Does Heather have the authority
- Thread starter gary2
- Start date
The mistake was allowing it in the first place. The country is littered with 3rd chair assistant coaches and there was never anything special about him. Hiring family should be avoided almost always.
But to your question as much of a disaster as it is I don’t like the idea of ADs meddling like that. However I’m not stupid and know it goes on behind closed doors. Although it will almost always get leaked.
I can’t imagine some buyout isn’t gonna be offered. Jeff gotta go, nevermind Jason.
But to your question as much of a disaster as it is I don’t like the idea of ADs meddling like that. However I’m not stupid and know it goes on behind closed doors. Although it will almost always get leaked.
I can’t imagine some buyout isn’t gonna be offered. Jeff gotta go, nevermind Jason.
The only thing that can really save him beyond 22-23 is a package deal assistant. I would be pretty shocked if all the assistants returned, if for no other reason, they need to find a landing spot since they'll be out of a job next March so they may take the first decent offer.
Are you nuts? Ain't noone going to offer these bums anything
Capel is going to lose half of the team to the portal now. He will be left with bones and nothing coming in. I realize that conventional wisdom says he stay through next year. But for the sake of saving this basketball program right now, he and his whole staff need to go tomorrow. They're not doing anything anyhow. Why keep them any longer? Let the big mouth donors pay his buyout.
There is no top half on this team. Gueye has 1 more game to play and he'll be gone. No one else is a capable player to keep around.
Why would she? It's easier to just let him stay. Heather avoids the press. If she were to arrange to fire Capel and do a coach search, I mean, guys, that is real work. She appears to be work-averse.
Gary - Why would Capel accept 8 million, when his buyout (if accurate) is 15 million? You wouldn't do it and neither would I. The only way he gets fired now is if Pitt has the buyout money. I'd bet everything I own, they don't. At the end of next year it's only 5 million. Based on that number, Capel had better have a breakout season.
Capel is owed a 15 million dollar buyout At the moment. He will never see that money.
If he stays another unsuccessful year he will get a 3 mil salary and a (now) reduced buyout of 5 mil. That is 8 mil.
Pitt can offer him that 8 mil now To go away. He can take that or get the same amount an aggravating year later.
15 mil is a pipe dream. 8 is the number in play.
And he will take the $8 million if everyone leaves so he doesn't have to deal with 0-20. If Hugley and company comes back, he isnt quitting for $8 million. It would need to be significantly more
Gary - I hear what you're saying, but most of the big donors don't care about basketball. It's all about Football. Heather would have to call in a lot of favors in order to get even 8 million dollars.
If you listen to Chris' weekly Pantherlair show, he hit the nail on the head. If you can get the donors to give you 8 million dollars, you may as well burn it. You wasted it on paying a coach to go away. Pitt could use the extra 3 million dollars to invest on upgrades. Pitt can wait until the end of next year to make a move if the program doesn't show any improvement...
It is a myth that Pitt gets donors to pay 100% of buyouts. There aren't enough rich donors who care enough who are going to pay a coach to go away. If Pitt buys out Capel, the vast majority of that money is coming from a basketball fund, general athletics fund, or general university fund. PGT, Tepper, or Dr. Barber arent writing 7 figure checks to cover Heather's mistake.
Does a cat bark?
No booster will cut a check for the buyout unless they pick the next HC.
Lyke will do what Gallagher tells her to do. And Gallagher reports to the BOT.
No booster will cut a check for the buyout unless they pick the next HC.
Lyke will do what Gallagher tells her to do. And Gallagher reports to the BOT.
If this is the case and Capel is still here next year, I expect an empty Pete. There might be under 1,000 fans in the stands for most games if he is retained. Fans are disgusted with him and his coaching, incompetence, and lack of recruiting. Will 1,000 fans/game pay for the lights to go on and pay the bills?
Pitt probably breaks even at $5k fans. But it depends on those suites. Are corporations renewing their licenses and contracts? Pitt basketball was raking in nearly $15 million of profit under Dixon.
But again why have an on campus basketball arena for this level of incompetence. Should just play at consol or ppg or whatever that place is called now.
This is 100 percent on heather. She hired him. And EXTENDED him.
But again why have an on campus basketball arena for this level of incompetence. Should just play at consol or ppg or whatever that place is called now.
This is 100 percent on heather. She hired him. And EXTENDED him.
Agreed. The general fund or the discretionary from the endowment. Pitt has the money for any buyout. It’s the opportunity cost that matters.
And heathers mistake will not be borne by any booster unless they call the shots on the next HC.
There’s a reason why Tepper doesn’t donate to Pitt sports.
Fire that Michigan gal and then you’ll see a tide of money flow in.
Lyke will go down in the annals of history as bankrupting Pitt over that stupid Victory Heights project. Gallagher at least had the foresight to see it.
Heather prefers not to roll up the sleeves and do a mans work. She is scared of butting heads with men. Penn States AD at least has balls.
Pitt could’ve a trillion dollars in their endowment funds and unless a portion of that is designated for buying out losing coaches the money can’t be used for it . That money comes with strings attached .
The discretionary is about $150 million from the endowment. It would be bad optics if touched to bail out a sorry ass AD and loser of a coach. That’s why it won’t happen.
Which endowment are you talking about? Is there a specific, earmarked athletic endowment? The endowments I'm familiar with are ONLY for academic programs and can't be used under any circumstances for any athletic programs.
The discretionary in theory can be used for anything. But Pitt won’t touch it for sports given the optics. Discretionary means by its nature no strings. Roughly 4 percent of the endowment each year is no strings attached. Up to the BOT’s purvue.
Traditionally, buyouts are supported with booster money unless you are Pitt and using the general fund as the slush fund is not an ethical concern.
Tepper donates to Pitt sports. He’s on the list of donors.
The football program had a 20 million dollar donation. The largest in school history. Basketball just received a 5 million dollar donation.
So I'm assuming we have the money to get rid of this cancer of a coaching staff now. It's just a matter of when they'll do it. If it's not too late already.
The problem with this math is that Pitt still has to pay someone to coach next season no matter what, and I don't think there's anyone they can get that is going to cause a notable spike in ticket sales or corporate promotions. What self-respecting coach is going to sign up for the chance to go 2-18 at Pitt?
Lyke has to retain Capel and hope that he gets a little bit of a bounce back and then you have a better situation to hire the next guy into. We can all bemoan these losing seasons, but people need to accept the fact that another 2023 losing season does absolutely nothing to the long-term attractiveness of this program. Trying to hurry up and burn cash just to put a new lottery ticket in a suit is not a real solution.
I'll repeat what I said a year ago also. There are still major COVID impacts to ticket sales, so the best case scenario for basketball revenue is still greatly diminished. Lyke will probably stick with the known costs with Capel before trying to convince the BOT that there's some huge ROI the minute we hire someone new.
You guys are selling this position like, "We want you to be the head coach of the most cursed P5 job. We sincerely expect you to finish 2-18 next year, and no matter how much time we promise you to set up your program, we will definitely try to fire you for cause after 4 seasons. You can't cheat, but you also clearly can't win games here clean."
Yes, this is the sober reality. People getting a little funny with the math. They want to spend big money to buy out Capel but also not "go cheap" on our next hire. Also never want to go cheap on hiring assistants. Also in some cases say they will not buy tickets anymore. OK how is that supposed to work?
I agree with everything you said except the Covid factor . There is no significant overhang on Pitts attendance do to peoples reluctance to go out , its the losing that has made even the most loyal of fans to lose interest . One down yr or even two with the hope that the young guys on your roster will mature is acceptable every now and then , but Pitt fans don’t even have that to go on . The programs a mess and there’s no easy way out that Pitts willing to take .
