Sure TCU is where he played but he had a good thing going at Pitt, a program that showed it could compete at the national level, in part because he kept going what Ben Howland started. Pitt hasn't been nearly as good as it was five years ago and even when they were a top 15 program, they never achieved as much as they could have and except an Elite 8 appearance, were done Sweet 16 or earlier.

I can buy that it was just time for a change of scenery for both sides.

It was time for both sides to move on. Jamie Dixon is an excellent basketball coach and Pittsburgh is a great basketball program. Things had gotten a bit stale over the past few seasons (starting with the Elite Eight loss to Villanova). It was just best for both parties to find new opportunities.

Dixon gets a fresh start at his alma mater, and Pittsburgh now gets to begin a new era under a new basketball coach. Everyone wins.

Key point...Pitt worked with Dixon on buyout terms...I deem this mutual.

Time to move on...

I don't think forced out is the right word, but the timing was right for all. Dixon had new leadership and had stagnated on the court the last few years. TCU just renovated the arena and finally is putting money into basketball. Dixon is at a good age for a new start.

Just watched the press conference and am super excited. There are no guarantees for a turnaround, but all intangible factors seem to be in place for once.

(03-22-2016 01:58 PM)Frog in the Kitchen Sink Wrote:  I don't think forced out is the right word, but the timing was right for all. Dixon had new leadership and had stagnated on the court the last few years. TCU just renovated the arena and finally is putting money into basketball. Dixon is at a good age for a new start.

Just watched the press conference and am super excited. There are no guarantees for a turnaround, but all intangible factors seem to be in place for once.

Tip: Schedule Syracuse every year...Boeheim has no idea how to beat Dixon Ball.

Seriously, great hire for TCU...he should get you back to the Dance within a couple years.

(03-22-2016 01:58 PM)Frog in the Kitchen Sink Wrote:  I don't think forced out is the right word, but the timing was right for all. Dixon had new leadership and had stagnated on the court the last few years. TCU just renovated the arena and finally is putting money into basketball. Dixon is at a good age for a new start.

Just watched the press conference and am super excited. There are no guarantees for a turnaround, but all intangible factors seem to be in place for once.

This was a great hire IMHO. Sincerely hope you can finally give us a game in BB and we can do the same to you in FB.

This is a win, win, win scenario. It's a great win for TCU & a win for both Pitt & Dixon.

One would hope that Pitt leadership didn't **** around too much with the guy and give him reason to leave. Yeah, Pitt had some success in basketball without the guy, but they've never been as consistent as with him, either.

Would it have been so bad had the guy been a lifer for the school?

They were tired of the Tournament disappointments. If they aren't careful, they'll go back to where they were pre-Howland, which is to say, irrelevant. Dixon couldn't get over the hump but they were consistently good under his watch. There's no reason Pitt couldn't have had more great seasons under Dixon going forward.

Reminds me of when Steve Alford left Iowa for New Mexico knowing his future at Iowa was close to over. Of course Dixon did a little better at Pitt than Alford did at Iowa.

I just hope that Pitt does not backlslide like Iowa did when Alford left. Iowa hired Todd Lickliter from Butler and it was an absolute disaster, and he got fired in only 3 years. meanwhile Butler went to the national championship game 2 years in a row with Lickliter's former assistant coaching Butler. Go firgure.

Jamie is a complete class act and an outstanding basketball coach. The people in Fort Worth are going to quickly learn to love him. He will have the program competitive within 2–3 years and they will be competing for Big 12 championship's within five years at the most. He's as good as there is in college basketball at the X's/O's aspect of the game.

His Achilles' heel, and why a lot of Pitt fans were ready to turn the page, is because he is just an average recruiter in the best of times and he has recruited poorly since the move to the ACC. That was a program that relied on New York City area kids to do so well in the Big East and when they moved to the ACC, they just weren't playing as many games in the Big Apple as they had been, which in turn made it hard to recruit those types of kids.

It's funny because he looks the part and he's a really good guy by all accounts. Also, he was a former child actor and his father was an actor. So you would think he would be a silver tongued dude. However, the truth is, though he has improved immensely over the years, he is still kind of awkward and rigid in interviews and in recruiting. He's just a half-beat off. I don't know how to explain it – you will just have to experience it yourself. Personally, I found that awkwardness to be somewhat endearing but others were turned off by it.

I love the guy and was not happy to see him leave. I have followed Pitt basketball for long enough to remember the actual dark days, not the pseudo dark days associated with disappointing losses in the NCAA Tournament.

However, much to my chagrin, if not surprise, I have learned in the past few days that I am definitely in the minority on that one. Most Pitt fans wanted to start new with someone else. Personally, I think those people are nuts but what's done is done and we need to move on and get someone new.

The early favorites are said to be Andy Enfield and Danny Hurley. They could also stick with Dixon assistant and former Panthers star Brandin Knight, but that seems unlikely. Also, they're interested in the coach at UNC Wilmington but he may be involved in that Louisville sex scandal and that's just not how Pitt does business. We shall see.