The Carousel Continues: Todd Graham heading east to Pittsburgh

Todd Graham/Courtesy: eyeandeerblog.com

((ht: collegefootballtalk.com))

It looks as though another pairing has been made on the coaching carousel. KTUL-TV in Tulsa is reporting that University of Tulsa head coach Todd Graham will be leaving Oklahoma and heading towards the pastures of Pittsburgh to replace the recently hired and more recently fired Mike Haywood.

The station reports that there was a 3:30pm (central) team meeting scheduled. It happened, though Graham wasn't there. He was apparently in Pittsburgh boarding a plane that is expected to return to Tulsa around 5pm (central).

Graham actually has a pretty good track record and a good amount of success at Tulsa. It's mildly surprising he had not surfaced for someone else's job.

Here's your KTUL-TV report (It hasn't been on TV yet) RIGHT HERE

The Tulsa World says things are still a bit murky, their story RIGHT HERE

While Fox 23 in Pittsburgh says the deal is done. Read it RIGHT HERE

The Fox story says Graham will be getting a 5-year, $10 million deal. He wasn't doing badly at Tulsa at roughly $1.3 million, but this would be a big jump in pay. But then again, he's heading to an alleged BCS Conference too.

TWTW Bowling: Is Tulsa's Todd Graham Still A Honk...?

The reason the HQ asks is that the Golden Hurricane ran up 62 against the host Hawai'i squad in the bowl game on the big island in a 62-35 win on Christmas Eve...

The Warriors lost star wideout Kealoha Pilares early in the game and were never the same offensively... and the reason we ask the question above is that the Warrior defense seemed to tank in the fourth quarter- perception can go either way.

Here's some sound from Graham about how important it was for the team to get to a 10-win season, thanks to our friends at KJRH-TV in Tulsa


G.J. Kinne, Damaris Johnson and 15 other starters return for Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane should be the favorites to win Conference USA going into 2011. As for Hawaii, the Warriors return QB Bryant Moniz, who threw for more than 5,000 yards this season.

Tulsa's Damaris Johnson became the career leader for all-purpose yards in the NCAA with 7,799. He had 329 all-purpose yards against Hawaii and three touchdowns.

Both teams combined for 1,076 total yards of offense, but Warrior quarterbacks threw 5 interceptions and a fumble lost is thrown in for good measure.

Highlights when we have them...

95-Yard Goal Gives SMU Upset Over Tulsa

Yes, we're talking soccer...

From NBC Miami again...

Ryan Rosenbaum's first goal as an SMU soccer player won't soon be forgotten.

Rosenbaum launched a 95-yard kick that bounced over the Tulsa goaltender's head and into the goal.

SMU was leading 2-1 at the time when Rosenbaum cleared the ball from the SMU end of the field. The high kick took a giant bounce off the grass and ended up in the net.

SMU went on to win the game, 3-2, upsetting the 16th ranked Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
Rosenbaum, a defender, had not taken a shot on goal in his first four games.

Maybe he'll shoot more now...

((HT: SMU/WAC/NCAA))

TWTW: Boise State Hangs On In Tulsa

This was the upset alert game that those of us at OSG HQ had this week...

If anyone in the WAC was going to step up and take out Boise, it would be in Tulsa on a funky preparation week...

And the loss couldn't happen to a nicer guy in Golden Hurricane Head Coach Todd Graham... whose exploits have long been vilified here- see his Rice to Tulsa experience if you've forgotten how much we like the guy...

He almost threw a nutty for the ages when Tulsa was flagged for a sideline interference penalty late in the fourth quarter as he was trying to get the ball back for one last chance to tie.

The four-letter was more than happy to show close-up after close-up of Graham "BS'ing" the side judge.

But, Todd, that's what happens when one of your coaches gets in the way of the zebras trying to do their job...

Here's your highlights, thanks to our friends at KJRH/News2 in Tulsa and ESPN...

New...but different Arena League

We are really tempted to use the quote "Rumors of the death of the Arena League have been greatly exaggerated" here, but it wouldn't really fit. However, there is a "New" version of the Arena league that has surfaced. It's called "Arena Football 1 or AF1". Supposedly, it is going to consist mainly of AF2 (real minor league Arena Ball) and a few teams from the old Arena League. And it will be based in that noted sports capital of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The story from the Tulsa World HERE.
More from KTUL-TV HERE

According to the Commish, Jerry Kurz, there has been a ton of interest. He already cites commitments from teams currently in the AF2: Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Shreveport, Spokane, Iowa, Tennessee Valley, Kentucky and Arkansas and Tri-Cities. In addition, some original Arena League teams from Orlando, Fresno, Chicago, Utah and Arizona along with newcomers in Milwaukee and Jacksonville. All interesting, the question is, how do they avoid the problems that sunk the original league; escalating salary costs and travel costs? We wish them luck...they are going to need it.