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Many fans had hoped offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph would stick around at Pitt to join Pat Narduzzi's staff after the departure of Paul Chryst to Wisconsin. But according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that almost assuredly will not be happening. According to the paper, Rudolph to Wisconsin seems like a done deal:
With his duties as Pittsburgh's interim head coach completed, it appears Joe Rudolph is poised to rejoin the Wisconsin staff.
A source close to the UW program confirmed Monday that Rudolph is in Madison to meet with new head coach Paul Chryst.
"It looks like it's pretty much done," the source said.
The Post-Gazette's Sam Werner says that there were at least some discussions between Narduzzi and Rudolph about retaining him, but doesn't offer any more than that.
Rudolph heading back to Wisconsin isn't surprising. What I found interesting is that the article still goes on to say that Chryst could still also bring back former offensive line coach Bob Bostad. Bostad actually came to Pitt with Chryst to be his offensive coordinator before he left for the NFL before coaching a game for the Panthers. It was believed that he was being targeted by Chryst as the offensive coordinator.
So, really, there are a few different scenarios here. Rudolph could join Wisconsin as the offensive coordinator while Bostad resumes his role as line coach. Bostad could be the offensive coordinator and Rudolph could be a position coach - presumably the tight ends coach as he was previously. Chryst could also take a page out of Mark Dantonio's book and name both co-coordinators.
Whatever the scenario, it sounds as if Bostad won't be a factor in determining if Rudolph stays or goes.
Personally, I wouldn't have minded seeing the team retain Rudolph. He started to have some success with the offense and the players obviously liked him as they reportedly campaigned for him to get the head coaching job. There's always something to be said for the sake of some continuity, too. But as long as Narduzzi doesn't completely whiff on a hire, I'm fine with this. Rudolph reportedly wasn't even calling the plays on offense, so I'm not sure it ends up being a huge loss for the Panthers.
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