First Call: Steelers assistant linked to college job; could we see 3rd edition of Maulers?

A Pittsburgh Steelers assistant coach is hearing his name linked to a college opening.

Pitts Kade Bell is being tied to Oklahomas offensive coordinator job.

There might be movement toward another reincarnation of the Pittsburgh Maulers.

And Duquesnes womens basketball team scores a win in a renewed rivalry while the mens team is still in search of its first victory of the year.

Getting Chip-py? A member of the Steelers coaching staff is being linked to a college head coaching gig.

Its wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni.

He is an alum of Central Michigan, and the Chippewas job is opening up due to the recently announced retirement of Jim McElwain.

The Athletics Chris Vannini posted an article with a list of a dozen candidates for the opening and Azzannis name was on it.

(Azzanni) is a CMU alum who coached with the Chips from 2007 to 09, Vannini said.

He recruited Antonio Brown and Eric Fisher to the school during a dominant period under [Butch] Jones.

He has also coached at Florida, Tennessee and Wisconsin and has been in the NFL since 2017.

His receivers have played a big role in the Steelers 8-3 start this season.

There is no word on whether Azzanni has any interest in the job.

He is in the middle of his first year with the Steelers.

McElwain has posted a 33-35 record over six seasons at Mount Pleasant.

The highlights were a MAC Championship Game appearance in 2019 and a Sun Bowl win over Washington State in 2021.

But the Chips are in the middle of a third consecutive losing season.

Nothing to it? The On3.com website advanced a story linking Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell to the Oklahoma offensive coordinator position on Monday.

However, PantherLair.coms Chris Peak is tamping down that storyline , stating that Bell has not interviewed for the position, nor are any interviews scheduled.

The Sooners fired Seth Littrell as the offensive playcaller on Brent Venables staff a month ago.

Joe Jon Finley has held that position since on an interim basis.

Bell is in his first year on the job at Pitt.

After a hot start to the season, his offense has only managed 18.2 points per game during the teams current four-game losing streak.

That has also coincided with some injuries and struggles of late for quarterback Eli Holstein.

However, even dating back before Pitts late-season collapse, the Panther offense started to sputter, posting just 17 points in a 17-15 win over Cal and 20 points in a 41-13 blowout of Syracuse that was aided by three defensive touchdowns.

More Maulers? The prospect exists for a third round of the Pittsburgh Maulers.

According to a report from Mike Mitchell of Sports Illustrated , the United Football League is expanding.

He says, The internal goal for the UFL is to add two teams in 2026, with the USFL and XFL conferences each adding one team.

The long-term goal is 12 teams by 2027.

The UFL made its debut last spring as the result of a merger between the XFL and USFL.

Of the 16 teams between those two leagues, eight made the cut .

The Maulers were one of four teams folded from the USFL end of things.

The franchise actually ended up never playing a down in Pittsburgh.

The whole USFL played in a Birmingham, Ala.

hub in 2022.

The second year, the Maulers played out of a pod in Canton, Ohio, and made the USFL Championship game.

The teams name and logo were an homage to the original Maulers of 1984 when the first edition of the USFL was around.

That version of the team lasted just one season.

Its unknown what markets might get a team in these expansion plans.

The UFL kicks off a 10-week season on March 28.

Something to seize The Duquesne mens basketball team is looking for something positive to take away from its trip to the Cayman Islands.

After losing its first two games of the Cayman Islands Classic to South Dakota State (71-60) and Hampton (64-59), Dru Joyce IIIs club tries to come away with a win in the final outing.

The team plays Old Dominion at 11 a.m.

Tuesday.

The Monarchs are 2-5, having dropped their first two games of the tournament to Boston College (82-52) and High Point (73-67).

McKees Rocks product Jake DiMichele had 13 points for Duquesne on Monday in the loss to Hampton.

He was the only Duke to hit double digits on the day.

Sean Durugordon led the way for the Monarchs on Monday.

He had 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

He also added nine rebounds.

Rivalry renewed For the first time since the 2014-15 season, the Duquesne and Robert Morris womens basketball teams played one another on Monday night.

The Dukes won 77-61.

Megan McConnell led the way for Duquesne with a triple-double.

She had 15 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds.

The Dukes improved to 3-2.

RMU falls to 2-4.

The Colonials were paced by Madison ODells 20 points.

Duquesne now leads the all-time series 33-13.

The school has won six straight editions of the local rivalry.

Up next, Dan Burts Dukes host St.

Francis Sunday at 2 p.m.

Chandler McCabes first season as head coach of the Colonials moves on to host Bucknell at 2 p.m.

Friday..

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