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Keith Gavin

cabe23

Athletic Director
Gold Member
May 16, 2005
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Keith Gavin is apparently getting an interview.
 
Since the get go I've believed Hahn and Gavin are the best candidates for this job.

I'd like to get away from the funding/AD talk for a little to think about which coaches will develop our talent well.

Right now we have an excellent training partner and technique coach for the lower weights in Headlee, and a similar situation for middleweights in Kocher. Hahn or Gavin as the head of the program and head technical coach especially for upper weights is the perfect complement in my opinion.

Has anyone heard anything about Hahn? Gabe Dean alluded to his moving on from Cornell in an interview with Richard Immel.

Anyway, I'm elated to hear Gavin is a candidate and he would certainly be a suitable alternative to our lost opportunities in Santoro and Flynn.
H2P
 
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Keith Gavin is apparently getting an interview.

Beyond the obvious Pitt legacy connection, 2 years assisting at UVA and 1 at Oklahoma under Rosselli. Is he ready for a head job? If he wasn't a Pitt man, would people be excited by this?
 
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Beyond the obvious Pitt legacy connection, 2 years assisting at UVA and 1 at Oklahoma under Rosselli. Is he ready for a head job? If he wasn't a Pitt man, would people be exited by this?

Probably not

He was on a few worlds teams tho, as well
 
Nothing personal against Gavin who was a great wrestler. But did our AD really blow off the committee's work and not hire Santoro or Flynn with no backup plan of her own?

Did we not seal the deal with those two only so we could interview a guy who hasn't coached wrestling in three years and another who has three years of coaching experience?
 
Beyond the obvious Pitt legacy connection, 2 years assisting at UVA and 1 at Oklahoma under Rosselli. Is he ready for a head job? If he wasn't a Pitt man, would people be exited by this?


Might work out but seems a little premature to me.
 
Nothing personal against Gavin who was a great wrestler. But did our AD really blow off the committee's work and not hire Santoro or Flynn with no backup plan of her own?

Did we not seal the deal with those two only so we could interview a guy who hasn't coached wrestling in three years and another who has three years of coaching experience?
Her back up plan was to interview Roselli who was not interested since he just took the OK job.
 
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Gavin might be really good, but I have no idea if he can coach. He has a name and spent some time at top schools. Problem is: not much time!
 
Her back up plan was to interview Roselli who was not interested since he just took the OK job.

Well, then her backup plan was horrible. Rosselli was hired at Oklahoma last August--he's been on the job around 7 months. He wasn't going to leave and she should have known that. And why would you want to hire a coach who would go back on a commitment 7 months after making it?

Further, she should have checked with Rosselli before letting Santoro leave the interview without an offer.

Looks like a mix of incompetence and arrogance here.
 
Something no one has focused on: She contacted Tom Ryan and got Roselli's name from him according to someone I spoke to yesterday who works in the AD.

Does anyone think Ryan wants Pitt wrestling to succeed? Last year, he got Pletcher, the best senior in the WPIAL. He undoubtedly wants to recruit the area more. We also have been active in Eastern Ohio, another area where the less competition there is, the better it is for tOSU. He would love to see a weak Pitt program.

I would bet he bad-mouthed Santoro and Flynn, played up Roselli, and when she hung up the phone, almost died laughing. And now he is trying to push a guy who was fired by Army and hasn't coached since.
 
Something no one has focused on: She contacted Tom Ryan and got Roselli's name from him according to someone I spoke to yesterday who works in the AD.

Does anyone think Ryan wants Pitt wrestling to succeed? Last year, he got Pletcher, the best senior in the WPIAL. He undoubtedly wants to recruit the area more. We also have been active in Eastern Ohio, another area where the less competition there is, the better it is for tOSU. He would love to see a weak Pitt program.

I would bet he bad-mouthed Santoro and Flynn, played up Roselli, and when she hung up the phone, almost died laughing. And now he is trying to push a guy who was fired by Army and hasn't coached since.

Yep that's exactly how it happened..
 
Something no one has focused on: She contacted Tom Ryan and got Roselli's name from him according to someone I spoke to yesterday who works in the AD.

Does anyone think Ryan wants Pitt wrestling to succeed? Last year, he got Pletcher, the best senior in the WPIAL. He undoubtedly wants to recruit the area more. We also have been active in Eastern Ohio, another area where the less competition there is, the better it is for tOSU. He would love to see a weak Pitt program.

I would bet he bad-mouthed Santoro and Flynn, played up Roselli, and when she hung up the phone, almost died laughing. And now he is trying to push a guy who was fired by Army and hasn't coached since.

No way. That's ridiculous.
 
Something no one has focused on: She contacted Tom Ryan and got Roselli's name from him according to someone I spoke to yesterday who works in the AD.

Does anyone think Ryan wants Pitt wrestling to succeed? Last year, he got Pletcher, the best senior in the WPIAL. He undoubtedly wants to recruit the area more. We also have been active in Eastern Ohio, another area where the less competition there is, the better it is for tOSU. He would love to see a weak Pitt program.

I would bet he bad-mouthed Santoro and Flynn, played up Roselli, and when she hung up the phone, almost died laughing. And now he is trying to push a guy who was fired by Army and hasn't coached since.
My
Well, then her backup plan was horrible. Rosselli was hired at Oklahoma last August--he's been on the job around 7 months. He wasn't going to leave and she should have known that. And why would you want to hire a coach who would go back on a commitment 7 months after making it?

Further, she should have checked with Rosselli before letting Santoro leave the interview without an offer.

Looks like a mix of incompetence and arrogance here.

Agree 100!!!!
 
Something no one has focused on: She contacted Tom Ryan and got Roselli's name from him according to someone I spoke to yesterday who works in the AD.

Does anyone think Ryan wants Pitt wrestling to succeed? Last year, he got Pletcher, the best senior in the WPIAL. He undoubtedly wants to recruit the area more. We also have been active in Eastern Ohio, another area where the less competition there is, the better it is for tOSU. He would love to see a weak Pitt program.

I would bet he bad-mouthed Santoro and Flynn, played up Roselli, and when she hung up the phone, almost died laughing. And now he is trying to push a guy who was fired by Army and hasn't coached since.

Mike412 you are right on
What do you think is next
I'm hearing more interviews than just Gavin
 
Does kolat have any chance at all???
If anyone would know it sounds like you would! I don't care who it is at this point but we need a quality well rounded experienced coach... if they would've just got Pat then the alumni would have exploded with excitement & $$$$$$$. Guarantee that
Can't someone talk some sense into Heather L?
 
If anyone would know it sounds like you would! I don't care who it is at this point but we need a quality well rounded experienced coach... if they would've just got Pat then the alumni would have exploded with excitement & $$$$$$$. Guarantee that
Can't someone talk some sense into Heather L?
AGREED!!!
 
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Lyke and Rosselli overlapped for six years at OSU. I doubt she needed to get his name from Tom Ryan.

I also doubt that Ryan would sabotage her. Outside of a few grudges the wrestling community tends to stick together. It's a dying sport.
 
She didnt go to Ryan for Rosselli's info - she went to Ryan for input on other possible candidates after Rosselli told her thanks but no thanks.

Look - I cant fault her for doing her due diligence, or for saying that there may be better options out there rather than Santoro and Flynn. If that's what she wanted to do, then make your intentions clear. There is some blame on the people in charge before Lyke was hired - if you knew you were hiring a new AD, why go and schedule interviews with people for her first day of work? Doesnt make sense and its just a cluster f....
 
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She didnt go to Ryan for Rosselli's info - she went to Ryan for input on other possible candidates after Rosselli told her thanks but no thanks.

Look - I cant fault her for doing her due diligence, or for saying that there may be better options out there rather than Santoro and Flynn. If that's what she wanted to do, then make your intentions clear. There is some blame on the people in charge before Lyke was hired - if you knew you were hiring a new AD, why go and schedule interviews with people for her first day of work? Doesnt make sense and its just a cluster f....


Isn't this really just about her trying to show that she has the authority and she's the boss. So the new coach has to be HER choice and not someone handed to her?

That's how I see it. The problem is that a good leader carefully chooses those kinds of power struggles and makes sure they look good coming out of them.

Here, let's face it, she's not going to find anyone better than Santoro and Flynn. And she should know that.

Now, she's likely to come out of this looking insecure and incompetent.

Her performance thus far reinforces my concerns that Pitt was interested in the wrong things during the AD hiring process.
 
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Can she find a better candidate than Santoro or Flynn? Yes - it is definitely possible because there are some great coaches/assistants out there that are, or very well could be, better and some of the names Ive heard over the past few days from ex-teammates and others close to the situation are pretty good candidates IF they ar receptive and IF we make it economically attractive for them. Look at the money being thrown at Dresser, Zaddick, Metcalf and St. John - pretty impressive numbers. But, its also been said that Dresser has already raised over $750k for the program.


The question is not "can" she find someone better - it's WILL she? That, I do not know.
 
Can she find a better candidate than Santoro or Flynn? Yes - it is definitely possible because there are some great coaches/assistants out there that are, or very well could be, better and some of the names Ive heard over the past few days from ex-teammates and others close to the situation are pretty good candidates IF they ar receptive and IF we make it economically attractive for them. Look at the money being thrown at Dresser, Zaddick, Metcalf and St. John - pretty impressive numbers. But, its also been said that Dresser has already raised over $750k for the program.


The question is not "can" she find someone better - it's WILL she? That, I do not know.


I don't see it. How many head coaches are better than Santoro or Flynn and would be willing to coach at Pitt?

Plus it certainly appears that the word is out among wrestling circles about how this was handled. It's not good.

You don't blow off Santoro to interview Haskett and Gavin.
 
Can she find a better candidate than Santoro or Flynn? Yes - it is definitely possible because there are some great coaches/assistants out there that are, or very well could be, better and some of the names Ive heard over the past few days from ex-teammates and others close to the situation are pretty good candidates IF they ar receptive and IF we make it economically attractive for them. Look at the money being thrown at Dresser, Zaddick, Metcalf and St. John - pretty impressive numbers. But, its also been said that Dresser has already raised over $750k for the program.


The question is not "can" she find someone better - it's WILL she? That, I do not know.
We are going to find out soon. No doubt, there are some outstanding coaches out there and she could still make a strong hire. Santoro would have been a great fit.. but all is not lost....yet. I'm reserving judgement until the hire is announced.
 
I don't see it. How many head coaches are better than Santoro or Flynn and would be willing to coach at Pitt?

Plus it certainly appears that the word is out among wrestling circles about how this was handled. It's not good.

You don't blow off Santoro to interview Haskett and Gavin.

The key to your question isnt how many better coaches are out there - because there are definitely guys out there who could be better. Damion Hahn, Cunningham, Kolkata, Coleman, Terry Brands, the Paulson brothers, Bryan Smith, mark Perry, Letters, Spates, Bono, etc...... the key is the question "and would be willing to coach at Pitt?" That question I do not have an answer to.
 
The key to your question isnt how many better coaches are out there - because there are definitely guys out there who could be better. Damion Hahn, Cunningham, Kolkata, Coleman, Terry Brands, the Paulson brothers, Bryan Smith, mark Perry, Letters, Spates, Bono, etc...... the key is the question "and would be willing to coach at Pitt?" That question I do not have an answer to.

I don't see how you can say that a guy who has never been a head coach or run a program could be a better option. We'll see what happens.
 
Can she find a better candidate than Santoro or Flynn? Yes - it is definitely possible because there are some great coaches/assistants out there that are, or very well could be, better and some of the names Ive heard over the past few days from ex-teammates and others close to the situation are pretty good candidates IF they ar receptive and IF we make it economically attractive for them. Look at the money being thrown at Dresser, Zaddick, Metcalf and St. John - pretty impressive numbers. But, its also been said that Dresser has already raised over $750k for the program.


The question is not "can" she find someone better - it's WILL she? That, I do not know.


I am glad you said it. I thought they were very good but better can be had if Pitt is willing.
 
I don't see how you can say that a guy who has never been a head coach or run a program could be a better option. We'll see what happens.

We obviously won't really know for a few years whether any are a good option. Dresser ended up being a better option than others who were head coaches, and he came from the HIGH SCHOOL ranks.
 
I think by depending on Ryan for advice and suggestions she is really screwing up. He does not have the best interest of Pitt in mind he knows that he doesn't want us to be better than them even though it will take time, he wants the recruits from here. Isn't that the whole point we want to keep some of the talent in the area, in terms of recruiting. And The best coach for the kids that are here now. The longer she waits the more coaches like RYAN are going to recruit our wrestlers. And trust me people it's more than just Campbell! He's already working on another. It's not good we should stop giving her the benefit of the doubt she doesn't even return phone calls to people who know wrestling other than her friend at OSU. Her tunnel vision is going to lead us nowhere
 
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I think by depending on Ryan for advice and suggestions she is really screwing up. He does not have the best interest of Pitt in mind he knows that he doesn't want us to be better than them even though it will take time, he wants the recruits from here. Isn't that the whole point we want to keep some of the talent in the area, in terms of recruiting. And The best coach for the kids that are here now. The longer she waits the more coaches like RYAN are going to recruit our wrestlers. And trust me people it's more than just Campbell! He's already working on another. It's not good we should stop giving her the benefit of the doubt she doesn't even return phone calls to people who know wrestling other than her boyfriend at OSU. Her tunnel vision is going to lead us nowhere
This is VERY FRUSTRATING, BA Panther! My God, still NO HIRE! Who is she interviewing???? Make a decision....and a good one!
 
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No one said she is "relying" on Tom Ryan. She reached out to him for recommendations. If you don't think every AD in the country does that (reach out to contacts and coaches at other schools) when it's time to hire a coach, you're being naive.
 
Who said she's done interviewing? And she talked to more than Ryan. The focus on Ryan was b/c speaking to him is what fishtailed Santoro/Flynn

We can't do a worse job as a department as we've done in the last 15 years, so our options are to (1) expect the same as usual or (2) expect better. I'm going with #2 for now.
 
Seriously, are you 13? What's with the teenage girl text style in everything you post?

*Please disregard if you are a teenage girl

This is VERY FRUSTRATING, BA Panther! My God, still NO HIRE! Who is she interviewing???? Make a decision....and a good one!
 
No one said she is "relying" on Tom Ryan. She reached out to him for recommendations. If you don't think every AD in the country does that (reach out to contacts and coaches at other schools) when it's time to hire a coach, you're being naive.
It's borderline insanity that people don't realize this happens. I'm amazed that people think ADs have all of this built-up knowledge for obscure smaller sports. That's not even mentioning that she just began at Pitt so her theoretical list of coaches she might have had at EMU is probably useless because Pitt can shoot higher and needs a fit for the region.
 
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Bono would be a nice save. Albeit small sample size, has shown he can recruit and has some juice that this program desperately needs. Hopeful but by no means optimistic. Sad reality.
 
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