Smizik: Pitt's search for coach has to be done right
Monday, December 13, 2004

By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The nasty divorce between Pitt and football coach Walt Harris, which was finally resolved yesterday, might have seemed tedious and trying as it unfolded after the past several months, but it will prove to be an easy end of the equation in finding a new coach for the Panthers.

Separating from a coach shouldn't be this hard, but a variety of circumstances -- most notably Pitt's surprisingly strong finish -- made it so. Still, what lies ahead for athletic director Jeff Long, chancellor Mark Nordenberg and executive vice chancellor Jerry Cochran in finding a successor to Harris should be distinctly more difficult.

But only if it's done the right way.

It's easy to find any coach. It's hard to find the right coach.

It's easy to rush out and turn the job over to the handiest available candidate, which Pitt has been know to do. It's hard to scour the nation for precisely the right man.

It's easy to turn the job over to someone whose greatest qualification is familiarity. It's hard to know where the bright young minds of the game are sequestered.

Pitt, it must be remembered, has a long and inglorious history of finding the wrong coach in football and basketball.

A prime example of that was when Mike Gottfried was fired and replaced by Paul Hackett. Hackett, who had been Gottfried's offensive coordinator, was handy but not qualified, as he proved at Pitt and later at Southern California. A few years later, Pitt tired of basketball coach Paul Evans, who sometimes won Big East Conference championships and regularly took his team to the NCAA tournament. His successor, Ralph Willard, could do neither.

Pitt can't afford a mistake this time. It can't afford another Hackett or Willard. It can't afford to replace Harris with the wrong man.

The Pitt job, despite what Harris' agent, Bob LaMonte, claimed a month ago, is an excellent one. The school has top-notch facilities and the returning team should be among the favorites to repeat as Big East champion. Most important is that of all the conferences affiliated with the Bowl Championship Series, the Big East offers the easiest path to one of its game.

This means a coach could make a name for himself at Pitt, and there's nothing wrong with that. In replacing Harris, Pitt can not be hung up on hiring a coach who will be eager and willing to spend all of his career there. No college likes to think of its head coaching job as a stepping-stone, but, in fact, almost all jobs are just that. Some are stepping-stones to better college jobs, some to NFL jobs.

To hire a coach who wants to spend the rest of his career at Pitt could mean hiring a coach who's not willing to reach for greatness.

A key to who Pitt hires will be how much it's willing to pay. Salaries in excess of $1 million are not uncommon in college football. If Pitt wants someone with a proven track record, it will have to commit to such a salary. Finances should not be a concern. You get what you pay for. The right coach will bring in a lot more than he's paid.

Pitt has had the advantage of knowing for a long time that in almost all certainty it would be seeking a new coach. Some of the exploratory work should have been done. It's possible, in fact, Pitt already has its man.

Bo Pelini, a fiery defensive coordinator of Oklahoma, is certainly a name that will be considered. Cochran has told people Pelini is his candidate and Cochran yields significant power in such matters.

Dave Wannstedt, a Pitt alumnus and former assistant coach, should be considered. Wannstedt, who was fired a month ago by the Miami Dolphins, would not come cheap. He's not a kid anymore, but he hasn't lost his fire. He would be a strong recruiter whose NFL background would impress young players.

Tim Lewis, another Pitt alumnus, should get consideration. Lewis is the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants and a bright guy who would love to return to his alma mater.

Without question, David Cutliffe, who was fired by Mississippi a year after going 10-3, should be considered.

So should Bob Davie, a former Notre Dame coach who is a Western Pennsylvania native and a one-time Pitt assistant.

There will be the temptation to go to the familiar, such as defensive coordinator Paul Rhodes or former offensive coordinator J.D. Brookhart, who finished his first year as head coach at Akron. Either or both might become excellent head coaches. But neither has the credentials to even be in the running for this job.

Somewhere out there lurks the next great coach. Oklahoma, for example, found Bob Stoops and Georgia found Mark Richt. Both were superstar coordinators at Florida and Florida State, respectively who, it has become clear, had the right stuff.

There are more like them out there. The job for Pitt, the very hard job, is to find that man.