It’s a little more than a week before the Backyard Brawl, news stories have slowed to a trickle. Not that there aren’t things to talk about.
Joe Bendel’s ESPN.com Insider column has this to say:
The Panthers (6-3, 3-2) were part of an instant classic in a 41-38 upset of Notre Dame – and sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko was the featured attraction.
He became the first QB in history to throw five touchdowns against the Irish and finished 26-of-42 for 334 yards, while completing passes to 10 different receivers at Notre Dame Stadium. Former Pitt coach Foge Fazio, who coached Dan Marino, said it was one of the best individual efforts he’d seen.
Coach Walt Harris simply said, “Incredible.”
Because of Palko’s exploits, the Panthers are back in the running for the Big East title, provided they beat WVU on Thanksgiving night at Heinz Field and Boston College loses one of its final two games.
Pitt also has an outside shot at the league’s BCS berth, but, once again, it would need help. Should the Panthers miraculously gain the BCS bid, Pitt administrators must think long and hard about the future of Harris, who is said to be on his way out.
Seems as though Bendel believes a change will be made regardless. As for WVU
WVU blew the opportunity due to poor special teams play in a numbing, 36-17 loss to BC in Morgantown, a place where the Eagles hadn’t won since 1990.
The season is far from over, but the WVU Nation will be sick for a long, long time if BC steals the conference’s BCS berth before it jumps to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
All WVU can do now is hope to win its Backyard Brawl on Thanksgiving night at Pittsburgh and pray BC loses one of its final two games (at Temple and at home against Syracuse). Past that, a once-glorious season will be rendered disappointing.
After the BC loss, questions were raised as to whether WVU was overrated entering the season.
The debate can go on for hours, but this much is certain: The Mountaineers own just one victory against a Division I-A team with a winning record, that being 5-4 Connecticut.
WVU was not dominant in defeating lowlights Rutgers and Temple earlier this season and needed overtime at home to defeat a Maryland team that we’re finding out is not very good.
To the Mountaineers’ credit, they never came out and said they were world-beaters. It was the preseason prognosticators who laid such heavy expectations on them.
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That said, everything seemed to be there for the taking – no Miami on the schedule and just one opponent in the preseason rankings. Fact is, West Virginia is a solid team, but an easy schedule covered many of its warts, some of which were exposed on Saturday.
I really wish they had won that game. Not just because the idea of BC getting the Big East BCS bid makes me physically ill. The idea of facing the Mountaineers — overrated or otherwise — after a bad loss like that is not a good thing.
WVU’s preparation, notwithstanding poor special teams play, looks to center on contatining Tyler Palko.
“Here we go again,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said the other day. “Another problem for our defense with a quarterback who’s athletic and accurate.”
The Mountaineers survived Temple’s Washington, a 6-foot-2, 240-pounder who’s a fullback in a quarterback’s uniform. Washington rushed for 117 yards, threw for 206 and accounted for all three Temple touchdowns in West Virginia’s 42-21 victory Nov. 6.
Peterson was another matter, though.
Considerably smaller than Washington at 6-0, 190, Peterson nevertheless put a large hurt on the Mountaineers Saturday, throwing for 162 yards and two touchdowns and causing all kinds of missed tackles with his defense-wrecking scrambling in Boston College’s 36-17 dismantling of West Virginia.
Pitt’s Palko is next up for the Mountaineers’ defense, which will attempt to contain him Thanksgiving night at Heinz Field.
“Palko brings the best of [Washington and Peterson],” Rodriguez said. “He’s big like Washington and he moves like Peterson. Washington scrambled to run the ball. Peterson scrambled to throw the ball. Palko will do both. To me, he’s carrying that football team offensively.
“He’s bigger and stronger [than Peterson] and a great athlete, too. The last couple games we’ve faced pretty mobile quarterbacks and we haven’t defended them well. That’s a concern. Again, tackling’s been a problem. We have to shore that up.”
Of course he is carrying the team at this point. He is helped by a group of receivers and tight ends that have improved dramatically, but it is all on Palko right now. Pitt has no running game and the defense is, um, suspect. This article from the Dominion Post makes a similar point, using the same quotes that were culled from the Big East Football Coaches Teleconference calls on Monday. The only additional notes are that running back Kay-Jay Harris, wide receiver Eddie Jackson and tight end Ryan Thomas all have knee sprains but are expected to be ready by Thursday night.
Alan Robinson, the AP Sports Pittsburgh reporter, looks at Pitt’s muddy bowl picture. If Pitt wins its last 2 games it will likely go to the Insight Bowl. If Pitt loses 1 of the 2 or ND upsets USC, Pitt would end up in some other non-BE affiliated bowl. Robinson thinks the Silicon Valley or Emereld Bowl because of the lack of bowl eligible PAC-10 teams.
[Before I get to the final story, I have throw this out there. Must be something about the Big XII and the BCS this year to freak out the coaches. Now you have Bob Stoops claiming ESPN analysts have bias towards the SEC over them, because of financial contracts. Can you say panic?]
Now we come to a column by Bob Smizik on Coach Walt Harris. Deep breath. Release. This could take a while.
The worst thing that ever happened to tired, lazy, unthoughtful columnists of any subject — metro, politics, lifestyle, sports — was the internet. Previously, they could throw out their columns and shift sides without explanation or concern. Really, who cared? You might, after a while conclude about their biases, but only an obsessed crank would hold all the old papers or clip the columns to show inconsistencies and stupidity. Nothing to worry about. Move from one side to another, depending on the wind. Now, their crap is on the internet. Preserved and retrievable without much effort. Most still don’t get it. They just seem to think that the internet has given voice to more cranks. What has happened is that technology has just made it easier for even the everyday person to quickly check something if it gets under their skin. Makes it easier to go from hunch or suspicion to presenting the proof of why a columnist is a hack.
With that in mind. Here are the Smizik archives. Go find a story even vaguely positive towards Harris in 2004. Then take a look at 2003. It’s enlightening.
About a month ago, there was no doubt about the future of Walt Harris. His Pitt football team lost to Connecticut and narrowly defeated Furman and Temple. Impartial people close to the program were suggesting he had lost his coaching staff and his team. He was as good as gone, and the decision appeared to be mutual inasmuch as his agent was doing his best to facilitate the separation.
No question he was as good as done. We were drawing up lists. Smizik had his own. I wonder about the claim of “lost coaching staff and team,” though. Never saw that reported by anyone. Must be part of that special, secret information that they Smizik was saving until after Harris was fired.
There is no such certainty today. Pitt started the road back Oct. 16 with a win against Boston College, which is ranked 19th. It arrived with a win Saturday at Notre Dame, which had been ranked 24th.
The Panthers stand 26th in The Associated Press rankings and are certain to be in the top 25 if they beat West Virginia Thanksgiving night, a challenge they appear up to based on the recent play of both teams.
So … is Harris out or in?
Well, you know how I broke it down. And the whole thing has been a yo-yo for me on whether he stays or goes. The P-G beat reporter thinks it comes down to beating WVU.
First, some background. Although the media always take the hit on these things, the immense speculation about Harris’ future stems not so much from his record or even his coaching ability but from the fact Pitt has not offered him an extension. Although Harris has two years remaining on his contract, by the standards of college football today he should have been offered, at the latest, an extension after last season. When none was forthcoming, speculation correctly began and escalated as the 2004 season turned rotten.
This is, shall we say, a slippery argument. Actually, what it is is disengenuous. Harris didn’t get the extension after last seaon because of — wins and losses — his “record.” Speculation is one thing, but lets be honest. Suppose Pitt and Harris had gotten together before the 2003 season and had hammered out an extension then, when everyone was feeling optimistic. Regardless of an extension, you don’t think there wouldn’t still be a lot of speculation, discussion and rumors about firing Harris? An extension might have muted it somewhat, but it still would have been out there.
As for his claim that the media is being blamed for leading the charge. I guess he feels a little sensitive from national commentary, in various places.
When a columnist actually bitches about the Coach being precisely 12 minutes late for a 34 minute press conference, declares Harris needs 7 wins to keep his job, a shot at Harris for not releasing Getsy from his scholarship when he transferred, calling for him to resign mid-season, presenting his list of possible candidates to replace Harris, and the sheer numbers of columnists taking shots; well you might be argue that they weren’t leading, but they sure as hell weren’t bringing up the rear.
But it’s smelling oh, so sweet today.
If the Panthers defeat West Virginia and South Florida, which is having a disappointing season, they’ll not only finish a better-than-expected 8-3, but they’ll have an outside chance of playing in a lucrative Bowl Championship Series game and a better chance of being invited to the Gator Bowl, a New Year’s Day game.
How do you fire a coach who put together that kind of season in what was expected to be a rebuilding year?
The answer is, you don’t. You tip your cap and give the guy an extension. Funny to see Smizik, even inadvertently admit that this was a rebuilding year, i.e, reduced expectations.
As for Harris, who is said to be sick of what he calls the “negativity” surrounding the program — to say nothing of the Pitt administration’s disrespecting of him — will he be so eager to leave?
Only if the money isn’t right, or the money is better somewhere else. Otherwise, money and winning tend to cure most problems.
This “negativity” commentary from Harris. When and where did it come from? It’s not that I don’t believe he said it — too many other writers have referred to it. It’s just that the actual comments were never reported when made. I’m guessing it was some radio interview, but it has never made the papers except in reference to Harris making the comments.
For the first time in his eight seasons at Pitt, Harris has a quarterback he can cherish. Not since Pete Gonzalez, in 1997, has Harris had a quarterback who understands his system like Tyler Palko. And he has never had a quarterback of Palko’s ability. Much was made of the athleticism of Rod Rutherford, the starting quarterback in 2002 and 2003. But Rutherford had beefed up so much by the time he was a senior he was an easy target for the all-out pass rushes Pitt saw with regularity. Palko deftly avoids such rushes and has the mobility to turn bad plays into good ones.
In praising Palko after his superior performance — five touchdown passes, no interceptions and 384 yards of total offense — against Notre Dame,
Harris said, gushing, “and he’s only a sophomore.”
Any coach would love to have this mentally and physically gifted quarterback for two more seasons. That’s especially true of Harris, who prides himself on his offense in general and his ability to develop quarterbacks in particular.
Palko would be tough to walk away from.
Yeah. And?
So is there a chance this divorce can be halted? Can the Pitt administration and the coach regain the respect they once had for each other?
Yes. Contract extension — and a greater commitment of money for hiring assistants — and actually clearing the air behind closed doors would probably do it.
Probably not.
Oh.
The fact Harris is winning this season isn’t likely to change the minds of Pitt administrators. It’s not as if he hasn’t won before. If Pitt finishes 8-3 this season, its record for the past three seasons will be 25-12. The previous Pitt coach to win 25 games in three consecutive seasons was Jackie Sherrill. No coach since Sherrill left after the 1981 season has won more than 22 games in three consecutive years.
This is a crap argument, and Smizik knows it. Winning is one part of the equation. Another part is expectations. That is where you can criticize Harris. As he has rebuilt the football program, expectations rose for the season. When bigger steps were expected, they didn’t happen. The problem with expectations is you can argue that they are fairly subjective (ask WVU this year).
When Harris went public last summer about how poorly his camps do compared to Penn State’s and Ohio State’s, it frosted Pitt administrators. Understandably, they believe such complaints should be kept in-house.
Again, I presume the complaints were on the radio, and the press never bothered with them? Glad, you are just now giving a blind claim that “it frosted Pitt administrators.” An off-the-record story from someone in the Pitt Athletic Department you’ve been sitting on until now? You’re asserting it as fact, so it can’t just be speculation or presumption, right?
Additionally, they can’t like his well-known record of game-day coaching blunders and it’s hard to believe they approve of his insistence of stretching himself ridiculously thin by being head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
No one is fond of his game-day coaching issues. As for the latter, go ask your paper’s beat writer about the money component for assistants. I agree that he should drop the OC or QB duties, but money is a legit issue.
For his part, Harris is tired of the criticism from fans and media, especially when his won-loss record is considered. He believes he has done a terrific job of resurrecting the Pitt program and having a winning record every season.
At 58, he’s not likely to get another head coaching job, but that might not bother him too much. He’s respected for his knowledge of offensive football and would be a strong candidate to become an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach in the NFL.
Right. What a load of speculative crap. It’s not like the coaching ranks aren’t loaded with guys in their fifties and up. Especially guys that have successfully built programs. Ask Bobby Ross.
If Pitt wanted, it could hold Harris to his contract for another season, thus saving money by not having to pay two coaches.
But that’s unlikely. The differences here are irreconcilable.
What an incredibly dumb thing to write. We all know that wouldn’t happen. That would be suicide for the program. You think recruits are thinking hard about committing to Pitt this year because of no extension? You think fans would renew and buy season tickets in droves if Pitt tried that cheap-ass tactic?
Pitt figures to be looking for a new coach, perhaps by the end of the month. A name that will pop up early is Bo Pelini, 37, a fiery, young guy, who is the co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. He’s from Youngstown, Ohio, and has an impressive resume, which includes winning the Alamo Bowl as interim coach at Nebraska last year and stints with three NFL teams. He is said to be a favorite of at least one Pitt administrator.
Which is precisely what Harris is not.
Another off the record tidbit? Or is it just Smizik’s way of trying to push his choice?
