Excluding Todd Graham, when was the last time Pitt hired a proven college head coach?

[HailtoPitt]

The term 'proven' is debatable, but I think having a record slightly better then .500 before coming to Pitt isn't proven.

It's been a long, long. LONG time. Todd Graham was hired and lied to, so one could argue that be was never given the proper chance.

Someone brought this up in another post, and I think I am in agreement. Pitt needs to finally go after a proven head coach.

Then again, proven head coaches are likely smart enough to stay away.

 

[rmf05]

Good question. I think Majors II kinda fits but we know how that turned out. Almost all our hires are shots un the dark and this program has too many headwinds for that philosophy to work.

Your final point is important. A proven coach is a valuable commodity. We'd have to compete with good programs for them. We aren't very competitive with good programs on the field, on the recruiting trail and in the interview room with prospective coaches.

 

[pittdan77]

The term 'proven' is debatable, but I think having a record slightly better then .500 before coming to Pitt isn't proven.

It's been a long, long. LONG time. Todd Graham was hired and lied to, so one could argue that be was never given the proper chance.

Someone brought this up in another post, and I think I am in agreement. Pitt needs to finally go after a proven head coach.

Then again, proven head coaches are likely smart enough to stay away.

Mike Haywood? LOL

 

[HailtoPitt]

Mike Haywood? LOL

I was thinking that Haywood had a stronger head coaching resume, until I looked at his record. One decent year out of two before coming to Pitt. Not proven in my mind.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Good question. I think Majors II kinda fits but we know how that turned out. Almost all our hires are shots un the dark and this program has too many headwinds for that philosophy to work.

Your final point is important. A proven coach is a valuable commodity. We'd have to compete with good programs for them. We aren't very competitive with good programs on the field, on the recruiting trail and in the interview room with prospective coaches.

I would say no on Majors Deuce since he was way, WAY past his prime.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Thread reminded me Haywood was 10-15 at Miami of Ohio. Haha I forgot that. What an incredible hire.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Johnny Majors 1 had a losing record as a head coach, and so did Jackie Sherrill. They provided the best era in modern day Pitt football.

JM2 had a winning record at Tennessee and ended up being one of the worst in Pitt football history.

 

[BillyWestFan]

Wanny. If you're looking for college only coaches, Mike Gottfried.

 

[pittdan77]

I was thinking that Haywood had a stronger head coaching resume, until I looked at his record. One decent year out of two before coming to Pitt. Not proven in my mind.

He had one good season. That's it.

 

[cpc247]

Who is Pitt going to hire away? Seriously....lay out a situation where a proven coach comes here. I think it is a real possibility as I think Pitt is an amazing place. But who would be that person? Name 5 people and how they are connected or would want this specific job.

 

[TD_6082]

A proven head coach is far from a guarantee of success.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Wanny. If you're looking for college only coaches, Mike Gottfried.

Just college. Before coming to Pitt, Gottfried was 4-6, 5-6 and 6-6 in three seasons at Kansas. Before Kansas he was 6-5 and 6-5 at Cincy. Before Cincy he had two 9 win seasons at Murray State, but I wouldn't call him a proven winning head coach who deserved a Pitt offer, at least not without those two coaching jobs after his success at Murray State.

 

[HailtoPitt]

A proven head coach is far from a guarantee of success.

I'd bet it's a better indicator of success then not, though.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Who is Pitt going to hire away? Seriously....lay out a situation where a proven coach comes here. I think it is a real possibility as I think Pitt is an amazing place. But who would be that person? Name 5 people and how they are connected or would want this specific job.

I don't know. But suppose they wanted a new coach right now. They could offer Luke Fickle, Bryan Harsin or Sonny Dykes to name a few Not saying they would accept, but it would be a pay raise and step up for any of them.

 

[Joe Magarac]

Good question. I think Majors II kinda fits but we know how that turned out. Almost all our hires are shots un the dark and this program has too many headwinds for that philosophy to work.

Your final point is important. A proven coach is a valuable commodity. We'd have to compete with good programs for them. We aren't very competitive with good programs on the field, on the recruiting trail and in the interview room with prospective coaches.

The proven head coach can come from a team outside of the FBS, you know.
See VT, GT, FSU, Virginia, etc, etc, etc.

 

[thirteenNINE]

Just college. Before coming to Pitt, Gottfried was 4-6, 5-6 and 6-6 in three seasons at Kansas. Before Kansas he was 6-5 and 6-5 at Cincy. Before Cincy he had two 9 win seasons at Murray State, but I wouldn't call him a proven winning head coach who deserved a Pitt offer, at least not without those two coaching jobs after his success at Murray State.

It's worth pointing out that Gottfried has the third best winning percentage at Kansas since 1970 with that record. 😄

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Wanny. If you're looking for college only coaches, Mike Gottfried.

Wanny had a .485 winning percentage in the NFL and won more than 9 games in a season 3 times in 11 NFL seasons. If that's your idea of a proven winner then Pitt has hired a lot of them.

Of course that isn't the record of a proven winner, so there is that.

Heck, compared to that Gottfried's record of 2 seasons with more than 6 wins in 8 seasons and a .556 winning percentage is positively Lombardian. I mean sure, both of those seasons with more than 6 wins came at a 1AA school, but they did happen.

 

[LeftCoastPanther]

Just college. Before coming to Pitt, Gottfried was 4-6, 5-6 and 6-6 in three seasons at Kansas. Before Kansas he was 6-5 and 6-5 at Cincy. Before Cincy he had two 9 win seasons at Murray State, but I wouldn't call him a proven winning head coach who deserved a Pitt offer, at least not without those two coaching jobs after his success at Murray State.

Gottfried wasn't a home-run hire, but Kansas in those days was usually 1-10/0-11, so he did do good work there and was a good hire to work under the bad leaders at Pitt.

 

[TD_6082]

Wanny had a .485 winning percentage in the NFL and won more than 9 games in a season 3 times in 11 NFL seasons. If that's your idea of a proven winner then Pitt has hired a lot of them.

Of course that isn't the record of a proven winner, so there is that.

Heck, compared to that Gottfried's record of 2 seasons with more than 6 wins in 8 seasons and a .556 winning percentage is positively Lombardian. I mean sure, both of those seasons with more than 6 wins came at a 1AA school, but they did happen.

Wanny is a mediocre coach, but an excellent recruiter. LSU just won a Natty with a bumbling idiot walking the sideline. If you can consistently trot out a better roster than your competition, it helps your chances of winning.

We don't have that culture at Pitt, but the fan base still has the expectations of 4 star results with 3 star recruits.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Wanny is a mediocre coach, but an excellent recruiter. LSU just won a Natty with a bumbling idiot walking the sideline. If you can consistently trot out a better roster than your competition, it helps your chances of winning.

We don't have that culture at Pitt, but the fan base still has the expectations of 4 star results with 3 star recruits.

I don't know that I'd say excellent, but he was a good recruiter. And every so often his recruiting overcame his absolute mediocrity as a coach. Not often, but occasionally.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Wanny is a mediocre coach, but an excellent recruiter. LSU just won a Natty with a bumbling idiot walking the sideline. If you can consistently trot out a better roster than your competition, it helps your chances of winning.

We don't have that culture at Pitt, but the fan base still has the expectations of 4 star results with 3 star recruits.

But the bumbling idiot knew when his OC wasn't working out and replaced.him quickly. Dave kept a guy who told his QBs that "there are no free plays" when everyone with an inkling of sense knows better.

 

[TD_6082]

Based on his track record at OK State & Miami. Wanny was JJ's guy when it came to inking players.

His recruiting at Pitt was mediocre. But it takes a helluva recruiter to pull in mediocre classes at Pitt.

 

[maxxwell]

Gottfried wasn't a home-run hire, but Kansas is those days was usually 1-10/0-11, so he did do good work there and was a good hire to work under the bad leaders at Pitt.

Maybe some similarity to Franklin at Vandy.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Based on his track record at OK State & Miami. Wanny was JJ's guy when it came to inking players.

His recruiting at Pitt was mediocre. But it takes a helluva recruiter to pull in mediocre classes at Pitt.

Compared to Walt, Dave's recruiting was a big upgrade.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

The term 'proven' is debatable, but I think having a record slightly better then .500 before coming to Pitt isn't proven.

It's been a long, long. LONG time. Todd Graham was hired and lied to, so one could argue that be was never given the proper chance.

Someone brought this up in another post, and I think I am in agreement. Pitt needs to finally go after a proven head coach.

Then again, proven head coaches are likely smart enough to stay away.

Gottfried if you don't want to include Majors II

 

[HailtoPitt]

Maybe some similarity to Franklin at Vandy.

Oh, did Gottfried also try to smooth things over with his players' rape victims?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Just college. Before coming to Pitt, Gottfried was 4-6, 5-6 and 6-6 in three seasons at Kansas. Before Kansas he was 6-5 and 6-5 at Cincy. Before Cincy he had two 9 win seasons at Murray State, but I wouldn't call him a proven winning head coach who deserved a Pitt offer, at least not without those two coaching jobs after his success at Murray State.

He was fairly high a hot candidate when he came to Pitt.

 

[TD_6082]

But the bumbling idiot knew when his OC wasn't working out and replaced.him quickly.

Oh please. There was a clash of philosophy and personalities. Canada had 2 freshman on the OL, an injured Guice, and Danny Etling at QB. Hell, he demoted Ensminger to throw money at Canada.

A lot of OC's would do big things with LSU's offensive talent last year.

 

[9nationalchampionships]

And that worked so well!

 

[HailtoPitt]

Oh please. There was a clash of philosophy and personalities. Canada had 2 freshman on the OL, an injured Guice, and Danny Etling at QB. Hell, he demoted Ensminger to throw money at Canada.

A lot of OC's would do big things with LSU's offensive talent last year.

I wonder how Matt Cavanaugh would have done with that talent. He probably would have their all world QB worried about throwing ints.

 

[cpc247]

I don't know. But suppose they wanted a new coach right now. They could offer Luke Fickle, Bryan Harsin or Sonny Dykes to name a few Not saying they would accept, but it would be a pay raise and step up for any of them.

Harsin born in Boise. Complete different recruiting area. IMO bad hire.
Luke doing it at lower level see Florida state. Could work and similar recruiting areas.
Dykes Texas born completely different recruiting area.
I guess my point is we don’t have someone who is from the area. Recruits the area. Offensive minded.
narduzzi already likes being here. Recruits the area (def) well but needs help on offense. I think heather should hire a consulting firm to go find 5 associate head coaches offensive coordinators that will be oc and could maybe replace narduzzi if they develop. Either way problem is solved and you get to test drive before you buy.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Harsin born in Boise. Complete different recruiting area. IMO bad hire.
Luke doing it at lower level see Florida state. Could work and similar recruiting areas.
Dykes Texas born completely different recruiting area.
I guess my point is we don’t have someone who is from the area. Recruits the area. Offensive minded.
narduzzi already likes being here. Recruits the area (def) well but needs help on offense. I think heather should hire a consulting firm to go find 5 associate head coaches offensive coordinators that will be oc and could maybe replace narduzzi if they develop. Either way problem is solved and you get to test drive before you buy.

Johnny Majors, Jackie Sherrill, Ben Howland, and Jamie Dixon - the 4 most successful football and basketball coaches and none of them were from Pittsburgh or anywhere in this region.

 

[runshadyrun]

Get a winning record, good recruiter from Toledo / Memphis type program. How's that Doc dude at Marshall doing, he was some people's favorite when Narduzzi was hired.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Harsin born in Boise. Complete different recruiting area. IMO bad hire.
Luke doing it at lower level see Florida state. Could work and similar recruiting areas.
Dykes Texas born completely different recruiting area.
I guess my point is we don’t have someone who is from the area. Recruits the area. Offensive minded.
narduzzi already likes being here. Recruits the area (def) well but needs help on offense. I think heather should hire a consulting firm to go find 5 associate head coaches offensive coordinators that will be oc and could maybe replace narduzzi if they develop. Either way problem is solved and you get to test drive before you buy.

I think finding a better OC is the way to go. But someone who can win and doesn't need a team filled with 4 and 5 stars guys.

 

[TD_6082]

I think finding a better OC is the way to go. But someone who can win and doesn't need a team filled with 4 and 5 stars guys.

😅 You don't win much more than Pitt already does in P5 football without the 4 and 5 star guys.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

😅 You don't win much more than Pitt already does in P5 football without the 4 and 5 star guys.

Most of the teams on Pitt’s schedule have similar talent to us. Good coaching is the difference between evenly matched teams.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Thread reminded me Haywood was 10-15 at Miami of Ohio. Haha I forgot that. What an incredible hire.

His second season turnaround was impressive though, he did something Narduzzi can't and that's win 9 games. But he clearly wasn't an upgrade over Wanny, and a deeper dig in his resume revealed red flags. Being demoted by Weiss at ND should have been an obvious one.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

😅 You don't win much more than Pitt already does in P5 football without the 4 and 5 star guys.

this guy would like a word with you on that.

 

[TD_6082]

this guy would like a word with you on that.

He didn't win more at Pitt. Wisconsin is currently an exception. They guy that preceded him won 3 straight Big 10 Championships, then took his act to the SEC, where he lost his ass.

Perhaps Chryst is the poster child of how hard it is to win at Pitt?

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

^It's a little of both. Chryst did better at Wisconsin than Pitt because Wisconsin is an easier program to win at. But he also did better at Wisconsin than Pitt because he treated Pitt as the place to learn how to be a head coach. He lost to YSU in his very first game because his entire staff was inexperienced. If he could coach that game again today (same players, time machine scenario), he'd win it.