If you were the AD

[Sean Miller Fan]

What would be your plan on the coaching search?

If it were me, I would try to go very big by cutting back in other areas and selling Gallagher and boosters on giving more funding for a big-time hire to get us out of this mess. I'm talking like offering $7-$8 million per year for a big-time coach. Not sure who I'd target right now but I'd put out a ton of "name your price" feelers.

 

[Chescat]

I'll respond as if I were
Gallagher. "Heather in your
overall budget how are
you going to pay a Bball
coach $7-$8 million a yr,
and explain Narduzzi's
salary at several million
less? Do you plan on
paying Narduzzi the same
$7-$8 million?"

SMF, first things first.
Have you ever had to
submit a budget in an
organization? My guess is
she has some very specific
parameters when it comes
to this. Don't think for one
minute that the AD has
total freedom in all
decision making relative
to the Athletic Dept.

 

[pittchagg]

I would plan to pay the next coach a salary that’s in the top 5 of the ACC, and I’d make sure the program operations budget, assistant salary pool, and off-court staff budget are also in the top 5 of the conference. I know Capel’s in the top 5, but I’m not sure about the rest - I think it is though. No real need to cut back on other areas. A top 5 ACC salary is ~$4-5M. That’s plenty to attract a good coach and staff.

 

[gary2]

I would offer a new coach the equivalent of the current 8th best basketball total budget.

I would tell him, if he proves he is worth more, he can count on getting it.

You don’t buy success, you reward success.

 

[Pitt2006]

The transfer rules really changes everything. Had that rule not taken effect, Capel could have had Xavier, Toney, McGowens, Hughley, etc. right now. The rule taketh away, but could also mean a very quick turn around depending on the coach. That said, I do not think any up and coming coaches could lure talent here quickly (one reason why a big name may consider here versus after Stallings - they can have access to a whole new recruiting avenue). Hence I posted about throwing 8 mil at a Billy Donovan type (success, clean rec). I would love Pitino even with his baggage. Pitt has money. They just have to decide if that want to spend it on basketball or not. Higher likely ROI going all in on football and Olympic sports at this point, but a big name higher (Pitino, Donovan, Stevens, etc.) likely makes pretty big traction in a short period of time.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

What I’d want to know if I was Gallagher is :

1) you feel 100% certain that JC cannot turn this around and why ?

2) exactly what the buyout number is and do you have any booster commitments to cover this amount ?

3) whose on your list of candidates and are they seriously interested in the position ? I don’t want a repeat of what Hurley did to us .

4) why will they be successful while KS and JC failed ?

5)What are your expectations of where we fit into ACC bb ?

6) when will bb be revenue neutral ?

7) what other ancillary costs will there be ?

 

[Chescat]

The transfer rules really changes everything. Had that rule not taken effect, Capel could have had Xavier, Toney, McGowens, Hughley, etc. right now. The rule taketh away, but could also mean a very quick turn around depending on the coach. That said, I do not think any up and coming coaches could lure talent here quickly (one reason why a big name may consider here versus after Stallings - they can have access to a whole new recruiting avenue). Hence I posted about throwing 8 mil at a Billy Donovan type (success, clean rec). I would love Pitino even with his baggage. Pitt has money. They just have to decide if that want to spend it on basketball or not. Higher likely ROI going all in on football and Olympic sports at this point, but a big name higher (Pitino, Donovan, Stevens, etc.) likely makes pretty big traction in a short period of time.

I would agree there would
be a higher ROI in football
and other sports. How much
of an ROI? A significant ROI?
That is debatable IMO.
The question not answered,
What to do with Narduzzi's
salary? Give him a several
thousand dollar raise to
keep up with Bball coach?
If not, how does the flagship
program, football...pay less
in salary?

It's not as simple as just
throwing $$$ at a new
Bball coach. And again,
despite what many posters
on here think, the AD is
not the sole decision maker
in this process.

 

[pittchagg]

What I’d want to know if I was Gallagher is :

1) you feel 100% certain that JC cannot turn this around and why ?

2) exactly what the buyout number is and do you have any booster commitments to cover this amount ?

3) whose on your list of candidates and are they seriously interested in the position ? I don’t want a repeat of what Hurley did to us .

4) why will they be successful while KS and JC failed ?

5)What are your expectations of where we fit into ACC bb ?

6) when will bb be revenue neutral ?

7) what other ancillary costs will there be ?

With #6, it’s a near certainty that Pitt basketball operates in the black right now. That’s not going to change.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

With #6, it’s a near certainty that Pitt basketball operates in the black right now. That’s not going to change.

I seriously doubt the bb program is profitable.

 

[Chescat]

What I’d want to know if I was Gallagher is :

1) you feel 100% certain that JC cannot turn this around and why ?

2) exactly what the buyout number is and do you have any booster commitments to cover this amount ?

3) whose on your list of candidates and are they seriously interested in the position ? I don’t want a repeat of what Hurley did to us .

4) why will they be successful while KS and JC failed ?

5)What are your expectations of where we fit into ACC bb ?

6) when will bb be revenue neutral ?

7) what other ancillary costs will there be ?

All good questions. They still
have to wrestle with the fact
that the $$$$ being recommended
will impact other coaching
positions....specifically football.

 

[pittchagg]

I seriously doubt the bb program is profitable.

I disagree. I’m guessing they’ll be at around $2M in the black this year. That’s a little less than what the number was two years ago (last year was weird with no ticket sales). Same with three years ago.

 

[Parkview57]

If I were the AD?

I would have set this up last year. I would have said at the end of year meeting. Coach , it's been three years, next year you need X amount of wins, or need to achieve X for me to continue to recommend we stay the course. Let me know what you need in the next two weeks and I will go to bat for you for anything for the coming year, you have my full support. But we have to make gains this year.

Now if at the end of this year if he was unable to meet expectations, (If I don't have the resources or backing to replace him), I tell him, we are cutting everything out of the basketball budget that is not owed by contract. No extension, etc. is forthcoming until you have fulfilled the old contract, consider yourself year to year at this point. Good luck. End of meeting. ( I assume there is no way to insist on staff changes after the Wanny debacle.)

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I'll respond as if I were
Gallagher. "Heather in your
overall budget how are
you going to pay a Bball
coach $7-$8 million a yr,
and explain Narduzzi's
salary at several million
less? Do you plan on
paying Narduzzi the same
$7-$8 million?"

SMF, first things first.
Have you ever had to
submit a budget in an
organization? My guess is
she has some very specific
parameters when it comes
to this. Don't think for one
minute that the AD has
total freedom in all
decision making relative
to the Athletic Dept.

Narduzzi's salary is Narduzzi's salary. They are going to have to address his salary situation eventually and he's likely going to be getting a top-level ACC salary.

The question Pitt faces is will it be worth the risk to give the mid-majory lottery ticket $3 million per year when they have a high failure rate and won't sell any tickets for a few years or does it makes sense to go really big and pay a big name $7-$8 million to win right away (via the portal) and sell tickets.

 

[Fsgolfdr]

All good questions. They still
have to wrestle with the fact
that the $$$$ being recommended
will impact other coaching
positions....specifically football.

I doubt they go big !

 

[Fsgolfdr]

I disagree. I’m guessing they’ll be at around $2M in the black this year. That’s a little less than what the number was two years ago (last year was weird with no ticket sales). Same with three years ago.

Without the shared ACC money I’d like to see how they’re not seriously bleeding money .

Accountants can juggle the numbers , but ticket revenue in no way covers their costs .

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Narduzzi's salary is Narduzzi's salary. They are going to have to address his salary situation eventually and he's likely going to be getting a top-level ACC salary.

The question Pitt faces is will it be worth the risk to give the mid-majory lottery ticket $3 million per year when they have a high failure rate and won't sell any tickets for a few years or does it makes sense to go really big and pay a big name $7-$8 million to win right away (via the portal) and sell tickets.

Kyle Smith left San Francisco for Washington St and is making 1.4 million per year. Pitt is a better job.

 

[Chescat]

Narduzzi's salary is Narduzzi's salary. They are going to have to address his salary situation eventually and he's likely going to be getting a top-level ACC salary.

The question Pitt faces is will it be worth the risk to give the mid-majory lottery ticket $3 million per year when they have a high failure rate and won't sell any tickets for a few years or does it makes sense to go really big and pay a big name $7-$8 million to win right away (via the portal) and sell tickets.

It's not just Bball. The question
is also how important relative
to $$$ do they consider athletics
as a whole. If they go big using
your numbers $7-$8 million,
they'll have to do it for football.

Everything I've seen about Pitt
when it comes to this, says no
they won't. If it were Louisville
there's no doubt they would.
We'll see, maybe just maybe....

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Without the shared ACC money I’d like to see how they’re now seriously bleeding money .

Accountants can juggle the numbers , but ticket revenue in no way covers their costs .

There is absolutely no way Pitt is making money on basketball right now without allocating a portion of ESPN revenue as "basketball revenue." Pitt gets 1 check for ESPN money. They may use a larger chunk of that for the basketball budget, we don't know but we do know that without that, there's no way basketball is anywhere close to being profitable.

 

[Matt Steinbrink]

I don't necessarily think it is about the money. Throwing money at it is not going to fix it with 100% certainty. The search has to be about quality. They have to find the right basketball coach. A leader. A guy that can develop players and kids want to play for. There is no set price tag or a name for that. There are so many good coaches out there. At all levels. You have to know what makes a leader. You have to examine exactly what they have done every single year of their career, and how it leads or transitions to Pitt.

Does a lot of money make it easier to pull a name? Of course. But it doesn't have to be the big name or obvious candidate. Put all of that aside. Find the person you can believe in. Duke pushed Capel to Pitt, so it can be easy to listen to outside opinions and make a hire for PR. Not saying that is the only reason a coach is hired, but I think often times an AD factors in public perception. Don't do that. Just go get a coach that can develop and teach the game of basketball to kids. It is not that difficult.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

What would be your plan on the coaching search?

If it were me, I would try to go very big by cutting back in other areas and selling Gallagher and boosters on giving more funding for a big-time hire to get us out of this mess. I'm talking like offering $7-$8 million per year for a big-time coach. Not sure who I'd target right now but I'd put out a ton of "name your price" feelers.

” We have a coach. As always, Coach Capel and I will discuss the season after the season is over. I will make recommendations as I see fitting from the perspective of an Athletic Director. Coach Capel, as is typical, will provide his input on the finished season and what he envisions going forward. “

In the background she is weighing whether the basketball program failures has any real impact on Pitt Athletics compared to the good will and publicity a strong football season brought. If she feels that the Football program success so overwhelms the basketball recovery she will put more money to Duzz and extend him and if she needs to look for a basketball coach, I guarantee you that Brandin gets the first call and maybe nobody else. She won’t go searching for a superstar impact hire. She will look for a coach that has more than a normal honeymoon associated with the team with the expectation that Knight would bring back hard nose scrappy basketball that fans could at least be proud of.

 

[gary2]

” We have a coach. As always, Coach Capel and I will discuss the season after the season is over. I will make recommendations as I see fitting from the perspective of an Athletic Director. Coach Capel, as is typical, will provide his input on the finished season and what he envisions going forward. “

In the background she is weighing whether the basketball program failures has any real impact on Pitt Athletics compared to the good will and publicity a strong football season brought. If she feels that the Football program success so overwhelms the basketball recovery she will put more money to Duzz and extend him and if she needs to look for a basketball coach, I guarantee you that Brandin gets the first call and maybe nobody else. She won’t go searching for a superstar impact hire. She will look for a coach that has more than a normal honeymoon associated with the team with the expectation that Knight would bring back hard nose scrappy basketball that fans could at least be proud of.

Knight would be in my top 2.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

I don't necessarily think it is about the money. Throwing money at it is not going to fix it with 100% certainty. The search has to be about quality. They have to find the right basketball coach. A leader. A guy that can develop players and kids want to play for. There is no set price tag or a name for that. There are so many good coaches out there. At all levels. You have to know what makes a leader. You have to examine exactly what they have done every single year of their career, and how it leads or transitions to Pitt.

Does a lot of money make it easier to pull a name? Of course. But it doesn't have to be the big name or obvious candidate. Put all of that aside. Find the person you can believe in. Duke pushed Capel to Pitt, so it can be easy to listen to outside opinions and make a hire for PR. Not saying that is the only reason a coach is hired, but I think often times an AD factors in public perception. Don't do that. Just go get a coach that can develop and teach the game of basketball to kids. It is not that difficult.

Amen!
We need to find the right guy who has won with similar or worse resources than what we currently have. A head coach looking to move up the ladder (i.e. Golden) or someone who has something to prove because they were overlooked (i.e. Odom).

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

I know this, whatever the cost of the buyout, Pitt CANNOT afford another year of Capel. Another year of Capel, is another lost year of recruiting, development and uncertainty. The cost of that certainly outweighs a buyout.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Knight would be in my top 2.

NO!
I loved BK as a player, but it would be an awful hire. The guy isn’t even the top assistant at Rutgers. He has no head coaching experience and the downfall of Pitt basketball had him in the role of top assistant.

 

[gary2]

NO!
I loved BK as a player, but it would be an awful hire. The guy isn’t even the top assistant at Rutgers. He has no head coaching experience and the downfall of Pitt basketball had him in the role of top assistant.

I see Knight as a bridge coach that might be necessary to get us back to respectability.

I think he generates fan base support regardless of resume..

I also think he would bring organization, chemistry and discipline. Things that have been sadly missing.

He has been waiting a long time. I am sure he has had a plan on the shelf ready to go. He will know who and what he needs.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

I see Knight as a bridge coach that might be necessary to get us back to respectability.

I think he generates fan base support regardless of resume..

I also think he would bring organization, chemistry and discipline. Things that have been sadly missing.

He has been waiting a long time. I am sure he has had a plan on the shelf ready to go. He will know who and what he needs.

The guy isn’t even the top assistant at Rutgers. He has no head coaching experience and the downward trend of Pitt basketball had him in the role of top assistant under Dixon.

Our team lacked chemistry and discipline when BK was the top assistant.

 

[FrogmoreZeke]

I don't necessarily think it is about the money. Throwing money at it is not going to fix it with 100% certainty. The search has to be about quality. They have to find the right basketball coach. A leader. A guy that can develop players and kids want to play for. There is no set price tag or a name for that. There are so many good coaches out there. At all levels. You have to know what makes a leader. You have to examine exactly what they have done every single year of their career, and how it leads or transitions to Pitt.

Does a lot of money make it easier to pull a name? Of course. But it doesn't have to be the big name or obvious candidate. Put all of that aside. Find the person you can believe in. Duke pushed Capel to Pitt, so it can be easy to listen to outside opinions and make a hire for PR. Not saying that is the only reason a coach is hired, but I think often times an AD factors in public perception. Don't do that. Just go get a coach that can develop and teach the game of basketball to kids. It is not that difficult.

If "It's not that difficult", then how come many schools are failing at this? The answer is it is very difficult. Money, player/parent and coaches egos, pressure to win immediately, NIL. transfer portal, aau handlers. All of this makes developing players over 3-4-5 years no longer an option. You have to get what you can out of players in 1-2 years cause you have no guarantee they will be around any longer.

 

[gary2]

The guy isn’t even the top assistant at Rutgers. He has no head coaching experience and the downward trend of Pitt basketball had him in the role of top assistant under Dixon.

Our team lacked chemistry and discipline when BK was the top assistant.

An assistant coach can only do so much.

Maybe the downward trend had more to do with the change in leagues.

Maybe the failures in recruiting were due to the Head Coach and his approach to recruiting.

Maybe the lack of team chemistry and discipline was a conscious decision by the Head Coach to compensate for his own inadequate recruiting.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

An assistant coach can only do so much.

Maybe the downward trend had more to do with the change in leagues.

Maybe the failures in recruiting were due to the Head Coach and his approach to recruiting.

Maybe the lack of team chemistry and discipline was a conscious decision by the Head Coach to compensate for his own inadequate recruiting.

How about the top assistant becoming too friendly with the players?

How about the top assistant dropping the ball on recruiting (Spellman)?

 

[tjb]

There is absolutely no way Pitt is making money on basketball right now without allocating a portion of ESPN revenue as "basketball revenue." Pitt gets 1 check for ESPN money. They may use a larger chunk of that for the basketball budget, we don't know but we do know that without that, there's no way basketball is anywhere close to being profitable.

Pretty sure all Power 5 teams allocate the sport-specific TV revenue to that sport.

In 2019-20 (most recent report), Pitt reported $10.0M in men’s basketball expenses and $10.8M in men’s basketball revenue.

Searchable here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/

 

[gary2]

How about the top assistant becoming too friendly with the players?

How about the top assistant dropping the ball on recruiting (Spellman)?

You are entitled to your opinion.

My opinion is that the Head Coach (you know, the one in charge) never adjusted to the new league.

Now that opinion my be wrong as he isn’t exactly setting the world afire in yet another league. (Without Knight to hold him back)

Maybe time has just passed him by wherever he may be?

 

[pittjas]

I don't necessarily think it is about the money. Throwing money at it is not going to fix it with 100% certainty. The search has to be about quality. They have to find the right basketball coach. A leader. A guy that can develop players and kids want to play for. There is no set price tag or a name for that. There are so many good coaches out there. At all levels. You have to know what makes a leader. You have to examine exactly what they have done every single year of their career, and how it leads or transitions to Pitt.

Does a lot of money make it easier to pull a name? Of course. But it doesn't have to be the big name or obvious candidate. Put all of that aside. Find the person you can believe in. Duke pushed Capel to Pitt, so it can be easy to listen to outside opinions and make a hire for PR. Not saying that is the only reason a coach is hired, but I think often times an AD factors in public perception. Don't do that. Just go get a coach that can develop and teach the game of basketball to kids. It is not that difficult.

Completely agree Matt.

In fact, I don’t think we need to spend that much on the HC at all. Of course, I’d be for spending $5-7 million if we were going to make a hire that guaranteed success like Pitino.

But I do NOT want to spend $4-5 million for a guy like Turgeon or Archie or Sean Miller. It’s too much money for guys who have already experienced success and have a lot of money and aren’t going to be that desperate to succeed here.

For $2-3 million a year you can get the guy who wants to be the next Calipari or Coach K. Who will coach his ass of because this is his big break and he wants to make money and experience success.

And in doing so you can throw a lot of money at assistants and get an older experienced X and O guy and young guys with recruiting ties.

That’s what I’d do.

 

[4Mark_Marty]

Amen!
We need to find the right guy who has won with similar or worse resources than what we currently have. A head coach looking to move up the ladder (i.e. Golden) or someone who has something to prove because they were overlooked (i.e. Odom).

I want a coach that is heavily sought after by many schools in year 3 or 4. If he leaves, so be it.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Completely agree Matt.

In fact, I don’t think we need to spend that much on the HC at all. Of course, I’d be for spending $5-7 million if we were going to make a hire that guaranteed success like Pitino.

But I do NOT want to spend $4-5 million for a guy like Turgeon or Archie or Sean Miller. It’s too much money for guys who have already experienced success and have a lot of money and aren’t going to be that desperate to succeed here.

For $2-3 million a year you can get the guy who wants to be the next Calipari or Coach K. Who will coach his ass of because this is his big break and he wants to make money and experience success.

And in doing so you can throw a lot of money at assistants and get an older experienced X and O guy and young guys with recruiting ties.

That’s what I’d do.

Again, how do you know for sure that the mid-major flavor of the month is THE GUY to get us back? Those guys have a huge failure rate so why will Pitt be lucky enough to pull another Howland?

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

NO!
I loved BK as a player, but it would be an awful hire. The guy isn’t even the top assistant at Rutgers. He has no head coaching experience and the downfall of Pitt basketball had him in the role of top assistant.

Yeah I would feel much better about Brandin if say, he was head coach at Monmouth for a couple of years (or a school like that). But you never know. Look at Jamie Dixon. Look at Juwan Howard.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Yeah I would feel much better about Brandin if say, he was head coach at Monmouth for a couple of years (or a school like that). But you never know. Look at Jamie Dixon. Look at Juwan Howard.

The fact that Brandin hasn't elevated his career in a decade scares the crap out of me. Does he not have any ambition? He is an enormous risk.

 

[gary2]

The fact that Brandin hasn't elevated his career in a decade scares the crap out of me. Does he not have any ambition? He is an enormous risk.

Waiting on his dream job?

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

I don't necessarily think it is about the money. Throwing money at it is not going to fix it with 100% certainty. The search has to be about quality. They have to find the right basketball coach. A leader. A guy that can develop players and kids want to play for. There is no set price tag or a name for that. There are so many good coaches out there. At all levels. You have to know what makes a leader. You have to examine exactly what they have done every single year of their career, and how it leads or transitions to Pitt.

Does a lot of money make it easier to pull a name? Of course. But it doesn't have to be the big name or obvious candidate. Put all of that aside. Find the person you can believe in. Duke pushed Capel to Pitt, so it can be easy to listen to outside opinions and make a hire for PR. Not saying that is the only reason a coach is hired, but I think often times an AD factors in public perception. Don't do that. Just go get a coach that can develop and teach the game of basketball to kids. It is not that difficult.

This sounds like a wpial school job description.
For a jv team.

 

[Parkview57]

Duke pushed Capel to Pitt

Good stuff. Beware, never put too much stalk in an employer looking to hype a current employee for you to hire, in any business, they may be solving their problem by turning it in to yours.

 

[gary2]

Good stuff. Beware, never put too much stalk in an employer looking to hype a current employee for you to hire, in any business, they may be solving their problem by turning it in to yours.

Good point.