Second Pittsburgh Tenure
Pederson was rehired by the University of Pittsburgh as its athletic director on November 30, 2007, following the departure Jeff Long to the University of Arkansas. Pederson continues to serve at Pitt as athletic director at present. From his original branding changes for the athletic department, only changes to the color scheme and Panther logo remain, as the block PITT introduced by Jeff Long continues to serve as the athletic department's primary logo. Among his actions during his current tenure at Pittsburgh, Pederson has hired volleyball head coach Toby Rens and softball head coach Holly Aprile, as well as sign men's and women's head basketball coaches, Jamie Dixon and Agnus Berenato respectively, to contract extensions. In August 2009, Pederson announced that Pitt's athletic teams would switch from being outfitted by Adidas to Nike and the school unveiled new football uniforms that included design elements reminiscent of those that were worn prior to Pederson's first tenure as athletic director at the university. On December 7, 2010, Pederson forced head football coach Dave Wannstedt to resign following a disappointing 7-5 season.
After a week-long search, Pederson hired Miami University head coach Mike Haywood to succeed Wannstedt. But on January 1, 2011, Haywood was fired by Pitt after his arrest on a felony domestic battery charge made the day before and only hours after Haywood posted bond and was released from jail. Pederson's apparent mishandling of the Pitt football head coach search sparked outrage among Pitt alum and donors, with some having threatened to stop making donations while Pederson is still an employee of the university. Pederson then announced the hiring of Todd Graham as the new head coach on January 10, 2011. Following a 6-6 season, Graham resigned on December 14, 2011, less than one year later, in order to take the Arizona State head coaching position. After much speculation, the university hired offensive coordinator Paul Chryst from the University of Wisconsin on December 22, 2011.
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