Rumors: Is Pitt Trying to Hire Syracuse's Chuck Bullough as Defensive Coordinator Instead?

You'd heard the rumors that new Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi could try and lure Syracuse defensive line coach Tim Daoust away for the Panthers' defensive coordinator job. That was unfortunate, but it made sense. Current SU DC Chuck Bullough was staying put and that meant Daoust was stuck behind him for another season.

Or so we thought. Nothing's even close to confirmed, but Football Scoop seems to believe that Narduzzi could be targeting a Syracuse coach to be his new defensive coordinator, but that coach could be Bullough and not Daoust. Now there are plenty of reasons why this would not make sense: it's a lateral move for Bullough, they'll have to shell out more for him than they would for other candidates, Bullough is very loyal to Scott Shafer.

BUT, if Bullough is looking to audition for a higher-profile coordinator job, perhaps a season or two with a more experienced defense could be exactly what he wants. While notably mediocre most seasons, Pitt still gets plenty of exposure (more than Syracuse) when they're doing well, has shown themselves to be competitive in the ACC Coastal's division and could actually be a Coastal contender next year too. There's also the Michigan State connection between Bullough and Narduzzi -- Narduzzi coached Bullough's nephew Max, who was a standout linebacker with the Spartans.

Again, this is all conjecture for now. Football Scoop's the main source of this sort of talk, and as we've asked repeatedly above: why would Bullough leave for a very similar job? Still, you have to be a little concerned for the Orange football program should talk of this move heat up or (worse) actually occur. Daoust would undoubtedly move up into Syracuse's DC role, but the black eye of losing your top assistant to a "rival" program would still be there -- and would speak volumes about SU's ability to retain/pay coaching talent.

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