Sorry about no free ice cream today. Had to spend the day finishing off my CLE credits for the bar reporting period.
So, what has changed? Nothing it seems, expcept some are now saying Norm Chow is the leading candidate for the Stanford job.
Harris will interview at Stanford on Saturday or Sunday. This morning he met with Pitt AD Jeff Long. There is no change.
Mike Prisuta seems perfectly willing to show Walt the door. He is firmly of the opinion that not only can Pitt get Dave Wannstedt, he should get Wanny. I wasn’t sold on Wannstedt when it seemed like a lock Harris would be fired. I’m surely not, now.
Pitt has engaged in a sick game of chicken with Harris. It seems clear that the administration, for whatever reason doesn’t want him, but wants him to jump rather than be pushed. Maybe it’s for money, maybe it’s for future PR spin. All I know is that it is hurting the program. Paul Zeise, the Pitt football beat reporter for the P-G summed it all up perfectly, in his intro to his weekly Q&A:
Let’s all wait and see. The ball is in the court of the administration on this one. Walt could be headed to Stanford by the time next week rolls around, if things stay as they are at Pitt – and I have to be honest, there isn’t a lot of reason to be optimistic if you are in favor of Harris returning next year.
I’d expect he’ll continue to coach Pitt at least through the bowl game, especially since he is the offensive coordinator and the one who calls the plays, but that will likely be the end unless some things change dramatically in the hearts of minds of certain individuals who hold all the cards.
I assure you, it is a frustrating time for the staff, who are all out recruiting their hearts out while trying to figure out what the future holds. It should be a slam dunk — they should have kids signing up by the boatload given their status as a BCS team and the optimism for the future.
Instead they are fighting off questions about Harris, about whether he’ll return and who is going to coach next year. It is amazing but somehow Pitt has managed to trump any momentum or boost it got from winning the Big East, simply by not addressing this situation. With two big recruiting weekends in a row coming up, that doesn’t make much sense. Stay tuned.
And one other thing — it is easy to talk about firing a coach, but remember it is not just a coach it is a whole staff of guys who are just trying to make a living and support their families. It is fashionable to call for guys to lose their jobs but sometimes the human side of it gets lost. I understand there are more considerations than what occurs on the field and sometimes a divorce is necessary even if it is amicable. But, this one is puzzling in a lot of ways.
As for a replacement for Harris should he go — can we at least wait until he goes before we start throwing out the names and manufacturing candidates. I know “Alcorn State’s running backs coach grew up in East Liberty and used to sneak into Pitt games when he was five” (obviously I am joking with this one, I have no idea who Alcorn State’s running backs coach is, but this is the kind of stuff I have an inbox full of) but not every coach who has been to Pittsburgh, is from Pittsburgh, grew up a Steelers fan, has a cousin who lives in McKees Rocks, etc., and is going to be a candidate.
Never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. That would be Pitt. It’s just depressing.
