Pitt football coach Dave Wannstedt announced yesterday he was making some staff changes. It wasn't a surprise. The Panthers recently completed their second consecutive non-winning season.

What was somewhat of a surprise was that embattled defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads was not among the coaches let go. In fact, Wannstedt gave Rhoads a vote of confidence as well as restructuring some of his duties.

Wannstedt did fire linebackers coach Curtis Bray and strength coach Mike Kent, both holdovers from Walt Harris' staff. He changed Rhoads' position focus from secondary to linebackers. Wannstedt announced last week he would not retain interim offensive assistant Charlie Taffe.

The shake-up means Wannstedt will need to hire a secondary coach, a strength/conditioning coach and an offensive assistant, most likely to coach tight ends.

Wannstedt hinted that he might shake up the strength and conditioning staff, meaning there could be more dismissals in that area.

Wannstedt, who is on the road recruiting, said in a statement that he believes Rhoads was handcuffed because he was not directly responsible for the linebackers.

The Pitt coach said last week during a meeting with the media that his top priority in evaluating his staff was recruiting -- an area that was not believed to be one of Bray's strengths.

"Having been a coordinator for a significant part of my career, I know the advantages of having your linebacker coach, who is involved in defending both the run and the pass, also serve as your defensive coordinator," Wannstedt said. "Having Paul make this positional switch will better serve our entire defensive unit and help us put more emphasis on our rushing defense."

The Panthers have struggled mightily against the run during Rhoads' past four years as defensive coordinator. That was never more evident than the final five games of this season -- all Pitt losses. Pitt blew a 14-point lead against Connecticut, mostly because they couldn't stop the scrambling of quarterback D.J. Hernandez. The Panthers allowed more than 480 yards in three consecutive games and gave up 641 yards to West Virginia, which had two 200-yard rushers.

Wannstedt believes Pitt's lack of ability to stop the run and its propensity to fade in the second half is related, at least in part, to the Panthers lacking physical strength and toughness.

"I anticipate we will be making additional appointments on our strength and conditioning staff," Wannstedt said. "I plan on interviewing strength and conditioning candidates this weekend and expect to have someone in place by Christmas. This will enable our offseason program to begin full speed when our players return the first week of January. Our goal is to build a top-10 football program at Pitt and we are continuously striving to improve in every area on and off the field."

Wannstedt is said to have a short list of strength and conditioning coach candidates with Buddy Morris, the strength and conditioning coach at the University of Buffalo, at the top of the list. Morris was the strength and conditioning coach at Pitt from 1980-90 and also from 1997-2001 and is a favorite among many key alumni, particularly many former Pitt football players.