ACT NOW, FIRE HAYWOOD

Mark Nordenberg didn’t exactly have the ideal New Year’s Eve. Just before 4PM Friday, the new Pitt football head coach Michael Haywood was arrested for domestic violence in South Bend, IN. The Pitt Chancellor now has a tough decision to make, but one he has to do. He must fire Michael Haywood right now.

Another coaching search is the last thing that Pitt fans want to deal with right now, but it has to be done. In my last post, one that welcomed Haywood as the head coach, I ended the rant with the comment that, “I’m willing to at least give the guy a chance.” Well, I gave him a chance and he just ruined it.

You cannot run a football program, be the father figure to 120 young men, and hit women. Haywood preached discipline, building character and bringing integrity to the players and program. Yet he used none of those traits or characteristics with his actions yesterday afternoon.

So what is the next move for Nordenberg? Well, my first move, after firing Haywood would be showing Steve Pederson the door as well. Pederson is responsible for this hire. This was his chance to go out and get the guy to take Pitt to the next level, and by the looks of things he has taking Pitt to a new low.

After firing Haywood and Pederson, the next move is finding your next head coach. Since Dave Wannestedt was replaced, Pitt has lost nearly half of their verbal commitments from the recruiting class that signs letters of intent in 5 weeks. Of the 10 that have stayed committed, about half of them are at least willing to consider other schools. Mark Nordenberg needs to hire a head coach ASAP. He also needs to be willing to open up his wallet to do so. He has 5 weeks to get a coach, and for that coach to fill a recruiting class. He cannot let money get in the way of hiring the best possible coach for this university and this program. He needs a big-time name that will draw players. He needs someone that will get the majority of the recruits who left, to come back to Pitt. He needs to offer the Cathedral of Learning to Chris Petersen and hope he accepts the position.

After he lands Chris Petersen, and he needs to not accept “NO” for an answer from him, the next step would be hiring a new athletic director. I’m not going to lie and say I know what it takes for a person to be a good athletic director, I don’t. I do however know that I want this hire to be a Pitt guy. I want this guy to love Pitt the way that I do. I want this guy to see the challenge ahead of him with the problems left behind from Steve Pederson and this football hire and want to fix them; not because it is his job, but because he cares about the University of Pittsburgh, and he wants to be a part of turning this mess into something special. My top two candidates are guys who love the school and football program. Two guys that are well known among the alumni. And two guys who have done as much as anyone else for Pitt’s national perception. My first candidate is Mark May. There is nobody that represents the Panthers in the national spotlight better. He is an educated man that clearly knows what is going on throughout the NCAA at this time. The next candidate is Dave Wannestedt. Yes, that Dave Wannestedt. He cares about the program. There is no way that this would have happened with him running the show. I don’t think he is the right guy to be on the sidelines, but I think he would certainly be a great guy to take the athletic department in the right direction, back to where it should be.

Whether these hires happens remain to be seen, but one thing that can’t happen is Michael Haywood cannot be the head coach of this football team any longer.