I just saw this article from DiPaola of the Trib and thought it would be good to get your collective blood pressure up before you really start your weekend…
New Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said Friday former Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson never received proper credit for the Panthers’ move from the Big East to the ACC.
“I hope people realize what an unbelievable job Steve Pederson did for Pitt basketball and the university,” Howland said on TribLive Radio. “You would not be in the ACC today were it not for his vision.”
Pederson hired Howland in 1999 and guided the Panthers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in four seasons. Howland left Pitt for UCLA, where he guided the Bruins to three consecutive Final Four appearances, including a national runner-up finish in 2005-2006. His lead assistant with the Panthers, Jamie Dixon, succeeded him at Pitt. UCLA fired Howland after the 2012-13 season. Mississippi State hired Howland on Tuesday. Pitt fired Pederson in December.
“If Pitt was still in Pitt Stadium and playing in (Fitzgerald Field House), you’d be in the AAC in a no-bid league with (non-revenue) football and wondering what we’re going to do next,” Howland said.
Discuss please until we have news from today’s scrimmage to talk about…
Note: the number to call if you feel like you are about to hurt yourself or others is 1-800-STEVEAD
AND ACCEPTING AN OFFER TO JOIN THE ACC, A NEANDERTHAL COULD HAVE DONE THAT.
HE ALIENATED BOOSTERS AND ALUMNI, STUDENTS AND STAFF WITH HIS SELF-RITEOUS ARROGANCE.
THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT, BEN. AND OH BY THE WAY, HOW DID THINGS WORK OUT FOR YOU AT UCLA? STILL REELING FROM THAT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED ARTICLE FROM A FEW YEARS AGO?
Saying that the facilities needed an upgrade is pretty obvious, I don’t think anyone would argue that. And of course there is a large faction of Pitt fans/alum who believe SP blew that one as well by moving football off-campus.
Even if I cede credit for the ACC move to SP, I couldn’t be happier that he is gone.
Even in Fitgerald Field House and and a
half-filled Pitt Stadium,
we were the next guy up. That simple.
Right or wrong from facilities or attendance,
maybe because of perception, maybe because of
our history, maybe because of our standing as
a university, maybe because of the Pittsburgh television market being in the top 20, I don’t know, maybe 22 now???
we were the next guy up.
We don’t have much cache, but we are perceived, true or not, a step above Cincinnati, South Florida, or any of the 12 other AAC teams.
Sorry, Pitt and Syracuse fit. The others didn’t.
If it came down to it, the ACC would have asked the next guy up to get an even number.
That’s silly Ben.
realist.
My point above is a realist point of view.
Taking myself out of any Pitt bias.
As a college football and basketball fan in general, for years, just as an observer, everyone knew the group that was going to be asked was
UCONN, Pitt and Syracuse.
he started with Pitt hoops.
Howsabout dem Blue Shirts?
Of course Howland would support Pedersen who had given him he 1st big break. But as far as SP being instrumental for getting Pitt in thee ACC ….
1) we all should know by now, if it weren’t for the Boston College AD, UConn would have been brought into the ACC instead of Pitt … AND THIS HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED SO MANY FUCKING TIMES ON THIS SITE THAT I AM NOT GOING TO BOTHER TO POST THE STORIES AGAIN, FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!
2) Every other BE FB school had also applied to the ACC (LVille, WVU, Cincy … you name it), so SP didn’t do what any other school did.
Now in fairness … yes, SP was very instrumental in getting in getting Pitt BB on the map … by not only hiring Howland but by his persistence in getting The Pete built.
But the fact is that SP was just like Johnny Majors …. great 1st stint at Pitt, but his second stint stunk on ice!
SP was wrong on all fronts.
What we also know is that Pederson failed miserably at the many other things that an AD needs to do, including keeping the fans and donors happy.
I am glad that he has moved on to pursue other interests. T
H2P
Howland never said those things before, because he didn’t have to do so. C’mon people. We are smarter than that. Howland is playing the game to look good to his new AD….as in…I won’t throw you under the bus! Basic personal marketing 101 and the old boys school networking seminar 102.
See it for what it really was….an epic fail x 2, with that clown. I do talk to AD’s in the big14 regularly and none speak highly of Pederson. NONE!
He was the one who got the kids to send in their dimes to get the Cathedral of Learning built. Some people at PITT wanted to use an off-campus cathedral, preferably a lily-white Protestant one, but SP demanded that PITT carve its own way and build a towering one near Schenley Park.
The one negative in his record was that he kicked the Pirates out of PITT-owned Forbes Field thus starting all the crap we have to go through to watch sports on the North Side.
… and he did all that while working as Jonas Salk’s right-hand researcher and teaching Gene Kelly how to dance.
Hell of a guy that Steve!!!.
SP’ s job was to get Pitt out of the BE. SP’s biggest mistake
was his management style….dictatorship. When making
significant changes in the facilities hee should have built a consensus rather than alienating a portion of the fan base.
Don’t discount Mr. Pederson’s negotiating skills, once he got that call. I can just imagine how it went down.
Steve: Hello?
The ACC: Hi Steve, this is the ACC membership committee, we’d like to offer Pitt an invitation to join our conference.
Steve: Really? I thought for sure that UCONN and Syracuse were going to be invited, not us!
The ACC: Well, actually you’re right, the reason Pitt got the invite is that BC black balled UCONN, guess it’s a New England turf war thing. You know UCONN’s BB program has a great history and would really have added a lot to the conference’s BB status, plus they at least play their football games in their own on campus stadium, so yeah, they were out 1st choice, but their loss is your gain. So are you in?
Steve: I have a few things to consider here. You know we have a new football coach on board right? He’s a real dynamic personality and he’s going to recruit the hell out of the entire Eastern seaboard. A real High Octane guy. He could sell long underwear to a Miami beach lifeguard. Wait till you here him in a press conference, a real dynamic individual, explosive personality. I hand picked him. Pitt is his dream job. He’ll be here for many years. He’s going to take this Pitt football team to the next level, so we want to be placed in the same conference with Clemson and Florida St.
The ACC: Sorry that isn’t going to happen.
Steve: Well then at least I want either Florida St. or Clemson as our divisional crossover rival so we play one of them every year.
The ACC: Steve, that’s not in the master plan either. You know we’re going to get Notre Dame to commit to our conference as well, so you can continue to play against them at least every few years.
Steve: But we already have a scheduling agreement with ND to play them every year in a home-home arrangement for years to come.
The ACC: Not any more you don’t.
Steve: Oh? So can you throw me a bone and at least compensate us with Florida St. or Clemson as our cross duvisional rival then? Sorry, the answer is no.
Steve: I’m putting my foot down on this invite thing then. I demand, at least, that we not play Syracuse every year.
The ACC: Actually, we see the Orange being your cross divisional rival, so they will continue to play Pitt every year, for like,,,, forever!
Steve: That’s totally unacceptable!! They get to play in the Atlantic Division then? That really leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I’m going to have to think about this.
The ACC: No Worries, we are going to talk to West Virginia anyhow, they’re our backup plan if Pitt didn’t work out.
Steve: OK, I’ve thought about it. We’ll accept your invitation, with one contingency. You change our cross divisional rival from Syracuse to Clemsin then.
The ACC: Let us talk to West Virginia first, and then we’ll get back to you on that demand.
Steve: Just kidding. You know me, I’m a kidder, always smilin, a joke a minute, I’m a funny guy. Please, please, please, don’t call West Virginia. We accept, we accept.
The ACC: That’s more like it. Since your willing to go along with us so agreeably, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. Florida St. Is going to be awesome in a year or two. So here’s the deal. When we tell you to, you will schedule them at the drop of a hat, irrespective how it disrupts your schedule for that season, as your home opener in prime time. It will give Florida State an easy win to warm up in the ACC and you’ll get your game against Florida St.
Steve: I knew that you would finally succumb to the pressure of my superior negotiating skills. No hard feelings, OK? You got to realize, I’ve been playing hardball like this as AD for many a year. Look how I turned around that Nebraska program. I am the Man! Goodbye.
The ACC: Yeah, goodbye, CLICK. A$$hole.
Event gives pdrspective to all things SP and Pitt.
Having said that, I open my sports section today to find out Maryland has just recruited Robert Stone from Wisconson the #2 center in the USA and a 5 star recruit. I doubt Jamie even spoke with him because we have the great Nix coming in !!
So we don’t need a center !
cooked.
Like someone said yesterday, we have all probably
argued with one another on here, but at the end of the day, we’re all Pitt fans, I have respect for
all of you, and as we’ve all gotten to know each other a bit over the years, told some of our stories, we’ve all had our ups and downs in life as everyone does,
but it’s clear there are only one of two
things going on with Joe D..
1. He has some serious psychological issues.
2. He’s some teenage or early 20’s punk messing with people.
Neither option is good.
the U.S. and Americans.
They don’t have a problem taking our
money or our help when needed, but, ya,
America sucks.
to win it all. Red hot.
Pens are a mess.
#Pitt OC Jim Chaney: “I think our defense showed up and thumped us today. We had a tough go out there today. They played with more energy.”
H2P
For me it started by emphasizing the word “Pittsburgh” rather than PITT to “help” identify who we were. (Pederson wanted us to look like Nebraska.) That alone convinced me those two were clueless.
I feel sorry for today’s PITT student. They will never have a memory of a home game football weekend as we older grads have.
Tearing down PITT Stadium and expecting Heinz Field to equal the same college football favor was just plain dumb. (Does it work anywhere that well other than USC? Miami home games are not that great.)
The dual practice facilites was the only good thing to come out of the whole thing.
Would it have taken that much smarts to think out a Carrier Dome project? The money could have been gotten.
Nordenberg was short sighted in trying to preserve the Big East. The hand writing was on the wall; football was always king.
Thank the lord, we had a more storied football program than UConn and better academics than Cincinnati and South Fla.
Syracuse’s history and location saved us. That’s the program the ACC wanted.
I agree Pederson just happened to be there when the ACC called, despite all his fumbling.
Howland owes his career to Pederson and I understand his loyalty. His time with PITT doesn’t allow him to remember what we were before Pederson and what Pederson did to us in his tenure.
Ollison had 97 yards on 15 carries with one that he broke for 60+ yards. He backed that with another 38 yards in receiving. What a bunch of studs we have at RB now.
If this OL turns out to play up to their potential there is going to be a bunch of yards gained by this gang this season.
As the BE football coffers continued to be miniscule, And the BE heads seemed indifferent to trying anything to increase the payout BE schools, (can you say ” Perfect Storm”?), the ACC was ready to open the check book for the final nail in the coffin.
IMO, it didn’t matter to the ACC if they got UConn & Cause, or Pitt and Cause, the BE would be reduced to a shambles, and the ACC could go back to NYC shouting , “All ‘board!” Hell, I could have Pitt AD when the ACC came calling, and the deal would have been done. The destruction of the best BB conference in NCAA history was worth whatever the ACC needed to do.
Really, I don’t think they needed to get Pitt on board. If they landed two out of Uconn, Cuse, Pitt and Louisville, they accomplished their mission.
It will be interesting to see if the BE hangs onto BB recruits (NYC, that is) or if the ACC can get them back. So far, Jamie hasn’t landed any NYC talent – and he always had 1 or 2 on board.
OK – I’m done with the conspiracy theory!
,
Howland is saying what Dixon doesn’t have the balls to say.
Met some terrific folks from Syracuse who were alums, on my cruise. According to them, the Cuse Nation now hates the multipurpose stadium and adds that it is falling apart. They thought it was awful that Pitt had no stadium on campus and asked how that could have SP happened? To a person they loved Pitt Stadium.
Also, watched the Badgers game with about 20 Wisky fans and alums. To a person they had great trepidation over HCWC and when they found out I was from Pitt they questioned me about Chryst like I was on trial. Anyhow, I got some free scotches out of it.
Cornhole hired Howland to his first bigtime gig and Howland is regurgitating the company/Nordenberg line.
Hilarious actually.
Now if Cornhole would have been instrumental in landing Pitt in a new conference. Based on his talents and scheduling, that new conference would have obviously been the……………
………………drum roll…………
……………..The MAC !
Especially since we ALL know (and I’m assuming Dixon too), that Pitt plays their best in an uptempo game and had their 2 biggest victories (UNC & ND) playing that way.
Temple & Miami in NIT Final 4.
Besides his poor recruiting, seriously doubting his coaching skills the last 4-5 years as well.
Perhaps it was all Tom Herrion and the other assts of pre 2011.
And the war of words between Pitt’s John Peterson and the creep from Creepy Valley….Herbie Hand(job).
The face, the name….it all fits. Just like Franklinstein.
This couldn’t be more funnier !
Same with the color changes. Why didn’t he do that at Neb first?
As far as updated notes…I really really like all 11 going to the ball to make a tackle. Those types of defenses seem to create and recover more fumbles. That is my impression, may not be factual.
How long does Hendrix have to make a decision? Assuming he would have to sit out this coming year, but be able to practice.
Diallo looks wide open right now….
Wisconsin has MADE more FT’s than opposing teams have even attempted. Don’t think I’ve EVER heard that before in the almost 5 decades I’ve followed bball, pro & college.
Must be some sort of magic going on in Madison these days.
Godfather Barry is AD after all.
Bring some of that magic to Pitt !
2 PA guys.
Too bad Jamie only knows how to play Checkers.
Still play online against players from around the world.
Perhaps that’s my problem. lol
My Proof?
It happened under Smiley’s reign.
I know you have a hard-on for JD, but he’s beaten both Ryan and Miller.
Of course that was before Miller went to UA, which almost recruits itself thanks to Lute, and plays in the weak assed Pac-12. Yet Miller still hasn’t been beyond the elite 8 and still won’t after tonight. He does have his own brand of slogball which you and UPitt don’t seem to mind.
Are you serious about Herrion? He was canned at Marshall and he’s now an assistant at GT. How did they do this year?
At this point in your life I suggest you try tiddlywinks.
You got a cronyism taunt regarding SP and Howland in too! What a great day for you!
I will open up one more of your faves for you:
Public Education
Herrion was very successful at College of Charleston.
80-38 and advanced farther than us in the NIT.
I suggest you try posting without including me in your post. And you sound like a typical product of Public Education.
To me, that was arrogant and unforgivable!
Having said that… He is gone, and like all folks I have fired or who were fired on my watch, I will forget him ( much as they forgot me when I was ousted) and the tremendous damage he caused at Pitt. I suggust that the rest of you do the same. We have a new HCIC ( head chancellor in charge) and a terrific new coaching staff in football. Soon we may have the same in basketball.
Let’s focus on the positive and not give a tribute to SP by keeping his name alive. Much like we did with a former QB TS!
Of course he must be ignorant of the fact that Boston College effectually got us in by denying the addition of UConn.
