After an entertaining as hell Rose Bowl, Paul Chryst gets to take the reins at Pitt. Before that game even finished, news leaked of another coach being hire — unofficially of course.
It’s not going to be an earth-shattering, wow type of hire. Instead, it is a guy with long ties to both Chryst and to the local high school scene.
Chris Haering, who won a WPIAL football championship as Mt. Lebanon’s coach, is headed to the college level.
Haering resigned today to become an assistant coach at Pitt under new coach Paul Chryst. Haering was at Mt. Lebanon for 17 seasons and also coached Hampton for one season. He was a social studies teacher at Mt. Lebanon and won the WPIAL Class AAAA title in 2000.
Haering handed in his letter of resignation today and also met with Mt. Lebanon’s players (he didn’t pull a Todd Graham).
“You’ll have to talk to him, but if you’re asking my opinion, it’s just the right situation for him,” said Mt. Lebanon athletic director John Grogan. “I think he’s had a relationship with [Chryst] for a long time. The fact that he wouldn’t have to move his family I think also played a big role in this.”
Haering played for WVU in the late 80s. His time overlapped while Chryst was a Grad Assistant with the Hoopies.
Not that this is official, as Pitt did not confirm.
A Pitt official said he was unaware of any immediate additions to the Pitt football staff.
Haeirng’s position at WVU was as a linebacker. That is assumed to be the position he coaches for Pitt.
When Wannstedt was hired at Pitt, one of his key hires was to get Greg Gattuso to leave the head coaching position at Duquesne. It was a vital hire in connecting with the local high school coaches in the region. That is along the lines of what this hire is.
It’s the linebacking coach for crying out loud!
Here’s some football stuff for you FrankCan.
Bye the way, Happy New Year Chas, Reed, Frankcan, Marco and all the PITT bloggers. Trolls not so much.
Well at least it wasn’t Sal Sunseri. haha
Yes, the coaches are all buddies and pals and in a fraternity. It is an excellent hire for Pitt. Like the fellow in ‘The Firm’ said, “it might not be sexy, but it’s got teeth”!!
Do you think we’re going to shed the whole ‘Blue Collar’ attitude thing… I mean, seriously, Fraudy G mentioned it once mid last year and my eyes almost became stuck in the back of my head from rolling them so hard.
Yeah, we’re Pitt fans, and I think that most of us would rather see our club win with a bludgeoning offence than daintiness. But we’re an academic institution, isn’t that… the opposite of blue-collar. Anyways, I’ve said too much, I just don’t want to hear it anymore.
As for the hire, if he’s fine by Chryst (who by all accounts seems to be stand up gentleman), he is fine by me. May next season (and I pray, the season after that) be the judge.
I suspected Chryst would latch onto a local HS guy…I had hoped for Walker, but Haering is a good pick IF you were going to hire a local coach. With DW, Haygood & the Professor Harold Hill experiences, intended or not this was a good move by Chryst IMO.
BTW, bad play by Wisky #4 in fumbling, but I feel bad for the kid.
Guys, I saw this link in another Blog and it sheds some light on the Chryst-Haering connection. (almost at the end of the article).
“Haering has a brother who used to coach high school football. The Haerings’ father used to be a volunteer coach with his sons’ teams, rotating every year between the two. But Haering’s brother is now in a graduate assistant’s role at the University of Wisconsin.”
Arthur Goldberg
DT
Pittsburgh, PA
Mt. Lebanon
Goldberg controlled the line of scrimmage from his defensive tackle position.
3 stars
6’4″
270
Wisconsin
For some reason, Mike Gottfried didn’t retian him and he went to Temple and the Owls produced a 100 yard rusher (Paul Plamer) and 1st round OL (John Rienstra.)
Lou Holtz then snatched him for OL coach at ND, and, of course, Holtz was the last really successful coach ND has had ..
I’m not saying that Haering will ever be Joe Moore .. I’m just saying that wait a bit before making any judgement.
08 – 18 FL kids
09 – 11
10 – 9
11 – 10
12 – Zero FL recruits committed
Hopefully he will have some news today and tomorrow on Pitts new coaching staff.
need to nail that DC position soon. Recruits seem to be staying put. Have not seen one article yet on the bowl game this SAT.
Comment by KeyboardKev 01.03.12 @ 7:
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If he doesn’t use it now, he will in the PAC 12 at ASU.
I’m hoping that call came from Bielema.
FRANKCAN – I like the hire – If I was a local LB recruit I might feel a sense of comfortability going into the hands of a local coach who I was familiar with. Bet your butt that other the local HS coaches will be offering some support for Haering as well.
Semper Fidelis All-American game tonight at 6 on CBS Sports network .. includes Rushell Shell and Adam Bisnowaty
US Army All-Star game Saturday at 1 (same time as BBVA Compass Bowl) .. includes Chad Vortyk
“The ref behind the QB also whistles to signify that the clock is starting. The situation last night is that the official clocks in college games are measured by 1/10th of a second.
So when the clock showed 0:02 that really was 0:01.1 of actual time. That is why the clock turned over so quickly once the ref signaled it to start.”
even the announcers were commenting before the play on how risky it would be to try and get it snapped and spiked in 2 seconds. if the announcers sense the risk, then you know it’s obvious.
really bad in-game coaching. somebody lacks risk/benefit analysis skills in the heat of battle.
i actually thought the time out taken to bet on the downed kick was a decent wager. Bielema lost the bet and they certainly could have used the time out, but there weren’t many options presenting themselves to stop Oregon’s offense and who knows what angles the officials might have that could have showed the ball over the line. it was worth a shot…….
As you say, that doesn’t impact the remaining targets and Chryst may very well have other players in mind.
Bossdaws you are right amnd if he does not name a DC bye wensday that means he does not have one and maybe he has been slow geting a staff.
FWIW, Dokish speculates that Conwell simply is taking advantage of a free trip to Arizona in January. I don’t think he has any inside info on this.
and the LB coach at wisconsin was voted the best LB coach of the year. but you think if the kid had a chose he would rather come to PITT and be coached bye a high school coach coaching LB.
i am not saying haering will be bad but untill he proves him self if iam a LB and could go to one of thoes schools i would com on man.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/college/pitt/s_774756.html
http://www.sportsbybrooks.com/penn-states-bradley-to-meet-with-pitt-about-job-29942
and .. Starky is discounting this story, calling it false (I ted to believe Starky)
1) Bradley is not coming to Pitt
2) he likes Patterson and thinks he may have achance to stay, and
3) very interesting observation made a couple of years ago by Frank Cignetti about the spread
I think what we learned this year is this – the spread offense is only good if you have the players – particularly at quarterback – to run it. If you don’t, the offense stinks and has no chance of being successful.
I remember a few years ago I asked Frank Cignetti why he runs the “pro-style” offense when the spread seems to what everyone is turning to and he said it was simple – the pro-style offense is structured in a way that it protects every player’s flaws and doesn’t leave any one player – be it a lineman, a receiver or quarterback – hanging out to dry. I didn’t know what he meant then – I do now.
Watching the spread up close this year – when it didn’t work because the players couldn’t execute it, there really was no remedy. The adjustments were “Tino, go play better” as opposed to, let’s do some things different to hide his flaws and emphasize some other things
Sorry, I’m still trying to process this. How can Penn St not understand what needs to be done with that football team? NO COACH that worked under Paterno, or had ANY connection with Sandusky should have anything to do with the program. How exactly will he answer tough questions from parents on the recruiting trail? If it was my child being pursued by Pitt, I would have serious reservations, and Tom Bradley or Mike McQueary showing up on my doorstep would do very little to assuage my doubts. Penn St may not see it, but the institution has shown itself to be unstable, with unfit supervision of it’s football program. That lack of control clearly went all the way to the top, through several layers. Bradley, McQueary, Jay Paterno the crier, they all need to be gone. And, if it was me, I’d ask Papa Paterno to move off the campus and never return. There can be no sentiment in this. The horrific nature of the crimes committed at this university demand it.
Most recruits are holding tight and keeping their committment to Pitt. He needs these guys in place soon but it’s not imperative right now. I’m sure he’ll be on the phones with some prospective recruits during this small recruiting window.
Pittastic every one said he is just waiting till after the bowl games are over he will name them on the jan 3 well there are over he does not have then in place ;
and this window in time when you can see recuits lasts for 5 days then it closes agein and he will spend the time finding a staff which he should have had ready to go but does not.
and thanks to ZEISE we know he is behind on puting a staff together.
Pitt nuked it over the past year with the firing/resignation of Wanny, hiring/firing of Haynogood, finally Todd “the fraud” Graham.
This will hopefully open some doors in the WPIAL that were closed to Pitt due to the administrations incompetence.
Great job PC!
DaveD
http://www.49ers.com/team/coaches-staff.html
I think Tomsula may indeed be “one of his guys”… Im not sure of the relationship, but the fact that there is any relationship at all intrigues me…
I heard on another blog you will coming as the Team Reverend to bless the team before each game. Any truth to that rumor?
I like Bostad as OC/OLine.
And I like Haering as Linebacker coach to help w/ local ties.
I’m luke-warm on Jonathan Smith as QB coach, but let’s give him a chance.
Would really like to see DC named quickly, but there are lots of REALLY good options out there, as far as I can tell. Tomsula, Austin, Sunseri, Bradley, Patterson, Orlando (in that order)…I could get excited about any of them.
1. You can get it good
2. You can get it cheap
3. You can get it fast
But only two out of three. If you put yourself in a position where you have to have it fast, it either won’t be good or it won’t be cheap.
Personally, I think all decisions about a program (sports or otherwise) should be long term. I know fans want it all NOW – heaven forbid we lose some recruits. (By the way, haven’t we had some 4 and 5 stars that didn’t pan out?) Better to get the right coaches and players that fit what you are trying to do long-term.
PS: Emel, I know you will say in the long run we’re all dead. (smile)
We really need a DC. Obvious from the Rose Bowl that nobody from Wisconsin is qualified. I like Shannon or possibly Mike Stoops. Pitt just needs to open their wallet.
I know how you feel — I have to drive 2.5 hrs each way to get to Pitt game; I now only make 2 or 3 games a year,
can’t imagine how that happened!!
“I just got word from a very reliable source, who learned first hand, that Jim Tomsula, the Defensive Line coach for the San Francisco 49ers, will be joining Paul Chryst as an assistant coach at PITT. I would think that would be as a DC but I’m not sure on that count at all.”
No stress is correct, let him gather his guys this week, and next week g-string, let them hit the pavement.
In all honesty we don’t really even know if Bostad, Haering and Smith are hired because that hasn’t been announced by PITT yet. What we have heard is rumors and suggestions that those things happened.
The earliest they could have possibly been formally hired was today anyway because Chryst didn’t become our HC until today – that is if he’s even signed a contract yet.
I’m not worried about this one bit.
Anyway I am going to go pour myself a single malt and step back from the ledge and relax for a while.
Hail to Pitt
Isn’t that part of the interview process? Questions get asked such as “who do you have in mind for critical positions like OC & DC, if you’re hired”? A HC candidate’s previous coaching experience and close contacts/associations are considered when picking the right HC for the job. You don’t come into that interview cold concerning staffing.
If you are ready to move into the position of the head football coach of a major university you’ve got to have put the time in previously sizing guys up for staff AND initiated informal contact with them to judge their interest in joining up when the time does come.
When the HC hire opportunity materializes then its just the matter of hammering out the specifics of who fits those assistant positions.
Chryst should have had a least his OC, DC, QB and O line coaches already lined up to sign contracts as of TODAY IMO.
I’m not getting any warm fuzzys from this guy yet. I hope I’m wrong worrying about his lack of urgency to fill out his staff, but he is awfully slow on the draw in this matter if you ask me.
check the sites dick rod wants his old DC from WVU wvu has not played yet but the offer has been made every one knows abought it
tenn whnts clemsons DC and they have made him a offer clemson has not played there bowl game yet so if they have or have not played means nothing
penn state has talked to new englands OC and they are still playing so all that means nothing.
if things were normal it would be different.
Dunno, maybe it’s that the b-ball team is rocky that folks are so wired….
Comment by wally 01.03.12 @ 7:01 pm
Excellent analysis wally.
Let’s all just chill and give PC a little time.
This was after all, a day of mourning in Madison.
That’s two years in a row the Badgers lost a heartbreaker in the Rose Bowl. After a very tough loss, the day after is always very quiet and a time to reflect.
PC is ending one large part of his life, being a former QB for Wisky and longtime coach. It is natural to take a pause, before you begin another part of your life. Let’s all take a deep breath before jumping off of any of the hundreds of bridges in the Pittsburgh area. (being in the Carolinas that wasn’t on ‘My to do List’ anyway)
haha
It is highly likely that a few others are lined up, but as Reed has pointed out, no official announcements will be made to the appropriate time,.. and it could well be that since PC hasn’t been at Pitt since before Christmas, many of these guys have yet to see the Pitt facilities or have looked at a Pitt contract (let alone sign it.)
As I said before, Chryst promises to be very busy the next few days.. and I wouldn’t panic, at least yet.
Comment by wbb 01.03.12 @ 8:11 am
Couldn’t let this one go by wbb. lol
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t one Matt Cavenaugh coach a winning Super Bowl team and didn’t Wanny actually have a Super Bowl ring as well. And Wanny was an asst. coach for a NCAA champion as well I believe. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for reasons to hire one, Salvatore Sunseri.
I would think after we unload Sir Tino after next year, most Pitt fans will have had enough of Sunseri’s for the foreseeable future. Like maybe…….the next millenium.
Tired after the game, but spent a hr. or so with the Wisky troops to say farewell (sorry, just my style..)
Had eats with the family, packed up our west coast attire and jumped a red-eye to Pgh….
Wife and kids had some homey stuff to do, so as it was breaking dawn over Wisc. I had the pilot drop to 10,000 ft., hooked up the wife and kids with some parachutes and pointed towards our neighborhood… Stood at the door while they jumped (just my style, ya know)
Got into Pgh at 7:00 and went and had pancakes and a couple toddies in Mt. Lebanon…
Met Steve P. at the door when he unlocked it at 9:30 (just my style, ya know)
Signed a bunch of stuff and called my “a” list of coaches and had a couple picts taken since I was now legally Pitt’s new HC..
About 11:00 started contacts with our recruits, told them not to say anything, and neither would I (just my style, ya know)
Promised Keith P. that I give him a fair shake at the DC position… but couldn’t find him… Oh! the team stealthily left for Birmingham…
By 2:45 was on a flight to Birmingham to talk to KP and the boys. Figured it would get more difficult later in the week, especially if I just blew them off (NOT my style, ya know).
Late dinner and toddies with KP and such, but not too late as I will reconfigure my “A” list, if KP or anyone else appears to be “the man”.
Figure it out overnight, make the offers in the morning… have to call the family to see if there were any broken bones or frost-bite (JUST MY STYLE, YA KNOW)
maybe we should take a deep breath here… with apologies to Rev. George, we want to crucify PC for not having a full staff on day 0.5, and then we’ll do the same if he just ignores the current guys still wearing a Pitt hat! Things come in there own time, NOT our time….
Very funny stuff CompLit
Only question did the chutes have Badger or Panther logos on them? lol
#8 Uconn is laying an Egg in their BigEast game at Seton Hall. Hall up 66-47 4 minutes to go.
So we will have the Hall to deal with as well this year.
Were you previously known as ‘Tino’s Mom’.
Just askin
Paul Zeise today
Aaaaaa. The run game emphasized again? I do believe Zeiso that Ray Graham was either leading the nation in rushing or was 2nd when he got hurt.
So how was it de-emphasized?
And just as I predicted Zeiso is already talking up Sir Tino for next year. I did think he’d at least wait till Spring practice. Guess not.
And we’ve seen Sunseri in a pro-set offense. No great shakes there either. Again only adequate against the dregs of the league.
Maybe he spent the holiday in Birmingham with Roxy cooking him some lasagne and Sal plying him with some Anisette. Because he’s already talking Terrible Tino up.
Zeiso didn’t have any info whatsoever about who some other possible candidates are. Basically a useless article. We get more info from FRANKCAN, than Zeiso. Maybe the PG should hire FRANK>
I’d be fine with Tomsula (because we always need at least one coach with a stache) or Patterson for the reasons you stated.
As well as Austin or Randy Shannon. Both of them are excellent recruiters as you know.
@paul ‘adventure time’ shannon.
Yes, I’m a real meanie.
I don’t know their skill levels but based on the 2nd half performance (I’ll give them a pass for the 1st half), I am damn glad their LB coach ain’t coming here.
Sorry Mrs. Huxtable, but results do count and the LB corps did a nice impersonation of clay figures against the Ducks.
Zeise also is clueless and gets most of his info from these blogs. His “sources” are few and far between. He also probably drove himself to ‘Bama hence the radio silence until today. Or in a poker tourney at Rivers and he lost track of time.
Don’t journalists travel with the team? Like on the bus / charter plane to and from games? I know they do in pro sports (Potash with the Pens as an example but he is an employee of their tv partner) and that’s a good time for them to do some reporting and story generation. Colleges are probably different but if not Zeise is missing the boat on that one.
FRANKCAN is a fountain of PITT knowledge and must stay awake all night digging up info… seriously.
SFPitt – Wisky ended up with not a bad showing on defense during the regular season:
Scoring Defense – 6th
Total Defense – 8th
Passing Defense – 22nd
Rushing defense – 46th
Those numbers will change a bit with the bowl game results – but Oregon burned everyone they played with thier offense.
I think it would be great if we can replicate that in 2012 whoever the DC is.
