It was closed. Nothing to see here.
(Calm down guys – Just kidding & still updating).
The news outlets did have some football stories up though…
The Trib has an article on the OL.
After nine days of spring ball, Pitt’s offensive line is unsettled, with only the left side set. All-ACC seniors Adam Bisnowaty and Dorian Johnson man the left tackle and guard spots, respectively, and both have been starters since 2013 (30 starts for Bisnowaty, 27 in a row for Johnson).
But when former starters Alex Officer (left foot) and Jaryd Jones-Smith (knee) return, the offensive line will look different than it did Saturday when Pitt scrimmaged at Heinz Field.
With all the questions concerning the Pitt hiring process and the square dance that Barnes did with that Search Firm John Harris’ article in the Trib on the subject is timely:
Universities’ reliance on a third party has made search firms power brokers in college athletics. And that has raised questions about sports departments’ and coaches’ relationships with those firms.
“It used to be sort of be the old boys’ network,” said Chris Hunt, president and cofounder of Hunt Scanlon Media, which tracks the talent management industry. “This athletic director knew another one. The people (behind) them might be brought up through the ranks to replace them. That’s changed.”
In this instance, Barnes didn’t enlist the services of just any firm. He reached out to a friend. Barnes selected Collegiate Sports Associates, which has conducted searches for high-profile head coaching and athletic director vacancies.
See – there is a fundamental problem with this and the majority of the Pitt fans didn’t recognize it at first – or at least give it the importance that some of the sitting media did at the Stallings press conference. That is when the “Old Boy” network was in place the hiring was done on a wink, wink, nudge, nudge basis – not in the spending of millions of dollars for a name to pop out of the spin wheel.
That is the real issue here – Pitt paid one of Scott Barnes friend’s big money to do something that any other search firm could have done with absolutely no competitive bidding or even estimates of financial considerations given.
Barnes said he trusted Turner to lead the search because Turner is good at what he does.
“I was working with (Turner) two weeks ago on a search, and so we folded right in,” said Barnes, referring to enlisting Turner’s firm to hire Julio Freire as deputy athletic director for external affairs. “I worked for Todd Turner at Washington. I’ve used Todd Turner several times for searches. You get familiar with folks that you use and do a great job. If you’re comfortable with the guy, you keep going back.”
Robert Morris men’s basketball coach Andy Toole, who has been approached by search firms gauging his interest in coaching vacancies, said the rise of search firms mirrors corporate America.
“In what other industry or business do connections not give other people opportunities?” Toole said. “Why would college basketball be the only place where there’s no, ‘Hey, I worked with this guy in the past. I trust this guy. I appreciate his opinion. I was one of his employees.’ Why is that not allowed to happen in college basketball but it would happen on Wall Street, it would happen in the pharmaceutical world, it would happen in media?”
Personally I think there is an whiff of fraud going on here with this using search firms who you are in bed with. Because it is rapidly becoming an industry standard people are saying “Well, everyone does this.” which is a crock of bullshit. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed that the new Chancellor didn’t jump down the AD’s ‘s throat and stop the hiring train in its tracks before it was a done deal… at least until it was vetted by the General Counsel of the University and himself and all were satisfied that it was a legitimate course to take.
I’m not saying the Chancellor or Jerry Cochran had to have a say in who was being hired to coach the BB team… not at all… but certainly in the how of it. But there should have been some serious and formal oversight into the process which apparently there was not.
It needed take very long to do so either. Once Barnes decided to use a search firm he should have called the Powers to Be (who he works for by the way) and stated that action he was going to take and also that he was looking at using a firm owned and operated by someone he has had close financial and personal relationships with.
Look – the bottom line is the University isn’t a private industry business where back room deals can and are made all the time. Far from it. It is a public institution and thus need to be above board in all its dealing.
I just had an interesting to and fro on Facebook with a fan who was pillorying the media for their behavior at the press conference… behavior which I think was 100% justified.
On another note: Is this cool or what?
… and for a bit of history on Conner here is this:
Narduzzi’s treatment of the media borders a bit on paranoia.
I can understand how you need closed sessions. But Narduzzi acts as though it’s the week before Penn State.
A little glimpse once in awhile would be more of a BALANCED approach.
Maybe it will come with time.
Dad we a similar law/statute, the need for a search firm would have been moot.
Sean Miller and his $4M salary would have kept quiet. His lil bro, who wants to remain in dreadful Dayton (that decision should disqualify him from any future job requiring two functional neurons and a synapse between them) would have stayed mum as well.
Only interested candidates could have applied and then, earning his keep, Herman Munster could have started the process of interviewing, betting, negotiating, etc.
Instead, at Pitt’s expense, he takes the easy way out.
More troubling, he used the same firm for the position of deputy athletic director for external affairs…WTF is that? Is Walt coming back to coach?
In any event, this old boys’ network reeks of not only cronyism, but possible kickbacks down the road. Without question, there will be a quid pro quo, and when Herman needs a job, he will be rewarded for his patronage.
Again, at Pitt’s expense.
And his response to this: Just a bunch of noise.
But Barnes played college basketball, was an experienced AD , and served on the NCAA basketball selection committee for the tournament, if not basketball then what sport can he be recognized as an expert. With his background Barnes should have had enough basketball contacts for him to have quietly gone about hiring a coach, not spend $s for a search committee that gives the appearance that it had an agenda of its own. Pitt’s interests were not at the heart of the search but rather to take care of previous clients in the admin and coaching world.
He obviously gave Barnes a “Green Light” to the entire way the Search was handled and paid for.
I’ll wait and see – I’ve got better things to spend my entertainment $’s on than Pitt BB.
Glad to see Conner wearing Chad’s # on the first pitch event – lol
That is not the perception nor direction I was looking for.
Thanks Barney…
I committed to football season tickets last December, so I’m already in for 2016. Decision point again at the end of the year. At the moment I am rationalizing that Barnes didn’t hire Pat Narduzzi and Narduzzi seems like a great hire. However it irks me that I’m providing finances to Barnes’ athletic department.
“Typically, when a team such as Vanderbilt finishes 19-14, loses its first game in the SEC Tournament and is routed by Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament, the coach generally isn’t fielding job requests.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
If so, please let me donate more.
IF (and it is a big IF) the head coaching position was such a tough sell, then offer more coin(within reason). But to keep wasting money on search committees (deputy athletic director for external affairs – you really had to hire a committee for this?) is not only an example of piss-poor management, but inherent laziness as well.
Probably a little of both.
And Gallagher allowed it. I guess he thinks non PhD’s are stupid as well.
“Hey Todd, could you do Pat and me a favor and look up Kevin Stallings’ number in your phone. And by the way, here’s a 100K.”
The biggest disappointment I had about the press conference was the arrogant and condescending attitude that Barnes had both to the press and those Pitt fans he considers “noise”. Barnes does not appear to understand that Pitt Athletics cannot control the media in this town, thankfully! There are plenty of times Pitt fans, perhaps even ones that post here, are quick to bash the Pittsburgh media when they criticize Pitt athletics but they also do it to the professional sports teams with only the Steelers being the exception. That is the press’s right and their job.
HTP!
Quality universities empower their risk executive to oversee such bs happenings, regardless of the high paid talking heads in sports and administration wanting to do what they want. Brand Protection failed. Gallagher needs a right hand person that understands strategic risk. Without that, hubris takes over and poor decisioning occurs.
It’s not necessarily an overarching sports issue (although in this instance it’s true),but a strategic issue. He needs someone to balance and control the academics and the administrator’s. A Switzerland if you will.
Gallagher and Barnes failed this test. The good news is that it is only a mid-term and not a final. The final is cumulative however, so time will tell.
Barnes displayed the hubris at the announcement of the hiring with his “list in his back pocket” and the “splash hire” of someone who would “recruit his tail off”. Gallagher was to know Barnes would say those things that way?
Then Barnes making an ass of himself with his arrogance about “getting above the noise” was again something Gallagher was to prevent? How?
Barnes, whom many here thought was the mastermind playing Dixon, and for the good of the University removing the burden of his contract, seems to have failed this mid-term(even if KS is somewhat successful) and shown he doesn’t deserve a final exam. If he gets one and screws that up too, that’s on Gallagher.
This has been bull shit for the last 15 yrs. Look at the guys who the left staff to become head coaches elsewhere. Look at the schools wanting Brandin Knight for at least an assistant even now.
Same thing about Metro Area kids not wanting to play in the ACC. Again bull shit. When you don’t recruit well you need an excuse. This is the reason Dixon is gone.
It was only a few years ago Lervance Fields’ picture was on the cover of Sports Ilustrated telling the world “PITT is getting it on”.
If Stalling can recruit and get us back in the top 20, then I don’t care how or what Barnes paid. Or what friends made money.
I won’t ever like Stallings, which will make it eisier if PITT starts to lose all the time.
Would like to see Stalling out of Pittsburgh before 6 years replaced by a young hot shot.
That is because the “Barnes was last seen running away from the grassy knoll” crowd can’t let it go.
This particular blog topic began as an empty slate.
It went downhill from there.
There are some stats included but as Sam Werner tweeted the other day … stats from spring scrimmages are pretty much meaningless.
You may remember that just 2 years ago in a spring game attended by 80k at Penn State, a walk-on RB dominated the scrimmage with well over a 100 yards gained. In the fall, he had about 3 or 4 meaningless carries late in blowout games and ended up transferring to a smaller college (Shippensburg or something like that .. maybe Juniata, who knows?) … but the point is that spring practice is to be taken with a grain of salt .. and especially the stats.
Barney on the other hand “dropped” the ball on the BB coaching hire – and we “the fans” DON”T LIKE IT! There is plenty that “we” can do and some of us are doing it.
By the way, there is clear evidence that Sir Patrick G knew of and endorsed this Stallings hire.
Go tar heels – beat nova!
Stallings’ track record is one of proven mediocrity. In a conference less competitive than the ACC he lost more games than he won. One conference championship in 17 years. Completely unremarkable record in the NCAA’s, the few times he actually got there. Why does anyone, other than Barnes of course, think he will be a big success at Pitt is completely beyond me.
Spring practice #9!!! Woo hoo!!!
No, Stallings. Huh???
Ok…….so……what now?? Storm the cathedral?? Pool some money together to hire some investigators?? Bug the phones?
Have Anonymous go after the emails??
What, as a fan, am I supposed to do. Bitch on the Blather all summer long?
No thanks.
The more they know we think this hiring process “stinks”, the better for future Pitt athletic success (IMO).
Have fun with your esoteric philosophical debate on hiring practices.
1) Stallings is hired and I don’t blame him for taking the job. The deal is done so we can bitch here all we want, but I’m with Dan in that I don’t want to see it all summer long.
2) But, as Erie suggested, Pitt supporters have every right to make their displeasure known of the hiring process to both Gallagher and Barnes .. and anyone else in the Pitt admin the choose.
I’m with Dan, water under the bridge. If you think every other AD in the country isn’t hitting up past and present work buddies for help you are naive. I agree, that is their job, build relationships and use them. Barnes chose a route he thought best. His ass is on the line for it.
This is not water under the bridge, at least for me. I don’t know how much you guys spend or contribute to Pitt Athletics, but I am completely pissed that some of the money I’ve given has gone to Todd Turner. Especially with the result being the hire of a 55 y.o. journeyman coach with a proven record of no success. I do agree the best thing to do at this point is to write Gallagher and let our displeasues known.
The AD runs the athletic department, not the Chancellor. The AD is responsible for the hire. The AD is responsible for the process. Gallagher didn’t have much to do with this and besides, it had to pass Pitt’s legal counsel (it was a contract with the Search Firm and Stalling also had a contract after all), it also had to be approved by Pitt’s board of trustees. Gallagher most likely just signed off on what was already vetted by legal and the trustees.
It’s easy to point fingers at the man on the top but he’s pretty well insulated.
And … what happened isn’t illegal. It may stink to wholly hell and we have a right to voice our displeasure with the process but nothing wrong was done here. Search firms are allowed. Search firms owned by friends are allowed.
As fans, we didn’t appreciate the BS. As fans, we didn’t appreciate the non-transparency. As fans, we didn’t we didn’t like feeling duped. As fans we didn’t appreciate the cronyism … but nothing out of the ordinary happened.
This is major college athletics now and the reason many fans and student athletes are so disillusioned by everything with the NCAA stamp.
At this point it’s a done deal. Hopefully, we ensured this won’t happen again and hopefully we put Barnes on notice. Barnes’ F ups are just going to be that more scrutinized. Every decision he makes from here on out will have Pitt Nations eyes on it.
gc – exactly … that’s the bigger concern. Will Pitt learn from it’s mistakes?
He had a press conference saying he was getting a splash hire, set he expectations for all of us super high…then he picked Stallings.
If the search firm would have given someone perceived as a better hire then everyone would be happy.
An up and coming coach from a lesser league is not a better hire than Stallings.
Won’t be able to dismiss that noise.
@Tossing – CEO’s and President’s that stick their necks in the sand, and just sign off on things, usually have short tenure’s. Executive Management doesn’t work that way any more. C’mon fellas. It’s 2016, not 1990. Enron days are over.
So Barnes listens to the fans or donors when he says that he wants to bring a more exciting brand of bball to Peterson Events, but won’t listen to a big donor or 3, or fans when it comes to hiring a coach. Can’t have it both ways chico. Explained differently, any big hiring’s (that generate press), at a university are vetted by the big donors who by the way are typically sitting on the respective boards. If they are not, they typically have designees appointed for them. He dropped the ball and went 90’s on us and Gallagher approved it.
I agree that we will now have comparables with Drew heading to Vandy. Not Vandy versus Pitt record, but Vandy W-L’s and tourney victories versus the last 17 years.
If Drew comes to Vandy and wins (very possible in the weak SEC), Stallings will go down even deeper in the hiring anals. Unless of course if he happens to surpass Jamie’s last five years and does better than one & done in the big dance.
I’m ready for some FB.
Whining is not a skill.
(Edit Note: Shall we peruse the historical SFpitt posts to see what ‘whining” truly is? Lighten up man – this is a blog not national security…)