PITTSBURGH — Todd Graham agreed to leave Tulsa and become Pitt’s third football coach in a month, a move designed to quickly bring stability to a program rocked by former coach Mike Haywood’s arrest last month.
Graham, 46, had a 36-17 record in four seasons at Tulsa, including a 10-3 record this season. He made $1.3 million at Tulsa, about $300,000 more than Dave Wannstedt made per year as Pitt’s coach from 2005 until this season. Graham is expected to be paid about $2 million per season at Pitt.
• Panthers sophomore running back Dion Lewis, junior receiver Jon Baldwin and junior fullback Henry Hynoski declared for the NFL draft.
Miles likely to meet with Michigan
BATON ROUGE, La. — Les Miles said he expects to meet with Michigan about the Wolverines’ head coaching vacancy, though the LSU coach said he is also “extremely happy” with his current job.
“It’s hard for me to speculate to the substance of that meeting,” Miles said. “The only thing I can tell you is, I spent my day today with a number of underclassmen that I want to return right here.”
Miles said he has not been contacted directly by anyone from Michigan, his alma mater. He said his representatives have had “very distant conversation” with Michigan representatives, but they had not nailed down when or where a more substantive meeting would take place.
Miles, who is 62-17 with a 2007 national championship in six seasons at LSU, would take over for Rich Rodriguez, who was fired as Michigan coach with a 15-22 mark in three seasons.
• LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson, who won the Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and the Bednarik Award as the top defender in college football, announced he will enter the NFL draft, where he is projected to be a top-five selection.
Beavers’ Rodgers opts for draft
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Oregon State tailback Jacquizz Rodgers said he will enter the NFL draft, meaning he will finish his college career with 3,877 rushing yards, second in school history behind Ken Simonton. Rodgers has scored 46 rushing touchdowns, also second to Simonton.
Illini linebacker Wilson eyes NFL
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois middle linebacker Martez Wilson decided to skip his senior season to enter the NFL draft. Whether running back Mikel Leshoure joins him will be settled soon enough — the junior, who had 1,697 rushing yards in 2010 to break Rashard Mendenhall’s Illinois single-season record, is expected to announce his decision today.
Footnotes.
Boise State coach Chris Petersen, squelching rumors linking him to the coaching vacancy at Stanford, said he wants to continue coaching the Broncos in Idaho.
• Marshall defensive end Vinny Curry said he plans to return for his senior season.
• Stanford fullback-linebacker Owen Marecic won the inaugural Paul Hornung Award, which honors the most versatile player in college football. Marecic won over Kentucky wide receiver-kick returner Randall Cobb and TCU receiver-kick returner Jeremy Kerley.
