During the press conference, twitter among Big East and Pitt fans had a nice surge and it was interesting to follow reactions there and of course in the comments on the blog. In terms of initial impact this was not Will Muschamp at Florida firing things up. Nor is it the emotional moment of Charlie Strong being introduced at Louisville. The general reaction, though, seemed positive.

I thought, though, that it was a solid performance. Nothing earth-shaking or even particularly revealing. He’s not a publicly firey guy. If you expected or wanted that, then you were disappointed. And man does he have an icy-stare when talking to the media.

I think that stare was part of why the Q&A with the media was so brief. He sort of intimidated them. He struck me as having a bit of Saban-esque contempt in his eyes when dealing with the media.

He’s definitely not Wannstedt in that respect.  Not going to be easily warm and cuddly with the media. Going to be an adjustment.

I have to admit, that stare/glare was the most obvious thing that jumped out at me. I can see the players not wanting to face that when they screw-up.

“That’s one of my bad habits,” Haywood said of not smiling. “I get a little too intense when it comes to football, but outside of football I’m probably as laid back as you can get.”

Yeah. I’ll bet.

Other things that jumped out at me at the press conference.

— One of the first thing he did was thank the Miami University for the opportunity and time. He thanked the athletic director and his squad. That was a classy move to immediately acknowledge them. He also spoke directly to the Miami players to let them know he was leaving for Pitt the night before. No having an assistant do it for him. He faced them.

Jordan Gafford, Miami senior safety and co-captain, said Thursday that he and his teammates can understand coach Mike Haywood’s move to Pittsburgh. Haywood met with Miami players Wednesday night in Oxford to tell them of his decision.

“Honestly, I think guys took it very well,” Gafford said. “I think for the most part, guys understand the nature of college football and that it is a business.”
…
Of Haywood, Gafford said: “I’m happy for coach. I’m really thankful for what he did while he was here. He helped turn the program around. The guys coming back understand that Miami is a good job, and they’re going to get a really good coach in here. You come into a program that’s on top of the MAC.”

— His obsession with sleep amused me. He likes to take a nap shortly before the game in the locker room. He also likes to have early morning practices so there is nothing interfering with going to classes. Not to mention early practices make it more difficult for the players to be out too late the night before because they will need the sleep.

— The players are definitely going to get a bit of culture shock. It does seem like one of those NFL coaching swings. Going from the laid back players coach to the disciplinarian coach. Pete Carroll to Bill Belichek. Dave Campo to Bill Parcells.  Along those lines.

— When asked about his offensive philosophy, he spoke of creating and exploiting mismatches on the field against the opponent as being a point of emphasis.

But he made it clear that his philosophy always will be dictated by his personnel and what the opponents are likely to do.

“The most important thing is once we understand the talent we have and the opponent we are going against, we create mismatches and try to put our best players against their worst players,” Haywood said. “And, by doing that, you get multiple formations, so we will be a multiple-formation team”

That will be a welcome departure from “Our best 11 guys versus their best 11 guys.”

— He made it clear that all positions on the team are open. There are no presumptions of who will play. Everyone has to earn it.

— There was no mention of winning right away or winning the Big East. It was — I believe — on purpose to not make predictions or add more pressure to the upcoming season.

— Recruiting is obviously important. While stating that he wants to keep guys in Western PA, he also made it clear that he is going to be recruiting in a lot of places. Not sure, but there may have been a total of 13 states rattled off by Coach Haywood.

— Yes, the Freddy Krueger thing is going to get a lot of play.

Now for some good and interesting reading on Mike Haywood from a Miami fan. EDSBS had the must read.