Jeff Goodman aka The Coach Whisperer says

[hoopsguy72]

For the same year 2015-16, Pitt's athletic revenues were $56,324,373.

That is less than UConn, Cincy, UCF, and San Diego State, and dead last among public power conference schools.

So how realistic is Pitt's $56M and UCONN's $79M now? Are they still comparable to two years ago? And if not, why not? Saw someone mentioned UCONN's revenues have dropped as they've gotten further away from being in Big East?

There's also the broader issue of UCONN being in serious financial trouble as an overall institution. UCONN Health and UCONN both are reported to be in pretty dire straits.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Three things to keep in mind.

Lyke said after landing another coach at Pitt that she was not going to be outbid. And competition was fierce. She won.

Money should not be an issue for a guy like Hurley. It is widely acknowledged that Pitt has the money that far exceeds what a guy like Hurley would command on the market.

Lastly, Hurley and his wife reportedly want to stay in the Northeast. So the question is, does Hurley consider Pitt in the Northeast? We’ve heard that he is very fond of the city. But would he and his wife want to live and work here? I think that’s the biggest question. If the answer is yes, I think Lyke can get it done if she chooses to.

No one east of Harrisburg considers Pittsburgh to be in the Northeast.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

No one east of Harrisburg considers Pittsburgh to be in the Northeast.

Well then there you go.

No one east of Harrisburg considers Pittsburgh to be in the Northeast.

I will say this. Every company I have ever worked for has had Pittsburgh in the northeast region and occasionally the Mid Atlantic. Granted Pittsburgh was seemingly always an area that was a red headed stepchild that was redrawn and passed back and fourth into different regions all the time. But never have I worked as part of a Midwest Region. It’s primarily always been the Northeast.

 

[ThePanthers]

So how realistic is Pitt's $56M and UCONN's $79M now? Are they still comparable to two years ago? And if not, why not? Saw someone mentioned UCONN's revenues have dropped as they've gotten further away from being in Big East?

There's also the broader issue of UCONN being in serious financial trouble as an overall institution. UCONN Health and UCONN both are reported to be in pretty dire straits.

I just posted a link. The Big East money was around $7M a year. Last I saw, read Pitt was around $70M last fiscal year, but I could be wrong. It all depends what source.

UConn does fairly well for being outside the P5, and Pitt does not have the booster support most P5 programs have.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Great points. To be fair, Vuk is the one who used the word "report" with the Thamel comment (and comment is all it was). You would think he would know the difference between a report and a throw-away line buried within a regional preview.

Cmon-
You’ve seen his posts here.

Let’s just consider him a blogger and not a journalist

 

[burnie1105]

RE: Pitt vs. UCONN, want to know something incredible? UCONN has never won the AAC regular season, and they only won the conference tournament once. That's insane.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

No one east of Harrisburg considers Pittsburgh to be in the Northeast.

Is your thread touring the pitt campus still pinned? Hurley needs to see it. Lol.

Additionally, for a young family, Hopefully Pitt has someone who is responsible for selling the city. It’s a great place to raise a family...and that’s not a fact that comes easily to people. I would assume Pitt has good resources for this?

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

RE: Pitt vs. UCONN, want to know something incredible? UCONN has never won the AAC regular season, and they only won the conference tournament once. That's insane.

? The conference is only 4 years old. And two of those years Larry Brown was doing his thing.

Uconn is in trouble but they can probably recover. No reason they can't be a Wichita or Gonzaga even if they probably won't be 2004 Uconn again.

 

[CrazyPaco]

So how realistic is Pitt's $56M and UCONN's $79M now? Are they still comparable to two years ago? And if not, why not? Saw someone mentioned UCONN's revenues have dropped as they've gotten further away from being in Big East?

There's also the broader issue of UCONN being in serious financial trouble as an overall institution. UCONN Health and UCONN both are reported to be in pretty dire straits.

Pitt's athletic budget for FY 2017 projected revenues of $58.7 million. Based on the performance of football and basketball this year, I doubt Pitt is climbing up any revenue rankings.

UConn Health is a mess but the university still gets about 2.5X the state support that Pitt does. Hoops is UConn's cash cow. They're going to go after who they want aggressively.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Well then there you go.


I will say this. Every company I have ever worked for has had Pittsburgh in the northeast region and occasionally the Mid Atlantic. Granted Pittsburgh was seemingly always an area that was a red headed stepchild that was redrawn and passed back and fourth into different regions all the time. But never have I worked as part of a Midwest Region. It’s primarily always been the Northeast.

I'm not talking about some company's or government's definition of geographical territories. Ask someone that is actually from New England, NYC, or Philly if they think Pittsburgh is in the northeast.

 

[bwh05]

Pretty sure the Jent report was inaccurate.

What report? He's definitely a candidate.

 

[levance2]

Uconn is in trouble but they can probably recover. No reason they can't be a Wichita or Gonzaga even if they probably won't be 2004 Uconn again.

You want them to be “the Wichita” of a league that Wichita actually plays in. That sounds challenging.

 

[AvonBarksdale]

What report? He's definitely a candidate.

The report he met with Lyke.

 

[Butler-eer]

Good luck with your coaching search. This is from your former rivals to the south. Looks like you aren't going to get Hurley, Matta or Crean. But I sincerely hope you get a coach that brings Pitt back to respectability.

Also hope that the H-A with WVU lasts for many years. This rivalry is good for both teams. ACC vs B12. Can't get any better than that.

PS.... don't listen to what those wackadoodles on 94.7TheFan say. There is a reason they hide behind a mic. Just turn them off -- don't respond. All they do is complain, bitch and moan about everything in Pgh. Doesn't matter if it's Pitt, Pirates, Steelers, Penguins or the Mayor. They are just a bunch of whining little old ladies that have no life.

 

[Butler-eer]

Just saw on another site that Danya Kingsby reopened his recruitment.

Any update?

 

[thebadby2]

That would be a let down for me. I have no idea why he would be a choice to become the HC.

Worst credentials of any name we've heard associated with the job. By far. Never been a head coach of a college program. 2-3 years as a college assistant.

And he's going to take over an ACC program on life support. Are you kidding me?

 

[thebadby2]

So long as we don’t Announce Kevin Stallings as our coach-
We’re ahead of last hire

Evidently he's available.

 

[thebadby2]

Vuk is NOT a journalist...except in his own mind.

Very few of the internet/blog guys would qualify as journalists. It would be akin to a guy who had a business law class or two in college holding himself out as a lawyer.

 

[thebadby2]

Three things to keep in mind.

Lyke said after landing another coach at Pitt that she was not going to be outbid. And competition was fierce. She won.

Money should not be an issue for a guy like Hurley. It is widely acknowledged that Pitt has the money that far exceeds what a guy like Hurley would command on the market.

Lastly, Hurley and his wife reportedly want to stay in the Northeast. So the question is, does Hurley consider Pitt in the Northeast? We’ve heard that he is very fond of the city. But would he and his wife want to live and work here? I think that’s the biggest question. If the answer is yes, I think Lyke can get it done if she chooses to.

Pitt's conference is certainly not centered in the northeast--but its realistic recruiting turf is.

This is no small part of the problem with the program since Pitt purchased an undeveloped lot on Tobacco Road. Northeast and Midwest (Pitt recruiting in hoops and football has always relied to some extent on Ohio) players don't want to play in the southeast unless it's an elite player looking to play at UNC or Duke. Southeast players don't want to play in the northeast.

 

[pitt2533]

Worst credentials of any name we've heard associated with the job. By far. Never been a head coach of a college program. 2-3 years as a college assistant.

And he's going to take over an ACC program on life support. Are you kidding me?

Frankly, as I mentioned in my post I am willing to give any coach a chance, but if he is the guy, then the Stallings hire on paper would actually be a better hire than this guy.

I have no idea how he could be considered at all. Really hoping it is just internet BS on him.

 

[bwh05]

The report he met with Lyke.

They met. He’s a serious, candidate like it or not. Most will not.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

You want them to be “the Wichita” of a league that Wichita actually plays in. That sounds challenging.

OK sure, not literally. But that was the first team that came to mind that had lass talent than the endless run of NBA players Calhoun got -- but still a lot of talent. Cinci, same conference, similar ambitions. Most of the Big East would be in that same conversation potentially. These are places you can win without P5 football money subsidizing you: they are like 40% public subsidized, so I'm not sure what they're getting out of their AAC football deal. In the case of Uconn, they might do better trying to become an FCS football and D1 basketball power, ala Villlanova. Not that it's easy to find a Jay Wright.

 

[pitt2533]

They met. He’s a serious, candidate like it or not. Most will not.

God I hope you are wrong. No offense but this would be an unbelievably disappointing hire and would show me that Pitt is absolutely not serious about winning.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Very few of the internet/blog guys would qualify as journalists. It would be akin to a guy who had a business law class or two in college holding himself out as a lawyer.

Funny, we have a few local 'journalists' who are basically bloggers with a bigger voice. Actually most of them.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

What report? He's definitely a candidate.

That's scraping the bottom of the barrel. That will be about as exciting as hiring.....well, as hiring Stallings. That won't exactly fill any seats at The Pete.

 

[gary2]

Frankly, as I mentioned in my post I am willing to give any coach a chance, but if he is the guy, then the Stallings hire on paper would actually be a better hire than this guy.

I have no idea how he could be considered at all. Really hoping it is just internet BS on him.

NBA assistant (could be attractive to recruits), played overseas (might have overseas connections (See S.Adams), Assistant Coach at Ohio State (knows how a big time program operates and has recruited for a P5 school)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jent

 

[HailToPitt1985]

God I hope you are wrong. No offense but this would be an unbelievably disappointing hire and would show me that Pitt is absolutely not serious about winning.

Totally agree. If he is hired, Pitt will be in the dumper for the next 5 - 10 years or longer.

 

[pitt2533]

That's scraping the bottom of the barrel. That will be about as exciting as hiring.....well, as hiring Stallings. That won't exactly fill any seats at The Pete.

Frankly on paper, Stallings would have been the better hire. There is nothing, and I mean nothing in Jent's resume that says to me he is qualified to be an ACC head coach at this point.

Stallings at least did it on a mediocre level at Vandy.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Frankly on paper, Stallings would have been the better hire. There is nothing, and I mean nothing in Jent's resume that says to me he is qualified to be an ACC head coach at this point.

Stallings at least did it on a mediocre level at Vandy.

I was trying to be nice. But you're right, Stallings was actually a better hire than this Jent guy. And that's saying something. I agree, nothing on his resume says he can be a head coach, especially in college basketball or the ACC. There are high school head coaches that are better qualified than he is to coach a college basketball team.

 

[pitt2533]

NBA assistant (could be attractive to recruits), played overseas (might have overseas connections (See S.Adams), Assistant Coach at Ohio State (knows how a big time program operates and has recruited for a P5 school)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Jent

Awful choice on paper. He changes jobs more often than most people get a freaking haircut.

Attractive to recruits because he coached in the NBA? Get a proven coach who can win and that will attract them just as much. He would give a big time recruit or any recruit for that matter no more of an advantage of getting to the NBA because he coached there than the rest of the coaching profession.

Played overseas just like thousands of other guys. Could help but is most likely meaningless.

He was an assistant at Ohio St for 1 year and then left and in another stint he was there 2 years and left.

This guy is about as uninspiring of a choice as I have ever seen.

I say this truthfully, if I could erase the last two years under Stallings to not know that happened, and I had a choice between STallings and Jent I would select Stallings 100 out of 100 times.

Maybe I will be proven wrong if he ends up the coach, but this would be one of the worst hires on paper I have ever seen. Michael Haywood esq hire. AWFUL

 

[pitt2533]

I was trying to be nice. But you're right, Stallings was actually a better hire than this Jent guy. And that's saying something. I agree, nothing on his resume says he can be a head coach, especially in college basketball or the ACC. There are high school head coaches that are better qualified than he is to coach a college basketball team.

His resume is a disaster as well. I don't see what is attractive about it at all.

He changes jobs more than most people get a haircut. He jumps jobs like crazy.

I am breaking my own rule about not getting worked up because 99% of the reported stuff is false when it comes to these coaching searches, but I can't believe how awful a hire this would be.

 

[burnie1105]

? The conference is only 4 years old. And two of those years Larry Brown was doing his thing.

Uconn is in trouble but they can probably recover. No reason they can't be a Wichita or Gonzaga even if they probably won't be 2004 Uconn again.

It's actually five years old... And I'm not saying they won't recover, it's just incredible to me that a program of that pedigree would go even five years with only one conference tournament championship.

 

[Jpripper88]

Just saw on another site that Danya Kingsby reopened his recruitment.

Any update?

The update is he won't be released until we have a new coach and they decide to release him or not.

 

[gary2]

Awful choice on paper. He changes jobs more often than most people get a freaking haircut.

Attractive to recruits because he coached in the NBA? Get a proven coach who can win and that will attract them just as much. He would give a big time recruit or any recruit for that matter no more of an advantage of getting to the NBA because he coached there than the rest of the coaching profession.

Played overseas just like thousands of other guys. Could help but is most likely meaningless.

He was an assistant at Ohio St for 1 year and then left and in another stint he was there 2 years and left.

This guy is about as uninspiring of a choice as I have ever seen.

I say this truthfully, if I could erase the last two years under Stallings to not know that happened, and I had a choice between STallings and Jent I would select Stallings 100 out of 100 times.

Maybe I will be proven wrong if he ends up the coach, but this would be one of the worst hires on paper I have ever seen. Michael Haywood esq hire. AWFUL

Heather must be seeing something you and others of like mind are missing

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

It's actually five years old... And I'm not saying they won't recover, it's just incredible to me that a program of that pedigree would go even five years with only one conference tournament championship.

The bottom of that conference is garbage but Memphis, Cinci, Wichita, and SMU (at least with Brown) is pretty solid competition for Uconn even IF Ollie had been on more of a roll since the national title. Plus usually a random team like Houston. The reason their RPI is a step down from the big six is more the fault of the Tulanes and ECUs.

 

[GT74]

Nobody knows who Pitt's 'top targets' are. The media wants readers and hits, and make meritless predictions all the time and make it sound like fact. Heather and the admin has been 'tight-lipped', so really even the posts are this board are speculation. My guess is they have some high considerations, and will pursue them soon, but I really don't think that Pitt has lost out on any top targets yet. If Hurley is the top choice, then there will be a battle with UConn, but I'm sure he hasn't picked yet, especially since RI plays Thurs, and he is focused on his team.

 

[Jpripper88]

They met. He’s a serious, candidate like it or not. Most will not.

If Pitt pays a butt load to get rid of Stallings, hires a search firm, and has Jent on the top of their list, we might as well stop cheering. They might want to float that name a little while before they do anything stupid, like UT. The support would absolutely crater.

I think I'd be done. I certainly wouldn't give or attend.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Heather must be seeing something you and others of like mind are missing

What the fanbase thinks may be more important than what Heather thinks. Or at least she should think about her decision a little deeper with this because it won't be well-accepted AGAIN and it's not made in a vacuum.

But I doubt any of us knows anything about what direction HL is heading in or who her current serious candidates are. So Jent is just someone somewhere mentioned and is not credible or verified.

 

[pitt2533]

If Pitt pays a butt load to get rid of Stallings, hires a search firm, and has Jent on the top of their list, we might as well stop cheering. They might want to float that name a little while before they do anything stupid, like UT. The support would absolutely crater.

I think I'd be done. I certainly wouldn't give or attend.

Totally agree......

Frankly, they should have kept Stallings if someone like Jent was their backup plan.

I wouldn't hire Jent for the Robert Morris job let alone the Pitt job. What the hell is going on here. I say this with no exaggeration meant, he is probably the worst name I have seen mentioned.

As a rule, I always say all coaches deserve a chance. But this hire might push me over that edge for that rule. I simply don't know if I can support the program moving forward as a fan or ticket holder if this is the hire. I can't waste my time, energy, emotions and money on something like that. If he proves me wrong and wins, then I will jump back on the bandwagon and admit that I was wrong.

 

[gary2]

If Pitt pays a butt load to get rid of Stallings, hires a search firm, and has Jent on the top of their list, we might as well stop cheering. They might want to float that name a little while before they do anything stupid, like UT. The support would absolutely crater.

I think I'd be done. I certainly wouldn't give or attend.

I am hearing the search firm has developed a new short list for consideration:

Andy Kennedy
Mark Fox
Kevin Ollie
Tubby Smith