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Anyone thinking of firing Duzz needs to consider one word "Stallings"

Still amazed at that hire. It was a clear con job by Barnes.

Anyone who thinks it was just Barnes who "conned" Pitt basketball fans isn't thinking.

All a person would have to do is google Stalling to see how below average he was for many years at Vandy.

Pitt admin including "smiley" the Chancelor was briefed on the hire prior to giving the ok to Barnes.

Barnes didnt hire the guy in a vaccum!

The search firm would have provided Barnes and Pitt admin with extensive information on all of the candidates.

Pitt simply went "cheap" and hired Stallings. Probably in their minds things are what they are and I bet Stallings goes nowhere and runs out his six year contract regardless of results!

You wont hear a word from Lyke since the plan is the plan. And the OP is correct if Narduzzi leaves it will be more of the same a "cheap" hire who will probably have similar football results!

It appears that Pitt admin is "checking out" of wanting to be successful in D1/P5 football and basketball or a guy like Stalling wouldn't have been on the interview list!
 
Anyone who thinks it was just Barnes who "conned" Pitt basketball fans isn't thinking.

All a person would have to do is google Stalling to see how below average he was for many years at Vandy.

Pitt admin including "smiley" the Chancelor was briefed on the hire prior to giving the ok to Barnes.

Barnes didnt hire the guy in a vaccum!

The search firm would have provided Barnes and Pitt admin with extensive information on all of the candidates.

Pitt simply went "cheap" and hired Stallings. Probably in their minds things are what they are and I bet Stallings goes nowhere and runs out his six year contract regardless of results!

You wont hear a word from Lyke since the plan is the plan. And the OP is correct if Narduzzi leaves it will be more of the same a "cheap" hire who will probably have similar football results!

It appears that Pitt admin is "checking out" of wanting to be successful in D1/P5 football and basketball or a guy like Stalling wouldn't have been on the interview list!

Here's more evidence..... Lyke is another bargain basement hire.........

The level of commitment this admin has to D1 sports is a freaking JOKE

For those that criticize Pitt fans for not supporting this joke of an admin....Please look at the last thirty years. These clowns have earned the level of support they receive.
 
Here's more evidence..... Lyke is another bargain basement hire.........

The level of commitment this admin has to D1 sports is a freaking JOKE

For those that criticize Pitt fans for not supporting this joke of an admin....Please look at the last thirty years. These clowns have earned the level of support they receive.

I agree with that as well! She was cheap, she wont cause any trouble, and she'll stay busy working on Soccer and Womens Volleyball non revenue sports that she managed at Ohio State.

I checked on the mighty EMU where Lyke came from and hired the current football coach.

EMU football is 3-7.
They're likely to lose the last two games against U of Miami Ohio and Bowling Green.

I guess she didn't do much for that football program?
 
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I agree with that as well! She was cheap, she wont cause any trouble, and she'll stay busy working on Soccer and Womens Volleyball non revenue sports that she managed at Ohio State.

I checked on the mighty EMU where Lyke came from and hired the current football coach.

EMU football is 3-7.
They're likely to lose the last two games against U of Miami Ohio and Bowling Green.

I guess she didn't do much for that football program?

If it were not so depressing (as a Pitt fan) it would be laughable. The Nuttings are more committed to fielding a good product than the Pitt admin is.

Im having a hard time believing they actually tried to retain Canada. Those reports about offering him 1.5 MM were a joke
 
I agree with that as well! She was cheap, she wont cause any trouble, and she'll stay busy working on Soccer and Womens Volleyball non revenue sports that she managed at Ohio State.

I checked on the mighty EMU where Lyke came from and hired the current football coach.

EMU football is 3-7.
They're likely to lose the last two games against U of Miami Ohio and Bowling Green.

I guess she didn't do much for that football program?
EMU went to their first bowl game ever last year. What makes you think any good AD from an established position would want this job? I mean seriously - Wake the F’ Up.
 
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Here's more evidence..... Lyke is another bargain basement hire.........

The level of commitment this admin has to D1 sports is a freaking JOKE

For those that criticize Pitt fans for not supporting this joke of an admin....Please look at the last thirty years. These clowns have earned the level of support they receive.
The typical tired 30 years thing can't be used for basketball.
 
Pitt just lost to freaking Montana. The fact that Stallings still has a job and likely will have a job going into next year tells you how committed this admin is to winning.

Be careful what you wish for Pitt fans.

Here's an alternative, how about when you fire a coach (Narduzzi or Stallings) you actually decide to pay and hire a good candidate instead of a career coordinator or a fading retread??? It is possible right? I mean Cincy replaced Dantonio with Kelly, Kelly with Jones, and replaced Huggy with Kennedy and Kennedy with Cronin. That is the University of Cincinnati. Not Ohio State. If they can do this, why can't Pitt???
 
Anyone who thinks it was just Barnes who "conned" Pitt basketball fans isn't thinking.

All a person would have to do is google Stalling to see how below average he was for many years at Vandy.

Pitt admin including "smiley" the Chancelor was briefed on the hire prior to giving the ok to Barnes.

Barnes didnt hire the guy in a vaccum!

The search firm would have provided Barnes and Pitt admin with extensive information on all of the candidates.

Pitt simply went "cheap" and hired Stallings. Probably in their minds things are what they are and I bet Stallings goes nowhere and runs out his six year contract regardless of results!

You wont hear a word from Lyke since the plan is the plan. And the OP is correct if Narduzzi leaves it will be more of the same a "cheap" hire who will probably have similar football results!

It appears that Pitt admin is "checking out" of wanting to be successful in D1/P5 football and basketball or a guy like Stalling wouldn't have been on the interview list!

I don't agree. It was a con job by Barnes. He convinced the rest of them to agree with the hire. It's is more expensive to go cheap when the arena will have many unsold seats for the season. And they could have found someone better for even cheaper.
 
Anyone who thinks it was just Barnes who "conned" Pitt basketball fans isn't thinking.

All a person would have to do is google Stalling to see how below average he was for many years at Vandy.

Pitt admin including "smiley" the Chancelor was briefed on the hire prior to giving the ok to Barnes.

Barnes didnt hire the guy in a vaccum!

The search firm would have provided Barnes and Pitt admin with extensive information on all of the candidates.

Pitt simply went "cheap" and hired Stallings. Probably in their minds things are what they are and I bet Stallings goes nowhere and runs out his six year contract regardless of results!

You wont hear a word from Lyke since the plan is the plan. And the OP is correct if Narduzzi leaves it will be more of the same a "cheap" hire who will probably have similar football results!

It appears that Pitt admin is "checking out" of wanting to be successful in D1/P5 football and basketball or a guy like Stalling wouldn't have been on the interview list!
Except Stallings wasn't a cheap hire. It was just a terrible hire. Gallagher doesn't care and neither did his predecessor, who gave SP a golden parachute that cost Pitt a hell of a lot of money.
 
Pitt just lost to freaking Montana. The fact that Stallings still has a job and likely will have a job going into next year tells you how committed this admin is to winning.

Be careful what you wish for Pitt fans.
Duzz can't be compared to Dixon, He's accomplished nothing really. Two 8-5s, winless in Bowl games.
 
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Here's more evidence..... Lyke is another bargain basement hire.........

The level of commitment this admin has to D1 sports is a freaking JOKE

For those that criticize Pitt fans for not supporting this joke of an admin....Please look at the last thirty years. These clowns have earned the level of support they receive.

well, that's the difference between us & say Auburn. They give more when the going gets tough so they can afford to buy out coach contracts and start again.

Your method of withholding is destined to keep the cycle of ineptitude intact
 
Anyone who thinks it was just Barnes who "conned" Pitt basketball fans isn't thinking.

The search firm would have provided Barnes and Pitt admin with extensive information on all of the candidates.

Pitt simply went "cheap" and hired Stallings. Probably in their minds things are what they are and I bet Stallings goes nowhere and runs out his six year contract regardless of results!

You wont hear a word from Lyke since the plan is the plan. And the OP is correct if Narduzzi leaves it will be more of the same a "cheap" hire who will probably have similar football results!

It appears that Pitt admin is "checking out" of wanting to be successful in D1/P5 football and basketball or a guy like Stalling wouldn't have been on the interview list!

nothing cheap about Stallings....6 year "iron clad" contract over 2 million a season.
 
well, that's the difference between us & say Auburn. They give more when the going gets tough so they can afford to buy out coach contracts and start again.

Your method of withholding is destined to keep the cycle of ineptitude intact
If we all gave $1000 today, do you trust them to spend it on whatever it takes to win?

You're overly obsessed with the idea that the fans are to blame for them being so bad.
 
If we all gave $1000 today, do you trust them to spend it on whatever it takes to win?

You're overly obsessed with the idea that the fans are to blame for them being so bad.

Diehard posted on this in another thread and I responded....to summarize it is a lethal combo of Fans + Admin. Not mutually exclusive
 
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If we all gave $1000 today, do you trust them to spend it on whatever it takes to win?

You're overly obsessed with the idea that the fans are to blame for them being so bad.

trust me I don't absolve the admin at all. They are the ones that gave us the Big East instead of an all-east conference in the 80's. they are the ones to let Sherrill go and think Foge was a suitable replacement. They thought Hackett was a better choice than Alvarez. They thought they could fill Heinz....

So it is that deadly combo here....Fans + Admin
 
nothing cheap about Stallings....6 year "iron clad" contract over 2 million a season.

Con job. No doubt. Clear as day.

You don't hire the equivalent of Paul Pasqualoni to a high level program and give him a raise from his previous school making him a Top 25 paid coach. Not one person on this forum would have agreed to that deal.

Who in the right mind would make a million dollar donation to Pitt when they continually do stupid S*** like this?
 
trust me I don't absolve the admin at all. They are the ones that gave us the Big East instead of an all-east conference in the 80's. they are the ones to let Sherrill go and think Foge was a suitable replacement. They thought Hackett was a better choice than Alvarez. They thought they could fill Heinz....

So it is that deadly combo here....Fans + Admin
uh that all east conference was the Joepa conference...no thanks. best call they ever made.

no one ever remembers that Penn State was rejected from the Big East and only began the push for this league after Pitt's acceptance. typical petty Paterno Bullschit..had they been accepted they would have told everyone to pound sand as they would have, at that point, been ecstatic to remain independent and have a landing spot for their other sports...
 
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Wanna fire Narduzzi? Be careful what you wish for. Excuse me for bringing up a Temple example, but many years ago, the Owls had a decent coach in Bruce Arians (somebody you may have heard of), and the teams were reasonably competitive (not great, but Paul Palmer did place second in Heisman voting). But Temple wanted someone who could take the program to the "next level", so they sent Bruce packing. They got the "next level", all right, but not the one they bargained for. Nearly two decades of "next level".
 
Wanna fire Narduzzi? Be careful what you wish for. Excuse me for bringing up a Temple example, but many years ago, the Owls had a decent coach in Bruce Arians (somebody you may have heard of), and the teams were reasonably competitive (not great, but Paul Palmer did place second in Heisman voting). But Temple wanted someone who could take the program to the "next level", so they sent Bruce packing. They got the "next level", all right, but not the one they bargained for. Nearly two decades of "next level".
with all due respect, when you look at history and tradition and players and you get to the point where you are making football comparisons between Pitt and Temple the game is pretty much over...
 
Wanna fire Narduzzi? Be careful what you wish for. Excuse me for bringing up a Temple example, but many years ago, the Owls had a decent coach in Bruce Arians (somebody you may have heard of), and the teams were reasonably competitive (not great, but Paul Palmer did place second in Heisman voting). But Temple wanted someone who could take the program to the "next level", so they sent Bruce packing. They got the "next level", all right, but not the one they bargained for. Nearly two decades of "next level".

1983 Bruce Arians 4–7–0
1984 Bruce Arians 6–5–0
1985 Bruce Arians 4–7–0
1986 Bruce Arians 0–11–0
1987 Bruce Arians 4–7–0
1988 Bruce Arians 4–7–0
 
uh that all east conference was the Joepa conference...no thanks. best call they ever made.

no one ever remembers that Penn State was rejected from the Big East and only began the push for this league after Pitt's acceptance. typical petty Paterno Bullschit..had they been accepted they would have told everyone to pound sand as they would have, at that point, been ecstatic to remain independent and have a landing spot for their other sports...

True, but cooler heads should have prevailed. Pitt & PSU should have negotiated instead of Paterno and Boziks egos getting in the way. The Eastern all sports conference was the way to go. Tons of natural rivalries. The Pitt-PSU end of year game would have been as big or if not bigger than Michigan-OSU. And if Miami would have joined, along with VaTech it would have been a great conference in football & basketball.

The Big East was doomed from the start but no one at the time had the vision to see that. They thought football could survive as an independent not realizing in the national landscape it was football not basketball that was driving the bus.

Plus the only game Pitt fans are passionate about is Penn State. When that was gone there wasn't a whole lot to get excited about Big East football.
 
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1983 Bruce Arians 4–7–0
1984 Bruce Arians 6–5–0
1985 Bruce Arians 4–7–0
1986 Bruce Arians 0–11–0
1987 Bruce Arians 4–7–0
1988 Bruce Arians 4–7–0

1986 was the Paul Palmer second-place Heisman year (look it up). Remember the Norby Walters scandal, where several prominent college players across the nation were revealed to have signed agent representation deals with Walters while they still had eligibility? One of those was Palmer. The team's record on the field was 6-5, but after the Walters scandal broke, Temple president Peter Liacouras (the same guy who fired Arians) voluntarily forfeited all the victories, thus the "official" record is in Temple's books as 0-11. It's interesting to note that none of the other schools vacated any of their wins in games that the impilcated players played in.

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/14/sports/two-sports-agents-convicted-of-fraud-and-racketeering.html

https://www.underdogdynasty.com/201...all-hall-of-fame-american-athletic-conference
 
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1986 was the Paul Palmer second-place Heisman year (look it up). Remember the Norby Walters scandal, where several prominent college players across the nation were revealed to have signed agent representation deals with Walters while they still had eligibility? One of those was Palmer. The team's record on the field was 6-5, but after the Walters scandal broke, Temple president Peter Liacouras (the same guy who fired Arians) voluntarily forfeited all the victories, thus the "official" record is in Temple's books as 0-11. It's interesting to note that one of the other schools vacated any of their wins in games that the impilcated players played in.
still a stretch (when your best year is 6-5) to say that any fan base, anywhere would have accepted that. Arians could have stayed there for 20 years and not have done any better. He may be a dude that could coach but could not recruit. Face it, he does not come off as the most personable kind of guy to 18 year old kids and Temple is a hard enough sell as it it..
 
still a stretch (when your best year is 6-5) to say that any fan base, anywhere would have accepted that. Arians could have stayed there for 20 years and not have done any better. He may be a dude that could coach but could not recruit. Face it, he does not come off as the most personable kind of guy to 18 year old kids and Temple is a hard enough sell as it it..

Well, when you go from that to the abyss that followed . . . which is the point I'm making about pitching a coach aside.
 
Then I have to wonder why people like the OP constantly wanted to run off Dixon?

I never advocated running Dixon off. I was concerned about the direction the program was heading and thought JD needed to upgrade his staff. I know darn well from experience that the clowns running the show were more likely to make a stallings hire rather than a good hire.
 
Pitt just lost to freaking Montana. The fact that Stallings still has a job and likely will have a job going into next year tells you how committed this admin is to winning.

Be careful what you wish for Pitt fans.


I watched the game last night, and certainly understand the frustration. But to blame the loss on Stallings is a bit too simplistic. Yes, I would have loved to see Pitt hire a name guy with a track record of success. I would have settled for a young up-and-comer from a smaller conference that had won something. But alas, Pitt hired Stallings. I've met the guy...he is personable and understands basketball. He also walked into about as bad a situation as could be imagined. He inherited a team stocked with senior guys that were selfish and did not play defense. Replaced a beloved and very successful head coach. Beyond 3 or 4 players, there was very little talent there. He has managed to cobble together a team for this season...which is composed of a couple of guys that show real promise for the future. However, considering where Pitt had been in ACC play the prior couple of seasons, lack of fan support, recruiting was going to be tough. Even the mighty Dixon had struggled for a number of seasons to recruit well at Pitt. I'm not sure what to expect long term, but if you are a real Pitt basketball fan...pulling financial support and not going to the games is only going to make a bad situation worse. Hail to Pitt!

PS Thanks to the guy that gave the tip that I could pull in the ESPN broadcast through my Roku account...made watching the game much better than on my phone!
 
Wanna fire Narduzzi? Be careful what you wish for. Excuse me for bringing up a Temple example, but many years ago, the Owls had a decent coach in Bruce Arians (somebody you may have heard of), and the teams were reasonably competitive (not great, but Paul Palmer did place second in Heisman voting). But Temple wanted someone who could take the program to the "next level", so they sent Bruce packing. They got the "next level", all right, but not the one they bargained for. Nearly two decades of "next level".

I think substitute Nebraska for Temple in your example. Substitute Frank Solich for Bruce Arians and don't forget Smiley's involvement in that program killing.
 
Pitt just lost to freaking Montana. The fact that Stallings still has a job and likely will have a job going into next year tells you how committed this admin is to winning.

Be careful what you wish for Pitt fans.

No sane Pitt fan would want Duzz fired.

The guy did wonders last year.
 
I watched the game last night, and certainly understand the frustration. But to blame the loss on Stallings is a bit too simplistic. Yes, I would have loved to see Pitt hire a name guy with a track record of success. I would have settled for a young up-and-comer from a smaller conference that had won something. But alas, Pitt hired Stallings. I've met the guy...he is personable and understands basketball. He also walked into about as bad a situation as could be imagined. He inherited a team stocked with senior guys that were selfish and did not play defense. Replaced a beloved and very successful head coach. Beyond 3 or 4 players, there was very little talent there. He has managed to cobble together a team for this season...which is composed of a couple of guys that show real promise for the future. However, considering where Pitt had been in ACC play the prior couple of seasons, lack of fan support, recruiting was going to be tough. Even the mighty Dixon had struggled for a number of seasons to recruit well at Pitt. I'm not sure what to expect long term, but if you are a real Pitt basketball fan...pulling financial support and not going to the games is only going to make a bad situation worse. Hail to Pitt!

PS Thanks to the guy that gave the tip that I could pull in the ESPN broadcast through my Roku account...made watching the game much better than on my phone!
Last year we were a decent PG away from being, at least, an NIT team. I'd contend that a decent PG and Jamie Dixon gets them into the NCAAT. For the 2016 recruiting class he re-signed them and added nothing, despite being a sitting HC recruiting that class at the same level at his previous job, and then adding 4 recruits in the 2017 class at a date after he was hired in 2016. Lots of other schools with coaching changes add recruits at those times, including several ACC programs who saw instant impacts of those players in 2016. He then kicked all those 2016 recruits out. How is that Dixon's fault?

He ran Cam off. How is that Dixon's fault?

He lost his #1 or 2 2017 recruit because he ran off his buddy. How is that Dixon's fault?

He added some just unbelievably bottom of the barrel recruits for 2017. How is that Dixon's fault?

The 2018 recruiting class looks like it will at best be bottom 4 in the ACC. How is that Dixon's fault?

So I would say Stallings inherited an NIT team with the potential to be an NCAAT, but need an influx of 2016 and 2017 talent through a down 2017 year. Make the NIT last year, develop recruits from 2016, and not lose your best returning player and I think the mood would be very different before the very bad 2017 class.

GT got Justin Moore in June of 2016. If we had him last year to play PG we are a much, much better team and if we had him and Aaron Thompson this season with Cam Johnson we are looking much, much better. However, Stallings didn't add anything and he threw everything from 2016 away, plus ran off Johnson and eventually Thompson. He has done everything wrong.
 
True, but cooler heads should have prevailed. Pitt & PSU should have negotiated instead of Paterno and Boziks egos getting in the way. The Eastern all sports conference was the way to go. Tons of natural rivalries. The Pitt-PSU end of year game would have been as big or if not bigger than Michigan-OSU. And if Miami would have joined, along with VaTech it would have been a great conference in football & basketball.

The Big East was doomed from the start but no one at the time had the vision to see that. They thought football could survive as an independent not realizing in the national landscape it was football not basketball that was driving the bus.

Plus the only game Pitt fans are passionate about is Penn State. When that was gone there wasn't a whole lot to get excited about Big East football.

Va. Tech wasn't the Va. Tech we know today before the Big East. They lost to VMI in Blacksburg in 1981.

Prior to the Big East most years they played half a season against teams like VMI, Richmond, Memphis, William & Mary, East Tennessee State, James Madison, Rhode Island, and still didn't have impressive win / loss records.

They might have been included in the All East Conference, but just as easily might not have been.
 
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Last year we were a decent PG away from being, at least, an NIT team. I'd contend that a decent PG and Jamie Dixon gets them into the NCAAT. For the 2016 recruiting class he re-signed them and added nothing, despite being a sitting HC recruiting that class at the same level at his previous job, and then adding 4 recruits in the 2017 class at a date after he was hired in 2016. Lots of other schools with coaching changes add recruits at those times, including several ACC programs who saw instant impacts of those players in 2016. He then kicked all those 2016 recruits out. How is that Dixon's fault?

He ran Cam off. How is that Dixon's fault?

He lost his #1 or 2 2017 recruit because he ran off his buddy. How is that Dixon's fault?

He added some just unbelievably bottom of the barrel recruits for 2017. How is that Dixon's fault?

The 2018 recruiting class looks like it will at best be bottom 4 in the ACC. How is that Dixon's fault?

So I would say Stallings inherited an NIT team with the potential to be an NCAAT, but need an influx of 2016 and 2017 talent through a down 2017 year. Make the NIT last year, develop recruits from 2016, and not lose your best returning player and I think the mood would be very different before the very bad 2017 class.

GT got Justin Moore in June of 2016. If we had him last year to play PG we are a much, much better team and if we had him and Aaron Thompson this season with Cam Johnson we are looking much, much better. However, Stallings didn't add anything and he threw everything from 2016 away, plus ran off Johnson and eventually Thompson. He has done everything wrong.


A basketball team without a point guard is much like a college football team without a QB...you will not win. There was no PG in the system last year that was going to deliver a winner. As for running guys off...maybe, but I suspect at least Cam was inclined to make the change on his own. I'm not blaming the 2017-18 season on Dixon completely...but he certainly has some of the responsibility. It appears Stallings may have a PG for the next couple of years. Whether he can bring in some others to fill the holes, will be the challenge. Look, I'm not trying to defend Stallings...but he walked into a pretty bad situation. Hail to Pitt!
 
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