Last two weeks of 2023-24 season. Ugly losses to FSU and ND by one of Capel’s best teams, followed by deserved lack of bid to NCAAT and decline of NIT bid. The situation played a role, I think, in coaching staff’s inability to hire any free agents that were even remotely comparable to Bub and Blake. Jaland and Corhen are good kids, but nowhere close to Bub and Blake. We have not recovered since. Capel has one last shot to turn it around this offseason. It will make or break him, in my opine.
Defining Moments of Capel’s (and perhaps Heather’s) Career Future at Pitt
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Seriously, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Capel has been given more rope to prove himself than 99% of division one schools would ever give a HC in his position.. The suggestion that the situation he inherited warrants giving him longer than 8 years to build a program, something he has yet to do, is nonsense.
Heather Lyke was a dolt and, as far as I am concerned, her extending Capel ( and Narduzzi) like she did, delivers the clear message that Pitt is happy to just compete and doesn’t aspire to be anything other than mediocre. That’s the message the current AD has to change, and so far there’s been virtual radio silence from Allen Greene who is happy to limit his public appearances to tightly controlled and highly structured interviews in which he can avoid the difficult subjects/issues such as his assessment of the 2 major sports programs and what he wants to achieve going forward. The whole situation is frustrating and moving supporters to indifference. Blithering on incessantly about NIL and the house settlement isn’t going to motivate any supporter to give Pitt another buck against the backdrop of a basketball season that cratered and a HC who can’t get himself to make a single change in a; underperforming coaching staff.
Heather Lyke was a dolt and, as far as I am concerned, her extending Capel ( and Narduzzi) like she did, delivers the clear message that Pitt is happy to just compete and doesn’t aspire to be anything other than mediocre. That’s the message the current AD has to change, and so far there’s been virtual radio silence from Allen Greene who is happy to limit his public appearances to tightly controlled and highly structured interviews in which he can avoid the difficult subjects/issues such as his assessment of the 2 major sports programs and what he wants to achieve going forward. The whole situation is frustrating and moving supporters to indifference. Blithering on incessantly about NIL and the house settlement isn’t going to motivate any supporter to give Pitt another buck against the backdrop of a basketball season that cratered and a HC who can’t get himself to make a single change in a; underperforming coaching staff.
I agree. Capel has to show definite, concrete results in everything he does now or he's gone. That includes getting high end portal players to make a roster and starting 5 and making the NCAAT next year, not a play-in qualifying game as he did a couple of years ago. This is the end of the line for him unless he somehow pulls a rabbit out of his hat then does something he hasn't done in 8 years....coach.
I think college athletics changed drastically during the Lyke tenure. Rewind 10 years ago and the flight tracker joke was a real thing. I think that there were still people out there (perhaps legacy media types) that still thought coaches staying at a program meant the overall health of a program. And there is some truth to that in pitts case during the wanny, haywood, Graham, Paul, pat transitions over a 5 year period. So Lyke being of that old school mindset believed stability was paramount to all other things in football and basketball.
Fast forward 10 years and stability in college athletics is a dinosaur issue. Coaches and players are in constant free agency mode and pitt is stuck with 2 albatross contracts and buy outs. Add victory heights and NIL denial and you get pitt athletics post Heather.
Fast forward 10 years and stability in college athletics is a dinosaur issue. Coaches and players are in constant free agency mode and pitt is stuck with 2 albatross contracts and buy outs. Add victory heights and NIL denial and you get pitt athletics post Heather.
Well said. With players coming and going on a yearly basis, irrespective of coaching changes or stability, handing out expensive extensions to coaches after a middling bit of success is just stupid and suicidal.
I think Pitt should never give any new coach any long-term contract, for the reasons you stated. Forget extensions. Prove you even deserve to be at the school and the contract may be renewed for a year. College athletics is so much different than even 5 years ago. Whatever coach we have now will be gone, or should be gone, in 5 years. Results and winning, which increases revenue, is all that matters now. Loyalty and stability is out the window.
I absolutely guarantee you that early on in her tenure at Pitt, Lyke had a long sit down with Art Rooney and a large part of the discussion focused on the advantages of “ stability” as evidenced by the Steelers’ “illustrious” track record( looking pretty shabby over the last decade), and Lyke bought that spiel hook, line and sinker.
In addition, where do you think the stupid idea of Pitt playing Wisconsin in Ireland arose…I also guarantee that that stupid idea germinated in Rooney’s south side office. That moronic idea has Rooney’s finger prints all over it.
This is incorrect. We went 12-4 in our last 16 and from that point, our metrics showed we were Top 15ish. We didn't lose to FSU or ND. We didn't make the NCAAT because WVU, who was supposed to be a NC contender, was only a Q3 win and Caleb Grill got hurt after the Mizzou game and went 0-18.
Why did you make up games that didn’t exist?
Tell me something about those “ugly losses”.
NTOP went from a fine poster to this. I think something happened mentally to him.
maybe he mistook it for the wake forest game. Which was beyond ugly, it was "back alley abortion ugly." lost to clemson too very late in season. wouldnt call it ugly though..
The ugly notre dame loss late in the season was the year before, 2022. That notre dame teem was abysmal and they beat us pretty good. Lost to florida state a few weeks prior at home too..
I mean, he got the opponents right but missed by a year. lets give the guy a break. christ almighty, you guys are tough..
I may have messed up the season, but it was the one where Mike Brey beat us down the stretch during his last year at ND despite a distinct talent advantage in favor of Pitt. Same for the FSU coach at the time. What season was that? To me, that defined the Capel era. Close, but, in the end, he and his players came up short to excellent coaches who were suffering off years.
I've said this 1000 times, I'll say it again--in college basketball more than maybe any other sport, it's all about the head coach--you can't blame or credit the assistants for anything other than recruiting and maybe some player development. And now, those roles are even less important with NIL, free transfers and teams picking up finished-product free agents every year. The head coach is what makes or breaks you. We have a subpar head coach. The results have spoken for themselves, and will continue to do so regardless of who sits next to Capel on the bench.
Speaking of ugly WFU loses, Narduzzi let out a stinker in that game where a DB for Pitt committed two PF’s on one bizarre game-changing play.
Where's the $$$$ to move him out? Gallagher hired Heather. Complain to him.
Agree with Capel.....make or break year
Agree with Heather.....spending money we dont have or simply spent unwisely. There is no doubt in my mind that " spend money we dont have Heather " votes straight democrat every election.
As for Greene, i will respectfully disagree. I like the stoic, above the noise approach. This guy has had stops at serious SEC players and I think (i hope) understands politics, power plays and massaging donors.
I may be proven wrong....but I am not ready to throw in his towel.......
A couple thoughts on Capel:
1) I don't expect this, but IF we did make the tournament this season, he would completely flip the narrative and the talk would be that he's had us in or damn close to being in 3 of the last 4 years.
Again, I'd be surprised if it happened. But this is a huge season, because fans are pretty fickle when it comes to which lens they're choosing to look through when assessing the vitality of the program.
2) If he does not make the tournament but does just enough this season to warrant being brought back in 2026-2027, then I don't care what he does in 2026-2027; you can absolutely not extend him. Good timing has worked in his favor multiple times now. Don't fall for that one again.
1) I don't expect this, but IF we did make the tournament this season, he would completely flip the narrative and the talk would be that he's had us in or damn close to being in 3 of the last 4 years.
Again, I'd be surprised if it happened. But this is a huge season, because fans are pretty fickle when it comes to which lens they're choosing to look through when assessing the vitality of the program.
2) If he does not make the tournament but does just enough this season to warrant being brought back in 2026-2027, then I don't care what he does in 2026-2027; you can absolutely not extend him. Good timing has worked in his favor multiple times now. Don't fall for that one again.
I just don’t believe that at this moment in time the “stoic”, quiet leadership “ type” is what Pitt athletics needs, particularly when that was also Lyke’s preferred style. Pitt’s in a real pickle….not only are they bouncing around in the swirling uncertainty of revenue for athletes but their 2 major sports programs are also thrashing about somewhat somewhat aimlessly as a result of being led by 2 HCs who would likely have already been replaced but for the length of their contracts. This isn’t a situation where there’s a whole lot for Pitt supporters to hang their hats on and to believe it’s worth the the effort to continue to support Pitt athletics financially and by attendance. This is where you’d like to have a strong and visible AD come in and provide assurance that Pitt remains committed to winning and not just competing so as to maintain fan support. At the moment, there’s just a lot of radio silence and business as usual coming out of the athletics dept. I agree that Greene has some great experience which should benefit him as he tries to navigate Pitt through this season of uncertainty but, in my opinion, he’s steered clear of the tough questions.
I’m not throwing in the towel either….but I believe people like us are more the exception than the rule.
Close with Carrington and Hinson is a gross dereliction of duty. Totally ridiculous they didn't make the tourney last year. Coupled with the collapse this year and it is truly beyond belief that Capel is still employed. And to make matters worse, we sit almost a month since the season ended and still no changes to the staff.
I always thought Heather looked like a good AD compared to the grossly incompetent cast of misfits that proceeded her. Now given the financial straights she left the department in with Victory heights & the Capel/Narduzzi contracts, I think she belongs with the worst of them, only Ed Bozik was below her.
You're a POS that offers NOTHING to this board besides hatred and political agendas. Maybe just maybe this is where your hatred starts:
Jeff Capel's grandfather was Felton Capel. He was a businessman and politician who played a significant role in desegregation efforts in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Felton Capel's work was also connected to Martin Luther King Jr.. He was a prominent figure in the town and was known for his business success and commitment to public service.
Capel has been a failure his whole career. If he was White, balding and in his 50s, you would be setting fires in the streets to oust him.
I stated that Capel was a poor coach. Where did I make reference to his grandfather, which really has no relevance to Jeff Capel's coaching ability, or lack of it? Your lack of understanding of the English language is only surpassed by your lack of common sense. I hope to God you didn't graduate from Pitt. You just sound like an infantile, spoiled little kid. Go run along and play with your blocks.
Why do you have to make this about race? You sound very racist. I never once mentioned race, as you did with your desegregation remark. That is irrelevant to this discussion.
So you're saying that if he wasn't such a sexy fit man, drinking those 13 waters a game, and he looked more like, say, the late great Kevin Stallings, that he wouldn't still be making the big bucks?
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