Long’s first task: find a conference

As Pitt’s interim athletics director, Marc Boehm left his fingerprints on the program by… As Pitt’s interim athletics director, Marc Boehm left his fingerprints on the program by hiring three new head coaches and creating a new football season’#30;ticket package.

But none of that compares to what Jeff Long will have to face in the early part of his tenure as the athletics director at Pitt.

While Boehm moves on to Nebraska to join Steve Pederson’s staff, Long arrives at Pitt to face the possibility that the Big East could be on the verge of folding.

Despite receiving informal invitations from the Atlantic Coast Conference to help it expand, Miami, Syracuse and Boston College have yet to announce if they will leave the Big East.

While discussions among the Big East’s administrators have been taking place throughout the past week, Long and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg would not comment, Friday, on what would happen to Pitt if the conference were to dissolve.

“We’re in the Big East conference,” Long said. “I think we, as an administration, are looking to anticipate things that may occur, but it’s premature to say that there will be changes.”

“It is our hope that the Big East conference will emerge from this discussion even stronger than it has been in the past,” Nordenberg added. “We’re exploring a range of alternatives to strengthen the conference, but there wouldn’t be anything productive in my saying more about that now.”

So far, it seems that conference officials and the other members of the Big East have been trying to convince not only Miami, but also Syracuse, to stay in the Big East. Syracuse appears to be the most reluctant to leave the conference, and if the Orangemen decide to stay, and no other school accepts an invitation in place of them, the ACC’s proposal could collapse.

If the Big East, as it stands now, does fold, there is no telling what conference Pitt could end up in. Nordenberg may have had that in mind when hiring Long.

“Looking at Jeff’s resume, I think he has worked for some of the finest conferences,” Nordenberg said. “He’s in a position to reach out and make contacts.”

Long has worked for schools in the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.