee injury? How will a first-year coach do? The Panthers will be very interesting to watch during the spring and fall.

7. Connecticut: Of all the teams in the league, I think the Huskies have the potential to surprise. They should be better on defense; they get D.J. Shoemate back; and they have signed the best player in Connecticut at quarterback. But relying on a true freshman is always a mixed bag. I will watch this team closely to see how it does in Year 2 under Paul Pasqualoni.

8. Syracuse: The Orange ended on the bottom at 2011, so they start at the bottom for 2012. You will remember I did that with Rutgers and was dead wrong. But this team has many more questions -- receiving depth looks thin; how will the running back rotation go; who steps up in the secondary and defensive line? I want to see those questions answered in the spring and fall.

National signing day forced the cancellation of your midweek maiblog. But never fear, your week-ending mailblog is here.

Bob in CT writes: With the recruiting hoopla over, can we move on to next year's schedule? What happens if West Virginia plays in the Big 12 to teams like UConn, which would have four Big East teams they should play on the road and only two that they should play at home? Do you think that changes to three and three? Can you get a legal expert from West Virginia and from Rhode Island to give us their opinions on what will happen next?

Andrea Adelson: One of the most common questions I have gotten lately is about the future Big East schedule and when it is going to be released. I think your point is a big reason why there is no timetable for a release. Losing West Virginia would throw the scheduling situation into chaos, unless the Big East is able to convince a team like Boise State or San Diego State to join for 2012. I am pretty sure the Big East has got many, many contingency scenarios working but there is no way to guess right now how everything is going to play out. As for the legal expert -- stay tuned next week.

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Dave in Charlotte writes: What is your love affair with Charlie Strong? You've been praising him for over a year now. Yes, he has recruited well, but I disagree with your assessment that "he clearly showed in 2011 that he has the chops to coach up his young talent." The facts are, he has had two 7-6 seasons, with 2011 losses to FIU and Marshall. I'm not saying he's a bad coach -- just that you should let him earn his accolades.

Adelson: Is winning a share of the Big East title with one of the youngest teams in the nation not earning accolades? Those were two bad losses, but you forgot to mention the win at West Virginia, Louisville's first in Morgantown since 1990. He did it with a true freshman starting at quarterback, too. And let's not forget this program was in shambles when he arrived, and Louisville has been picked to finish near the bottom of the Big East for two straight seasons. So going 7-6 in back-to-back seasons, with a co-championship and bowl victory to me is proving your worth.

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Rickey in Lehigh Acres writes: I see that the Big East was 7-11 against AQ competition. That stat doesn't include USF's win over Notre Dame. Why not?

Adelson: It also doesn't include Pitt's loss to Notre Dame. For this post, we looked at how the Big East did against teams from AQ conferences. Notre Dame, as an independent, was left out.

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He Who has no Name writes: Andrea,Two questions/requests...1. Please tell Oliver Luck the next time you chat with him that his fan base absolutely does not want to drop FSU and would prefer we drop Marshall whom no one cares about playing. 2. Will ESPN allow you to come to the B12 blog with us? We would like someone who appears to keep their biases (or longing for the SEC) out of their work as much as possible :-D Thanks!

Adelson: I find your first point interesting. Nothing has been set on whether West Virginia is going to get out of the Florida State game, only that it might be an option. But say West Virginia goes into the Big 12 and faces a much more daunting schedule. Would fans still want to play what should be a preseason Top-10 team over what is a perceived automatic win over Marshall? I am always interested in hearing the fan perspective on having a tough nonconference schedule in addition to a tough conference schedule. As for the Big 12 blog, I leave you in the perfectly capable hands of David Ubben. He is even more lovable than me. I know, hard to imagine.

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Jack in Winston-Salem, N.C. writes: Whether Big East or Big 12, it looks from Dana Holgorsen's recruiting and comments he seems pretty sure he can roll up big scores on anyone. Do you see the other teams trying to match his offense or will they try to come up with more answers on defense?

Adelson: Oh, I think the Big 12 has him matched on offense, don't you think? When I mentioned West Virginia has question marks on defense headed into 2012, I got laughed at because "nobody plays defense in the Big 12."

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Andrew in California writes: I have a what if question about the (Greg) Schiano legacy. What if Temple had hired Schiano in 2001 and Rutgers had hired (Steve) Kragthorpe? Temple was booted at the end of 2004 for poor perfromance. Schiano lifted Rutgers from the ashes and saved their Big-East membership thanks to huge improvements on the field in 2003 and 2004. If not for Schiano, there is a really good chance that Rutgers would be in the MAC right now.

Adelson: I think Louisville fans would scoff, scoff! at the notion that Kragthorpe would have kept Rutgers down. But your point is taken, and should only reinforce the steps that Schiano made at Rutgers. So he didn't win any championships. But he absolutely saved a sinking program.