PORT ARTHUR — Former TJ great Todd Dodge is caught in the middle of turmoil at the University of Pittsburgh and will likely be looking for a job after the Panthers bowl game next month. Pitt head coach Todd Graham left last week after less than a full year to replace Dennis Erickson at Arizona St. Three assistants have since resigned and gone with Graham. Prior to all that, three other Pitt assistants departed to go to join Rich Rodriguez’s staff at Arizona. Dodge is one of only five coaches remaining and he’ll be Panthers offensive coordinator for the BBVA Compass Bowl game with SMU. It would be nice if Todd could land back in Texas, perhaps as QB coach or offensive coordinator at Texas A&M or Houston . . . Dodge may not be the only former TJ quarterback/coach on the move. Word is that West Brook’s Craig Stump is high on the list of candidates being looked at to replace former Memorial coach Dean Colbert as head coach at Atascocita. Stump has done a terrific job with the West Brook program, but it’s not hard to believe he’s looking to get away from what a football coach has to overcome to be successful in the Beaumont Independent School District. One less reason for him to stay in Beaumont is the fact that his son, Josh, the Bruins QB this past season, is a senior . . . Southeast Texas schoolboy football will be front and center in next Saturday’s Port Arthur News, with the release of the 40th annual PA News Super Team. The photo shoot for the team was done Wednesday at the Museum of the Gulf Coast. In addition to checking out the  2011 honorees in the Saturday morning paper, you’ll also be able to watch the photo shoot later in the day on all three area TV stations. As always, our Tom Halliburton did a terrific job putting the team together.

If the federal drug charges filed against former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Sam Hurd have merit, and it certainly doesn’t look good for Hurd, you have to think there could be some extremely nervous Nellies on the current Cowboys team. Why? Because the FBI reportedly has a list of NFL players who were part of Hurd’s clientele. Hurd, before signing with the Bears during the summer, spent the previous five years with Dallas, so you’d have to be naive to think he didn’t approach teammates. Especially since his part of the alleged drug operation was “high-end clientele.” Professional athletes are about as high end as it gets. It should be noted that Hurd’s attorney contends his client never sold to NFL players  . . . Can’t ever remember a sports team being hit with such a non-stop run of key personnel losses as the Houston Texans, although the Luv Yal Blue Oilers of 1979 were  close. With defensive coordinator Wade Phillips the latest casualty, and out for perhaps the rest of the regular season, I’m starting to wonder if Reliant Stadium wasn’t build on a sacred Indian burial ground. Think about it. Almost from day one, when their top pick in the expansion draft, Tony Boselli, never played a down, and their high profile, can’t miss, No. 1 draftee  — QB David Carr — was a bust, this team has been star crossed. It’s all the sweeter for the Texans to have overcome so many obstacles to finally make the playoffs, but with good health this could have been a Super Bowl team . . . Latest amazing stat on Phillips’ Houston defense is a real eye opener. The 102 yards few per game the Texans are down defensively from last season is the biggest improvement in the NFL since the 1970 AFC-NFC merger. That defensive yield of 275 yards per game, however, is likely to take a hit from Carolina’s sensational Cam Newton today. Wade not being there to make adjustments won’t help.

Lamar University football coach Ray Woodard was scrambling Friday to get the phone number of Dravannti Johnson, after learning the two-time Super Team defensive end/linebacker from Nederland is looking to transfer from the University of Texas. Johnson, who enrolled at UT in the spring semester after his senior year with the Bulldogs, has a year of eligibility remaining. Because he’s already graduated from Texas, Johnson has the flexibility of being immediately eligibilty wherever he transfers. Although he played sparingly at UT, there’s little doubt the 6-4, 250 pound former Bulldog would be a huge asset at Lamar . . . Jamaal Charles said last week that his rehab from October ACL surgery is going well and that he expects to be ready to go when the Kansas City Chiefs start their OTA (Organized Team Activities) in the spring. With Todd Haley having been fired by the Chiefs, Charles will be dealing with his third head coach in what will be his fifth NFL season, and adjusting to yet another offensive system. Early favorite for the KC job is St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, primarily because of his New England ties with Chiefs GM Scott Pioli. Nobody should have to sell McDaniel on how explosive Charles is. He was the head coach in Denver two years ago when Jamaal ripped off a near NFL record 259 rushing yards against the Broncos . . . Sure was heartwarming to see that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones flew all the way to ESPN headquarters in Bristol, Conn., this past week to deliver a whole-hearted vote of confidence for Jason Garrett. Jethro, of course, didn’t have much choice, since he long ago ordained Jason as a genius. Apparently, however, somebody left the clock management chapter out of the genius handbook. Garrett, though, already has a couple of claims to fame. Dallas’ three blown leads of more than 12 points in the fourth quarter are more than in the previous 51-year history of the franchise. Also, eight of the Cowboys nine losses during his tenure as head coach have come after they led in the fourth quarter.

Bob Knight will get his first look at son Pat’s Lamar University basketball team Tuesday night in Columbus, Ohio, when the Cardinals take on the No. 2 ranked Ohio State. The elder Knight, who is being honored by his alma mater at the game, had planned to come to Beaumont to see Lamar play one of its earlier games, but health issues and a busy ESPN schedule made it impossible. Pat says the second winningest coach in college basketball history hasn’t even seen the Cardinals on tape. “He’s asked me to send some tapes, but I haven’t been fully thrilled about any 40 minutes we’ve played,” said the younger Knight. “You know with him all it needs is one bad minute and I’m going to get grilled.” Lamar’s game at Ohio State will be televised live at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on the Big Ten Network. That’s channel 610 for anybody with access to DirecTV . . . Since I gave a heads up to Cowboys fans in this space last week about Saturday night’s game at Tampa Bay being available only on the NFL Network, I need to do the same for Texans fans. Houston’s next game after Carolina is Thursday night in Indianapolis against the winless, Peyton Manning-less Colts. Only place you will be able to see it is the NFL Network. If you want to watch the game, you need to head to a sports bar or find a friend with DirecTV or Dish. Although the Colts seem to be headed to 0-16, the game is meaningful for the Texans because it gives rookie QB T.J. Yates one more learning opportunity prior to the playoffs. Assuming, of course, he doesn’t suffer some kind of serious injury that forces the Texans to employ their fourth QB. Yates, incidentally, is the first rookie QB in 43 years to lead game-winning touchdown drives in the fourth quarter of his first two starts.

Normally you would be concerned about a baseball team trading its closer, as the Astros did by dealing Mark Melancon to the Boston Red Sox for shortstop Jed Lowrie and unproven starter Kyle Weiland. But why worry about a closer on a team that’s probably going to struggle to win 50 games, and doesn’t figure to have all that many leads to protect in the ninth inning? If Lowrie can stay healthy, and pans out as a decent shortstop, it’s probably a good deal for the long haul . . . It was nice to see ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy rip arrogant NBA commissioner David Stern for killing the attempted trade last week that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and brought Pau Gasol to Van Gundy’s old team, the Houston Rockets, for a building block. Van Gundy ripped Stern on several fronts, including having a free-agency period starting at the same time as training camp, the rush to begin the season on Christmas Day and trying to squeeze 66 games into a shortened time frame. Thanks to Stern, the NBA is starting to look like the proverbial Chinese fire drill . . . If you are one of the followers of our Mixed Martial Arts columnist, David Estrada, he’s starting a semi-regular TV gig on Fox 4’s Sunday night Sports Edge to be titled “Fox 4 Fights.” Tonight he’s doing a telephone interview with Nick Canizales on what’s upcoming with UFC . . . For those who are wondering, the final I Beat Bob West Contest of 2011 will be published in Wednesday’s Port Arthur News. It will include 19 bowl games and the Cowboys Christmas Eve meeting with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net