I feel like I've lived in a cave: Calvin Magee

[Brad]

Starkey: Pitt offense in good hands 08/14/2011 3:00 AM By Joe Starkey, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The least we can do, before we start correcting his play calls, is get to know Calvin Magee a little better.

First, know this: Contrary to popular perception, Magee, Pitt's new offensive coordinator, has indeed been calling plays for the past five years — plays that reached the quarterback without modification, that is.

Seems there has been some confusion about that.

Magee was the offensive coordinator under spread-option guru Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia and Michigan, so people assumed Rodriguez exercised his veto power more than the past 10 U.S. presidents combined.

″Everybody wonders that,″ Magee said Friday after practice on the South Side. ″I called the majority of the plays for the last five years. I've never said that because I don't care what people think, you know? All head coaches have veto power. Rich and I had a great relationship, but people would want to know, would he (veto) plays? No. We'd go into games knowing what we were going to do.″

One reason for the perception was that Magee worked from the press box.

″Out of sight, out of mind,″ he said, laughing. ″No, I'm kidding. That's why the appearance has been there, because I've never been seen. But I know what I do. Everybody who works for me knows what I do, and God knows what I do. The reason I'm answering it now is just to clear it up.″

Magee, 48, will continue to work from the press box and will relay calls to co-offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, who will signal to quarterback Tino Sunseri. Ideally, Pitt wants to run 80-plus plays per game at a rate of one every 10 to 12 seconds.

From this vantage point, getting Magee was a coup, though it's reasonable to wonder how he will fare with neither Rodriguez's daily influence nor an elusive running quarterback. Pat White orchestrated West Virginia's record-setting offenses when Magee was calling plays (2005-07), and Denard Robinson ignited Michigan's Big Ten-leading offense last season.

In Magee's first two years at Michigan, before Robinson emerged, the offense sputtered. It finished last in the Big Ten in 2008, as Rodriguez and Magee engineered the massive culture change to the spread option. Magee said the transformation won't be so painful at Pitt, where he will combine elements of the spread option with Graham's hurry-up, no-huddle system.

Pitt will run the ball plenty, even if Sunseri isn't Denard Robinson.

″You use people's strengths,″ Magee said. ″That's the good thing about this offense. It's very flexible. We've done it without a running quarterback.″

As for getting to know Magee ...

� He grew up among five siblings in a two-bedroom home in New Orleans' 3rd Ward. ″My mom raised us in church,″ he said. His coaching roots formed when, as a high school player, he coached the local sandlot team.

� Hurricane Katrina crushed Magee's old neighborhood. His family was in Mississippi the day the storm hit, attending Magee's mother's funeral. Most of them, including his father, did not return to New Orleans for three years. His old high school, Booker T. Washington, was wiped out.

� Magee was a star tight end at Southern University and played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1985-88. He caught Steve Young's first touchdown pass. He also was a teammate of Pitt legend Hugh Green, who hailed from Natchez, Miss., the hometown as Magee's wife, Rosie. (They have three children.)

� Magee retired in 1989 because of a knee injury that still leaves him limping. He enrolled at South Florida to finish his studies and joined the school's first coaching staff in 1996 under Jim Leavitt. The group included current Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops and Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford — and it worked out of trailers.

″We'd pull names out of a hat — 'OK, you have to sweep the trailer,' ″ Magee said. ″It was fun. It was a school I was very proud of at one time.″

So was West Virginia, but Magee now considers himself a Pitt man through and through.

″I'd always seen this place from afar — when I was at the other place — as the place that could dominate the Big East,″ he said. ″With the recruiting base and facilities and tradition, I always thought that. So, when I got the call, I was like, 'That's a no-brainer.' ″

Calling plays is easy, too, or so everyone seems to believe. Just ask Bruce Arians. I didn't need to tell Magee that nobody — not even head coaches — are second-guessed more than offensive coordinators around here.

″I'm not concerned about that one bit,″ he said. ″I'm going to do my job.″

And do it well, I'm guessing.

But if he ever needs any help ...

[hbryan]

� Magee retired in 1989 because of a knee injury that still leaves him limping. He enrolled at South Florida to finish his studies and joined the school's first coaching staff in 1996 under Jim Leavitt. The group included current Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops and Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford — and it worked out of trailers.

″We'd pull names out of a hat — 'OK, you have to sweep the trailer,' ″ Magee said. ″It was fun. It was a school I was very proud of at ONE (?) time.″

So was West Virginia, but Magee now considers himself a Pitt man through and through.

″I'd always seen this place from afar — when I was at the other place — as the place that could dominate the Big East,″ he said. ″With the recruiting base and facilities and tradition, I always thought that. So, when I got the call, I was like, 'That's a no-brainer.' ″

I will take great personal delight when our Bulls defense takes apart this clowns offense.  Never liked Magee and never will.  I was so pissed when they even gave him a look as a replacement to Leavitt. 

[SRQ]

Pitt can certainly compete in the BE, but dominate??  I don't think so unless the conf. gets thinned out again.

[Matt]

Magee retired in 1989 because of a knee injury that still leaves him limping. He enrolled at South Florida to finish his studies and joined the school's first coaching staff in 1996 under Jim Leavitt. The group included current Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops and Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford and it worked out of trailers.

″We'd pull names out of a hat 'OK, you have to sweep the trailer,' ″ Magee said. ″It was fun. It was a school I was very proud of at ONE (?) time.″

So was West Virginia, but Magee now considers himself a Pitt man through and through.

″I'd always seen this place from afar when I was at the other place as the place that could dominate the Big East,″ he said. ″With the recruiting base and facilities and tradition, I always thought that. So, when I got the call, I was like, 'That's a no-brainer.' ″

I will take great personal delight when our Bulls defense takes apart this clowns offense.  Never liked Magee and never will.  I was so pissed when they even gave him a look as a replacement to Leavitt.  

well he was obviously close with Leavitt and probably did not appreciate how that situation played out and then when we didn't hire him to replace him probably felt even worse.

[The Sheriff]

I highly doubt Calvin and Leavitt were close. Just my two cents. 

[hbryan]

� Magee retired in 1989 because of a knee injury that still leaves him limping. He enrolled at South Florida to finish his studies and joined the school's first coaching staff in 1996 under Jim Leavitt. The group included current Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops and Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford — and it worked out of trailers.

″We'd pull names out of a hat — 'OK, you have to sweep the trailer,' ″ Magee said. ″It was fun. It was a school I was very proud of at ONE (?) time.″

So was West Virginia, but Magee now considers himself a Pitt man through and through.

″I'd always seen this place from afar — when I was at the other place — as the place that could dominate the Big East,″ he said. ″With the recruiting base and facilities and tradition, I always thought that. So, when I got the call, I was like, 'That's a no-brainer.' ″

I will take great personal delight when our Bulls defense takes apart this clowns offense.  Never liked Magee and never will.  I was so pissed when they even gave him a look as a replacement to Leavitt.  

well he was obviously close with Leavitt and probably did not appreciate how that situation played out and then when we didn't hire him to replace him probably felt even worse.

Yeah right!  He was so close that he went to our conference rival and then helped snatch our offensive line coach. When he went to Ann Arbor with Rich Rod and was playing his suck up game and then came back to WV and bitched about not being considered for that HC position (seriously), he actually pulled the race card.  The guy is a snake, plain and simple.  That's my opinion, I've had it since he left for WVU and everything he's done since then has just reinforced this opinion.

[The Sheriff]

I wouldn't say snatching offensive line coach. More like this... "Hey Big Sweat (Coach Frey), you want to live on the beaches of Florida with beautiful women and the best talent in the nation for football with JIM LEAVITT AS YOUR BOSS, or would you like to come to the hills of West Virginia where women have three to five teeth on average, the weather constantly dips below the freezing mark, the talent from the state is is sub-par with RICH ROD AS YOUR BOSS?"

The answer is quite easy. Big Sweat took the job at WVU. Jimbo was a man of two personalities... Most USF fans that met him loved him - and I can understand - the guy breathed Green and Gold. Oh well...

I too was bothered by Calvin's comments and would love to ask him to clarify them if I run into him down the road.

[Bull94]

� Magee retired in 1989 because of a knee injury that still leaves him limping. He enrolled at South Florida to finish his studies and joined the school's first coaching staff in 1996 under Jim Leavitt. The group included current Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops and Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford — and it worked out of trailers.

″We'd pull names out of a hat — 'OK, you have to sweep the trailer,' ″ Magee said. ″It was fun. It was a school I was very proud of at ONE (?) time.″

So was West Virginia, but Magee now considers himself a Pitt man through and through.

″I'd always seen this place from afar — when I was at the other place — as the place that could dominate the Big East,″ he said. ″With the recruiting base and facilities and tradition, I always thought that. So, when I got the call, I was like, 'That's a no-brainer.' ″

I will take great personal delight when our Bulls defense takes apart this clowns offense.  Never liked Magee and never will.  I was so pissed when they even gave him a look as a replacement to Leavitt.  

well he was obviously close with Leavitt and probably did not appreciate how that situation played out and then when we didn't hire him to replace him probably felt even worse.

Yeah right!  He was so close that he went to our conference rival and then helped snatch our offensive line coach. When he went to Ann Arbor with Rich Rod and was playing his suck up game and then came back to WV and bitched about not being considered for that HC position (seriously), he actually pulled the race card.  The guy is a snake, plain and simple.  That's my opinion, I've had it since he left for WVU and everything he's done since then has just reinforced this opinion.

personally I felt Magee got stiffed by WVU. He was loyal to WVU. He stayed and called the game against OU (the one no one gave them a chance in and they won 48-28) . It was crazy that people actually gave Stewart the credit for that win.

You're insane if you think Magee took the OC job at Michigan before he knew whether or not he had a shot at the WVU head coaching gig. Nobody is that dumb. Someone told him he had no shot. Look who they hired. It was a good ole boy. He was their TE coach under Magee. Magee did what he had to in order to stay employed. Can't fault him for that. I'm glad WVU program has gone downhill since.

I would have been fine with Magee as our head coach.

[hbryan]

� Magee retired in 1989 because of a knee injury that still leaves him limping. He enrolled at South Florida to finish his studies and joined the school's first coaching staff in 1996 under Jim Leavitt. The group included current Florida State defensive coordinator Mark Stoops and Youngstown State coach Eric Wolford — and it worked out of trailers.

″We'd pull names out of a hat — 'OK, you have to sweep the trailer,' ″ Magee said. ″It was fun. It was a school I was very proud of at ONE (?) time.″

So was West Virginia, but Magee now considers himself a Pitt man through and through.

″I'd always seen this place from afar — when I was at the other place — as the place that could dominate the Big East,″ he said. ″With the recruiting base and facilities and tradition, I always thought that. So, when I got the call, I was like, 'That's a no-brainer.' ″

I will take great personal delight when our Bulls defense takes apart this clowns offense.  Never liked Magee and never will.  I was so pissed when they even gave him a look as a replacement to Leavitt.  

well he was obviously close with Leavitt and probably did not appreciate how that situation played out and then when we didn't hire him to replace him probably felt even worse.

Yeah right!  He was so close that he went to our conference rival and then helped snatch our offensive line coach. When he went to Ann Arbor with Rich Rod and was playing his suck up game and then came back to WV and bitched about not being considered for that HC position (seriously), he actually pulled the race card.  The guy is a snake, plain and simple.  That's my opinion, I've had it since he left for WVU and everything he's done since then has just reinforced this opinion.

personally I felt Magee got stiffed by WVU. He was loyal to WVU. He stayed and called the game against OU (the one no one gave them a chance in and they won 48-28) . It was crazy that people actually gave Stewart the credit for that win.

You're insane if you think Magee took the OC job at Michigan before he knew whether or not he had a shot at the WVU head coaching gig. Nobody is that dumb. Someone told him he had no shot. Look who they hired. It was a good ole boy. He was their TE coach under Magee. Magee did what he had to in order to stay employed. Can't fault him for that. I'm glad WVU program has gone downhill since.

I would have been fine with Magee as our head coach.

Wow!  I sure am glad that you don't have any impact on who gets hired at USF.  So we got that going for us. 

JFYI, since you seem so misinformed....Rich Rod informed WVU that he was leaving WVU for UM on December 16, 2007 citing problems getting along with the Athletic Department.  On Sunday December 17th, Rich Rod flew with his family, Calvin Magee and wife and Tony Gibson and wife to UM for a Monday morning announcement at UM.  Rich Rod fired all but the running backs coach at UM.  So then WVU is supposed to hire Magee because he's so loyal?  Maybe you can cheer for Magee when we play Pitt, I will be hoping that our defense beclowns this narcissist.

[GaUSFBull]

I thought the fact that Magee was mentioned as a possible HC candidate was a sign they weren't taking us too seriously.