In what has to be the dumbest vote of confidence since, well, maybe ever, Pitt AD Steve Pederson today publicly backed his coach, Davewood Bumstedt, despite the formerly twenty-fifth ranked Panthers losing Saturday at home to Bowling Green.  Even Lloyd Carr, a guy who won something once in a while didn't get this kind of love from his boss after a horrific loss.

Isn't Steve Pederson the guy who hired Bill Callahan at Nebraska?  Yes, me thinks he might be.

Here's your official Chip Shots read between the lines version:

• "In these situations, nobody's more disappointed than Dave and our team at the results of the game,"  Oh, I bet the fans are really annoyed too, there Steve.  Wait until you count the donation basket after the Buffalo game.
  
• "I also know there isn't any group that's going to work harder to get us back on track than Dave and his coaches and the team." If this sorry sack of crap wants to keep his job, he'd better get his sorry butt in gear now.
• "For Dave, this isn't really a job, this is a passion." I have a passion for cooking, it doesn't make me Emeril.  Or Rachael Ray.  Or my mother. Passion is wonderful.  Competency is a whole other issue.
  
• "He's dedicated to building a winning program here and he has all of our support as he works at that."  Jeeze, he's been working at it for four years.  And before that, he worked at in Miami.  And before that he worked on it in Chicago.  Am I the only one on this planet bright enough to see what a fraud this man is?
• "I don't want to put anything definitive on a coach. I don't believe in that," Danger Steve Pederson, danger. Dave is just lucky enough to meet Pederson's quota and then they're stuck with him for another year. 
  
• "We just want to focus on beating Buffalo Saturday night. Hopefully, we can get that done." If you, the AD of a Big East football program, have to add the phrase "hopefully we can get it done" to any discussion about an upcoming game with Buffalo, then you've already had lunch with Bill Callahan today.

Damn it, Rich Rod.  This is all your fault!