The Last Word On Dixon Until, Well, Next Year

Personally, I'm glad this whole saga has ended. It started off with rumors I couldn't believe even a bit, then went to the 'really?' stage yesterday, and reached an end today with an extension.

I'm not going to over-dramatize this because I think enough of that's been done. Bottom line - Pitt got what it needed. Yet another assurance from Dixon that he wants to be here. But. The most ludicrous thing in the world would be to assume that he's here for the long haul. Jobs open all the time. Personally, I think there are few jobs Dixon would leave for. Dixon has turned down the allure of settling for a job to move out west a few times. That threat appears to have passed. But if a dream job ever opened up, there's always a chance he could go. But the longer he's here, I think the better his chances are of staying.

Now onto something that had me going insane on the drive home today. I caught all three of his post-conference local interviews with 93.7 the Fan, Fox Sports 970, and ESPN Radio 1250. I was appalled that no one (to my knowledge...maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong) asked the one question I think had to be asked - Did he meet with Oregon? Maybe no one bothered if he ducked the question in the press conference or maybe I just didn't hear it asked. But all of the interviewers lofted softball questions and instead of a bunch of questions about the Oregon situation or leaving Pitt in general, we got things like, 'So, coach, who's starting at the 4 next year.' Please.

One final note. Dixon blamed the canceling of his interviews that were to occur after his newsbreaking interview on the Fan on scheduling conflicts. I really like Dixon, but I think he's clearly misleading people on this. No rational person would honestly believe that the rest of his interviews would be suddenly canceled for the day because he wasn't told about them. The interviews were for local shows and I find it infinitely hard to believe that he couldn't be tracked down to do an interview that was supposed to be on his schedule. Sorry, Coach - not buying what you're selling.

That said, I'm glad he's back and think Pitt is extremely fortunate to have him.