My kids have been sick all through winter break.
This afternoon, my wife started feeling ill.
I watched Miami play like absolute garbage against ND and wondered why Pitt had to get their one fantastic game this year.
Pitt’s new football coach is sitting in jail on a suspicion of domestic violence charge.
Screw it. I’m signing off for the night.
Here’s to 2011.
Time for a drink fellow Pitt’ers
Happy New Year !
Cignetti. Your interview begins now and ends next December. Good luck. Kick some balls, win some games, and get us out of this shitburger.
Inside story is that prior to the season Cignetti gave notice that he’d be looking elsewhere because he was being handcuffed. I’m confident he could be great if given the reins.
You forgot to add: Fire Pederson IMMEDIATELY.
Tony in Harrisburg, I do remember you posting that, and reading it and thinking, “hmmm”.
Cool Hand Nuke, absolutely correct, this has to be handled on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. There is no way you can start out even with a whiff of this. Gone immediately.
James from Dallas. Allthough true about the facts, in my lifetime from listening and observing, (no special powers), I’ve found most of the time, where there is smoke there is fire. Yes, occaisionally, you get suprised, but, most of time, usually it is what it is. Police confirming all the red marks, he sits in jail for the weekend???? No, him putting himself in the situation stunk, for it to get even just to this “beginning” point, he must go immediately.
There is no way Pitt can wait a year or two for a trial to “look into the past” of this woman. For Pitt, notice what I said, FOR PITT, this has to end immediately. For him, he can wait for a trial for a year and play his cards. Pitt’s cards have been dealt.
Several people, no, make no mistake, this is soley on Steve Pederson, unless Steve didn’t want him and Nordy gave him a nudge, then, it’s on both of them. Then the board of regents or whatever its called needs to look into it. Absolutely on them, this is their hire. They hired the agency for 300k, squarely on them.
Vetting?? Character, discipline, morals. Yes, the internet is full of lots of garbage and non sense, but, as Tony In Hbg said, you could have done an internet search a month ago, and found some tidbits that would raise some eyebrows. Again, internet full of all kinds of loose items, but, in a hire like this, those should have been looked into, questions should have been asked, people should have been spoken too. Obviously, they were not.
Yes, this a national story (for sports that is), my sister called me from S.Carolina to ask me what the hell is going on up there. I didn’t even know. Hey, at least Pitt football still has some cache that they care enough to put it on!!!!
Yes, Steve and Mark, don’t look at Leach or Holgerson, with all that baggage, this is “your” kinda guy!!! LMAO
People, in blogs, trolls come with the territory, and this is Christmas morning for WVU and PSU trolls. I can’t even fight back against them, they’re right.
I can’t even belive I’m typing this, new Pitt coach arrested, effin’ surreal!!!!
At least it’s not “Same Old Pitt”, definitely a new element to the resume’!!!!
A couple of Jack Daniels’ on the rocks and I’m good to go.
Happy New Year to all of you!
Remember, we’re Pitt, expect the oppostie of what should happen.
What should happen, they should be out in front of this Monday or Tuesday at the latest, hit the press and the public full on, “a mistake has been made, we have released Coach Haywood, we have allready begun a coaching search, and we will be back with you at the end of the week.”
Yes, end of the week at latest, you supposedly allready did a coaching search (I can hardly type that sentence).
Actually, in a real situation, the Channcelor or A.D. if they keep him, should have allready been on the phone tonight with 5 or 6 coaching candidates to feel them out for the situation. Hopefully that is going on.
Sorry you Pederson apologists. The man is a fucking idiot.
Not even sure where to begin with this all, but I agree with much of what you said.
By the sounds of the statement that came out late Friday night, it sounds almost certain that Haywood will never coach a game here. Hearing about breach of standards makes me think he’s done. National media types have been expressing the same via Twitter.
I wonder what this means for Pederson. I, like you, think he needs to be held responsible.
While I continue to agree that the decision to let Wannstedt go was the correct one, this whole thing has become a cautionary tale. As Zeise pointed out, this was a move the administration implemented to take the program in another direction, but they tiptoed around that to try to be decent to Wannstedt and only came off looking like greater bumbling fools in the process.
Beyond that, I get hung up on a few other things. Playing to your point about the background checks, Pederson presumably OK’d the decision to drop $300K on a third-party service for the express reason of researching these candidates.
If those internet rumors about his past histories with women at his previous locations were out there, either one of two things are at play here:
1) the service Pederson hired missed them, making them Horribly incompetent and putting Pederson on the hook for dropping $300K on a service that failed to do exactly what he hired them to do, or
2) the service brought them to Pederson’s attention and he made the decision to overlook them. This could play into the theory expressed in the previous thread that Pederson overlooked character because he considered Haywood a “winner”, given the MAC title and all.
Either way, I’ll be amazed if Pederson makes it through this. I have to wonder what kind of response the athletic department is going to receive from fans in the coming days. Pitt may have acted on Wannstedt in large part because the school was flooded by calls from ticket holders, alumni, etc. threatening to pull donations or cancel tickets. After Pederson played lip service to his national search and wanting to bring in someone who can take the program in an exciting direction, the Haywood hire didn’t blow anyone away and drew plenty of justified criticism for coming off as more of the same (read: cheap, underwhelming).
As this is all going on, the existing program was in limbo with no decision on who was coaching in the bowl game that no one seemed to give a damn about, least of all the athletic department. And now this.
While I believe Haywood is almost certainly gone and Pederson possibly right behind him, I’m not sure tossing the keys back to Wannstedt to fill either capacity is the answer, either.
As far as giving Wannstedt his old job back, that doesn’t solve anything. The program was spinning its wheels under his lead. The fact that he’s simply a better, more stable option than Haywood at this point doesn’t do anything for the long-term future of the program. There wasn’t anything that this Pitt team did this past year to make me think anything would change at all if he came back as the head coach. Bringing him back as coach would be a horribly short-sighted move that does almost nothing long-term and very little more in the short-term.
I’ve seen his name brought up as the potential AD if the school makes the decision to cut ties with Pederson. I wonder if that’s the correct call as well. I have no idea whether Wannstedt is qualified to handle that role, which does go beyond just being a shill for the school. I also have no idea what the events of the last few weeks have done to his relationships with the boosters, the alumni, etc. I have no idea whether he would be any more qualified to make the next coaching hire, either.
In light of other options as an AD, I have no idea. I can’t say I’m up on the AD market, and I’m not sure how many others are as well. If it comes to making that call, I’m just not sure he’s the best person Pitt could get for it.
If I were a Pitt fan, which fortunately I’m not, the last thing I would want would be to see SP go on another coaching search. He clearly has no idea what he’s doing. Wannstedt is Pitt’s best option so long as SP is the athletic director. If SP is removed as well, then perhaps you could have a discussion on outside coaching hires as better options.
But from my perspective, Wannstedt is way more stable than SP, which is why I’d want him back for now.
They got rid of Wanny because they had no choice. The fans were no longer interested (me included) and EVERYONE knew that selling 8 home games next year would be rough if he were still running the show.
They NEVER considered hiring the BEST candidate. They never even approached some of the better coaches in the country that leads me to sadly say that winning football games never entered into the decision process.
They wanted someone who was available, in their price range, (cheap we still don’t know what they agreed to pay this guy) and that they thought they could SELL to the fanbase. They thought Haywood fit the bill as we all watched the SELL job.
Now maybe SOMEONE at Pitt will actually look at a coach that has a winning record for more then one year against good competition, graduates players, and wont assault a women.
I think the will have to CONSIDER writing them a decent check. I doubt that will happen but maybe.
More likely we can watch them try to pull the wool over the season ticket holders eyes again with Mr Honest Safe Guy.
Regardless – has to be cut loose. PITT made a very clear point when firing DW that the HC was going to be held accountable and they can’t switch horses on this.
From Zeise’s article last night:
“Those qualities in a coach were important to Mr. Pederson and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg because part of their reason for forcing Dave Wannstedt to resign — along with his failure to win the Big East in six seasons as coach — was a feeling that he wasn’t tough enough on players who got in trouble and as a result had begun to lose control of the program.
Four players were arrested in less than a two-month period earlier this season, including one, freshman Jeff Knox, who was dismissed from the team when he was charged for allegedly hitting his girlfriend.
Mr. Pederson stressed the Panthers’ need for discipline off the field and was looking for a coach who he believed would bring it to the program and he was impressed by Mr. Haywood’s system of discipline and strict rules.
Obviously PITT swung and missed on Haywood.
These people are EVERYWHERE.
I see now, Zeise finally shows. He got totally played by WVU (or was a willing participant) and he was AWOL for this story. Still no blog from him, so Smizik covered for him. Typical.
SP needs to go as well unless Pitt is running a halfway house.
“The University of Pittsburgh is aware of an alleged incident involving head football coach Michael Haywood,” said E.J. Borghetti, Pitt’s senior associate athletic director. “The university expects the highest standards of conduct from its employees, including its coaches, and any breach of those standards is a very serious matter. The university will decline further comment until more complete information is available.”
1) Haywood is gone
2) The firing statement should come from Chancelor Nordenberg (“The buck stops here”).
3) Pitt should hire Bradley ASAP (This is extremely painful because he will want to bring The Penn State Blue Band with him).
4) Pederson should be terminated ASAP
5) Wanny under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should not become the AD. He is clearly not a manager and sad to say I think he lacks the intelligence needed for the job.
6) LIKE IT OR NOT Pitt will now have to up the payscale for a quality coach and AD.
7) I feel sorry for the number of assistants who now are all going to be out of jobs because Mr Morality // Mr Values was hired to bring Pitt back from the brink of disaster.
I have to go out to walk my dog….hopefully my Penn State and WVU neighbors are still sleeping.
I am ashamed of Pitt for failure to do due dilligence in determining Mr Miami Redhawks background!!
Innocent or guilty, his actions and questionable judgement have bought him a one way ticket out of Pittsburgh. This will drag out for months in the media and legal system. Pitt cannot simply wait this out and hope for the best.
I suppose the best options now are 1.) Frank Cignetti as interim for at least one year. 2.) Tom Bradley 3.) Start from scratch
wow, I was stunned when I saw the news flash on the bottom of espn. But like I said maybe this is an opportunity to find a better option….whomever or whatever that might be.
What if she was leaving, and threatening to harm the child? We don’t know.
When were the police called, and by whom, in order to arrive while she had to be separated from him? Note the original story, from South Bend, states she had to be separated from him, not the other way around. Was he late returning the child after a visit? Was she refusing to let him have a visit? We don’t know.
What was their relationship when the child was conceived? We don’t know. We do know that he lives in Ohio, but pays for the house in South Bend, presumably so his child has a place to live.
Does he have a poor history with women? I have only seen one post, where the poster never returned to substantiate his/her charges, but again, we don’t know. If it is out there, I would think we would have heard more about it, but I would expect it to come out now, if it is there. Until then, we don’t know.
Too much is being made about his staying in jail. Indiana, like many states requires the accused, if the charges appear credible, to stay in jail until a judge hears the case. Even though these have been described as misdemeanor charges, domestic abuse is handled differently. That is because in an abusive relationship, where the abuser is using it to control the abused, the risk of serious harm or death rises drastically once the authorities are involved. The abuser feels his/her power has been reduced and gets even with the woman/man who has defied them by involving the law. The jail time is used to get the abused and any at risk children into a shelter, if possible a hidden one. Sadly, this is something we DO know. Since they don’t live together, this does not appear to be him controlling her. Is she using the child to try to control him? We don’t know.
The budget cuts have decimated the shelter system, at a time when, because of the frustration of unemployment, the need has increased. If you have money you have to decided not to send to Pitt, perhaps you could try to make something positive out of this by finding a shelter in your area, and donating to it. Check out their websites and links, the need is desperate and they are saving the lives of children, women, and even men, in more ways than one.
i dare the pitt athletic office to call me and ask me for more money. i dare them.
UCF’s season is done so it would be easy to get him in to talk…
thoughts?
According to the newspaper account, “She told officers Mr. Haywood held her in a choke-hold and pushed her. Officers said they could see red marks on her neck, arms and back.”
Maybe she provoked it, maybe she didn’t. Bottom line is he got violent with her. That’s enough for me.
the woman dialed 911
Good points re: channeling Pitt donations to shelters.
O’Leary’s screw up may be in the past, but I don’t think Pitt can consider anyone with any baggage. They’ll want to spare themselves any further embarrassment, I hope.
Truer words have never been written.
Bradley or Cigs. Which one will it be?
The players need to know who will be directing their lives for the next few years, the recruits need to know to make important decisions, and the fans need reassurance.
Probably should’ve clarified this a little bit better.
First off, I have zero faith that Pederson could adequately conduct another coaching search. He bungled the Solich/Callahan situation when he was at Nebraska – a search that had since become a cautionary tale in how not to proceed when transitioning coaches in a visible college football program.
With the way this entire Wannstedt transition was handled, he managed to re-set the standard, something that would be hilarious to us (as I’m sure it is to WVU and PSU fans) if it didn’t reek of absolute incompetence. For the record, I want his fingerprints nowhere near the next coaching search, but it’s not my call to make.
Second, the management of next coaching search isn’t an either/or situation between Pederson or Wannstedt. Pitt could very easily fire Pederson and the coaching search could be handled in a number of different ways by a handful of people. Perhaps Nordenberg gets involved. Maybe he hands off the bulk of the management to E.J. Borghetti (Associate AD), perhaps by virtue of a promotion to interim AD.
Perhaps they let Pederson go and line someone up very quickly. Schools move quickly on coaches all the time and we heard a lot about how athletic directors always “have a list” available of possible names in the event that a coach needs to be replaced for whatever reason. Yes, the AD is a more complicated hire, but I’m sure school administration may have the same with Pederson.
My point is this – just because Wannstedt is a better option at this point than Pederson doesn’t mean he’s an ideal option. Pitt needs to move quickly on this, but they also need to be smart and not make any short-sighted decisions.
1. Fire Haywood.
2. Assure Dixon, as was rightly mentioned above by another commentator, that everything will be done to protect the Pitt name. Get ready to revisit and up Dixon’s contract if there is major success in March.
3. If it becomes clear that Pederson knew of some warning signs, fire him. If not, Nordenberg and Pederson need to have a long talk that leaves open the option for resignation.
4. If you’re willing to sacrifice 2011, do the full search and pay the big bucks for a name coach. If not, bring in Bradley or Cig on a shorter (2-3 year) but well paid contract. Let them prove their worth while uprighting the ship.
2. If it becomes clear Pederson was
2. Not MH
3. _______
You have to feel sorry for #3, for the mess he is coming into, except he might get a little bit more of a pass on his first year results.
Unless I wake up in the morning to realize that this has all been a bad dream, Pitt has to sever all ties to Mike Haywood. If he’s a stand-up guy he will resign before the university acts to remove him.
I think Nordy needs to talk to DW, ask him to stay on for another year, and throw him a carrot that he’ll have a chance to stay. Pederson should probably go. Another coaching search will not bring us a great candidate at this point. Some guys they passed over might say go to hell, but 1.5 million dollars might prevent that case too much. Heck, DW might tell them to go to hell too. Unless we get someone great, I say keep DW. Like many people have said, did Pitt even attemp to hire some really young hot coaches from out west like Mendenhall or Peterson ofr guys like that???
Staying in this position even if Pitt lets him, would be tough on him. The media would be merciless.
We CANNOT have an “interim” coach of any kind, though– that would be a slap to whatever credibility remains with this program, let alone a sign to any potential recruits that this remains an unstable, clueless situation. Whoever the new coach is, they must have a four-year contract.
I don’t see how they can go to Cigs, either– the administration (nordenberg included) clearly indicated they wanted a complete shift from DW. Maybe Bradley, maybe Graham or Sumlin, etc. But I still can’t see them nabbing Cignetti. (And those even mentioning that they bring back Wanny are certifiable.)
As a dentist, if this happened to me (no matter the circumstances), I would probably lose every patient in my practice. Period. What type of example does this set for his players? He has immediately lost ALL credibility to everyone involved including fans, alumni, players, recruit’s parents, etc..
We all may have differing opinions on the hiring process and the final solution of Michael Haywood, but as alums/season ticket holders/donors, we must all band together to not allow this man to step foot on our campus EVER again. WE ARE NOT WVU!!!
Why haven’t we seen a statement from Haywood yet? What are they waiting for. He Has been meeting with his lawyers since last night.
Story in South Bend paper…link to southbendtribune.com
Lets assume Haywood gets fired tomorrow, now does he go down in the Pitt record as Pitt’s only undefeated football coach in Pitt’s long history? Pretty ironic huh? And on top of that, while employed as Pitt’s head football coach the only “W” he got was in South Bend where he BEAT his girlfriend! Here we Go! Haywood’s new Pitt chant:
Let’s screw Pitt
Since I got brains of sh*t
Beat my girl, just for fun
I’m dumb, dumb, dumb.
Good coaching improves teams as the season goes on (excluding key injuries). Brian Kelly is a real college football coach……Wanny should NEVER be considered to lead Pitt again…NEVER!!
Paterno – smart, quick, engaging”
Gotta love living in PSU country.
Now a statement needs made asap. Fire and make a new hire within 1 month. IT MUST BE A BIG NAME COACH NOW and guess what??? The price just rose substantially. The new candidate has all the bargaining power. 1.7M to 1.9M or risk being a program going nowhere for 4-5 year. Pederson shouldn’t be fired for this particular hire. Who can tell someone will snap like Hyawood did. He should be fired for the total body of work he has done at Pitt which isn’t much.
The trustees have a fiduciary responsibility for the University as a whole, not just athletics and not just football.
JUST STOP IT. Most police officers do not want arrest someone unless they see no other way to resolve an incident. The women had visible CHOKE MARKS on her neck. Additionally there were marks on her arms and back. This left the officers no choice in the matter but to arrest Haywood.
I can think of NO circumstances were its excusable to choke a women.
This guy has a HUGE problem and needs to spend a few days if not months/years in jail.
I bet your just as glad Coach Haywood isn’t your father.
Our system of laws laws has nothing to do with choke marks. You have to choke someone pretty hard to leave a marks and I highly doubt they were self inflicted.
HEY! That was my joke!!
Nordy needs to have the same talk with Pedersen that Pedersen had with Wanny.
If you can get him at this point, I think DW has a lot of potential as AD. Those qualities of character, nice guy, gets along well, a confidant, would be good in an AD. And Wanny has said he would want the job.
With his reputation in the football world, making Wanny AD would, at a stroke, restore some perception of stability to Pitt athletics. This would at least make the HC job worth considering for those guys that were on the list before (whether they would take it is another matter). It may save a couple recruits. We could hire Wanny on Monday, and begin the coaching search again on Tuesday.
And if JD has any misgivings about Pedersen, this might ease the pain.
Keeping Pedersen, or beginning the search for yet another AD, will mean another 5+ years with nothing to show for it.
HEY! That was my joke!!
Nordy needs to have the same talk with Pedersen that Pedersen had with Wanny.
If you can get him at this point, I think DW has a lot of potential as AD. Those qualities of character, nice guy, gets along well, a confidant, would be good in an AD. And Wanny has said he would want the job.
With his reputation in the football world, making Wanny AD would, at a stroke, restore some perception of stability to Pitt athletics. This would at least make the HC job worth considering for those guys that were on the list before (whether they would take it is another matter). It may save a couple recruits. We could hire Wanny on Monday, and begin the coaching search again on Tuesday.
And if JD has any misgivings about Pedersen, this might ease the pain.
Keeping Pedersen, or beginning the search for yet another AD, will mean another 5+ years with nothing to show for it.
