News to upset some of the fans.
Interesting developments in the carosel of coaching…….According to a very good source – and believe me, sources are always very sketchy but this one has never steered me wrong — Dana Holgorsen will not be the next head coach of Pitt.
That’s all I can write about it now, I’ll have more later and I can say it with confidence – Holgorsen is not going to be the head coach at Pitt, pass it on to all who care.
But that doesn’t mean he might not still end up in the Big East…
The rumormill in the twitterverse indicated that WVU jumped in lately to offer Holgorsen the OC position and would then make him HC when Stewart retired in a year.
It’s all very strange.
UPDATE: Colin Dunlap, the PG’s WVU beat writer confirms the intrigue.
Sources confirmed today that a high-ranking official from West Virginia’s athletic department has been in contact with Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen about the head coaching position at West Virginia, even as there is no vacancy.
That job would only come open if West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck fired Mountaineers coach Bill Stewart either before, or after, West Virginia plays in the Champs Sports Bowl on Dec. 28 against North Carolina State. Luck declined to comment.
A source confirmed it is probable Stewart will be fired if West Virginia does not win that bowl game, and could happen regardless of the outcome.
Can you say bidding war? There’s also speculation about the “coach-in-waiting” thing, but that Stewart is ready to resign if it comes to that. Neatly solving WVU’s Stewart problem regardless
Getting to and from Heinz is bad enough. The roads around campus are a disaster on moving in and out days, imagine how bad it would be with tens of thousands more, all leaving at once.
It isn’t the location of the stadium, it is what is on the field. Period.
If Holgorsen WAS Pederson number one candidate as has been reported by not only Zeise but also on pantherlair by Chris peak, do you really think he would come out and say, “oh, yeah, we really liked him and was at the top of our list but it just didn’t work out.” No way. They will deny any interest was there to try and cover their butts and hope people believe it. It looks like some people apparently are believing it.
People like Smizik are saying “no need to panic yet” but so far, they have lost the two top candidates they were interested in (according to two main Pitt writers) and now you have the beat writer saying “they are back to square one.” Call me silly, but I would say panic is starting to be appropriate, especially considering the track record of SP.
Maybe the Pitt Athletic department really is a fine-tuned machine that can fool reporters and not release any information about a coaching search. Do you really believe that, however, based on their history??
I’m not saying I want him or think his style will work at Pitt…but in terms of value (quality coach, potential to excite, proven HC, relatively cheap vs. potential bad press, recruiting challenges, and even worsening Pitt FB brand)…Leach may be the best option.
If Wanny was given chance, after chance, after chance with NO evidence of success…
Holgorsen as HC at WVU with Leach as his OC.
As long as we are looking for rumors to panic over, let’s start a good one.
And Holgorsen wasn’t Pitt’s top two:
“he [Holgorsen] was not at the point where the key decision makers at Pitt were considering him or had taken the steps to begin looking deeper into his background and checking his references as we had previously reported.”
Obviously, there is a lot misinformation going around, which is expected with a bunch of different people with different objectives and goals. It seems that Holgorsen was possibly floating out strong Pitt rumors in order to get WVU to make a move.
In regards to Nordenberg, some people on here seem to think that Nordenberg places a high priority on competing for national championships. But really, it seemms Nordenberg is trying to mold Pitt into a top academic institution. I have absouletly no problem with this. It makes both of my degrees more valuable. Nordenberg doesn’t have the win at all costs mentality and he never will. Some people on here need to accept this.
There are still some fine candidates out there, lets just hope we can find a way to pull one.
Forget about Leach, save your time and energy – Its not going to happen – not now! not ever! Im not saying it would be a bad move but its not reality. I think it is clear though that the Pitt admin is looking to step into the future and hire a more offense minded coach.
Hire Tom Bradley!!!
(Ok, I’ve schilled for Bradley about 20 times so far, I’m pretty sure one of you is going to find me and shoot me if I do it again haha)
Pederson said exactly what criteria they are looking for and will be dilligent in their search (basically Wanny that can coach). I am fine with that. Be patient.
p.s.- look out for Manny Diaz from Miss. St.
(# of available successful coaches) – (availability of better paying positions) / (AD incompetence)^2 * ? = exciting new Pitt head football coach Dick Jauron
2. One of hundreds of faculty members is not the public face of your University.
3. Your football coach is a very public face of the University and whatever the reality, based on available links to interviews, DH does not come across very well.
4. They will be handing the new HC a budget of millions. As Chancellor and AD they better be darn sure about him before they do.
Yes, yes, I know, there would have been no guarantee that Holgorsen could do anything as a head coach, but, again, if they hire a dud, and let that guy go that could have had a chance to fire up Pii, then, they will end up with more empty stadiums in the future.
I’ll say it again, Nordy allready had “the face” of the program, DW, why not just sit in mediocrity with a guy you can have your thumb on?? I mean, you allready had it??????
Also, I’ll be the devils advocate, and be politically correct (something I detest) for the academia……”You mean, you pre-judged Dana Holgorsen, how dare you pre judge this man and not give him his fair shot???”
Ok, I’ll wait and see, they do a typical Pitt move and get another dud, we’ll be right back where we were, with no interest in the program, and no one buying season tickets.
The importance of this hire is absolutely huge. The fan base is in a bad place right now, if it is a dud, Pitt could sink to a new low. Hopefully Nordy and SP are gonna pull a rabbit out of their hat, but, I’ll tell you, if they don’t, why’d they even bother firing DW????????
Which candidates are you referring to that are shying away from Pederson? It doesn’t seem like anyone other than Holgersen has even seriously been in the mix.