The rumors of Coach Walt Harris to Stanford continue. By all appearances, it looks like Stanford wants either Harris or USC Offensive Coordinator Norm Chow.
Stanford will talk to Southern California offensive coordinator Norm Chow and Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris this week about the Cardinal’s head coaching vacancy.
Chow told reporters in Los Angeles on Monday that he would go to Stanford on Wednesday, where he will meet with athletic director Ted Leland.
“We’ll see when we find out the specifics,” Chow said when asked if he was interested in the job. “I’m sure they’ll interview a whole bunch of other folk.”
A Stanford source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that Leland would also discuss the job with Harris.
It isn’t the fact that Harris might be wooed by another school that surprises people. It’s that Pitt would appear to be willing to let him walk.
Harris is taking Pitt to a bowl game for a fifth consecutive season, the first time that’s happened at the school since coaches Johnny Majors, Jackie Sherrill and Foge Fazio combined for nine consecutive bowls from 1975-83.
Still, despite leading one of Pitt’s youngest teams ever to a major bowl, there is no certainty Harris will return to coach largely the same team again next season.
Harris is signed through the 2006 season, but many major college coaches with his portfolio of success — three consecutive seasons of eight or more victories among them — have much longer deals. Harris’ agent questioned earlier this season why a new deal wasn’t in place, but athletic director Jeff Long said only that Harris’ status would be reviewed after the season ends.
Now, by not moving to offer Harris an extended deal at more money than the estimated $600,000 a season he currently makes, Pitt may have significantly improved Harris’ bargaining position should the two part ways.
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Palko has already lobbied for Harris’ return, calling on Long and chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg to extend his contract. Pitt’s administration now must decide if a promising team that returns nine offensive starters in 2005 can be entrusted to another coach and another system, despite prior criticism of Harris for his game management skills.
Matt Hayes has an amusing piece looking at the unrealistic coaching expectations at East Carolina University. He uses it to point out that the absurdity of ridiculous expectations are not limited to the Notre Dames and Floridas. Perhaps someone else will be paying attention.
Of course, there is a very uninformed snippet from Hayes regarding Palko and Harris:
Pittsburgh QB Tyler Palko is making coach Walt Harris look better each week. Harris was criticized earlier this season for not benching Palko when he was playing badly. Now, Palko has led the Panthers to six wins in seven games. In those games, Palko has thrown for 1,892 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions and has the Panthers in a BCS bowl for the first time.
Say what? Where? Somehow managed to elude my fairly compulsive searching for all things Pitt. Palko wasn’t good at the start of the season to be sure, but considering that back-up Joe Flacco has even less experience benching Palko was never an option. The closest, may have been to have him come out at times for his own safety, when the offensive line was getting him killed.
Joe Bendel has a Big East Notebook wrap-up (regular season) up on ESPN.com (subscription):
They took care of business down the home stretch, winning six of seven games and upsetting BC, Notre Dame and West Virginia along the way. Coach Walt Harris, who’s been on the hot seat all season, looked on as sophomore QB Tyler Palko put the Panthers on his shoulders and rallied them from a 2-2 start. Palko has been particularly dominating in the past five games, throwing for 1,570 yards with 16 TDs and two interceptions.
“We always expected this,” Palko said of the BCS berth. “Now, we have it.” The Panthers feature 16 underclassmen in the starting lineup, 13 of whom (including Palko) are first-year starters. They appeared to be free-falling in the early season with losses to Nebraska and UConn — and near-losses to Division I-AA Furman and Temple — but Harris kept pushing his young team.
“I knew they had what it took,” he said. “It just takes time.” The signature play of the season occurred in Week 5 against Boston College. Palko ducked his shoulder and ran over BC CB Peter Shean, who crashed to the ground with his helmet off his head. Palko established himself as a leader at the point and the Panthers established themselves as the team to beat in the Big East.
MVP: Not only is Palko the MVP of the Panthers, he’s also the MVP of the league. He is 208-of-369 for 2,816 yards with 23 TDs and nine interceptions, yet he can’t be judged by statistics alone. “It’s all the other stuff, the leadership, the ability to make everybody play better,” said sophomore Greg Lee, Pitt’s sophomore 1,000-yard receiver. “He got us here because of all the things he does.”
Biggest disappointment: A double-overtime loss at Syracuse in November. The Panthers had a number of chances to win the game, including a 51-yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds, but could not cash in. Had they beaten the Orange, they would have captured the league title outright and been on the cusp of the top-10. Also, there would be fewer questions about their validity as a BCS bowl team.
Looking ahead: With 15 starters and both specialists returning, the Panthers should be a preseason top-15 team and the favorite to win the Big East next season. The only question is: Will Harris be there to coach them. He could leave on his own volition or be fired after the BCS bowl game.
Well, there still would have been questions, but the record wouldn’t have looked as bad. As for a favorite, it depends on whether Bobby Petrtino will still be the head coach at Louisville next year.
And in a move that doesn’t really surprise me, Syracuse will bring back Coach Paul Pasqualoni for at least one more season. That makes sense. The long time AD Jake Crouthamel, is loyal to Pasqualoni and retires this summer. You can’t have the outgoing AD foist a new coach on an incoming AD. Give the new AD a chance to find his own guy.
