Let’s get some things cleared up, that seem to be taken as truth.
Pitt hired a search agency called Parker Executive Search Firm. Somehow, the fee paid to this firm has been claimed to be $300,000. This is false. $300K was what Mike Haywood earned at Miami. Having followed enough of these coaching searches, the fee is usually between $25,000 and $75,000. Still costly but not nearly as absurd as some have stated.
A search firm like Parker does not actually help in picking the candidates. They are well compensated middlemen. The guys who act as go between to gauge interest between coaches and schools. It allows all parties to maintain plausible deniability about whether the two sides talked. Here’s a good story that has Vandy’s Vice Chancellor David Williams talk about using a search firm.
The anger at Pittsburgh media — specifically Paul Zeise at the P-G — for the lack of coverage on the hiring and the two weeks in between has been selfish, cheap and delusional. If you want recruiting updates then pay for them at Rivals.com and Scout.com. If not, then stop bitching about free candy. Beat writers are not recruiting guys. The P-G has a high school guy who covers local area recruiting — like most papers — Mike White. That’s about it.
Pitt sports is our passion. For beat writers it is still a job first. The paper is not paying/won’t pay for the work. Stop acting like covering Pitt and the Haywood mess is a storyline and scandal on a scale of WikiLeaks.
Facts and reality are tough commodities right now. For example, this article from Pete Thamel at the NY Times that many love because it is properly hard on AD Steve Pederson. Factually, though, it has some issues.
After a long list of potential candidates — including Houston’s Kevin Sumlin, Tulsa’s Todd Graham and Iowa State’s Paul Rhoads — refused to even discuss the job, there was a strong perception among college football officials and observers that Pitt did not have a plan after forcing out Wannstedt.
Here’s the problem. It’s probably not true (Dec. 15).
Todd Graham’s name has surfaced as a possible candidate at Pitt, and it’s believed that he spoke to that university’s officials last week, according to sources.
Graham, when reached by telephone on Wednesday, said he will continue his stance of not entering speculation about other jobs.
Just because a story confirms your biases, does not make it truth. Again, the search firms allow Graham, Sumlin and others to state — perhaps even truthfully — that they never even talked directly to Pitt. Maybe they didn’t want the job, but that is far different from not talking.
Moving on.
I am amused to see the local media looking to cut AD Pederson a lot more slack than expected. Essentially saying that he deserves one more chance.
The Haywood arrest and firing leave the Pitt program in a mess. The Panthers are coming off an underachieving season and will play in something called the BBVA Compass Bowl Saturday against Kentucky, a meaningless game that seems more like punishment for the players than a reward. It is getting late in the recruiting process and Pitt doesn’t have a coach. Who knows how long it will take Pederson to find the next man?
Good luck to Pitt overcoming that.
Good luck to Pederson finding the right man this time.
This much is certain: Pederson won’t get another chance.
And no one is sure how much of a chance he actually gets to make this one.
As did Smizik, who I will say got one thing right.
Let me give Pederson and Pitt a piece of advice it’s not seeking. In searching for the next coach, forget the character issues. Most people are decent and will lead a good, if not perfect life. Look for a coach who can win. That’s the prize — winning, not being a model citizen. Some of the more successful college football coaches I’ve known had, shall we say, character flaws.
This I agree, but also figure that to fall on deaf ears. My guess is that Pitt is not going to take a chance on any candidate that has even a whiff of problems. So, yeah, don’t even start fantasizing about Mike Leach. Even Maryland appears highly hesitant to pull the trigger on him.
The conflict, though, is that after the debacle that has turned out to be Haywood there is an argument to be made for the “splash” or hot hire. That Pitt has no choice but to open the checkbook and go after a big name or hot coordinator or up-and-coming coach.
You will excuse me, though, if I refuse to buy anything involving Marvin Lewis. If Pitt wanted an ex-NFL coach who had trouble with player discipline and sloppy play then they would have kept Wannstedt.
As you would expect, most of the reaction to Haywood being gone from fans was positive. The closest thing was a Cinci writer blogging that he should have been given more of a chance. Right.
Generally, the media on a national level seems to have no qualms with Haywood being fired right away. The only thing Haywood seems to be getting other than scorn is shock and surprise from people that knew him.
ESPN analyst Lou Holtz, who coached Haywood for one season at Notre Dame, spoke glowingly of his former player after the hiring at Pitt. He was shocked to learn about the arrest.
“The Mike Haywood I know, that was not his type of behavior,” Holtz said. “I followed him as a player and an assistant coach, and he had a great track record.”
I have to admit watching ESPN all weekend and just stunned that Mark May and Lou Holtz didn’t get talking on this. You had a his former coach and a proud former Panther right there. I really wanted to see them on the subject.
And yes, this is the final straw to kill all remaining hope for this 2011 recruiting class. It’s a lost year and then some.
Onto possible coaches.
I have no idea.
I said the first time around that I would love a guy like Kevin Sumlin from Houston. Mike Leach is a nice fantasy, but his history of conflict with bosses at Texas Tech — and this dates back to before the Adam James crap — is why I just don’t see it happening.
I also said that I would be okay with Frank Cignetti or Tom Bradley.
Yes, Bradley lost out to Addazio for the Temple job. Considering Temple’s hiring success rate is essentially 1 for its last 20, I hardly find that an indictment (especially if you watched Florida’s offense in the Outback Bowl).
Sort of amusing that after Joe Paterno didn’t say one word in support of Bradley for the Temple job — and got called out for it a bit — he is now backing him. While still not allowing for the possibility of a succession plan.
“If they ask me, I’ll tell them I think Tommy’s a fine coach,” Paterno said. “He’s got (a) good, strong city of Pittsburgh contacts. He’s got a brother who’s an orthopedic surgeon and the head surgeon for the Steelers and the whole bit. So I think Tommy should be a very, very prominent person as a possibility.”
“I think Tommy should be a very, very strong candidate,” Paterno later said, adding: “Tommy’s done a good job; he’s a good recruiter, good coach. He’s organized, and I think he certainly deserves consideration.”
Bradley, who just finished his 32nd season on Paterno’s staff, was long believed to be next in line to replace Paterno whenever the 84-year-old is done coaching. But Paterno’s feelings on succession plans have not changed.
Asked if Curley, the athletic director, or Spanier, the Penn State president, has approached him about a succession plan, Paterno immediately said, “no, no, no,” adding a final and emphatic “No!” when the reporter likened it to Florida State and Bobby Bowden.
Paterno said he has not acted on the program’s future beyond him, noting that there are not any guarantees, no matter what the school.
“Would you have predicted what happened at Pitt?” he said.
/sigh
Well, at least while Pitt is effed in the short-term, Paterno is setting Penn State up for a mess down the road.
I will say, if Pitt doesn’t make a hire by the end of the week, then there should be some optimism that they might be making the move for Auburn OC Gus Malzahn. That would probably constitute a splash hire.
Finally Paul Zeise has the big, rambling, I’m back before heading to Birmingham, post. Frank Cignetti could very well be running the Rutgers offense by next week. And there is still no clear indication as to whether Wannstedt will be coaching in Birmingham.
Wheee.
Maybe Shannon and Austin as a package? Like Graham and any Stoops, too.
Or, I say again, a successful CEO head coach with a history of success at a lower level. Probably more than one successful year, though.
“University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg addressed the Panthers football players Sunday at their first practice after Christmas break and apologized for the way the head coaching search was handled and the fact that the school’s choice, Michael Haywood, was arrested, sources told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Mr. Nordenberg promised them the university would hire the right man to lead them and urged them to continue to work hard and to make the program proud.
Not lost on the players and others in attendance at the Pitt practice facility on the South Side was the absence of athletic director Steve Pederson, who often observes practice.”
Read more: link to postgazette.com
These were the Pitt football records for the seven years before Pederson took charge: 3-7-1, 6-5, 3-9, 3-8, 3-8, 2-9, 4-7. Crowds of 20,000 were the norm and ofter smaller.
So for those who think Pederson is driving Pitt’s program into a ditch, you don’t know what a ditch really is.
When Pederson took over in 1996, Pitt played in a dilapidated facility that hadn’t been suitable since the 1960s. The seats were all bleachers, the restroom facilities were wholly inadequate, the concessions were terrible, the parking virtually non-existent.
Marvin Lewis will be head coach, and won’t have anything to do with race. His contract is up, he coached at Pitt years ago, he stunk as head coach of Cincinnati, and he’ll come cheap, yep, Marvin Lewis has Pitt hire stink all over him!!!
5-6 years more of mediocrity!!!!!
They’re claiming they’re gonna get the right guy this time, remember people, who is saying this and who we’re dealing with.
A golden oppurtunity has been presented, and the one athletic dept that can blow it is right down in Oakland!!!!
I would like to ask the Bradley detractors, Why would you not hire him?
The guy has a proven track record both on and off the field. I dont think you have to worry about any arrests or stupid behavior. He obviously knows recruiting and could step right in with no learning curve. He has worked in a winning program for over thirty years and you could argue has probably been the head coach for the past 5 or so seasons. He has been on the staff for two national championship teams in a major bcs conference. He is well respected by just about everyone. He is 54 (I think?) so he could easily coach for another decade and most likely would not be interested in leaving for another job. He has a reputation as a great coach. So what is the negative?
I must admit when Wanny was fired I was on the No Bradley list but after a lot of thought I think he may just be the right man for the job. Just my thoughts…
I will say, the first time around Smiley did a very good job improving Pitt football & Pitt basketball certainly(of course given resources to work with I believe a lot of people could have lifted Pitt up from the depths it had reached, all it took was some commitment and some $$$$) Although I did not agree with his ‘Pittsburgh’ branding and the remaking of Pitt’s brand in the image of him. (indication of what was in store for the future, maybe he held that against Wanny for going back to PITT)
Now to the present, whatever happened to Smiley since he left Pitt in 2002 to the present, is anybody’s guess. Perhaps it all went to his head, who knows. But after he wrought havoc in Cornhusker land(which is immaterial to Pitt in one sense, but does show something about the man’s abilities or lack thereof) and came back to Pitt, he’s been along for the ride.
Jeff Long hired Wannstedt and started the revenue drive to build better venues for baseball and the Olympic sports. Smizik conveniently omitted that. Again go figure.
The major revenue producer, as everyone knows (including Smizik) is football by far. And as everyone knows football revenue pays for all the non-revenue sports(women sports). So if you screw up the football team, all the other sports will suffer as well (at least they won’t be as well funded).
The complete butchering job of the football coaching hire and the subsequent display of said coaching hire clusterf*ck on the biggest day in College football annually, (that being New Year’s Day) has caused our fine University much unneeded embarrassment and who know’s how much damage to our name & reputation into the future. If Pitt was a corporation and the CFO or some other officer caused this much damage to the name & tradition of that corporation, that CFO or officer would surely be held accountable regardless of what happened 10-15 years earlier.
And that person needs held accountable. With the way things work in academia, just like corporations, that person will land somewhere in another cushy job rest assured.
Covering up for ineptitude does no one any good and just continues to tarnish the reputation of the University. Do the right thing Chancellor.
FUN EXCITING AND A WINNER HIRE BRYAN HARSIN NOW!
Who is to say he would be interested? He certainly can deal with poor management and he has had to deal with less than manageable players.
My concern would be his recruiting prowess which is a must considering the current circumstances. My other consideration would be his overall desire and drive to excell, does he still have fire in his belly or is he a beaten man?
Just because an NFL coach has failed does not taint the whole lot. Case in point, Pete Carroll.
I do like Randy Shannon, he should be able to recruit south FL. Not sure about the x and o’s though.
SP is a magician if he can survive this debacle. Never a good thing when the boss has to take over.
Got to love JoePa voicing an opinion. The Pitt program means so much to him. The coward prefers to play Temple, a team that has never beat him.
Poor Bradley, a first class guy that should have made his move years ago. What an endorsement from the Boss.
Everyone saw how WVU dominated the BigEast when they recruited heavily in Florida. Pitt would have a great inroad to that with Shannon. DW as AD would repair the damage done with WPIAL & PA high school coaches. Let’s get this done!
Based on the last coaching search, a lot of second tier names weren’t even interested in talking to Pitt. Unless Pitt is paying upwards of $2.5 to $4 million you might as well throw the big names out.
Here is a link I found with the top 100 highest paid coaches:
link to americasbestonline.net
June Jones is making $2 mil at SMU in conference usa!
Think no-name, cheap, no experience as opposed to them hitting a home-run!!!!
a good amount of talk regarding pitt being “this close” to turning the corner and that 5 points here or there meant Pitt was going to two BCS games (hmmm smizik)
lets recap how bad this team really was this year by looking at how the 5 teams they lost to fared in bowl season:
Utah – smashed by Boise
ND-Miami – pillowfight… but Miami was embarassed (we put up 3 on them!?)
Uconn – massacred by Oklahoma
WVU – wow, how good was this team that crushed us at home???
so lets not look back and say how good we had it and hopefully wanny saves us… sheesh
somehow, Slick Steve gets a mulligan on his disasterous hire… hopefully he uses his extensive football knowledge and experience in successfully hiring football coaches to make the right call
or he’ll look at a powerpoint a consultant/search firm made him and interview two MAC coaches like his last month
ugh… Nordenberg…help!!!
ps- can we let Dixon make the hire in a Izzo-esque move into football???
So Pitt, I’ve laid out how you can afford to hire a better coach. Take SP’s salary, add to the $1 Million you were going to pay Baby Daddy. And then since you’re already on the hook for DW’s salary for the next two years, make him the AD.
That also repairs the massive damage done with Pitt’s reputation with ALL the WPIAL and other PA & NJ HS coaches.
There it is ( I won’t take all the credit, B posted some of this before). But it all makes sense and gets us out from under this gigantic mess.
What do you guys think??
Even though I don’t like Marvin Lewis as a coach (I’ve watched way too many games in which the Bengals lost due to bad clock management). He would be 100 times better than Bradley. Lewis would be able to get high recruits all over the nation with his NFL connections. The best recruits care about getting to the NFL and that’s it.
All this talk proves the point I was trying to make months ago when I would ask if you fire Wanny who do you hire? Regardless of the people stuck in the 70s on here, the hot coaching talent does not believe Pitt is a destination program. Plus, what hot candidate was going to take a job in the Big East? The program would have been much better with the status quo.
Jamie to the rescue. Maybe he’s been on the phone all Sunday with Gary Patterson of his alma mater.
We can only hope.
He needs to be fired immediately. End of story.
Regardless of the people stuck in the 70s on here, the hot coaching talent does not believe Pitt is a destination program. Plus, what hot candidate was going to take a job in the Big East?
But which would have been better keeping Wanny with a top 15 recruiting class or having a botched coach search and no recruiting class? At least with Wanny Pitt was competing for Big East championships. Not horrible.
Of course mistakes are being made in the recruiting search, BUT that’s the chance you take when you decide to change coaches. Anything can happen
People think Wanny is a loser? What is Marvin Lewis? The guy is running a prisoner rehabilitation nfl program, has never won anything and couldnt manage a shoe store.
No thanks.
but i find it interesting that you feel the need to call me “racist” rusty for wanting three good coaches…
I like what CarolinaPanther posted. That all seems to make everything work. It ties all the loose ends together, so to speak. And most importantly it saves face for the University, repairs the damage inflicted, that DW worked so hard to rebuild in the WPIAL and throughout Penna.
It also rewards DW for staying silent thru this whole mess and keeps him at a place he truly loves.
Marry in haste repent at leisure (take your time and get it right, don’t rush it for the bowl or the recruits, the damage is done )
Penny wise, pound foolish (going cheap is often more expensive than paying for quality. No to Bradley, yes to Shannon and his team)
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
(myers, are you nuts?)
Why hasnt UCF been invited to the Big East?
Why arent we looking at George O’Leary for Pitt?
1. Lets interview George O’Leary… UCF football averaging 40k attendance at home and beat an SEC team in bowl game… finished in top 25 (beat georgia)
link to en.wikipedia.org
1b. UCF should be in BIG EAST yesterday
1c. UCF hoops is 13-0, ranked 19th (link to espn.go.com) and beat South Florida… they are better then south florida in hoops and football.. this is such a no brainer
1d. UCF landed the number 52 recruit overall… this program is gaining momentum (Chandler, rated the No. 8 center in the class of 2011 and the No. 52 prospect overall, earlier committed to both Louisville and Xavier, but backed out of each before choosing UCF early on New Year’s Day. He received interest from many top programs, including Indiana, St. John’s, Oregon, Connecticut and Kentucky. espn rumor central)
1e. UCF would have been the best football team in the Big East in 2010
1f. UCF plays in a brand new stadium that fits 45k+ (that is over 4x villanova’s crumby POS stadium)
Marvin Lewis: Really??? Another marginally successful defensive-minded NFL coach from Western PA? Good Lord, NO!
Randy Shannon: He’s been w/ Miami his ENTIRE career! Yeah, he was a good DC, but he was not a good HC!! 28-22 in 4 seasons..at the U where they have a TON more $$ than us. Not a bad choice, and would make a splash…but we can do better.
I still like:
1) Gus Malzahn (if we pony up the $$, I don’t think it’s gonna happen)
2) Mark Richt, if he gets fired from GA
3) Todd Graham
4) Bryan Harsin
5) Dick Rod (c’mon, it’d be fun…)
6) Any of the Stoops
7) Paul Cryst…what happened to his name being thrown around???
Pederson’s also done irreparable harm, in terms of our traditions and heritage. Tearing down Pitt Stadium might have been a necessity, but when you combine that with changing our name, colors and logo it took away a lot that defines a traditional football power. He has no residual good will from this alum and fan, and the Haywood debacle is the last straw. I’d like to thank him for the good things he did for Pitt athletics, while seeing him out the door. He’s got talent, and he could probably do a good job for another school, but Pitt and Pederson have ceased to be a good fit.
I think they will be invited once Villanova wisely decides not to upgrade in football. Really it is a joke UCF hasn’t been invited already. The Big East leadership is so inept.
Regarding Leach, one person with knowledge of the school’s search for a new head football coach said Maryland “got cold feet.”
“They wanted to make the conservative, safe, non-confrontational hire,” this individual said. “That’s the bottom line.”
Responding to the announcement of Edsall’s hire Sunday night, numerous Maryland football supporters and high-ranking athletic department boosters expressed severe disappointment and were skeptical that the choice of Edsall was a match for the lofty goals Anderson previously set forth in his public comments regarding the program’s next football coach.
Former Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt informed his staff this morning that he will not coach in the game, the source said. Wannstedt was forced to resign from his job Dec. 7, but remained with the university as an assistant to Athletic Director Steve Pederson.
Wannstedt scheduled a noon news conference today to discuss the coaching situation. The souce said Wannstedt has not informed Pederson or Chancellor Mark Nordenberg of his intentions as of this morning.
The university’s football program has been rocked the past three days by the firing of coach Michael Haywood, who was arrested and jailed Friday night for domestic voiolence in South Bend, Ind. Haywood, who was hired by Pitt Dec. 16, was fired by Nordenberg Saturday following the arrest.
You and Smizik fail to mention 5-6, 6-6, and 5-7, those records were good enough for brain-boy Pederson is give Wannstedt not one, but two, contract extensions.
How’s smiley face looking now??
What is wrong with Bradley at this point? I admit PSU hasn’t been the best of the Big Ten(what coach is that good in the Big Ten anyway???) Bradley would come here, not demand a massive salary, and either bring his OC or we could look for one that has what we are looking for.
I think with time running out on salvaging recruits, trying to bring a few new ones in, you could salvage this class and as long as we win 9-10 games next year, all will be fine again….
They usually have one biggie, Alabama last and this coming year.
Then they usually do Temple and Rutgers because of a huge fan base there.
They have Michigan, MSU, OSU, IOWA, Wisconsin, they have enough big games, they don’t need to put another one on there.
Secret Penn St fan??? Ask anyone on here, die hard Pitt fan, I like to deal in reality though.
As for the Big East, I do agree with comments above, I love to bash the football conference, but, with TCU, I believe adding UCF would go a long way to making the conference not so laughable.
I never really watched UCF, thought they were just like USF, kind of skrawny, fast little guys, but, after finally seeing them against Georgia, they have some big boys, and seem like a real football team. Not just because they beat Georgia, just the first time I really watched them. I have changed my tune, they would by far be a better choice than Villanova moving up.
Pitt needs to expand it’s recruiting base to include South Florida again. Lots and lots of really good talent, even the 2 stars in Florida are better than most of the 4 stars in PA, OH & NJ. Lot faster game down there, speed kills. That would point to Shannon. Ran a clean program at the U, certainly not an easy thing to do, is a decent enough coach (still learning, probably learned a lot more during his stint at Miami) and is an excellent recruiter, as in Top 10 classes, I think one was even Number 1.
And here’s the key, he and DW are close friends, so this thing could be put together quickly(like before the Bowl Game) and HERE’S THE OTHER KEY, IT TAKES SMILEY STEVE OUT OF THE MIX.
SO HE CAN’T SCREW IT UP AGAIN.
DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION !!