Its time to Rally around the Program Pitt Fans

[pittbb80]

First let me get this out of the way. Look, I get the anger. I was very vocal yesterday morning on this board as well. I had thought Barnes was very good at his job and bought into the hype he created during his presser when JD left. I suppose what upsets me and Im guessing most on this board is being Bullshitted. This is absolutely NOT the splash hire that Barnes described. Stallings is a middling coach who on the surface doesnt appear to have a big upside. To try and pass him off as anything else insults my intelligence. It shows that Barnes is tone deaf when it comes to fan perception.

The time for outrage is over. If you are a Pitt fan more than a fan of a coach or hater of an AD (seems like thats been the norm at Pitt and I include myself in that....LOL) its time to put the negative feelings aside and support the PROGRAM!. This isnt about Barnes, Stallings, JD, etc........its about the UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH....your alma mater.

This issue is not much different than the JD issue. JD clearly was in a downward trend. However it was in the best interest of the program to keep JD and support the team and hope for the best. Similarly, Stallings is here whether we like it or not. Its best to support the team and hope somehow the change of scenery provides better results than he had at Vandy. Doing anything other than that hurts the program we say we support. At the very least give the guy one year and one recruiting cycle to demonstrate theres an upside.

Other thoughts.

1. This is an extremely risk hire. THis hire says IM smarter than everyone else and Im going to prove it. Those kind of hires can be career killers as opposed to hiring an up and comer where there is more forgiveness. Barnes is doubling down on his career on this hire.

2. SOme times there are things behind the scenes that can limit a coaches performance. Perhaps the standards at vandy limited Stallings ability to win big. Sometimes fit is as important as the guys ability. Theres a reason why guys like Meyer have passed on the ND FB job. Lets hope the fit at PItt and a fresh start works out better for Stallings. Time to start looking for positives in this.

3. The guy is a better recruiter. I think he should be able to do even better in the ACC. We shall see. At least we can hope he wont get out recruited by CHambers.

4. Interesting that hes offered BK the job. I dont have a strong opinion of BK but I think its a smart PR move at least on KS part.

After the anger over the hire I've come around to accept that it is what it is. I will find the process of seeing how this works out just as entertaining as I would have had JD stayed. Neither had/have sure fire positive outcomes.

 

[PantherO]

3. The guy is a better recruiter. I think he should be able to do even better in the ACC. We shall see. At least we can hope he wont get out recruited by CHambers.
QUOTE]


Now granted I only looked at Rivals...but I don't see where Stallings is a better recruiter than Dixon. I see a lot of 3 star recruits. And then every so often, there is a 4 star. Only went back about 5 years. But hardly better. I would say on par.

 

[NTOP]

First let me get this out of the way. Look, I get the anger. I was very vocal yesterday morning on this board as well. I had thought Barnes was very good at his job and bought into the hype he created during his presser when JD left. I suppose what upsets me and Im guessing most on this board is being Bullshitted. This is absolutely NOT the splash hire that Barnes described. Stallings is a middling coach who on the surface doesnt appear to have a big upside. To try and pass him off as anything else insults my intelligence. It shows that Barnes is tone deaf when it comes to fan perception.

The time for outrage is over. If you are a Pitt fan more than a fan of a coach or hater of an AD (seems like thats been the norm at Pitt and I include myself in that....LOL) its time to put the negative feelings aside and support the PROGRAM!. This isnt about Barnes, Stallings, JD, etc........its about the UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH....your alma mater.

This issue is not much different than the JD issue. JD clearly was in a downward trend. However it was in the best interest of the program to keep JD and support the team and hope for the best. Similarly, Stallings is here whether we like it or not. Its best to support the team and hope somehow the change of scenery provides better results than he had at Vandy. Doing anything other than that hurts the program we say we support. At the very least give the guy one year and one recruiting cycle to demonstrate theres an upside.

Other thoughts.

1. This is an extremely risk hire. THis hire says IM smarter than everyone else and Im going to prove it. Those kind of hires can be career killers as opposed to hiring an up and comer where there is more forgiveness. Barnes is doubling down on his career on this hire.

2. SOme times there are things behind the scenes that can limit a coaches performance. Perhaps the standards at vandy limited Stallings ability to win big. Sometimes fit is as important as the guys ability. Theres a reason why guys like Meyer have passed on the ND FB job. Lets hope the fit at PItt and a fresh start works out better for Stallings. Time to start looking for positives in this.

3. The guy is a better recruiter. I think he should be able to do even better in the ACC. We shall see. At least we can hope he wont get out recruited by CHambers.

4. Interesting that hes offered BK the job. I dont have a strong opinion of BK but I think its a smart PR move at least on KS part.

After the anger over the hire I've come around to accept that it is what it is. I will find the process of seeing how this works out just as entertaining as I would have had JD stayed. Neither had/have sure fire positive outcomes.

Let's all just roll over for another screwing?? Think I'll contribute to CAS from now on.

 

[pierre93]

It's one thing if Barnes didn't know Stallings. But to lie and say coaches turned him down in order to hire this mediocre coach was hideous. Using Pitt to do so was a slap in the face. I blame Gallagher for approving this as well. Wow, some really great leaders we have down at PITT.

 

[ClarkLotTgate]

1) I'd be willing to bet a decent portion of us are not alums.
-so there's no "i have to care about pitt no matter what"
-we choose to support the local university and it's athletics.

When that athletics department feeds you ground chuck and tells you it's filet, those of us who aren't diploma bound to pretend it's filet, will say "thanks but no thanks"

2) You can certainly support the football and other teams, and spit at the nonsense going on with the bball team. That is allowed- and is likely the path i'll be taking. (I'm a donor by choice- not an alum, and i've have 2 season tickets to both sports for 10+ years)

3) word is coming to the surface (via his son) that Stallings was contacted Monday, meaning this wasn't "we looked a a lot of guys, interviewed appropriate candidates, and after extensive debate and negotiations, decided without a doubt, this is the best coach to lead our team into a Final Four etc etc etc"
-this was a lot more like "my buddy, who hired Stallings, and now runs the same search firm we used, said we should probably hire this guy, but at least interview BK so it doesn't look shady."

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Many aren't alums but have had kids attend so we're PITT fans!
Many of us aren't local and spend thousands just in travel costs to support PITT not counting seats and donations.
Why rally around a U sports organization who in the last five years has mad complete fools of PITT the university and PITT fans.
Start with:
Hiring Smiley the worst U AD in the country
Giving Smiley a contract extention so we had to pay a lot of $ to get rid of him
Destroying PITT stadium
Hiring Wanny
Firing Wanny
Hiring Hayward
Firing Hayward
Hiring Grahm
Grahm leaves and makes PITT look really bad locally and nationally
Hire Chyst- terrible hire
Chyrst leaves again making PITT look bad
Hire Narduzzi - So PITT athletics does one thing right in a long string of brain farts
Extend Dixons contract like he's Superman now you cant get rid of a coach in decline
Hire Stalling?????????????????????????????

Show me why this organization should be supported in anyway until they start doing the right thing??????????

 

[CaptainMurphy]

The fanbase is in ridiculous full meltdown mode and its only dragging down an already dreary, miserable Monday. I think I will take a hiatus from reading this board until everyone comes back down off the ledges.

I am 100% fully behind Coach Stallings and am interested to see what he can do on the recruiting trail. Doesn't mean I'm drinking any Kool-Aid and singing praises of our new coach and AD, but I love Pitt too much to let it affect my support for the university.

 

[pittbb80]

At the end of the day, alumn or not an alumn, how you choose to respond is your choice.

I was very PO's yesterday morning and thought this whole thing was some sort of joke. Once it was confirmed, I remained PO'd and felt that Barnes and company lied to the fan base about the splash hire BS and their commitment to winning big at Pitt. I too advocated speaking with your wallet as money talks and BS walks.

However after cooling down and thinking about this more rationally, the reality is that Stallings is going to be named the HC today, regardless of what any of us think, including big time boosters who funnel cash into the program. If youre interested at all in seeing the program do well, it makes no sense to withhold your support, whether it be attending games, donating $100 a year, $1000 a year or $1,000,000 a year. In the short term, nothing anyone does is gong to change the outcome.......THE ONLY thing with holdings support will do is ensure that the program fails and looks bad and make it that much harder to attract a good coach next time around.

Stallings is not a good choice. However, just as it there was not guarantee that a young could would be successful, its not a slam dunk that Stallings will do worse than JD. More importantly, the odds of Stallings being more successful than JD was in his last five years are just as good as if JD had stayed. Im wiling to give the guy a chance. Continuing to get worked up over this is counter productive from all perspectives. Its no different than the folks who were all worked up about firing JD.

HTP

 

[Fredact]

Pitt basketball is an entertainment choice, whether you are a Pitt Alumn or not, you can choose to spend your money on them or some other entertainment choice: Penguins, Duquesne basketball, the movies, whatever.

I never understood the "I spent a bunch of money buying a degree from a school, so therefore I feel some 'loyalty' to keep buying entertainment from them in the future".

 

[pittman71]

I want to see a better team, a team that hustles more than this present bunch, that plays with a higher basketball IQ than this bunch, a team that is quicker and bigger.