I was hoping Pitt1982 would do a musings....those are always good. But until he does, here are my thoughts on the events of the last 4 months.
1. To say that Gallagher "gets it" is an understatement. He also gets more than most. If you are going to do something, go out and hire the best people to do it.
2. My personal complaint is that Pitt athletics never had a goal or vision....everybody wants to win....but everyone loses and few are willing to work hard enough to get it...goals and visions get you through the lean times and give the dept a greater sense of purpose. For the first time in my lifetime, Pitt is setting its sights on tangible goals in addition to W's.
3. I am impressed that Barnes had to beat out a list of other qualfied candidates and that he wanted the job....he is young enough to be hungry and experienced and successful enough to know how to get his food.
4. The days of lifetime jobs in the Pitt ADepartment are gone. Even under SP, many aspects were being contracted to 3rd parties...no coach of a program that is losing should sleep well the next few weeks....it may not be their fault if success has eluded them, but Barnes is going to remove those barriers soon.
5. Worry about what you can control and react quickly to those you can't....words to that effect were uttered during the press conference yesterday....I read between the lines that conference turmoil is on the horizon.
6. I will argue that if the Barnes hire is as good as I think, it will surpass the 1976 NC in terms of true significance for the university and those who bleed Pitt blue and gold!
1. To say that Gallagher "gets it" is an understatement. He also gets more than most. If you are going to do something, go out and hire the best people to do it.
2. My personal complaint is that Pitt athletics never had a goal or vision....everybody wants to win....but everyone loses and few are willing to work hard enough to get it...goals and visions get you through the lean times and give the dept a greater sense of purpose. For the first time in my lifetime, Pitt is setting its sights on tangible goals in addition to W's.
3. I am impressed that Barnes had to beat out a list of other qualfied candidates and that he wanted the job....he is young enough to be hungry and experienced and successful enough to know how to get his food.
4. The days of lifetime jobs in the Pitt ADepartment are gone. Even under SP, many aspects were being contracted to 3rd parties...no coach of a program that is losing should sleep well the next few weeks....it may not be their fault if success has eluded them, but Barnes is going to remove those barriers soon.
5. Worry about what you can control and react quickly to those you can't....words to that effect were uttered during the press conference yesterday....I read between the lines that conference turmoil is on the horizon.
6. I will argue that if the Barnes hire is as good as I think, it will surpass the 1976 NC in terms of true significance for the university and those who bleed Pitt blue and gold!
