“ Come clean!!!”

[DruidTM]

kinda makes a TON of sense now


Fire Stallings... this was an absolutely incomprehensible and incompetent hire....

You HAVE to make this move... and the Chancellor can figure out the financial end... I’m sorry but this just doesn’t work and it’s not going to work...

 

[FieldHouse12]

And the best part is ...... half of pitt fans still defend him cause they think its about him vs jamie dixon.
Truley sick if u ask me.
Kevin Stallings is complete and utter toxic trash.

 

[DruidTM]

The hire is so bad the AD who made it ran at first chance...there either no thought process at all or so little Barnes should have been fired immediately rehired and fired again ....

I don’t understand why anyone would take on the exhausting mental gymnastics to try and defend something so obviously indefensible.... it’s beyond stupidity...

It doesn’t work and every national sports writer who ripped this move initially has been proven entirely correct... it’s a disaster and it didn’t need to happen...

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

Who is defending the hire? I think most admit it was underwhelming.

I think there are people saying you need to give him a shot before you fire him, or that you can't fire him because of the contract. That's not defending the hire.

Frankly, I don't care what he has remaining. If the administration doesn't think he's the guy then cut him loose.

 

[steeltown24]

And the best part is ...... half of pitt fans still defend him cause they think its about him vs jamie dixon.
Truley sick if u ask me.
Kevin Stallings is complete and utter toxic trash.

Bingo. Too many people think they have to support Stallings because they don’t like Dixon or vice versa. What we should really be looking at is the job Stallings is doing and just judge that.

 

[Nashville Panther]

And the best part is ...... half of pitt fans still defend him cause they think its about him vs jamie dixon.
Truley sick if u ask me.
Kevin Stallings is complete and utter toxic trash.

Sorry no way do half of Pitt fans support Stallings. They may say ‘give him another year’ but that is not real support.

They aren’t coming out big time to the games

 

[IamHeisenberg]

And the best part is ...... half of pitt fans still defend him cause they think its about him vs jamie dixon.
Truley sick if u ask me.
Kevin Stallings is complete and utter toxic trash.

Exaggerate much? Half of Pitt fans do not defend him. Frankly, I am not sure anyone defends him. I see a lot of people looking at things from the perspective that Pitt either won't fire him because they are cheap or of how that would reflect on them negatively even more. So, probably half of the people are saying we are stuck with him and lets just hope for better.

Those people who are saying we are stuck are not making this a Dixon vs Stallings thing. If you are truly introspective most of the people trying to make this a D vs S thing are long time Jamie fans who somehow think he had ZERO choice in what happened when he departed.

All of that being said, I agree that Stallings should go. There is no evidence of improvement except for one or two kids. A new coach won't lose those kids unless they are interested in transferring to a non P5 school.

There is no real down side to letting Stallings go.

 

[bobfree]

My line of thinking is fairly simple....

I don’t like Kevin Stallings. And I certainly don’t think Kevin Stallings is a long term solution.

But unless you have a proven head coach like Tom Crean or Thad Matta (I know it appears he won’t coach again). Then I don’t see the upside in letting Stallings go this year. He will have everyone coming back along with some ok newcomers. We just went through a total rebuild, it would literally be like doing that all over.

 

[IamHeisenberg]

My line of thinking is fairly simple....

I don’t like Kevin Stallings. And I certainly don’t think Kevin Stallings is a long term solution.

But unless you have a proven head coach like Tom Crean or Thad Matta (I know it appears he won’t coach again). Then I don’t see the upside in letting Stallings go this year. He will have everyone coming back along with some ok newcomers. We just went through a total rebuild, it would literally be like doing that all over.

My only thought on this is to look down Fifth Avenue towards the Bluff and see what Dambrot is doing with Duquesne in his first year. He seems to have had a high impact. Pitt is so so low right now, bringing in a decent non name may actually be a huge improvement. We ain't hiring a name.

 

[bobfree]

Duquesne had better talent coming back this year then Pitt did.....

Eric Williams was already there right?

 

[IamHeisenberg]

Duquesne had better talent coming back this year then Pitt did.....

Eric Williams was already there right?

That is why I am saying a new young coach would not be a rebuild. If Stewart and company seem like decent talent a young guy with energy might be more beneficial than Droopy Dog Stallings.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

My line of thinking is fairly simple....

I don’t like Kevin Stallings. And I certainly don’t think Kevin Stallings is a long term solution.

But unless you have a proven head coach like Tom Crean or Thad Matta (I know it appears he won’t coach again). Then I don’t see the upside in letting Stallings go this year. He will have everyone coming back along with some ok newcomers. We just went through a total rebuild, it would literally be like doing that all over.

Exactly right. There is absolutely no point in firing Stallings and paying a buyout to hire the coach of whoever wins the CAA or MAAC. That will sell 500 more season tickets, maybe. Generally nobody will care.

Now, if you can get a NAME, and a GUARANTEED better coach (and not a lottery ticket) like Matta, Crean, Kelvin Sampson, Sean Miller, etc, then sure, make the move

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

My line of thinking is fairly simple....

I don’t like Kevin Stallings. And I certainly don’t think Kevin Stallings is a long term solution.

But unless you have a proven head coach like Tom Crean or Thad Matta (I know it appears he won’t coach again). Then I don’t see the upside in letting Stallings go this year. He will have everyone coming back along with some ok newcomers. We just went through a total rebuild, it would literally be like doing that all over.

True, I’d hate the idea of missing out on the prospect of maybe a couple conference wins next year/
No way a new coach can replicate that kind of performance.

 

[oldharry]

Exactly right. There is absolutely no point in firing Stallings and paying a buyout to hire the coach of whoever wins the CAA or MAAC. That will sell 500 more season tickets, maybe. Generally nobody will care.

Now, if you can get a NAME, and a GUARANTEED better coach (and not a lottery ticket) like Matta, Crean, Kelvin Sampson, Sean Miller, etc, then sure, make the move

Hey big time troll. You left out your favorite slime bag, PITINO. I guess your second love Sampson would suffice for you but hey he is the destroyer of college programs. Who needs him the program is already destroyed. Go on to your next troll topic, tarping stadia building fantasy stadia, secheduling the acc net in 2 years, and most importantly showing your love for pedo U

 

[bobfree]

True, I’d hate the idea of missing out on the prospect of maybe a couple conference wins next year/
No way a new coach can replicate that kind of performance.

Why pay double for it?

 

[HailToPitt1985]

My line of thinking is fairly simple....

I don’t like Kevin Stallings. And I certainly don’t think Kevin Stallings is a long term solution.

But unless you have a proven head coach like Tom Crean or Thad Matta (I know it appears he won’t coach again). Then I don’t see the upside in letting Stallings go this year. He will have everyone coming back along with some ok newcomers. We just went through a total rebuild, it would literally be like doing that all over.

If Stallings comes back next year, it's basically a rebuild all over again anyhow, just because of the total absence of talent we currently have and have coming in. The class that Stallings has coming in is top 200 kids. That won't make a difference.

He has to go by the end of the season. The message to other coaches will be that we are serious about winning, not that we cut coaches loose every couple of years. Every coach and every analyst in the country knew that this Stallings hire was a poor hire from the start. Firing him now won't reflect negatively on Pitt at all. If anything, it will help the perception we have in college basketball.

Let the AD figure out the financial part. It's a balance sheet. Does she keep him and lose millions in revenue with no tickets sold, or cut him loose and pay the buyout?

 

[Fsgolfdr]

If Stallings comes back next year, it's basically a rebuild all over again anyhow, just because of the total absence of talent we currently have and have coming in. The class that Stallings has coming in is top 200 kids. That won't make a difference.

He has to go by the end of the season. The message to other coaches will be that we are serious about winning, not that we cut coaches loose every couple of years. Every coach and every analyst in the country knew that this Stallings hire was a poor hire from the start. Firing him now won't reflect negatively on Pitt at all. If anything, it will help the perception we have in college basketball.

Let the AD figure out the financial part. It's a balance sheet. Does she keep him and lose millions in revenue with no tickets sold, or cut him loose and pay the buyout?

So you think a new coach will come in and fans will open up their pocket books to buy season tickets by the thousands . It will take years for Pitt to rebuild its fan base and there’s not a coach out there that’s coming to Pitt whose going to bring in enough talent to turn this program around quickly unless he’s dirty . Pitts been lossing revenue in basketball for awhile now and expecting this to instantly change with a new coach just isn’t going to happen . Pitt filled the Pete by consistently being one of the best teams in the BE something that will never happen in the ACC if they run a clean program .

 

[HailToPitt1985]

So you think a new coach will come in and fans will open up their pocket books to buy season tickets by the thousands . It will take years for Pitt to rebuild its fan base and there’s not a coach out there that’s coming to Pitt whose going to bring in enough talent to turn this program around quickly unless he’s dirty . Pitts been lossing revenue in basketball for awhile now and expecting this to instantly change with a new coach just isn’t going to happen . Pitt filled the Pete by consistently being one of the best teams in the BE something that will never happen in the ACC if they run a clean program .

Pitt hasn't been losing revenue in basketball until last year when Stallings arrived. Even in Dixon's last year, we weren't losing revenue. There is a difference between having 9,000 - 11,000 fans at a game to having 1,000 - 2,000 like we do now. Pitt basketball was more profitable than Pitt football. This Stallings guy came along and immediately made the Pitt fanbase turn negative about Pitt basketball. He's toxic. That's it. He needs to go. Period.

I have confidence in most Pitt fans that if we made a decent hire, not a dirty guy like a Sean Miller or Pitino, they would come back quickly. Pitt fans are hungry for what we had even 2 or 3 short years ago. What we've had for the past 1 and 1/2 years is abysmal and unacceptable and there is NO hope of it ever getting better. Your statement that it would take years to rebuild the fanbase is ludicrous. Where do you come up with this stuff?

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Why pay double for it?

What rebuild?

You honestly think Stallings is that crucial to these kids?
How many defected from vandy when he left?
Zero.
How many followed him to Pitt?
Zero.

We are going to stink next year, too.

And attendance won’t improve an iota.
The opportunity cost of staying pat is far greater than the risk

His salary is a sunk cost.
You don’t make decisions based on sunk costs.

 

[PittMBA]

Why pay double for it?

What rebuild?

You honestly think Stallings is that crucial to these kids?
How many defected from vandy when he left?
Zero.
How many followed him to Pitt?
Zero.

We are going to stink next year, too.

And attendance won’t improve an iota.
The opportunity cost of staying pat is far greater than the risk

His salary is a sunk cost.
You don’t make decisions based on sunk costs.

Absolutely.

 

[bobfree]

What rebuild?

You honestly think Stallings is that crucial to these kids?
How many defected from vandy when he left?
Zero.
How many followed him to Pitt?
Zero.

We are going to stink next year, too.

And attendance won’t improve an iota.
The opportunity cost of staying pat is far greater than the risk

His salary is a sunk cost.
You don’t make decisions based on sunk costs.

If we hire the coach from Stony brook we aren’t going to see an attendance up tick or an infusion of talent. Like you said, most of these kids will stay so you have the same roster, same attendance, only you’re paying two coaches....

It doesn’t make any sense unless you make the move to grab a Tom Crean or someone with some pedigree.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Bingo. Too many people think they have to support Stallings because they don’t like Dixon or vice versa. What we should really be looking at is the job Stallings is doing and just judge that.

Yes. I thought you had to give Stallings a chance. Some on here weren't willing to do that. But now we have seen that chance, we see down Fifth Ave how another 1st year coach is transforming his team in an equally difficult situation with good success.

Pitt is hopeless right now.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

If we hire the coach from Stony brook we aren’t going to see an attendance up tick or an infusion of talent. Like you said, most of these kids will stay so you have the same roster, same attendance, only you’re paying two coaches....

It doesn’t make any sense unless you make the move to grab a Tom Crean or someone with some pedigree.

If the coach from stony brook wins more games and breathes life into this corpse....
It’s worth it

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Sometimes you just have to accept it was a bad hire and try again.

We aren’t even mediocre- we’re awful

 

[HailToPitt1985]

For those Pitt fans who said give Stallings a chance, he's had his chance and he is dreadful and he blew it. How can you be worse than 0 wins in conference? And that's where we'll end up this year. Even if we win a game or two, what does it matter? We are still the worst team in the ACC, and it's not even close. Anyone who plays us now knows it's a guaranteed win for them. Guaranteed.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

Pitt hasn't been losing revenue in basketball until last year when Stallings arrived. Even in Dixon's last year, we weren't losing revenue. There is a difference between having 9,000 - 11,000 fans at a game to having 1,000 - 2,000 like we do now. Pitt basketball was more profitable than Pitt football. This Stallings guy came along and immediately made the Pitt fanbase turn negative about Pitt basketball. He's toxic. That's it. He needs to go. Period.

I have confidence in most Pitt fans that if we made a decent hire, not a dirty guy like a Sean Miller or Pitino, they would come back quickly. Pitt fans are hungry for what we had even 2 or 3 short years ago. What we've had for the past 1 and 1/2 years is abysmal and unacceptable and there is NO hope of it ever getting better. Your statement that it would take years to rebuild the fanbase is ludicrous. Where do you come up with this stuff?

Losing revenue means if attendence was 11,000 then 10,000 then 8500 they’re revenues were decreasing . This was what was happening during JDs last few seasons .
It’s much easier to lose paying fans than getting them , every business knows the most important customer base is the one you already have . If you haven’t noticed they’ve lost most of them .
You really do believe that Pitt is somehow going to transform themselves into a consistent contender in the ACC with its next brilliant hire . That’s being ludicrous !
Pitt at best is aiming for the middle of the ACC and that won’t fill up the Pete except for a few games a year . Do you think for a second even Barnes and the top brass thought for a second that hiring KS was going to transform Pitt into a contender in the ACC or nationally ?
Repeat after me all Pitt wants is a middle of the pack ACC team and until that thinking changes they’ll never be any better than that and the Pete will continue to a very spacious place to play for the Panthers .

 

[AlFromDadeville]

You have to look at it from a couple perspectives. The money matters. Always will. Just accept it.

There's no way the administration fires him after this season. Our drastic decline in attendance and the fact that his boss now isn't the boss who hired him are glaring points and I'm sure he knows that. But they aren't going to pay two coaches to coach one lousy team. I could see them doing it after year 3.

I don't see a lot of light for him. I've thought people were overly critical of the hire but even with the lack of talent at this point from what I've seen he's the biggest problem. Best case they grow a lot and Luther is healthy next year but I'm not overly optimistic. But I still root for the Panthers and their players just the same.

I will say the pundit atmosphere on this may be what annoys me the most. We didn't all pound on Barnes front door and demand him to run JD out of town so we could hire Kevin Stallings. We were frustrated with the performance of the team when joining the ACC. Not a lot was there or showing signs of change. The program had the potential to do better than it was and although I respect and appreciate what JD did it wasn't an egregious decision to want to move on for both sides. Hiring KS was not the answer to the questions we were asking. Everyone wants to act like we didn't understand the risk and got what we deserved; that is dead wrong. Barnes is the one who threw the dice off the craps table. There's a lot of up and comers out there, it's the ADs job to find who they are and help put them in position to succeed.

 

[andypappas]

A new young coach will breath life back into the program. Even if Stallings is brought back and they win, say 4 conference games next year, the program will still be a dumpster fire. I would rather get a younger, more energetic coach, who may attract some decent talent than what is going on now

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

There's no way the administration fires him after this season. Our drastic decline in attendance and the fact that his boss now isn't the boss who hired him are glaring points and I'm sure he knows that. But they aren't going to pay two coaches to coach one lousy team. I could see them doing it after year 3.

This is where I've disagreed and continue to disagree. If he's not the guy, you cut him loose and take your loss. Maybe new blood injects some life into the fanbase and you make up some of that lost money with ticket sales.

Giving him year 3 isn't going to do anything but delay the process of starting over. If you want to keep him because you believe he's on the right track, then you keep him longer.

 

[PittMBA]

There's no way the administration fires him after this season. Our drastic decline in attendance and the fact that his boss now isn't the boss who hired him are glaring points and I'm sure he knows that. But they aren't going to pay two coaches to coach one lousy team. I could see them doing it after year 3.

This is where I've disagreed and continue to disagree. If he's not the guy, you cut him loose and take your loss. Maybe new blood injects some life into the fanbase and you make up some of that lost money with ticket sales.

Giving him year 3 isn't going to do anything but delay the process of starting over. If you want to keep him because you believe he's on the right track, then you keep him longer.

I agree with this- if Pitt believes KS is the guy to lead this program forward you come out publicly and back the guy — I think you extend him and do some dog and pony about increasing budget for assistants/recruiting. If he’s not— cut your losses and move on. Waiting around a year to delay the inevitable or hoping for the best is a terrible move.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

if Pitt believes KS is the guy to lead this program forward you come out publicly and back the guy — I think you extend him and do some dog and pony about increasing budget for assistants/recruiting.

Even if the people at Pitt think that Stallings is the guy to lead the program going forward giving him a contract extension right now would be unbelievably stupid. Because he still has four years left on his contract, so he certainly doesn't "need" an extension like he would if he only had a year or two left, and because if you gave him an extension right now the mob that would gather around the Pete with their torches and pitchforks may very well burn the building to the ground. And then where would you be?

The greatest dog and pony show in the history of dog and pony shows wouldn't stop the fans from revolting against a Stallings extension at this point.

 

[PittMBA]

if Pitt believes KS is the guy to lead this program forward you come out publicly and back the guy — I think you extend him and do some dog and pony about increasing budget for assistants/recruiting.

Even if the people at Pitt think that Stallings is the guy to lead the program going forward giving him a contract extension right now would be unbelievably stupid. Because he still has four years left on his contract, so he certainly doesn't "need" an extension like he would if he only had a year or two left, and because if you gave him an extension right now the mob that would gather around the Pete with their torches and pitchforks may very well burn the building to the ground. And then where would you be?

The greatest dog and pony show in the history of dog and pony shows wouldn't stop the fans from revolting against a Stallings extension at this point.

I think we have both reached the same conclusion.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

My only issue with the "fire Stallings now/fire Stallings later" debate is I don't know enough about the financial implications to the extent our AD does. What is his buyout? What would be the buyout for this theoretical new coach? How much does that put the department deeper in the hole/is that basically OK?

He's clearly going to be gone sooner rather than later but it might be longer than some of us want.

 

[Jpripper88]

Exactly right. There is absolutely no point in firing Stallings and paying a buyout to hire the coach of whoever wins the CAA or MAAC. That will sell 500 more season tickets, maybe. Generally nobody will care.

Now, if you can get a NAME, and a GUARANTEED better coach (and not a lottery ticket) like Matta, Crean, Kelvin Sampson, Sean Miller, etc, then sure, make the move

In the interim we push the rebuild back with recruiting as bad as possible, too.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

In the interim we push the rebuild back with recruiting as bad as possible, too.

Then write the check !

 

[Jpripper88]

Then write the check !

I don't have the money to move that needle, but that doesn't mean it is acceptable for Pitt or fans that can't afford to donate $1m should just bend over and shut up. If that is Pitt's attitude they won't ever have ganas come back.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I don't have the money to move that needle, but that doesn't mean it is acceptable for Pitt or fans that can't afford to donate $1m should just bend over and shut up. If that is Pitt's attitude they won't ever have ganas come back.

Now your getting it , they never would’ve hired KS if they really wanted to win ! Tell me another serious bb school he could’ve gotten a job at ?
Everything starts at the top and if it’s not that important to win to them why do you think it’s that important for them to eat a rather large contract ?

 

[Jpripper88]

Now your getting it , they never would’ve hired KS if they really wanted to win ! Tell me another serious bb school he could’ve gotten a job at ?
Everything starts at the top and if it’s not that important to win to them why do you think it’s that important for them to eat a rather contract ?

I think Gallagher just got played by Barnes and Barnes didn't give a shit as he tried to get out of town. They didn't really save money with Stallings, so that excuse doesn't fly.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I think Gallagher just got played by Barnes and Barnes didn't give a shit as he tried to get out of town. They didn't really save money with Stallings, so that excuse doesn't fly.

JDs package was bigger and longer .

 

[Jpripper88]

JDs package was bigger and longer .

But they could have hired coaches cheaper. It was a bad hire, not a cheap hire.