We Apparently Want To Be Wisconsin - More Staff Hires Announced

Paul Chryst? Former Wisconsin offensive coordinator.

Bob Bostad? Former Wisconsin offensive line coach

Dave Huxtable? Former Wisconsin linebackers coach

Joe Rudolph? Former Wisconsin tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator

Jim Heuber? A former Wisconsin offensive line coach

If you haven't realized, Paul Chryst likes what they're doing up in Madison. Which is fine by me because Wisconsin has won 32 games over the past 3 seasons so they're obviously doing something right.

So it should surprise none of you when I tell you that two more staff hires have been announced - and you better believe at least one of them has a connection to Wisconsin.

Eddie Faulkner is Pitt's new running backs coach while Matt House will coach the secondary.

Some background info on both of these guys after the jump

Faulkner spent the past season at Northern Illinois, where he was the running backs coach and the special teams coordinator. Last season, NIU won the MAC Championship and beat Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. He coached All-MAC tailback Jasmin Hopkins, who rushed for 956 yards and 15 touchdowns, while the Huskies overall were twelfth in rushing at 234 yards a game. Prior to his stint at NIU, he worked as a graduate assistant, then running backs coach, and finally offensive coordinator at Ball State. He played at Wisconsin (here's your Badger connection) from 1996-2000, running behind Badger great Ron Dayne.

House, on the other hand, has roots in the NFL. He has spent the past four seasons in the professional ranks, with the last 3 as a part of the St. Louis Rams, where he was the defensive quality control coach. He spent one year with the Carolina Panthers as their special teams coordinator. House does have some experience at the collegiate level, coaching defensive backs at Buffalo and was the defensive line coach for a season at Gardner-Webb. House also made stops at Michigan State and North Carolina.

Both of these are interesting hires. I didn't think the Rams have had great defenses the past three seasons, but obviously Paul Chryst knows more than I do about coaching so I'll trust he made the right decision. I really like the Faulkner hire and he's someone that can help Ray Graham, Rushel Shell, and future Pitt running backs continue Pitt's NFL running back pipeline.

With the announcement of these two hires, Pitt only has two coaches left to hire: wide receivers and defensive line.