Or so the rumor mill would have us believe.

Sounding fairly legit. Pitt Post-Gazette suggesting it's close to done.

Gosh, all he accomplished was rebuilding a program, won his division, captured the championship and took his team to to a bowl this year...

Too bad he's all action and no talk, he could be in South Beach!

Wow, that would suck for Miami. Guy has one good year, just like Kill (but better than Kill's since he won a MAC Championship) and is gone.

I'm surprised all these programs aren't taking other BCS coaches or coordinators.

If the MAC is so unworthy of the BCS then why are our successful coaches snatched away by BCS schools? Why don't they all promote from within?

(12-15-2010 02:57 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  If the MAC is so unworthy of the BCS then why are our successful coaches snatched away by BCS schools? Why don't they all promote from within?

I don't know if it'll happen, but it's kind of ironic. It will be celebrated by ESPN as greater diversity in football... the same people that two years ago said "no offense but EMU, Buffalo and Miami are not good jobs" instead of recognizing the MAC for being a more diverse conference. In fact the guy that said that was a Pitt player and sits next to Lou Holtz on the NCAA halftime show. Pat Forde was another guy complaining about lack of diversity while at the same time ridiculing the jobs in the MAC as if it was a fast food job. Apparently paying $250-400K a year with a buyout clause for early termination qualifies as a bad job these days!

It's all about what you do with your opportunities in life.

(12-15-2010 02:57 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  If the MAC is so unworthy of the BCS then why are our successful coaches snatched away by BCS schools? Why don't they all promote from within?

It's because the MAC doesn't want to pay for success. Seriously, the league is like the Pittsburgh Pirates. We'll take your money and give you our best players because we want to pay 50 cents on the dollar. The MAC can do that and get all the Stan Parrish's and Doug Martin's it wants. It turns out that won't keep an Urban Meyer or Brian Kelly though.

Several things in play here. First, it is whether these universities are FB programs with an university attached to them, or the other way around. To answer this question, write down the FB coaches salary beside the CEO of the university's salary. It will become pretty clear that the academic side of the operation is second or third fiddle. I am a sports nut all the way, but the 350,000 that the MAC will pay a coach, with public benefits attached, will support a life style that anyone would enjoy. It should attract many candidates of qualification as the occupational status and compensation in other fields do not compare.
As for the hiring of Haywood, he may be an outstanding coach. But Pit hiring him shows the incompetency of the person running that athletic department. To fire a head coach with a winning record, without having the new hire pretty much in mind, is incompetency personified. Haywood went 1-11 just last year. This year he won in a very weak conference. He must be a heck of an interview, because nothing else projects him to be better than what they had.

It's also been mentioned that these schools want someone with HC experience.....sometimes a great career coordinator doesn't translate well into a HC...with Haywood you've got experience at both.

I've heard that it's been confirmed that Haywood has accepted the Pitt job this evening.

ESPN just reported it as well, citing sources close to the negotiations. It's supposedly a 5 yr deal.

(12-15-2010 02:57 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  If the MAC is so unworthy of the BCS then why are our successful coaches snatched away by BCS schools? Why don't they all promote from within?

Good question. And most of the coaches have only been successful for a very brief time, possibly with the previous coach's recruits, and possibly only because they happened to have one good QB with some good players around him.

I think the adminstrations of the BCS school get a ton of pressure to make changes, and end up overflying the plane, so to speak.

(12-16-2010 10:49 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(12-15-2010 02:57 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  If the MAC is so unworthy of the BCS then why are our successful coaches snatched away by BCS schools? Why don't they all promote from within?

Good question. And most of the coaches have only been successful for a very brief time, possibly with the previous coach's recruits, and possibly only because they happened to have one good QB with some good players around him.

I think the adminstrations of the BCS school get a ton of pressure to make changes, and end up overflying the plane, so to speak.

If Pitt wnated to hire a big splash coach I can see making a change. But to force Wanny out to hire Mike Haywood is curious at best.

(12-16-2010 12:00 PM)gcd Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 10:49 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(12-15-2010 02:57 PM)BarnardHall211 Wrote:  If the MAC is so unworthy of the BCS then why are our successful coaches snatched away by BCS schools? Why don't they all promote from within?

Good question. And most of the coaches have only been successful for a very brief time, possibly with the previous coach's recruits, and possibly only because they happened to have one good QB with some good players around him.

I think the adminstrations of the BCS school get a ton of pressure to make changes, and end up overflying the plane, so to speak.

If Pitt wnated to hire a big splash coach I can see making a change. But to force Wanny out to hire Mike Haywood is curious at best.

Wonder if Haywood will be making less than Wanny was.

Unlike NIU & Temple, Miami will be in good shape and shouldn't see much of a letdown next season with a new coaching staff in place.

(12-16-2010 02:03 PM)notauser Wrote:  Unlike NIU & Temple, Miami will be in good shape and shouldn't see much of a letdown next season with a new coaching staff in place.

I'm pretty sure NIU is going to be doing just fine in 2011.

(12-16-2010 02:15 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 02:03 PM)notauser Wrote:  Unlike NIU & Temple, Miami will be in good shape and shouldn't see much of a letdown next season with a new coaching staff in place.

I'm pretty sure NIU is going to be doing just fine in 2011 between the months of January and August.

I agree, but once football season starts out they will have a nice big bullseye on their backs and lots of teams are gonna want to take some payback on them.

I think they will struggle to win 3 games next year.

(12-16-2010 02:35 PM)TJRocket Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 02:15 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 02:03 PM)notauser Wrote:  Unlike NIU & Temple, Miami will be in good shape and shouldn't see much of a letdown next season with a new coaching staff in place.

I'm pretty sure NIU is going to be doing just fine in 2011 between the months of January and August.

I agree, but once football season starts out they will have a nice big bullseye on their backs and lots of teams are gonna want to take some payback on them.

I think they will struggle to win 3 games next year.

With as many starters as NIU has returning on offense...good luck with that.

(12-15-2010 07:29 PM)exCincy Kid Wrote:  ESPN just reported it as well, citing sources close to the negotiations. It's supposedly a 5 yr deal.

Chris Spielman said on his radio show earlier this week that the Pitt AD talked to him about Haywood while he was working a Pitt game for ESPN. Knowing Spielman had worked the Miami/UF game and knows Haywood a little, the AD was very interested in what "he knows about Haywood". Said that the AD was very excited and interested in him weeks ago.

Apparently, they had their eyes set on him for awhile.

(12-16-2010 02:15 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  

(12-16-2010 02:03 PM)notauser Wrote:  Unlike NIU & Temple, Miami will be in good shape and shouldn't see much of a letdown next season with a new coaching staff in place.

I'm pretty sure NIU is going to be doing just fine in 2011.

IMO, the MAC West is going to be awfully tough next year. NIU, Toledo, CMU, and WMU are all going to be pretty good. EMU is improving, I believe. Ball State will depend on why they hire and how well their defense plays. It could be a long season for them.