I’ve got a couple AP wire stories at this point. Harris was introduced as Stanford’s new coach, but no actual comments from him in the brief article.

Alan Robinson, the AP’s Pittsburgh sports writer filed his on Pitt AD Long’s comments at the press conference. Seems he was the only official speaking.

Walt Harris was not guaranteed of returning as Pitt’s coach next season before he was hired by Stanford, Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long said Monday as he began searching for Harris’ successor.

Harris’ status has been in doubt since Pitt chose earlier this year not to extend his contract, which runs through 2006. Many top Division I-A coaches work under five-year rollover contracts that automatically renew each year.

A late-season surge of six victories in seven games that unexpectedly earned the No. 19 Panthers (8-3) a Fiesta Bowl bid didn’t push Pitt into changing its stance, and the school allowed the Big East coach of the year to leave without making a counteroffer.

“You know what? That’s hard to say,” Long said when asked if Harris would have returned in 2005. “We were in an (evaluation) process and had not completed the process so saying any more than that would not be fair. … Coach Harris made his decision in his best interest and now he’s moved on, and we look to move on as well.”

Okay, which is more reassuring. To think that Long was lying when he said that they had not completed the evaluation process before this past weekend; that he was lying when he said that there was an evaluation process; or that he was actually telling the truth?

The least reassuring would be if he was being honest. If Pitt hadn’t completed its evaluations at that point, or weren’t even to a point where the administration had a sense of whether he should be retained or not; then what hope is there that Pitt could actually make a reasonably competent and speedy evaluation and interview of candidates for the position?

Who do they think they were kidding? Everyone knew that the administration had decided that Harris was going after this season. The writing had been on the wall from the start of the season. The whispers, the rumors, the leaks. Never anyone taking direct shots at each other (except for Harris’ agent having an outburst in October).

I’ve gone back and forth on this all season. I’ve passionately wanted Harris’ tenure ended, I’ve defended him and felt he earned a new extension, I’ve sadly concluded it to be best he leave, I’ve reluctantly announced he wasn’t taking Pitt in the right direction long term. That was all in this season.

Long wants the search to end quickly, but said it would take “weeks, not days,” though it could end before the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl against No. 5 Utah – Pitt’s first New Year’s Day or later bowl game in 21 years. Harris will coach the bowl game before officially leaving, as will Florida-bound Utah coach Urban Meyer.

Long wouldn’t identify any candidates, but said he has already heard from coaches currently working in college and the NFL.

I guess the issue of whether Harris should have stayed or been released, for me, came down to, “do I trust the administration to hire someone better?” That’s probably why I decided to hope Pitt retained Harris.

Pitt is off until Saturday when it plays Coppin State. This means a slow news week for basketball — which is okay for providing plenty of time to speculate rampantly on the football side.

Troutman and Krauser led the way for Pitt in beating Penn State. Troutman had a lot of fun at the game, even getting into it a little with the PSU students.

Troutman traded barbs with the Penn State student section during pregame warmups. Then he went out and backed it up by getting 18 points, five assists, two steals and a half-dozen rebounds.
…
Troutman grew up in Williamsport, surrounded by Nittany Lions fans. Penn State recruited him, but Troutman never wanted to play there. And on Saturday, he had no qualms about performing in Happy Valley.

“This felt like a home game to me,” he said, smiling. “I always like to come up to Penn State and beat ’em. I told my teammates, this is home.”

Krauser had a really good week. Even when he only scored from the free throw line against Memphis and then went off for a career high against Penn St. Lots of scoring. More of it coming in the crunch times at the end.

Krauser earned Big East Player of the Week Honors. According to the BE weekly report (PDF), this is his second PoW. Troutman was co-Player of the Week last week.

Predicted stories this week: more on Graves’ improved play; what is wrong with Chis Taft; DeGroat and Benjamin adjusting; and why was Ramon shooting so much better when he got to start as opposed to coming off the bench?

Okay, the last one was one I think might be a good story, but won’t likely occur. A bit unfair, anyways, too small a sample size.

Well, Pitt lowballed Harris to force him to leave:

Harris met last week with Pittsburgh athletic director Jeff Long, but the school didn’t offer him an extension for more than the close to $600,000 he was earning. Pitt sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko campaigned for the school to keep him.

“I have accepted Walt Harris’ resignation from the University of Pittsburgh so that he can accept the same position at Stanford University,” Long said in a statement Sunday. “During his eight years at Pittsburgh, Coach Harris has done an exceptional job revitalizing our program both athletically and academically. We are grateful for those efforts and wish him the very best in his new position at Stanford.”

Hopefully the Pitt won’t try to insult our intelligence too much in the future and claim they wanted him to stay. I’m sure there will be attempts at revision down the road, but attempts to spin it that way now would be foolish. Here’s a timeline of key moments during Harris’ tenure.

Harris very openly admitted he wanted to stay at Pitt. The school chose otherwise. Bendel makes a very good point about Harris having taken the high road all season long.

Pitt coach Walt Harris gathered his players and assistants at the indoor practice facility on the South Side on Sunday and gave them emotion-tugging news:

He had accepted the coaching job at Stanford.

The 15-minute meeting ended with Harris walking out the doors and being greeted with a “congratulations,” from a bystander. Harris shook his head and said, “I don’t want congratulations.”
…
In yesterday’s meeting, Harris told the players and his assistants that he would have preferred to remain at Pitt, but he ran out of options when it became clear that he would not receive an extension of his contract, which runs through the 2006 season.
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Harris also absorbed heavy criticism for some of his play-calling, including his “slide” call in a loss at Connecticut this season. Yet, he never reacted publicly to any of his critics, including talk-show callers, internet posters and columnists. He stayed the course and turned the season around, as Palko emerged as a bona fide star.

The press conference is at 6pm in California. The Pitt spin press conference is at 3pm.

The speculation is who gets the job next. Names are already being bandied about.

Regarding the coach search, read Smizik today. I agree with him. You know that doesn’t happen often. Not just the obvious — Pitt needs to get this right — but this part.

In replacing Harris, Pitt can not be hung up on hiring a coach who will be eager and willing to spend all of his career there. No college likes to think of its head coaching job as a stepping-stone, but, in fact, almost all jobs are just that. Some are stepping-stones to better college jobs, some to NFL jobs.

To hire a coach who wants to spend the rest of his career at Pitt could mean hiring a coach who’s not willing to reach for greatness.

A key to who Pitt hires will be how much it’s willing to pay. Salaries in excess of $1 million are not uncommon in college football. If Pitt wants someone with a proven track record, it will have to commit to such a salary. Finances should not be a concern. You get what you pay for. The right coach will bring in a lot more than he’s paid.

Pitt has had the advantage of knowing for a long time that in almost all certainty it would be seeking a new coach. Some of the exploratory work should have been done. It’s possible, in fact, Pitt already has its man.

I can only hope that the last bit is true. That the school has actually been preparing. Yet, I have serious doubts about that.

Regarding some of the names, I don’t have opinions on all, but I will list a few and what my impulse says:

Paul Rhoads: NO!!!!

Dave Wannstedt: Worth a shot, if Pitt coughs up the cash to pay him and the assistants he will need.

Russ Grimm: He seems to be looking, and considered mainly for the NFL.

Bo Pelini: I could live with it. He’s ambitious and driven.

Sal Sunseri: I just don’t know.

Bob Davie: Mixed feelings. Knows football, and a decent recruiter, but if you are talking about reaching the next level is he really the guy?

Tom Clements: Just because ND showed some interest in him, does not make him a hot commodity.

Tom Bradley: Plenty of irony. Not sure it would happen because of fears he could ultimately leave to take over PSU. Though the idea of it sparking some sort of modern day coaching feud (Woody-Bo; Knight-Krzyzewski) would be appealing.

Rick Neuheisel: Win, but at what price? Not a fan. My feelings can be found here.

Now, if it were me, I would like to take a hard look at some guys in the MAC. Jim Novak at Northern Illinois, Tom Amstutz at Toledo and Terry Hoeppner at Miami (Ohio) all should be considered.

We will be watching closely.