Less than a month after Paul Chryst hired Eddie Faulkner to be his new running backs coach, Faulkner decided he was too good for the Burgh and headed to Wisconsin to coach their tight ends…at least Faulkner left before the season actually started.
It looks like he accepted his new new job because he used to play for the Badgers in the late 90′s. Faulkner was Ron Dayne’s backup while Dayne was busy winning the Heisman.
You can’t really blame Faulkner for leaving Pitt for a job at his alma mater, but you can be pissed at Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema for poaching coaches from Chryst just because he jumped ship. Yea, that’s a real dick move, Bret.
When Chryst left his job as offensive coordinator at Wisconsin to take the Pitt gig, he took three assistants away from Bielema when he came to the Burgh, and now Bielema is getting revenge.
Faulkner had spent seven years working for Ball State and was the running backs coach nad special teams coordinator for Northern Illinois last year until he thought he was going to coach with some familiar faces again when Chryst hired him on Jan. 12.
It looks like he’d rather coach at the school where he got his start rather than just coach with some guys that he knows. Where not sure how smart of a move that is though because now that Jacob Pedersen has graduated, the Badgers don’t have a proven tight end. Pitt, on the other hand, had Ray Graham and Rushel Shell waiting to take orders from Faulkner.
We’ll see which unit has a more productive season. And oh yea, Faulkner has never coached a tight end in his life, so our money is on the Panther running backs.
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