Through nine years at Pitt, he holds a respectable 65-50 record. The program has attained bowl eligibility in seven of those seasons and just celebrated an ACC championship in 2021.

In other words, his teams traditionally hover around seven or eight wins. That's long been a standard range for the school, too.

The question, then, is simple: Are the Panthers comfortable with the risk of trading a decently high floor in hopes of a higher ceiling but seeing it devolve the other way? Using the upcoming 12-team format, Pitt would have one College Football Playoff trip in his nine seasons. Is that enough for the program? There's a legitimate case either way.