7pm, ESPNU.
Oh, good. Bonzie Colson will finally return to the Irish line-up tonight. Always nice to have a warm-up game when returning from injury.
This is the final regular season game for Pitt. 0-ACC regular season looks solid. Oh, and in ACC Tournament it looks like Pitt will face ND or Syracuse.
I’m not saying the writing’s on the wall for Kevin Stallings. Perhaps a billboard would be a better analogy. AD Heather Lyke’s comments on the radio yesterday were hardly encouraging. The beat writer is hardly optimistic. And columnists who like Stallings are presuming the end of his tenure, while still stating that Stallings should be given more time.
Pitt would already be starting out poorly in that regard if it is going to fire a coach after only two seasons. The administration should learn from the football debacle of 2010-2015 that changing coaches like most people change shoes is not a good way to sustain success. Dave Wannstedt had Pitt football contending for Big East titles and averaged nine wins a season his final three years and was fired. That was 2010, and eight years later the program still hasn’t reached that level again.
That’s why there is a strong case to be made that Pitt’s quickest and best path back to respectability is to give Stallings more time. He already has the foundation in place, he has a core of young players to build around and he is an accomplished coach who has proved he can build a program.
Not sure about the “foundation in place” part, but sure. We’ll let that go.
Stallings never had a chance, though, as he followed an incredibly successful coach in Jamie Dixon and was viewed as a retread hire even though he had some success at places where it isn’t easy to win. If Pitt fires him, it will be starting from scratch.
Pitt’s biggest mistake, though, wasn’t hiring Stallings; it was the process, or lack of a process, that led to his hiring. Scott Barnes wanted to make a splash. He zeroed in on Stallings almost immediately and finished the process in about a week. He didn’t take the time to look far and wide to make sure he wasn’t missing the next Ben Howland.
I’ve said this many times. Barnes shot higher, but his problem then was being overconfident and too public. He made it very clear his hire was going to be an experienced head coach and emphasizing offense. He put himself in a box and by the time he got down any mythical list of candidates, Stallings was all that was left to take the job.
And then Barnes left. That means Stallings — who most fans did not like as the hire to begin — is the only one left to take the blame. How do you direct your ire at a guy no longer in charge? He’s not there to answer for it.
Over at The Athletic, there is a solid piece on Pitt’s fall ($).
Winless conference seasons are not unheard of, even among power-conference teams, but they are rare. In the past five years, only TCU (2013-14) and Boston College (2015-16) have finished high-major league play with an 0-18 record. The difference is that before those seasons, neither program had been anywhere near as good, for anywhere near as long, as Pittsburgh.
…
This is how far Pitt basketball has fallen. Seven years after earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the program is this close to violating the unwritten administrative norm that deems rapid-fire coaching changes to an uncivilized outrage. And yet, precisely because Pitt basketball has fallen so far, it will not be a surprise — if it is not already a foregone conclusion — when that decision is made. Either way, it’s not a good look.
Nope.
He made it very clear his hire was going to be an experienced head coach and emphasizing offense. He put himself in a box and by the time he got down any mythical list of candidates
1) isn’t this exactly what Steve P did after he fired Wanny?
2) bo one can tell me that he didn’t have Stallings pegged all along .. which is why he created that scenario.
I can’t believe you’ve missed the supporter talking points the last two seasons.
Stallings is the winningest coach in Vanderbilt history.
Stallings had a .600+ winning percentage
He has had players drafted into the NBA
Stallings has made 7 NCAA tournaments
He is a terrific recruiter and developer of players who was shackled by academic standards at Vanderbilt
The nasty facts:
Stallings has the most wins in Vanderbilt history. He’s in fourth place in winning percentage among those who have coached 200 or more games.
Stallings had a sub .500 record in SEC play.
Only two former Vandy players remain in the NBA. They were drafted in 2016 and don’t play.
Stallings has made 2 sweet sixteens and had been to the NCAA only once in his last 4 seasons. In that instance he lost a play-in game by 20 points while having those last two NBA draftees as starters. Coincidentally those two players were a PG and Center.
His highest ranked recruit in a year where he could promise abundant playing time was a single played that was rated as a 4* by one recruiting site. Same for 2018.
H2P!!!
Zeise, who seems to have gone off the deep end since his time as Pitt FB beat reporter, suggests Sean Miller if he’s fired by Arizona.
Honestly I’d be happy with any of the three of those. I’m also intrigued by Joe Dooley from FGCU, though he has never had to re-build a team. There are a lot of good candidates out there from smaller schools – it just comes down to Pitt’s pitch.
Earl Grant has a nice resume, fairly young coach successful at a smaller school, exactly the type of guy I’d like to take a shot with. I’m not advocating for him specifically, I don’t know enough about him, but that’s the type of guy I’d like to see us hire. Bobby Hurley is another good example. I’m sure there are many others that fit into this category.
If KS is the coach next year the seat contribution should be a negative number.
Why do they make things so complicated just to go to a damn sporting event?
Louisville – 1st year coach is 9-8 in the ACC
Pitt – 2nd year coach is 0-18 in the ACC
And KS has credit for numerous top 5 all time lows in program history. The last time Pitt lost 10 games in a row was 1969 and that was 50 years ago. We just witnessed 18 losses in a row.
Do we have to wait to back up the moving van until after the ACC tournament game?
Notice I used the singular – game.
Louisville has actually underperformed, and most expect the interim coach to be fired. NCST has been underperforming the last couple of years and is finally living up to expectations.
Not all assistant coaches are meant to be head coaches.
Can Pitt afford a $10M buyout plus pay the two hottest names on the market, while also trying to navigate the awkwardness of paying the basketball head coach more than Narduzzi?
I’m not sure that happens. In fact, if you look at it historically, that won’t happen.
Even Earl Grant would, probably, require paying him more than Narduzzi.
Dreamer – Correct. Not all assistants are meant to be head coaches but all head coaches were assistant coaches. See, I can play your game too. Smh.
I prefer a current head coach. Matta, Hurley, and Grant are 100% my top 3. If they don’t get them, I’d prefer to go the assistant from a successful program route. Swing for the fences or go small ball. I don’t like the in-between.
I just hope Pitt fans set their expectations properly. A program that had weak attendance for football and abysmal attendance for basketball, who also happens to have the weakest alumni donations will not have a lot of cash flow to pay a buyout (even if negotiated down) plus throw a lot of money at a splash hire.
If Pitt landed Matta, Hurley or Grant I’d do backflips … I’m just not expecting it.
If Stalling is fired my belief they will go the search committee route and they will find “the best coach that can lead Pitt into victory again” Blah Blah Blah etc. I still think she will “punk out again” and give the Stallings another year because of all the things that “were out of his control”.
I don’t agree with that , I do think a change is needed but they are boxed in with the large pay out and undoubtedly a large pay out for a new coach. Any real candidate from another school will most likely have a payback clause for leaving before their contract expires. The poaching school usually pays for it.
Pitt men’s girl’s basketball.
Pitt wrestling
ETC.
Put Pitt football in that mix also, its way below where it should be.
Poor fan support, attendance, contributions etc.
Can she turn it all around???
Earl grant isn’t leaving until Clemson or a southern ACC job opens up.
Dan Hurley is a done deal for the next big east job (probably any big job anywhere that he wants)
Why could any of these guys leave for pitt?? Grant and Hurley are no different than Archie miller. Keep winning at a smaller program, Wait a few years and a big job is bound to open up. Pitt is a step up but if you don’t win then its only a risk to getting a better future job.
My guess is The next coach will be a head coach from the likes of st bonn, bucknell, etc. or an assistant from a bigger program.
Oftentimes, the AD provides a list of people they want contacted. The search committee then can protect the interest of both the school and those being reached out to since people looking for jobs generally want it done in confidence.
There is a reason search firms are so prevalent. Barnes, by all accounts and purposes, did not do this or his original list all declined so he let the search agency provide additional recommendations.
Pitt fans should not flip out if it’s revealed a search agency is involved. We should be more worried about who gets hired and who is rumored to be interviewing. When the firm is revealed, we’ll be able to research on them as well and get an idea of what way Lyke most likely went.
Notre Dame hired Brian Kelley from Cinn. before the season ended. NO SEARCH COMMITTEE
Jimbo Fisher hired from Florida State to Texas A&M. NO SEARCH COMMITTEE.
Urban Meyer hired by Ohio State . NO SEARCH COMMITTEE.
Wisconsin re-hired Paul Chryst. One phone call , no search Committee.
The list can go on and on.
My entire point is that our AD must be the one to lead any search and should know who has an interest or not. I don’t believe she is connected enough with “the coaches network” to even come up with a list.
Therefore, we place our interest with outside people and are forced to accept what they serve to us as acceptable candidates.
From the list above, those schools have Athletic Directors who are connected and did not need assistance from the outside. They all acted quickly and made their moves. Those AD’s acted the way they should have in these situations.
Your quote-
“Search committees do more than find coaches. They’re hired to do background checks, act as intermediaries so the school and candidate can deny direct contact and provide a safe zone if someone declines a request.
Background Checks can be obtained by any Human Resources Department. Pitt has thousands of employees, do they not prepare background checks?,
As far as intermediaries for confidentiality, The news media finds out who is interested within days if not hours and reports it on TV, internet and the papers. Its not a secret there is no safe zone. There is no honor, coaches are poached in every sport.
If Stallings is gone, Iam just hoping Heather Lykes already has a head start on the search. With the NCAA’s not sure a coach would be named until April. Lykes may be an administrator and capable of “picking the low hanging fruit” to make changes but she is a “lost puppy” when it comes to these situations (finding coaches) for the core program, she is not plugged in with the old boys network.
And who on earth would mitake him for a “splash hire”?