in Pitt Football 955 Words

POV Bits & Pieces; 3/22/18

Rival’s Chris Peak has a piece on Pitt’s  FB history:

Carson Long likes to study history, and when the former Pitt kicker digs into the history of his alma mater, the early 20th century stands out.

In those years, Pitt was a dominant force on the football field, and that dominance was led by Dr. John B. “Jock” Sutherland. The Panthers’ head coach from 1924-38, Sutherland directed the team to a record of 111-20-12 and five recognized national championships.

It’s a period of time that gives Long pride, but in the course of his research, he sought out Sutherland’s grave in Homewood Cemetery, and what he found inspired anything but pride.

“I went out to his gravesite and found it deplorable,” Long said at Pitt’s South Side facility on Tuesday. “So I called my friends and they said, ‘We’ll fix this.’”

This morning’s P-G on Hurley:

The man who was Pitt’s top option in its search for a new men’s basketball coach is going elsewhere.

Dan Hurley, the current coach at Rhode Island who was reportedly offered big money by the Panthers to come here, has decided to instead take the vacant position at Connecticut, the school announced Thursday morning.

Between Pitt’s offer of more than $3 million per year and Connecticut’s status in the American Athletic Conference, it appeared that the Panthers might have a shot to lure the 45-year-old New Jersey native who was atop their list. But in the end, he’s taking a six-year deal from the Huskies, per ESPN, and Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke must look elsewhere.

In the “You have to be shared*thing me” department Brian Batko writes this about Max Browne’s chances in the NFL:

It’s very possible, maybe even highly likely, that a Southern California quarterback will be the first named called next month in the NFL draft.

Max Browne admits that four years ago, he expected that would be him, not 20-year-old pro darling Sam Darnold, his former teammate.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” Browne said with a smile. “When I went to SC, I’ve always been an academically inclined guy, so the mindset was to start for three years and get out, get a shot at the NFL, which is exactly what he’s doing. He’s a great kid, and I couldn’t be happier for him. But yeah, that was definitely the mindset five years ago. It’s funny how things change.”

Can’t get enough Aston news…from the P-G again:

According to Aston, he feels completely healthy after his apparent lower-body injuries. But running backs coach Andre Powell refuted that — or maybe he just knows Aston has more in the tank than he’s shown so far this March.

“I’ll be glad when we get him back 100 percent. … When we get him fully back, I think our offense will pick up a notch,” Powell said. “Practice is a lot different when George is around. It sounds different, it moves quicker, it’s normally more productive when he’s around.”

From the Tribune-Review here are some readings:

Whitehead and Pro-Timing day…with a dig at Combine training.

A hamstring injury kept Jordan Whitehead from doing any events other than the bench press at the NFL Scouting Combine three weeks ago.

He was much more active Wednesday at the annual Pitt pro day, and he hopes NFL talent evaluators took notice.

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi certainly did.  Asked which of the 11 former Panthers players benefited the most from the workout, Narduzzi singled out Whitehead, the safety from Central Valley who declared for the NFL draft with a year of eligibility remaining.

“He went away to train, and I don’t know what happened there,” Narduzzi said. “I think if he had trained with (Pitt strength coach) Dave Andrews, he probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt. But he had a hammy and went to the combine and didn’t get a chance to do much there.

“He had a 4.5 in the 40, which is important for him to test. That was the guy. … Guys that didn’t go to the combine, those are guys who have stuff to prove.”

Coachspeak is alive and well on the Southside...

Working during spring practice with a position group of proven veterans and intriguing youngsters, Pitt running backs coach Andre Powell likes his options in devising the depth chart.

“I have a good handle on what we’ve got,” Powell said Tuesday from Pitt’s South Side facility after the fifth practice of the Panthers’ spring. “We have got two veteran running backs who can play winning football and can do a lot of things. We’ve got some young guys who we have got to develop, and we’ve got a talented guy coming in.

“So it will all sort out. We will get a good plan this summer in how we get guys ready and what roles we put guys in, and we will go forward and execute the plan in training camp.”

As to the LBs:

MAKING ‘DUZZ’ SAY ‘WHOA’

Asked a more specific question about Pitt’s linebackers group, coach Pat Narduzzi gave an unsolicited and highly positive assessment of the group in general.

“If you had to say, ‘Give me a position where I would say ‘whoa’, our linebacker corps is pretty good,” Narduzzi said.

Narduzzi said he was impressed with the linebackers during Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Heinz Field. He noted veteran returning starters Elijah Zeise and Saleem Brightwell can play each other’s spots and also singled out a couple of redshirt freshmen.

If anyone has an idea for an article send it to me or draft it up and get it to M to polish and post.

HTP !!

 

 

 

 

306 thoughts on “POV Bits & Pieces; 3/22/18”

  1. Word was after kicking Dixon out was that no good top coach wanted to come to Pitt. After Stallings it appears to not only be true but even much worse than before.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. well, it that’s the truth … everyone should look in the mirror, we are all to blame. Most of us complained about Dixon and even more complained of Stallings

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      1. I disagree….the Pete has been full & rockin’ plenty of times. The only reason a coach won’t come here is because of the BoT & Co. and their stance that sports isn’t important.

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  3. @wbb
    I admit, I complained about Dixon, and I would take being routinely competitive, flaming out in the tournament, over this fiasco. Though pitt pushed out Dixon for their reasons, not because of the fans. We all know they could care less what their fans think.

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  5. If you paid top money a top coach would of came behind Dixon. Pitt was led by con men and that is the problem not fans. A Competent AD makes the right hire. We could of got Bryce Drew for 3M easily. Blame the people paid to make these decisions. Watermelon Head Barnes and the Chemist.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Notice that wasn’t one word (that I could find) published about the Saturday scrimmage the Panthers held.

    This closed down news and the Iron Curtain surrounding Pat Narduzzi and the team is totally ridiculous coming off of a five wins season… and they’re not giving the fans anything to look, at anything to digest at all. It’s all coach speak from individual staff members but nothing about what people are actually doing.

    Also here’s an article about the pro day that they had yesterday.

    http://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/3/21/all-32-nfl-teams-attend-pitt-football-pro-day.aspx?path=football

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    1. Agree that this approach does not put butts in seats, generates no enthusiasm or interest among existing fans let alone develop new ones. Definitely the wrong approach when you have a half empty stadium, most of the time.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Most people said he would go to UConn, but now we are hurt, indignant, miffed. Seriously, Pitt is a hard sell.

    No one, including Dixon has been able to recruit here. The support of administration has always been questionable. There is very little history of success. No NBA Hall of Famers played at Pitt.

    Plus the field of available Head coaches is extremely limited. There is no brain trust available to find the up and comer. No matter who we get he will be derided by many “Pitt Fans”. The team plays in the ACC, so who thinks they can put together a team and compete in short order? There was no pressure when Howland was hired, his success was a welcome surprise.

    Any one that didn’t see this coming hasn’t been paying attention.

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  8. On FB, I agree that the lack of any news from the scrimmage is very disappointing. Pitt needs to realize that they need to feed the fans with doses of “hope.” We need to hear that this guy did this and looks promising, that guy did that and looks like the light went on, etc., etc. etc….

    On BB, I’ve had the opinion that a top coach will not want to come in here and have the next two really poor W-L seasons on his personal record. We have to find a up-and-comer coach for whom a starting salary of 1.5 million would be a huge raise. Use the other money for assistants and recruiting and build a lot of performance-incentives into the contracts.

    Go Pitt.

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  10. No one at the school understands anything about sports marketing. It simply HAS to be that they don’t care.

    Reed, you know Borghetti pretty well, right? Ask him for us (me) how it is that he doesn’t understand that it’s BAD for the football team to not release information. Down my way, there’s 3-4 articles DAILY with updates from PSU. At Pitt? Nothing.

    I’m not asking for digital downloads of the playbook or streaming videos of practice, just some insight from reporters and maybe some recruiting news. How about a media summit with the athletic department and Pittsburgh outlets- Trib, PG, POV, Blather, PSN, etc. Hell, invite the City Paper and the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh! Clearly there is a disconnect there.

    Our athletic department may be comprised of fine people but they are ineffective, at best. I get it. We’re not ND or PeeSU or WVCC but there are SOME of us out there who care. It’s their job to make MORE of us care.

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    1. You are preaching to the choir Jay. I can tell you the EJ has a very tough time of it with the info blackout and closed practices (which any PR guy would hate).

      I get a lot of flack on here about my stance on Narduzzi’s practice policy, and some readers take that as me “not liking” him, but that’s not true. He has made a terrible mistake with that but I accepted his paranoid outlook long ago.

      Every Pitt coach I can remember had open practices and they still won football games.

      Narduzzi has a 55% win rate. WH (open practices) had 54% wins; DW (open) had 58% wins and PC (open) had 50%…there is no proof at all that losing practices across the board makes a bit of differences for wins.

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  11. Adam Zagoria@AdamZagoria

    After losing out on Dan Hurley, Pittsburgh is now talking to Buffalo coach Nate Oats, per multiple sources.

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  12. Depressing but if any of the top tier remaining candidates (Musselman, Oats, Grant, Hopkins, or Padgett has reached out and said they WANT the job, make them a more than fair offer and give them a short window to decide. H2P!

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  14. Nate Oats won’t get a single person excited to renew season tickets let alone attend a game. This fiasco reeks of the days of Nordy and Pederson. As they say the more things change the more they stay the same. SOP 4 EVER

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    1. I like him but you are right. Get a name for God’s sake. This fire won’t go out with Oats. He coached high school a few years ago.

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  15. Back to FB, I predict Pickett will be responsible for Pitt putting an additional 5000 paid seats in Heinz this coming season. That’s 5000 plus seats outside of the PSU game which we all know will be a sell out without any help from the Pitt marketing department.

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    1. 80% of the average person in Pittsburgh never even heard his name. Throwing a billboard on 51 next to China Dragon won’t help. No Campaigns No Marketing No Practice info. Narduzzi is a dolt.

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  16. BTW… I’d consider Oats a great hire as he has to 4* recruits committed to Buffalo…I repeat Buffalo!

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  17. Enjoyed the short on Carson along and the Jocks gravesight..any more info on Carson.. is he living and working in the Burgh ?

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  18. Unfortunately I don’t think anyone hired at this point is going to put butts in the seats at the Pete next year….based off of who they are.

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  19. Back to BB, I think Pitt has an excellent chance to get the Carnegie Mellon coach to jump ship for less than the $3 million plus offered Hurley.

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  21. Once again I don’t understand the negativity on this site. They made a great offer to the best candidate available, who decided to stay in his home area where he lived and worked his entire life. And now they are moving on.

    Pitt fans should be well used to disappointment by now, and most should have expected this outcome. Barnes is the culprit here …. not the current athletic dept.

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    1. Well IMO wwb Heather and Pitt just waisted their time in the Hurley pursuit that had about a 2% chance of succeeding from the beginning. The fact that others didn’t realize that was the case early on is disconcerting in and of itself.

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    2. There was zero chance he would take the Pitt job. Family, Friends Connections all over that way. So there is no reason to even talk to him except to waste a week of the search. You could pay him 4M and he wouldn’t of came. He used Pitt and Heather is to stupid to see it. Nothing positive about going after a person you would never get.

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      1. yea, and if Heather didn’t offer Hurley, then most here would be b!tch!ng why didn’t she do it …. because that’s what you people do the best

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        1. And your mentality gets you used just like Heather.

          The fit has to be there. There was no chance of a fit. She wasted a week at least. Now wants a High School Coach and you think she is in control. That is funny.

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      2. Mark, you just advocated that Pitt make a run at Buzz Williams, who is not leaving for Pitt. He loves working for Babcock, the Hokies are paying him and would pay more to keep him. So, I’m not sure this situation is any different.

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    3. These are the same “Pitt fans” that drove Jamie Dixon to TCU and we see which way TCU’s future is headed compared to where it was.

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  22. Face it fellas (and ladies) Hurley is an east coast guy and Pitt is culturally and geographically just not an east coast school. Oats actually makes geographic sense, Buffalo is kind of in a similar spot geographically and culturally.

    He may not get butts in the seats say 1 but If he truly got a 4* to commit to Buffalo he has my vote.

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  24. Pitt wanted Hurley and went after him. He decided to take the U Conn job. that is not a reflection on Pitt. Pitt offered a better deal in money budget and support. He made his decision on his priorities. Pitt iw working and has been working on other candidates. He is a loss of time invested. But who is to say the next guy won’t work out to be a better hire. The process is ongoing unlike the Barnes phony hire.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. You call this a process? Other schools have their guy in 3-4 days and you never hear of it. I have seen Carnivals run in Kentucky more effectively than Heather’s Search.

    Glad she left EMU is a burning fire and now she is doing the same at Pitt.

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  28. Say this out loud.

    Nate Oats was coaching High School in 2013.

    And he is going to save Pitt Hoops.

    Do we even have expectations anymore?

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  29. Isn’t even more impressive if he was coaching high school in 2013 and got Buffalo to the NCAA 2 out of the 3 years? Maybe he’s a basketball savant. I want the next Brad Stevens….

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  30. Miller was the chance to be big time, Hurly was the chance to try to be big time-now the program will hope to be 9-9 in ACC each year

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  32. Being sold by Pitt on Oats will feel like Clark Griswold being sold on the Family Truckster in Pea Green.

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  33. pretty good for a HS coach

    Sean Bock@Sean__Bock
    Buffalo has had the number one recruiting class in the MAC the past three seasons. (’16, ’17, ’18)

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  34. Pitt could write a book and make millions to build our stadium.

    “Do the opposite of what we do and be successful and not an embarrassment to the National Media and Local Media.”

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  35. I want a p5 successful current coach. For you 3M believers, this should be possible if we’re offering top 14 pay in the country.

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  37. People like, PSN, are throwing any name out there now hoping something will stick. In my opinion, either Heather is smart and playing close to the vest or she is a complete idiot in so far over her head she doesn’t even know it. Time will tell, but this process is sure a tough way to make your first major hire. The university just keeps making bad PR moves after bad PR moves. Even if you could care less about athletics you have to care about having your school constantly slammed and made fun of locally and nationally. It’s now not just making fun of the athletic department, it’s the school in general. They can’t get out of their own way!

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  39. wwb.

    You people? You replied to upitt with a referral to “you people.” If you are referencing upitt, reference him. If you are including others, please provide more detail ion as to whom you’re discussing. “You people” is a pretty inflammatory description, in my opinion.

    Just sayin’..

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  40. Honestly, i would prefer Oats to Hurley. If you can bring 4stars to BUFFALO that’s a REAL recruiter. Nevertheless I wanted Miller. I still want Miller. I know it won’t happen but he is BIG time. I don’t care if he may go to the big house for the FBI thing. He knows how to coach and recruit (with a little help). If it can’t be Miller time, bring on Oats and those 4 stars that we pine for so much

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  41. Wallowing in the fact that Hurley’s not wanting to come to PITT for 3 mil per year. That’s sad to me.

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    1. Having a AD with zero clue how business works is sad to me. Look at the dumpsters Fire she left at EMU. They can’t even pay their bills. But hey let’s look the other way b/c we live in a PC world.

      Offering Hurley 3M was mistake 1.

      Interviewing him when he had zero interest in your role is mistake 2.

      Making him an offer is mistake 3.

      What world do you just make offers to make them. We only make offers when candidate is closed and they want the job. Jesus Recruiting 101 Heather?????

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  42. This Goodman dude hates Pitt. He hammers us every chance he gets. I’m not even sure if he is posting the complete rule.

    @GoodmanESPN
    Whoever takes the Pittsburgh job will have another hurdle to climb. Source told ESPN Pittsburgh has just two officials visits left until Aug. 1. Kevin Stallings and his staff used 19 their first year to sign 11 guys, 3 last year to sign 2 guys. Rules are you get 24 over 2 years.

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    1. Brain Backo replied to this stating that if a new coach is hired, gets an additional 25% of the original amount

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  43. I’m a long time lurker and lifetime Pitt fan, especially in basketball. Oats seems okay, but if you look at his two “4 star” recruits, none of them received any legit offers at any big name schools. If you were from upstate NY, would you go to Rutgers or UB? I’m just saying…

    Also, having the best recruiting class in the MAC the last three years is not a bad thing, but it doesn’t scream “impact hire,” either.

    I’m torn on what we should do, but Pitt waited too long and now hoping and praying for someone to take a chance. I’d like Musselman if he’d come back to the East. However, if we are trying to get a coach that is “better than Dixon,” I don’t know if we have the pedigree to pull anyone away from another power program.

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  44. Hurley isn’t a good fit for Pitt. Screw Miller. Howland came from freakin N Arizona and Jamie was his asst. not exactly great credentials. I like Oats he’ll bring a lot of energy which is what this program needs.

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  45. just read that even with the recent extension, Oats’ buyout is $1M. Give him a $1M raise and do the buyout unless you think Musselman is interested

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  46. @Wbb and all others – Pitt did not make the best offer to the best candidate available. Last I checked, there are 350 head coaches in college basketball and they are all available. Granted, some are more available than others, but to say we did the best with what was out there is plain wrong. Our AD fumbled. She is not prepared for P5 Athletics because she does not have relationships built with other coaches.

    You cannot be afraid of your shadow and our AD is just that. She did not have the replacement ready to go when she canned Stallings despite a two month long lead time. When she fired Stallings, she did not have Candidate A, B, C, D, E ready, as well as their respective costs.

    The best person is Miller, sorry. Take off your paranoid compliance hat and think. Miller may not be able to say that he is 100% free and clear from the product manufacturer investigations. There are probably very few of the 350 coaches that can say they are lilly white in that area. There is no show cause and won’t be for a couple of years most likely. Miller could have been offered the position and been here for a few years and let that play out.

    Instead, our AD goes to the NCAA for information on Miller and tries to be compliant with them and bases her decision off that information. She is trying to be important to the NCAA and not her own institution or Pitt fans. The NCAA is not coming after Pitt! Who doesn’t realize this? NC, Syracuse, Louisville, Dairy College, USC, go down the list. Even if the NCAA were to place a show cause on Miller, Pitt could very easily craft processes and procedures which would indicate they exhibit enough institutional control so as not to have any questionable practices repeat under their watch.

    My sense is that we will somehow value coach candidate number 4 the same as we did coach candidate number 1. Another loss.

    Call Miller back. His story is fixable. “At the time of my answer, I was not a candidate for the Pitt position”. Since that time I have thought it through and discussed it with my family and I am anxious and excited to go back to a place that is very special to me…blah blah blah. If you are AZ, you want him to stay because you are tied at the hip to him. It is the AZ institution at risk, not Miller. He could probably get a raise out of the deal to stay!

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  47. By the way I completely disagree with Reed and some others that didn’t believe we offered $3 million plus for Hurley. There is no way if I were the AD at U of Conn that I did not want to see the Pitt offer in writing before I entered a counter offer. Not everybody is as dumb at this game as the Pitt people involved in this debacle. I’m in complete agreement with Upitt on his take with the Pitt contingent involved in this recruitment of the BB coach.

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    1. The following would seem Reed was right … however, I tend to agree that Pitt did offer $3M or more because they thought they needed a name hire. It would not surprise me at all that Hurley would settle for at at least $250k less …. as I have indicated the past 2 weeks, he is an NYC area guy.

      Andy Katz@TheAndyKatz
      UConn announces Dan Hurley deal, six years with a salary of $2.75 million in the first year. News conference Friday at 1 pm.

      Like

        1. Completely agree. The $3.1M figure had to have come from Hurley’s group. We have heard absolutely nothing directly from anybody at Pitt.

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  48. @wwb Musselman is from Ashland Ohio. This just goes to show you, just cause somebody says something on the internet, doesn’t mean its true.

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  49. Agree on lack of support for press by no football info with tight security all the time . More access to the coach on a more frequent basis might be an alternative.

    Franklinstine monopolizes the Pa. media because he is available and even if he lies he tells them things they report almost every night and keeps PS in the public focus. Another tip is the call ins to coaches press conferences from statewide media which then fills the papers and TV’s in Scranton Erie Harrisburg Reading etc. as Franklinstine does.

    COMPETE IN THE PR BATTLE. WV pays for coaches shows to get media time. Pitt does not do either. Heck ND does a better job with Pgh. media than Pitt.Pitt gets Narduzzie a Pgh. radio show fr a 1/2 hour one night and WV gets Holgy a one hour show on Pgh. TV each week.

    Pitt comm. effort sucks in other ways. Their radio net and TV is tied to Comcast and does not get outside Pgh. They had a better radio net 10 yrs. ago before the comcast alliance but you need this stuff to get a top 25 team and put butts in seats.It seems we get worse coverage on Root sports since Comcast bought it. Of course if we had a top 25 team we would forget about this stuff.

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  50. So Musselman or Howard will be okay. They shown they can coach at a P5 level. I still like Oats, I think he is a diamond in the rough.

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      1. Howard was a typo, thinking work at PITT basketball at the same time. Meant Hopkins…sorry. BTW…Definitely no Willard!

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    2. I guess we better root for Loyola tonight or hope Nevada loses on Saturday if we’re interested in Musselman. I hope he’s not interested in the Arizona job though.

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  53. Starkey’s article was spot on, but now that Hurley is off the board (which I’m pretty indifferent about), it would be interesting to get input from everyone on who the best candidates are left to pursue, pluses and minuses. The only thing I’m concerned about is that we hire Schmidt, which is supposedly Matt’s rumblings (he’s hearing that name a lot apparently according to the other board). Other than Schmidt though, I like a lot of the other names being thrown around and have from the beginning (the only other name I didn’t like, besides Schmidt, was the coach from Vermont). And who’s Howard??

    Musselman, Oats, Grant, Hopkins, Odom??? Thoughts?

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    1. My only thought is……yet again….. it’s hard to believe these ppl are in charge. What a fiasco.

      Heather & The Gang

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  54. Oats or mussleman at this point

    And maybe Cooley the providence coach.

    Grant is too southern and a minnow.

    Schmidt is also a minnow but older.

    Pitt can get players from New York, philly and D.C. To play in the acc. They don’t all want to play in the big east. They could also pull players from Cleveland and Detroit for that matter. Just need to have the budget for good recruiters.

    The wash coach will leave pitt in a second once boheim retires.

    Odom is a guppy

    There are two guys out there. All others are B list. Pitt really needs a homerun.

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  58. Ryan,,your no longer Ryan the Lurker…jump in the fray and welcome to the POV !

    Anyone having chest pains make sure to see your MD. Can’t let this crap kill us….

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    2. Thanks, Big B.

      Appreciate the welcome. This damn search and…wait…wait…wait…is definitely taking its toll on me.

      I’m trying to stay positive, but I believe the fans need closure. This shouldn’t take that long, IMHO.

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  61. Chris Jans, HC of New Mexico State, if they can overlook his giant indiscretion of being loud in a bar once.
    OMG

    They were apparently ok with overlooking player money bribes(miller)….so why not.

    He’s won immediately at both his HC gigs. Had his team in the Dance this year and they hung with Clemson.
    Something 4th seeded Auburn did not do.

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  63. Anon, that’s the thing, there are way more than 2 guys out there, but in the Pitt message board world, there are only 1 or 2 guys out there, because…. just because.

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  64. I sure hope it’s not Cooley. I’d rather they bring back Kelli Taylor or Mark Blount and make them the head coach.

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  65. Hurley was never coming to Pitt. East Coast guys, think of Pittsburgh as some kind of ‘backwater’ hinterland place.

    Not recognizing that from the get go shows how clueless some ppl are.

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    1. Those from the City and Jersey do think that way. Some of it is true though. Pittsburgh is not an East Coast city. Its more Appalachian and Midwest than anything.

      Hurley used Pitt to get money out of UConn. Far easier to win there than at Pitt and he stays in his recruiting area and Daddy can drive up for his games.

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      1. Agree that Hurley played Pitt like a fiddle. As soon as Ollie was canned, he knew that’s where he wanted to go. Also while he’s a cocky prick, deep down he probably knew he wasn’t up for the challenge the ACC presented. Easy route, was stay in his environs, coach in the much easier conference and be loved by ESPN for shunning Pitt for UConn.

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  66. There probably arent more than 2 guys left who are on the A list. This is Pitt.

    Oats and Hopkins are the two that are known to be interviewing now

    Matta, Crean, Miller and Hurley were all known

    I dont think Pitt has interviewed anyone else. It would have leaked by now.

    And other guys they either cant afford, have already been told by their agents to buzz off, or have some type of collateral damage like Jans or Williard.

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  67. @Emel. Lol on being loud in a bar once. Back in 92 i got arrrested for this same exact thing. Hell, I got arrested and I was only at the bar for a total of 5 minutes. Police came in put my in cuffs and my buddy walked up and said what the hell is going on, he said we just got here. Cop looked at buddy and said, do you want cuffs also?

    I hired a lawyer and when he saw the charge he started cracking up laughing. He looked at me and said I will get you off the charges in 5 minutes. We showed up on my court date and my lawyer got me off the charges in about 3 minutes.

    Its looking like Heather is going to F this hire up. If Oats tells her thanks but no thanks…..OUCH.

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    1. yep Bernie….never been arrested inside a bar……but right outside it. So congrats on that achievement 🙂

      And yea if they offer (hall &) Oats the job and he says …’thanks but no thanks’. That is going to be a giant PR blunder.

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  68. txpanther, whose A list? And some disagreements: (1) I haven’t read anything credible suggesting Pitt was interested in actually hiring Matta or Crean, which is good in my opinion, I wasn’t a fan of hiring either, (2) nobody here knows who Pitt has interviewed, and (3) the “other guys” sentence above doesn’t hold any water.

    Emel – many people said from day one that Hurley was never coming West (he wanted to stay in the East), but the one way he would is if he got an offer he couldn’t refuse, and our initial offer was probably just that, however UConn stepped up and essentially matched it. In the end, this all cost UConn a lot of money because if Pitt had been out of the picture, Hurley’s contract would’ve been a lot less. And I have no problem with us taking a shot at it if he was our #1 choice. And I’m relieved he didn’t just take the Pitt job for the money, because that would’ve likely ended poorly in a few years if he did so. And lastly, there’s nothing out there that gives me any confidence he’ll be a better coach than the other candidates listed, so overpaying (if in fact we could) would have been a bad move.

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    1. I totally agree 1618. (btw in they year 1618 : Osman II deposes his uncle Mustafa I as Ottoman emperor )

      Paying $3 mil/per for Hurley would have been absurd, imo. You’re paying more for the ‘name’ Hurley than this guys actually coaching ability. It remains to be seen if a Hurley can win bigtime. Older and more famous brother, Bobby isn’t exactly setting the world on fire at Arizona State. And that is the easiest of the P5 conferences, as all 3 of their NCAA teams were unceremoniously bounced in Round 1.

      Like

    2. Mussleman and an unknown would be left on the A list. All others are B but some like Oats are a good fit with a high ceiling

      Like

  69. So can anyone explain to me why PITT didn’t get any of these four coaches to come to PITT. Matta, Crean, Miller and Hurley were all known. Let’s break it down.

    Like

    1. Matta has medical problems, Crean can go crazy every now and then, the NCAA and FBI are investigating Miller and Hurley possibly used Pitt’s offer to pressure UConn to hire him. Besides all of the aforementioned coaches anyone who is willing to come to Pitt will have to deal with building this program up again. That is not an easy task but my hope is there are some good coaches out there who may be willing to do so. Don’t touch that dial my friend stay tuned.

      Like

  70. I think the proven guys like Maata and Crean are going to make sure that they are going to go somewhere and not fail because of their surroundings and support (lack of). Pitt definitely doesn’t fit that mold. And I honestly think some of these mid level guys are afraid of taking the leap and potentially risking the reputation they’ve built to this point. I mean the whole situation is toxic. And to some people, it’s not all about the money.

    Like

  71. Matta has no interest in coaching he just has “seem” like his job hunting to collect his OSU buyout money.

    Like

  72. Ike,

    We know why Hurley didn’t come, and most people called this from the beginning due to his east coast preference.

    I’m not sure how much anyone really knows about the others, but Pitt apparently didn’t have interest in Crean in general, or Matta due to health obviously, and presumably Miller due to pending NCAA investigations potentially. So you’re talking about one candidate from that list that we wanted and made a really good offer for. The only one we didn’t want to hire that I’m now rethinking is Miller.

    Like

    1. ^^ To the 5 comments above this one, agrred. That’s how I feel. One coach PITT wanted they didn’t get even though they offered him 3.2 mill, Hurley. The others had no interest in PITT and in Miller’s case, PITT just said no to cheating. The world is not crumbling it’s just cracked. Like a lot of the asses that have to run down PITT for the sake of it.

      Like

      1. There is no statement from Pitt about offering 3.2 million; that figure had to have come from (made up by) Hurley’s group to get Connecticut to pony up.

        Like

  73. Just like we hired a football HC w no HC experience, we hired Heather w no big time hiring experience. Only way to learn is to do it.

    Many on this board have been in sales, worked on an account for a long time and at the last minute lost it. The key learning here is to have a lot of irons in the fire so you’re not devastated by one huge loss. I hope Heather has a lot of coaches ready to interview because Hurley was a long shot at best. So here’s some advice for you Heather from a guy who has personally lost a number of huge sales opportunity’s at the last minute. “ pick your butt up off the floor, gather your wits and go hire us a coach!”

    And next time you fire someone, have the next coach ready to go.

    Like

    1. Pitt leads all other P5 schools in……’On the Job Training’.

      She’ll be better next time. But by that time she’ll be at another school. It’s the Pitt way !

      Like

  74. Why interview coaches you are not interested in?

    Hurley was the target from the beginning but why interview those three you mentioned then if Pitt wasn’t serious?

    Why Pitt takes three times as long to hire than most programs just tells me that Pitt is very inexperienced in these matters and doesn’t have a solid network.

    Like

    1. We were interested….Hurley wasn’t, and Heather should have known this from the start. Everyone else on the planet knew it.

      Like

    3. Let’s actually assume some of the rumors are true. Matta was interviewed first, but it was likely just a courtesy call of sorts in which he indicated he was not really interested in coaching yet. (If people feel Heather is not that experienced, it may have been a favor to Heather to get experience in interviewing.) It is evident Matta will not be hired at PITT. So, now PITT/Lyke hires Fogler. They begin looking into other coaches. Crean is available and has ties to Fogler. Both Crean and PITT realize they are not for each other. (Lyke gets more interviewing experience for when real candidates open up.) Arizona loses sooner than expected. PITT by reputation would never hire Miller, but Miller is a PITT man. With the fiasco we are in and he is in, they decide to at least talk. Whether it is truly Lyke who has a background in compliance or other administrators, reputational concerns prevent him from being hired.

      Like

  75. Pitt inexperienced at the hiring a coach process??? Is there any major college that has hired/fired more coaches in the last decade?

    Like

  76. I still think, as someone mentioned above, that the candidates they were most interested in were still coaching through last weekend. So it was really premature to expect anything before this week (unless someone like Matta was your guy all along). That’s the problem with having someone as awful as Stallings who you have to fire right as conference tourneys are in the first or second day – the good candidates will be busy for a while (at least you hope so).

    Like

  78. People “interview” candidates candidates or other coaches for a lot of reasons, those reasons have been discussed. It was reported by several people, from the beginning, Pitt was not interested in hiring Crean or Matta.

    Like

    1. Pitt has no interest in hiring. This board meeting is probably a way for boosters to tell Heather whom she needs to hire compliance be damned. You get the hire wrong and it’s another acc check that’s blown. That means cuts to programs. Heather left eastern Michigan in a mess. She’s on track to leave pitt in a heaping one as well. Top programs have their coach hired in a few days and don’t interview a slew of candidates just for giggles.

      Like

    1. That’s good, cause I thought Pitt’s recently ‘released’ D3 players were all headed to Duke and I was
      worried 🙂

      Like

      1. That would be too easy. Pitt likes to make things as complicated as possible. See you tear down your On Campus Football Stadium, cause that will make your football program better. See how it works !

        Like

      1. Exactly
        Or to tell Heather, she ain’t making the call after three weeks of national embarrassment.

        Like

    4. This makes no sense…unless they are meeting to discuss who they want to offer next based upon reports by “sources” we keep seeing.

      Also, whoever is leaking this information – if it is true – should not be part of Pitt athletics. It is making an already prolonged search appear to be fully incompetent.

      Like

  81. Meeting Friday, why do I think a “ give them Fanta” type moment is in the works? I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

    Like

    1. Reed, can you ban the use of Anonymous as a handle? Can’t tell a Troll from a legit post with people hiding behind the Anonymous handle.

      Liked by 1 person

  84. We will get our third shot at sean Miller in two years. It will be after we fire tubby smith two years into his six year contract.

    Like

  86. Reed, please kick UPitt off this site. He says nothing positive nor constructive and you are losing people from this site who are actually fans of the university, not haters. UPitt hates the university, which is fine, just go hate it on someone else’s site, and make the miserable like yourself. Tired of this.

    Like

    1. Pitt deserves the criticism. It’s all too easy to mock Pitt. Makes the Pirates organization look like the Yankees. How can one feel positive when idiots run the asylum. I’m anti Pitt at the moment. But carnage does draw people out. Who doesn’t like a good train wreck. Pitt is entertaining in the worst ways. Way to go BoT and the culture you have created by hiring morons and neglecting athletics.

      Like

    3. I think his love of Pitt makes him a cynic. Pitt hasn’t done much over the years to merit praise. But I do like corn Hole for saying yes to the acc invite. I do like the extension for narduzzi. I do like the soccer coach hire. I do like the stallings fire. But for all these good things, there are four times as many bad. A realist sees this. It’s a cultural problem. Pitt cares not about sports so it hires poor leaders and pays poorly…in more ways than one.

      Like

    6. Who the hell are you? If you are “tired of this”, just go away. UPitt, agree or disagree with him, probably has a higher percent of accurate comments (not necessarily said without ruffling feathers, to be sure) than most posters on this site.

      Like

    7. Hey Anti, I’ve been saying that for 3 years now … but it only makes him crankier. But every once in a while, he’ll surprise you and say something neutral

      Like

      1. And every once in awhile wwb you will have an original thought that isn’t taken from that loser Dokish.

        Like

    8. I’m actually kinda sad you took the time to write I should be kicked off the site. I’m hoping you have a lot better things to do than complain about me. Look over the last few years and how many times have I been wrong? I’m actually semi positive compared to most posters recently. Are you that coaches wife from Bloomfield?

      Like

  87. The Athletic Board is going to discuss moving to the MAC. Although the WAC could be in play too ! 🙂

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  88. I’m not a fan of the many Upitt negative posts. However when he sees incompetence he calls it as he sees it. The problem he rarely gives anyone connected to Pitt any credit even when credit deserves to be given.

    Like

  89. Re-hire Stallings. Yup, pay buyout and then rehire him, but get ironclad contract this time. Put out big money for Ralph Willard as assistant, then make big money play to bring in co ADs Barnes and Peterson. Yup, that’s what I’d recommend, but they are probably way to smart to do that!

    Like

  91. WOW a althletic board meeting on Friday. Is it to make sure the new coach gets a 20 million buyout instead of 10 million when he’s fired?

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  93. What does this meeting say about ?Heather? Never a real good idea when a board decides they need to meet to discuss a project you’re in charge of.

    Like

  94. Stallings is still under contract and I believe he’s still available. The only problem is Heather may not be able to talk him out of his retirement.

    Like

  96. This is the controlling entity at Pitt, not the BoT:

    Senior Leadership Team

    Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
    Patricia E. Beeson

    Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations, President of the Medical and Health Sciences Foundation
    Kris Davitt

    Senior Vice Chancellor and Secretary of the Board of Trustees
    Kathy W. Humphrey

    Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences
    Arthur S. Levine

    Director of Athletics
    Heather Lyke

    Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer
    Arthur G. Ramicone

    Senior Vice Chancellor for Research
    Rob A. Rutenbar

    Senior Vice Chancellor
    Gregory A. Scott

    “Prior to joining Pitt, Scott was Assistant Vice President for Finance and Business at Penn State University. He joined Penn State in 2001 as the manager of construction services in the Office of Physical Plant.”

    Chief Information Officer
    Jinx Walton

    Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Legal Officer
    Geovette Washington

    Chief of Staff
    Kevin Washo

    Like

  98. Who didn’t know PITT has an athletic board?

    Some see incompetence in their sleep. It’s often referred to as an agenda.

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  101. Is it possible the athletic hiring meeting has anything to do with a second look at hiring sean Miller?

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  102. What is an athletic board?
    And which gifted minds are on it?
    They have done such an outstanding job with hoops that I hope they have earned tenure.
    My only hope is they tell Heather the Presenter to step aside.

    How can one little screw screw up in such a big way?

    Like

    1. And besides football and girl’s volleyball….all of Pitt’s sports team are at the ACC’s bottom. So they have done an outstanding job…..don’t ya think !

      Like

  103. Only one is a pitt grad. Two are penn state grads. None have sports backgrounds. Particularly the business side. Is this a coming to Jesus meeting for Heather?

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    1. I ask…..what could go wrong. 2 Pedo’s and a bunch of academicians. Just need somebody from the Federal Gooberment to round it out. Wait……sorry !

      Like

  104. Man most of you all posting are sounding real silly. So when this started Pitt was not going to eat Stallings contract, then it was they are not going to offer the new coach any big money. So they do just that, and now they were played like a fiddle, she has no experince, they have no clue, they are idiots, etc.

    What the hell do you all want them to do? The only school played like a harp was UCON. They had to pay a lot more than they wanted, for someone all of you who are bitching claim to only wanted to go there from the start. Pitt making that offer simply proves that they are willing to step up to the plate. The other coaches now see it too. There was no proof out there before that Pitt would do this. Now its there.

    The new AD cant be blamed for this shit. She has apparently gotten people to pony up the money to not go cheap. But thats not good enough anymore. No, now she has to bring in a HOF coach. Do you guys even think before you post? The woman seemingly have the bots as you all call them playing bigtime. So Hurley did not except, as I keep hearing and reading was going to happen. That simply means Pitt will have to try and hire one of the other names that has been thrown around like a baseball. Hurley may or may not be the next coming, we shall see. But for right now lets all wait and see the final score. I dont give a rats ass how long it takes, as long as they hire a decent coach. Mussellman is still in play. Make that same offer.

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  105. Love this saying. Seems to sum up this whole BB coaching search circus. La plus ca change, la plus c’est la meme chose. (The more things change, the more they stay the same.) – Hobie

    Like

  106. just more BS from the national media … according to the PG, the meeting tomorrow is a regularly scheduled meeting. Now even the national media is doing a hatchet job on Pitt.

    Don’t know which is worse …..local media, national media or PittPOV?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Pitt creates this mess. Not fans.
      Pitt has no leaders
      Pitt has no control over PR
      Pitt deserves what is being dished

      Like

      1. who’s blaming the fans? Well, national media Goodman and Rothstein are.when it is about Dixon leaving .. but I’m talking about the negativity.

        Like

  107. At least HCPN can work in peace. I know we would like more FB news but then again we would argue over it anyway.

    The Final Four games attract all major coaches for a big party. Maybe best we are coachless then so that they have something to joke about.

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  111. Wonder how strong the Baptist community is in Pittsburgh. I’d do some outreach. Guy is faith and family. Still haven’t seen too many guys as laser focused as him. His ceiling is unlimited.

    Like

  112. See, the thing I love most about Grant is he worked his way up from the bottom. He didn’t get anything given to him. He didn’t ride quick because of his old mans name, or his connections, or his fame. No, this guy worked his ass off and earned everything he has gotten. And trust me, when we don’t hire him we’ll look back and say what a golden opportunity we missed.

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  113. If any of the remaining top tier coaches have reached out with a desire for the job (Oats, Grant, Musselman, Hopkins, or Padgett) they should get it done and quickly. Only problem with Musselman besides his rep as a West coast guy is he will likely be in the tournament another week and Pitt can’t twist in the wind that long. Besides the longer he’s in the tournament the moree likely some more attractive destination takes him.

    Like

  114. Per Colin Dunlap & Matt Steinbrink

    Someone who has an invitation to this meeting just told me it has been scheduled…for 2 months.

    Just hatters

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    1. so its perfect timing to discuss why after 3 weeks Pitt still hasnt hired a coach and is looking more foolish as each day passes and still is not out in front of this PR issue. Its a coming to Jesus meeting for me where the Miller name will creep back into the conversation unless Pitt tells me differently. Its very easy to hate the incompetence at Pitt right now.

      Like

  115. Pitt needs to act now even if it means letting Mussleman go. And only Heather knows if he even has any interest and how strong that interest may be. He’s the only A candidate left that I see unless they go after a P-5 coach and pay $4M or go after someone with character issues and Miss Compliance wont do that.

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  116. I don’t believe Musselman would take the Pitt job. That guy is so damn competitive when it comes to winning, our admin is not. Not a good fit. Plus he likes to drop F bombs, our AD does not like this. One potential negative with him, look up his bio, he moves around A LOT. About every 2 years.

    Like

  117. If not Earl “the Pearl” Grant, seems like Pitt should look at David Padgett. Worked at Louisville – so should know all the tricks. Seemed to do okay as interim coach at Louisville… And he’s only 33 years old.

    Go Pitt.

    Like

  118. Alternative universes for tomorrows board meeting:
    Tressell – i just walked into this job 1 day ago and we’re hiring Sean Miller.
    Lyke – I’ve taken 3 long weeks to find a new coach and I’m still no closer to a hire. I need HELP!

    Like

  119. Hilarious that anyone would blame the POV for anything that happens at Pitt.

    This blog is just a bunch of fans telling their honest opinion about stuff. If others don’t like that then it is a problem for only them.

    No one is reading this blog or message boards and making any sort of decision based on what they read.

    You want changes? Then use your pocketbook. Refuse to pay Pitt a penny until changes are made…or just roll with the flow understanding that fans have just about zero influence with the exception of pre- FB game festivities.

    Like

  120. Athletic Board Meeting: All members are sitting there, Heather walks in-she sits down with a Grape Fanta and you hear all the board members crack open a cold one and yell “It’s Miller Time!”. Heather, in shock, gets handed a certificate to present Sean at the press conference.
    Meeting adjourned

    Liked by 1 person

  121. Why was Heather-the-Presenter at Pitt’s Pro day when the hoops ship has hit the iceberg and is barely afloat?
    Priorities!
    Her presence there means nothing!
    Behave as though you have something important on your agenda. Stay cloistered as opposed to giggling with HCPN.
    In other words, act like you care, even if you don’t.

    Like

    1. Wave your hands in the air like you donґt care
      Glide by the people as they stop to look and stare
      Do your dance, do your dance, do your dance quick mamma
      Come on baby tell me whatґs the word

      Word up everybody says
      When you hear the call youґve got to get it under way
      Word up itґs the cool word
      No matter where you say it you know that youґll be heard

      Like

  124. ……If we’re going to hire Kevin Stallings back (as a few have suggested) then why not also hire Steve Peterson back too? It makes about the same sense!

    Like

  126. Miller is not an option with is top aid already indicted .Get real. Secondly, WTf is wrong with you posters? Pitt made a very good effort and offer to their primary candidate. He opted to UConn for mostly personal reasons Pitt is working and has been working on multiple fronts for weeks. Pitt will make a good hire as Pitt is committed to having a very good BB program. Barnes simply was given to much influence due to his BB background. He is gone and so is Stallings. Pitt is moving on.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. you place too much faith in Heather who I hope will get the dressing down she deserves tomorrow at that meeting. you really think Pitt is committed to basketball. Pitt is desperate to stop the bleeding. They are not committed to winning and sports in general. Pitt’s culture reeks like a dead skunk left on a road beaten down by 100 degree heat. The vultures even stay away.

      Like

  127. Nevada didn’t score for almost 8 minutes against Loyola. Yep Musselman is ready for ACC play…

    Like

  128. @Chet we finished 3rd with Hurley. The next time Gallagher makes a good basketball decision, it will be his first.

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  129. You certainly made me laugh with the Miller line, John. A well needed break from the steady drum beat of negative results from Pitt so far. I don’t put any credence into the idea that any decent candidate would think the Pitt job is too much to handle. These coaches are all A personalities, and every one of them thinks he can win a national championship. This is what makes them great coaches. The bigger problem is the ego that must be fed, and a top 10 salary can go a long way with that.

    Like

  131. Why hasn’t anyone dropped the link from the PSN article about all the interest for last years PITT BB players that are receiving from interested and impressive list of schools? Oh, maybe that’s fake news like the 3.2 mil PITT offered DH? or maybe it just doesn’t fit into tonight’s theme on the POV?

    Like

    2. they can all leave for all I care. they are forever branded as 0-19 losers. yet they still support their coach and trash the university that gave them a free ride when few other schools would even consider them. lets see how many of these impressive schools actually open up a scholie. I see them as quitters.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. How’s that a pot shot Reed? I asked a question. After-all the potshots those kids took on the POV where is a link when something positive is written? Reason why I didn’t post the link is I’m sure of the rules of copying and pasting a PSN link.

        I have to laugh when anything comes out as positive news for PITT, it’s either dismissed as untrue or completely ignored. Like those aren’t real offers and how many on the POV still don’t want to believe that the Hurley offer is factual. It’s completely nonstop bs at time. I would say that 75% of what is said in this article is untrue or unknown and made up. IKE

        Like

    1. (this was a joke btw ) (some don’t see any attempt at humor at all, some don’t recognize sarcasm either)

      Like

  134. No thanks Tvax. Tired of reading all the experts that don’t know what they are talking about. All speculation and negative spew.

    Like

  135. Lets see if Muscle Man is really interested
    Anyone and I mean anyone is an huge improvement over a coach that goes 0-19 in ACC play and is primarily responsible for the lowest attendance since 1982.
    Those who support him or want him back are misguided fools

    Like

    1. I think it’s a running gag Tex.

      Musselman I would still take, since he could do a quick rebuild I believe. Nevada’s 5 starters were all transfers The Martin Twins were from NC State. Stephens was from Purdue. Caroline, SIU. Cooke was from Iowa State.

      Like

  136. No Hurley was going to U Conn and used a return to RI with a better contract to get U Conn to up the ante. Pitt was in as a legit attempt to sway him. They couldn’t. So be it There is a possibility of an coach still coaching not Musselman who was not a next coach in line by any means. Hopkins wants more jack to stay in the Pac 12. Pitt likes the buyout 2 million but I think he is Syracuse bound when the pedo protector retires. Oats gaining steam here and he did a great job at Buffalo. I think Pitt will have a coach by Monday. . .

    Like

    1. i hope
      this is taking way too long
      shows me that they didnt begin to think about replacements until February when they should have had a long list created by December and would have begun contact with agents
      but compliance people dont know these things but Pitt thinks they are qualified to lead a $50M plus sports budget

      Like

  138. these academics on Pitt’s leadership board have smarts less than WVCC. at least those there where sheep raping is practiced know sports. they might not know proper English or basic math, but they sure the hell know the business side of sports. they have common sense. Our board are elitists that never come down from the Ivory Cathedral. No street smarts whatsoever.

    Like

  140. Ya know, You have to sell this job nowadays and here’s how you do it. Let’s say Grant is the guy you want( and I’m using him because I’m most familiar with him.) but he’s a southern guy who is leary of coming north.
    1) You do your homework and find faith and family are the two things important to him besides basketball.
    2) You research and find out he has three young kids
    3) You find out what Mrs. Grant is into. Does she have a career, is she a stay at home mom? What are her interests.Then:
    a) if she’s into art, take her to the Carnegie, The Frick, or the Warhol, all world class.
    b) if she is into culture you have Heinz Hall, the Benedum, or O’ Reilly theaters.
    c) if it’s plants and gardening you have Phipps, which is also world class.
    d) if it’s history, the ?Heinz history center is a good start.
    e) if she’s concerned about the kids take them to the children’s museum, the Carnegie science center, or The Carnegie museums, everyone loves dinosaurs and we have some of the best in the world.
    f) if she likes nature, Schenley, North, or South Parks are local, safe and nice.
    g) cooking? Hook her up with one of the up and coming chefs. We are a foodie place now for those who have been away.

       Make sure Earl, his wife, and the kids come up for the weekend. If you want him what’s 10 grand when you are committing millions. Assign some really personable knowledgeable local Pitt fan to show her around. Show interest in the kids. 
 Then, on Sunday take them to church. Find out their religious affiliation and talk to the pastor and make sure they are properly welcomed. 
 These are the basic things you do. Overwealm them, let them know you are interested beyond basketball. Sort of like recruiting a player, except instead of thousands it’s millions invested. 
Again, I used Grant as an example because I know a little about his situation but it should apply to anyone you really want. I think we’ve forgotten that.

    Like

      1. Pitt’s Athletic Department should be cast as a reality TV show on ESPN…you just can’t make this stuff up.

        Pass the popcorn, please.

        Like

    1. Me too, but Sean would definitely put fannys in the empty Pete seat’s and booster $$$ in Pitt’s coffers. Even if he left after 2 or 3 years he would most likely leave several blue chippers behind for the next coach to continue the rebuild.

      Like

  143. We’ll see. Reeds always said Pitt wouldn’t go anywhere near a guy with a whiff of scandal. This is a lot more than a whiff, IF the report fromESPN is true.

    Like

  144. Sean could bring in Brandon Knight as assoc head coach, so when the time comes another Pitt man can take the reigns.

    Like

  145. The media in Pittsburgh seems to like to ‘toy’ with Pitt ppl, so who knows if this is true or just another attempt
    to get us all exited and then set up for another major disappointment.

    Like

  147. Please NOTE my back to Stallings suggestion was said in jest. I didn’t think I’d have to say that but many reading these posts evidently take each comment very seriously.—–Back to Football: Despite Reed’s reservation it would appear Narduzzi really likes Wirginis’s contributions at LB. Comments, “So composed, Gets us lined up a little better than last year, Can make a lot of different calls, He’s a leader and a great communicator.” Now if he can only stay healthy both on and off the field he may be a fixture at MLB this season.—-From Pantherlair, Pinnock may have moved into the lead for the #2 CB position opposite Dane Jackson. Some great competition their with Motley, Ford and Mattis also in the mix. Also from Narduzzi it would appear that Hamlin is finally healthy and showing up real well in practice at safety.

    Like

    1. jrnpitt – I listened to that video and got the same impressions as you. Duzz seems very impressed with the LB-ers. We seem to be hearing that consistently this Spring. Maybe the new DC is having an impact.

      The Safety positions were a concern of mine pre-Spring and Duzz attempted to address that with his Hamlin talk. Ford (as a DB) seems to have disappeared after day 1.

      Like

      1. This better be a year the LB’s step up and play hard. I’m tired of soft linebacking play….

        Like

  149. Erie’s post reminds me of a one of his previous posts…that Pitt needs a PLAN to succeed. Seems like one of the agenda topics for the meeting today is to get the key players on the same page and discuss collective expectations. Seems communication is lacking and indeed some boosters prefer Miller. If he is the man I Lyke Emels thought to bring in Knight to learn…pass the popcorn…this just might get entertaining.

    Like

  150. I’m guessing Rhode Island hires their new coach before Pitt does. Which really would show that our Athletic Department doesn’t have a clue.

    Like

  151. Truly unconvinced Pitt cares about athletic success.
    On the contrary: their behavior reflects a belief that abysmal teams reinforce they are for academics and nothing else.
    No other way to explain this mess.

    Like

  152. The FIRST mistake by Pitt Admin was firing Stallings without having some indication that at least one Coach you have on your radar would actually be interested in taking the job.

    Like

    1. If you remember The POV was very skeptical about that happening with Gallagher.

      All one had to was look at Gallagher’s background and then look at the stronger mission areas of University of Pittsburgh and you can see that his energies and interest we’re going to go in a completely different direction than Athletics.

      Like

    1. Just work out an exit plan in the contract if he’s dirty. Have Miller make a statement saying he’s innocent and factor into the contract that we can release him free of encumbrances if he isn’t and he gets charged. We would be no worse off than now except for a little egg on Heather’s face.

      Like

  157. we at POV wanted Stallings fired …. check
    we at POV wanted Pitt to finally offer big money for an attractive candidate …. check

    The fact is that I don’t see other attractive candidates breaking down the door at Pitt’s athletics department. Where are they? IT OBVIOUSLY AIN’T THAT EASY

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  158. Please don’t get Brandin Knight on as coach. I tend to think he was part of the plateau that Dixon hit here – once Rohrson and Pat Skerry were gone, the recruiting took a big hit, and I put a chunk of that on Dixon and Knight. Also, how many people complained that James Robinson was the point guard, and he never improved? Knight coached that guards.

    He may be a great in-game coach, but I think he’s shown an inability to recruit. And he’s not shown any further success at Rutgers.

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  159. I’ll believe that it offered over $3M to anyone if someone shows me a formal offer sheet. I very much doubt we did that.

    Also people are going to have to show me where these boosters are in one talks about if we had any athletic boosters at all we wouldn’t be almost dead last in ACC contributions to athletic department I think even Wake Forest beats us on that score.

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    1. you may be right but since Hurley got $2.75M, I would have to believe that UConn matched or came fairly close to what Pitt was offering.

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  160. Wbb, I agree, I suspect the reports are correct regarding the $3M+ offer. In fact, there’s more evidence to support that than there is for most of the silly coach search speculation on this blog.

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  161. Most of it is not even speculation but downright made up crap to keep on pile jumping on PITT. It’s more than ok to be negative when it’s called for but the redundancy and fabrications are way over the top. Reed started the PITT POV and he know runs the Anti-PITT POV.

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    1. You should compile a list of Pitt sports administrative positives over the last 30 years and run the article by Reed and UPitt or Emel can list the negatives and we can do a fair comparison. Who’s article would you suspect would be longer?

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      1. If I had the energy I would do that. Of course both of the lists would have the some of the same topics because we think different. Upitt wrote on this very Blog that he would hold Heather in the highest esteem if she had the guts to fire KS. You see what he writes now. Being negative doesn’t mean he’s right. and to think he’s right more than wrong is foolish. he hated Dixon. he hates everything PITT.

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    1. Pitt could have offered Hurley a guaranteed 20 year contract and he still wouldn’t have come to Pitt.

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  163. The POV is a forum for us fans to bitch, complain, discuss, debate, or whatever we want. If I don’t like it, I won’t return. It’s my choice. I do enjoy the conversation so that’s why I participate. Thank you Reed.

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    1. So what in the hell do you think I’m doing Mr Anonymous? I’m bitching just like you plus you use the word FAN pretty loosely.

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  165. BJ, I think we are offering lesser coaches now because the first Tier aren’t interested in the job. We need an up and comer not afraid of the obvious challenge of the job.

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  166. Correct. You are bitching and complaining about people bitching and complaining. Additionally, we all have our own definition of “fan”.
    I forgot to input my name.

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    1. Yep goalie that’s what I’m doing.

      I think there remains a chance that Miller may be brought back into mix? At this point PITT doesn’t have much more that they can lose. and if they can bring Miller back home the turnaround would be accelerated imo.

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  167. And that’s your choice. Just it’s like my choice to bitch and complain, warranted or not, about the ineptitude of the athletic department.

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  168. Like

    1. why is this being rehashed? Look up above a couple of hours ago where EJ puts Rothstein in his place

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  169. Jon Rothstein is full of crap. Maybe a candidate has been picked and there is no need to meet. Maybe two of the 5 people got food poisoning. Maybe there was a death in the family. Maybe they spoke offline and came to some level of consensus so no meeting needed. Who the hell knows.

    But apparently Professor Rothstein is clairvoyant.

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  170. Supposedly that was a routine meeting scheduled months ago. To me the cancellation means that the AD department is handling the hire and dealing with that takes precedence over a board meeting.

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  171. If we paid Kevin Stallings – of all people – 2.5 million, why would offering 3 million to a supposedly big-name up and comer seem unrealistic.

    Paying Stallings 2.5 is way crazier than offering Hurly 3.0.

    We paid Stallings 2.5 and Pitt gets called cheap???

    Things do look bleak – and I can understand a big name coach not wanting to have to do a total rebuild. So, we need to find the best up and coming ace recruiter coach and hire him.

    Go Pitt.

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