When head football coach Todd Graham decided he was going to come to Pitt, there was one person… When head football coach Todd Graham decided he was going to come to Pitt, there was one person who he knew would be by his side — Paul Randolph.

Randolph, who will serve as executive associate head coach and defensive line coach, has worked with Graham for the last five seasons.

When it was time to head to the Steel City, Randolph was all in.

“I just think that there are a few places that when you have an opportunity to go, you go,” Randolph said. “It didn’t take much for Ccoach Graham, all he had to do was ask me. I’ve worked with him, he is a dear friend of mine, and all he had to do was hint at it and I was in.”

In 2006, Randolph served under Graham as assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Rice. Together, they manufactured one the most impressive revitalizations in recent college football history.

The Rice Owls earned their first bowl berth in 45 years after a 7-5 regular season that included victories in six of their final seven games.

“It really has nothing to do with the style of offense or defense or special teams,” Randolph said. “It has to do with Coach Graham’s way of selling his vision and getting everyone to believe in that vision.”

Randolph has been around football for a while. He was an all-conference linebacker at Tennessee-Martin before playing in the Canadian Football League.

He moved on to coaching at Alabama during its run as one of college’s best defenses, and coached right across the border at West Virginia in 2002, where he became familiar with the Big East.

Throughout his years coaching, Randolph has developed a bond with the rest of the coaches, especially Graham, that exists not just on the field but off as well.

“If a person wants to develop a relationship with you and has put forth the effort to groom that relationship, then naturally you’re going to know and trust that person,” Randolph said. “To me it’s just about trust — I trust him.”

Even without Graham, there was plenty to draw Randolph to Pittsburgh.

“Just the rich tradition of not only Pitt, but that of the Pittsburgh Steelers and of the city of Pittsburgh,” Randolph said. “I’ve been a Steelers fan a long time.”

Now that he is here, like the rest of the coaches, it’s time to gauge where the Panthers are and what their needs are going to be.

Going into their first recent year withoutng Dion Lewis, Jabaal Sheard, Jason Pinkston, Jon Baldwin, Greg Romeus and Dom DeCicco, Randolph has full confidence the Panthers can fill the holes.

“One thing I’ve always believed in, and something we believe in, is that in the absence of leadership, leadership will emerge,” Randolph said. “There is no question someone else is going to have an opportunity to show up and showcase their talents. We believe we’ll have someone through the course of this spring and fall that will step up and fill those shoes.”

“Brandon Lindsey stepped in last year for Romeus and played well,” Randolph added. “Each guy, when given the opportunity, will step up and fill the void that needs to be filled.”

Under former head coach Dave Wannstedt and defensive line coach Greg Gattuso, Pitt employed a system that used four defensive linemen and three linebackers. Under Graham and Randolph, the Panthers will change to a three-linemen system that will rely on the defensive linemen to plug holes on the offensive line for linebackers to blitz through.

For the players, the new terminology, names of plays and system of the new coaches have brought have been the biggest adjustment so far.

“It’s just a change. Coach Randolph is very adamant about my language,” defensive tackle Chas Alecxih said, referring to the new terminology. “And when you talk to me, talk to me in my language, not what you used to call it. It’s a little bit of an adjustment. I’ve been corrected more than once.”

With any coaching change there are bound to be differences, but after four spring practices, the players are starting to get used to Randolph’s coaching style.

“There’s different schemes, different drills — they’re [Gattuso and Patterson] two different types of coaches, so learning new terms is a little bit different for us especially to start but after the first couple weeks we’re starting to catch on,” defensive tackle Myles Caragein said.

Like any coach, Randolph still has to define success.

Although the coaching staff has made it clear its long-term goal is to bring a National Championship back to Pitt, Randolph knows what he’s looking for in the year ahead.

“Our high bar is young men of character [and] young men of integrity,” Randolph said. “Getting guys to do what we coach them to do right the first time we ask them to do it. If they do that, we’ll eclipse the bar that we set. The rest of it will take care of itself.”