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So, I mean ...
Prized running back recruit Darrin Hall said Saturday he was told by Pitt football officials that coach Paul Chryst could stay if the university affords him changes.
"They have the impression he's staying there," Hall said of his conversations last week with running backs coach John Settle and director of player development Bob Junko, who told him Chryst met with chancellor Patrick Gallagher. "There are things (Chryst) wants changed, and if they can get it changed, he's staying."
Wait, what?
Great stuff there by Jerry DiPaola of the Trib, but it begs the question -
What?
Consider this another twist in the plot and there are all kinds of questions here. For example, why is Hall the only one seemingly privy to this information? Players on the team and even other recruits have all been resigned to the fact that Paul Chryst is leaving. All in all, it's just a little odd that a single recruit has this kind of information.
That's not to question Hall on it, but why hasn't anyone else come forward with similar sentiments? Several players on Twitter wished Chryst well since it was expected that he was bolting or Wisconsin.
Next, and certainly, more importantly, what are these supposed changes? The first thing that will come to mind for some will be money for assistants since that's long been rumored to be something lacking at the school. Second could be (and this is nothing but speculation) a reference to his relationship to the athletic director Steve Pederson.
When Dave Wannstedt hijacked telecast during a break in a Pitt game earlier this year by criticizing Pederson and saying that Chryst needed his support, the whole thing just sounded weird. But then something like this happens and naturally, that's going to be something else to think about.
I don't know - it gets really hard to jump on board with the whole 'he's staying' thing when so many other things have pointed to his departure. But this report just adds a twist to the story.
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