Steve Pederson relieved of duties

Surprising news emerged out of Oakland late last night. Shortly after midnight, when all the good Pitt rumors break lately, rumors started swirling that Steve Pederson is to be released from his duties as Athletic Director at Pitt. Early this morning Pitt administration had the following to say:

We would like to thank Steve Pederson for all he's done in his two stints as Athletic Director. Under his direction we have rebranded Pitt athletics with a modernized panther logo, created consistency among school colors, gained a great opportunity to play our home football games in a professional stadium on the North Shore, and built the Peterson event center which we believe to be the finest college basketball arena around. We appreciate his hard work through the various coaching searches over the past few years, unfortunately the time has come to make a change."

Okay, why? Why now? The Michael Haywood incident? No, that didn't do it. The Todd Graham experiment? Get off my porch, but no, that wasn't enough either. This doesn't make any sense. Oh, but it does, there's this:

While Mr. Pederson has done an excellent job in his tenures as Athletic Director, our hand was unfortunately forced by recent actions. It was determined that Mr. Pederson was strongly encouraging the ACC to change their bowl alignment and include the BBVA Compass Bowl.

Okay, that's it. That is simply unforgivable. I can't really argue with that point; the possibility of a fourth straight trip to Birmingham is enough to make everyone shudder. When is his last day though? Fortunately that was answered too:

Mr. Pederson's last day will be today, April 1, 2013. Again, many thanks to Mr. Pederson for his work here at Pitt.

So there it is, April 1, 2013 and Steve Pederson is apparently on his way out at Pitt. A new search starts for Pitt now, and for a change it is not for a new head football coach. Mark April 1, 2013 on your calendar folks, Pitt's athletics are about to change.

And in case you didn't get the hint, check your calendar. That is all.