Pitt football hasn't covered itself in glory recently. And by recently I mean about 30 years. They have won four bowl games since 1981. They have finished in the AP Top 25 six times in that period, only once during Dave Wannstedt's six year tenure as head coach. Expectations have been sky-high the past three seasons. The program appeared to be loaded with talent and turning the proverbial corner. Each season the opportunity was there. The Panthers started 2008 7-2, but faltered down the stretch. They started 2009 9-1, but lost to West Virginia and Cincinnati, missing out on the Big East Championship. This year, despite a disastrous non-conference start, they had a two game conference lead with four weeks left. They lost two and again missed out on the BCS. Dave Wannstedt was fired.
Many in the world of college football believe the expectations of Pitt's small but rabid fanbase, that Pitt annually challenge for the national title and BCS bowls, are delusional. Pitt should be happy to win eight or nine games a year. They argue that Pitt will never consistently keep pace with the big boys surrounding them like Penn St and Ohio St. They are a decent program playing in a terrible conference and should adjust to that reality. Steve Pederson, Pitt's Athletic Director, has never bought that. Pederson is the man who hired Jamie Dixon to lead Pitt basketball after Ben Howland left for UCLA. He figured he could do the same for Pitt football. Find the right man and make Pitt a player on the national stage.
In his search Pederson said he wanted a man with prior head coaching experience and a man of high character. Dana Holgorsen, the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma St, had never been a head coach and apparently liked to party a bit too much (he has since been hired by WVU as head coach-in-waiting). Mike Leach had some issues with players at Texas Tech and was probably too expensive (he is considered a leading candidate at Maryland). Tom Bradley's calls weren't returned despite his interest in the job.
Pitt hired Mike Haywood the 46 year old head coach at Miami University. Prior to that Haywood had been an assistant at Army, Ohio, Ball St., LSU, Texas and his alma matter Notre Dame. By all accounts he was a man of high character and a disciplinarian. The Pitt fanbase had mixed feelings and it certainly didn't grab the media headlines. Pitt again went the cheap and conservative route. That doesn't mean that Haywood couldn't be successful. It means that Pitt didn't do something dynamic to excite its fans, which seemed to be the reason they fired Wannstedt in the first place.
Yesterday Mike Haywood was arrested on a domestic violence charge in South Bend, Indiana. While no one is going to condone domestic violence, it is certainly a charge that can vary in degree. Pitt and Pederson are going to come out of this looking badly no matter what decision they make regarding Haywood. The University is taking a wait and see attitude as Haywood sits behind bars in South Bend. There is nothing to wait for. Pitt has no choice but to fire Haywood. It's the easy choice and it's the right choice. With a second bite at the apple, let's hope Pederson makes a more inspired choice for his next head coach.
6 comments:
Steve should retire himself, if not be fired at the same time as the coach behind bars.
I'm sure a ton of people agree with that sentiment.
you are right - some people have commented on facebook, and i agree, how will this affect recruiting? well, it has a serious effect. who is going to send their son to pitt after this? what woman will tell her son, "that's ok, i'm sure she deserved it, it doesn't matter as much as football does, do what i say, not what your coach does," etc.? and beyond recruiting, what about the guys already on the team? who came to play under wannstedt, whose only "moral" failing was being a mediocre coach? there is no way in hell pitt stands a chance now with this guy.
it all comes down to the contract. if the contract allows for pitt to dump the guy, now is the time. instead of "wait and see," i say someone's ass (like the AD) should be on a plane from PIT to an indiana jail today! read the arrest report, question the man, make their own inquiry. it's a slap in the face to the woman of pitt for the athletic director to not take an active role in this investigation. every day you waste waiting on this, is another day top recruits have to consider not going to pitt, and another day a current student has to consider transferring. it's bad enough for these kids that they still don't know who is going to coach them in their bowl game! i mean, that alone reminds me of my parents' version of custody dispute: "you take the kids," "no you take them," "no, you take them." all right already, these kids know where they stand - the longer pitt takes to wait and see, the less wanted these guys are going to feel. sure, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty - ben roethlisberger wrote the book on that - but the sheer fact that he was involved in a domestic dispute that left marks on the woman's body should be enough for them to take action. i'm sure their lawyer takes phone calls on new year's day.
Maybe Pitt should start retaining the Rooneys to hire their football coaches...
Good idea....track records couldn't be more disparate.
I'm sure there is a "for cause" in this contract, so Pitt is probably being prudent in collecting as much info as possible as quickly as possible. If he is charged, he's gone IMO.
Post a Comment