Well, it seemed that now former Pitt assistant head coach Tom Herrion was behind Buzz Peterson for the Marshall job. Peterson has the head gig at Appalachian State and had been head coach at Tennessee before Bruce Pearl. Apparently Peterson turned it down because of contract terms.
Instead it goes to Tom Herrion, and I can’t help but admit that this is a very good opportunity for Herrion. He is an outstanding recruiter and a solid coach.
His time at the College of Charleston did not work out, but it wasn’t for failing to recruit. It had a lot more to do with the culture of the school and dealing with boosters. He’s had a chance to learn more and the culture of Marshall will probably be a better fit.
So, good luck to Coach Herrion and beat the Hoopies.
I don’t know who exactly Coach Dixon will be targeting to be an assistant. No shortage of recently fired (or about to be fired) head coaches that can recruit.
Fred Hill was very good at that part, but given it was Pitt baseball that led to his downfall, I’m guessing AD Pederson isn’t going to sign off on that. Dino Gaudio will obviously be in demand, but I’m guessing he takes a year or so before getting back into it.
I don’t think Orlando Antigua is coming back as an assistant. I can almost guarantee that Kentucky is paying much better than Pitt can. Besides, I’d like to see Pitt look elsewhere.
Furthermore, Jamie Dixon has replaced enough assistant coaches without losing any strategy battles to make me think he can do just fine on his own. Hopefully, he replaces the fine Tom Herrion with an equally accomplished recruiter.
As far as typos go, I certainly have made more than my share … much more due to my typing ability than my spelling.
link to gopherhole.com
Here is some simple math as well: Pitt endowment as of the end of fiscal year 2009 $1.9 billion; University of Kentucky endowment $668 million.
based on just what I read here, my money is on Kearney, the recently fired HC coach
“Dixon has to be looking for somebody who could be an associate head coach. That’s not really the level that Sandle is at. He’s never even been out on the road.”
Endowment money must be used for the purpose(s) it was intended. IMHO most of that $2 billion is likely intended for educational and research purposes, and athletics-oriented endowments are probably intended for facilities or athletic scholarships.
So when it’s all said and done, a very small portion of a very small portion of that $2 billion probably isn’t nearly enough to offset what a program like Kentucky – who makes about 30% more revenue from its basketball program than Pitt – can afford to pay its assistant coaches.
Finally, if any endowment money were available for operational purposes, Pederson would likely use it to offset losses from other sports rather than add budget money to a sport that’s already very profitable on its own.
I don’t disagree with you. The difference at Kentucky is that they paid that slimeball, Calipari, $4 million a year. At that salary, they aren’t going to have a ton leftover for the assistants. And Pitt isn’t broke. They can afford to pay assistants.
As a graduate of the University, I would be appalled if they were using anything but a fraction of the endowment money for athletics. However, that doesn’t mean that it cannot be used for that purpose. Pitt needs to get some endowed scholarships for football and basketball. Personally, I would rather my additional donations go to the academic programs rather than the athletic program. I don’t know how many others feel the same way that I do.
The main reason I mentioned Antigua in an earlier post is that I hate seeing him connected to Calipari. He has always been referred to as a high-integrity guy and I don’t want to see a former Pitt player/coach tarnished by something he does working for a “snake oil salesman.” His recruiting ability while at Pitt came into question, but he was credited as the lead recruiter on Blair and McGhee while at Pitt, and he’s been Calipari’s main road warrior at Memphis and UK. Hard then for me to believe that’s not just some sour grapes over Antigua leaving his alma mater for what he thought was a better career opportunity.
While I’d also like to see some fresh blood and experience equal to Herrion’s, I think it’s more important that the next associate head coach is a good fit for Jamie’s system and someone who’ll stay for a few years to help further improve the program.
I also agree on the academics versus athletics. Very proud of our sports teams but even more proud of Pitt being recognized as one of the nation’s top academic and research institutions.
Nordenberg has done an awesome job of developing both IMHO.
Hail to PITT!
However, I also wanted to point out that what you “heard” might be sour grapes rather than reality. They seem to love the guy in Memphis and Kentucky, and Calipari recommended him for the head coach opening at Auburn.
