Todd Graham had a handful of buzzwords he returned to frequently during his introductory press conference as Pitt's new head football coach on Tuesday.

High octane. Fast tempo. Explosive.

And he wasn't just talking about the offense

"We're a no-huddle football team," Graham said at Pitt's football facilities in the South Side. "We're not a no-huddle offense; we're a no-huddle football team. We're going to operate extremely fast: fast tempo, high-octane, explosive. We'll be the most explosive team in the country. That's our goal. But we'll be extremely efficient."

Graham, 46, was hired to be Pitt's football coach on Monday after spending four years as head coach at Tulsa. While leading the Golden Hurricane, Graham assembled a team that put up nearly-astronomical offensive numbers and impressive sack and turnover statistics while compiling three seasons with at least 10 wins.

He takes over a program that won 27 games in the last three seasons but did so with a power-running pro-style offense and a drop-seven defense that relied solely on the front four to create pressure.

The new Pitt Panthers will have a different approach.

"The system is going to be an attacking system," Graham said about his defense, although that sentiment could be applied to either side of the ball. "The main thing that's going to be a drastic difference for them is getting used to the conditioning, getting used to the speed of the game, getting used to our tempo, because our tempo is not just an offensive tempo. It's a defensive tempo as well. The key is getting more speed on the field."

"Speed" was another key word in Graham's extended press conference on Tuesday, and to say that he favors that quality in a football player is something of an understatement. Graham craves speed, desires speed, needs speed.

"The number-one thing in our system is speed and explosive power, and I would list speed three times and then explosive power," he said. "We want to be fast, we want to be efficient, and we are going to be explosive. I want people at Heinz Field to not sit down in their seat. That's the brand of football that we're going to play."

Naturally, the most noticeable change in approach will be on the offensive side of the ball. As college football grows annually toward a more and more high-scoring sport with the top teams each season usually being the ones that produce the most prolific offenses, Graham promised to bring to Pitt a taste of the approach that has taken over the game.

"One-play drives. That's what gets people out of their seats and that's what gets people in those seats, you know what I'm saying? So that's how we're going to play."

Under Graham, Tulsa ranked fifth in the nation in total offense and sixth in scoring offense in 2010. In 2007 and 2008, the Golden Hurricane led the nation in total offense. Now he plans to install that kind of explosiveness to Pitt's offense and defense, the football program as a whole, and the overall school.

"We're excited to bring a high-energy, innovative, high-octane approach to this university."

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