Performing high-flying feats never was a problem for Scott Barnes when he was a 6-foot-8 shot blocker at Fresno State.
But that was easy compared to negotiating the thin tightrope — 19 sports on a $59 million budget — he must walk as Pitt's athletic director.
Barnes, who was hired in April to replace Steve Pederson, met with reporters Thursday at Petersen Events Center and touched on a variety of topics such as:
• The need for balance between being competitive and going “crazy” when paying coaches.
• The thinking behind the two-year contract extension for football coach Pat Narduzzi.
• The 8,000 tickets the university has sold to the Military Bowl on Dec. 28, more than three times the average for its past seven bowl games.
• Attendance at Heinz Field that Barnes said “needs to continue to improve.”
• The increase in booster donations and the need for even more gifts as the athletic department embarks on capital improvements.
• The popular script logo that returns in all sports in May.
A year ago Thursday, Pitt lost football coach Paul Chryst to Wisconsin and fired Pederson. Chryst was the third Panthers football coach to resign or be fired in four years. Today, Pitt (8-4) has a chance for its best season since it went 10-3 in 2009.
“Where was our football program a year ago, and where is it now?” Barnes said. “Now you have a proven head coach in a program that has unbelievable trajectory.” Barnes said he approached Narduzzi during summer with this promise: “Whatever you got (in your contract), go knock it out of the park (during the season), and we will be talking again.”
With limitations, of course. “We're not talking about going crazy,” Barnes said. “We're talking about honoring and rewarding the good work your coaches are doing.” Barnes said it's difficult to walk the line between being competitive and “crazy” when paying coaches.
He said Pitt “absolutely” will be competitive when seeking a replacement for former offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, who left last week for Georgia. But he added, “Crazy is a good way of putting where this market (for coaches) is going. We are not going to be crazy. We will be right where we need to be.” Barnes said he spoke to Chaney before Chaney accepted the Georgia job, but he also had other offers. Chaney replaced Brian Schottenheimer, who earned $950,000 this year as Georgia's offensive coordinator, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.“It comes down to your core values and fiscal responsibility,” Barnes said.
While Narduzzi searches for a replacement and prepares his team for the Military Bowl, the ticket office has been busy. Pitt sold out of its allotment of 7,333 tickets in about a week and continued to ask for more until about 8,000 had been sold. During the previous seven years, Pitt sold, on average, 2,902 bowl tickets. Barnes acknowledged initial disappointment among fans that Pitt was bypassed for a better bowl. But that disappeared in six hours, he said, as fans realized Pitt had a better opportunity to gain relevance by beating No. 21 Navy than it would have by playing Indiana (6-6) in the Pinstripe Bowl. “People jumped on the bandwagon and became our best recruiters,” he said. “Customer evangelists.”
Barnes said Pitt enjoyed an increase in road attendance this season and met its goals for revenue and tickets sold at home games. But he noted the program has “a long way to go” in drawing people to Heinz Field. “It's one thing to sell tickets and another thing to get them there,” he said. Other than selling out for Notre Dame, Pitt saw attendance drop for every game this season, from 49,969 for the opener against Youngstown State to 40,126 for the regular-season finale against Miami.
Barnes said Pitt also is undertaking several capital improvement projects, including a new basketball floor at The Pete for the 2016-17 season. “If we sand that thing down one more time, the nails are coming up,” he said. Other projects include synthetic turf for one of the football practice fields on the South Side, an enhanced LED ribbon at The Pete and a new locker room for the swim teams. Barnes also wants to dress up the football team's indoor practice facility, saying it currently looks like a warehouse. All projects will be funded almost entirely through private donations, he said, noting such gifts have increased during the past year.
Also, Barnes said the Pitt script logo will become nearly universal on signage, uniforms and fields by May. “A lot of times that logo change is polarizing,” Barnes said. “I have not met anybody that doesn't like this Pitt script.”
Jerry DiPaola is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
But that was easy compared to negotiating the thin tightrope — 19 sports on a $59 million budget — he must walk as Pitt's athletic director.
Barnes, who was hired in April to replace Steve Pederson, met with reporters Thursday at Petersen Events Center and touched on a variety of topics such as:
• The need for balance between being competitive and going “crazy” when paying coaches.
• The thinking behind the two-year contract extension for football coach Pat Narduzzi.
• The 8,000 tickets the university has sold to the Military Bowl on Dec. 28, more than three times the average for its past seven bowl games.
• Attendance at Heinz Field that Barnes said “needs to continue to improve.”
• The increase in booster donations and the need for even more gifts as the athletic department embarks on capital improvements.
• The popular script logo that returns in all sports in May.
A year ago Thursday, Pitt lost football coach Paul Chryst to Wisconsin and fired Pederson. Chryst was the third Panthers football coach to resign or be fired in four years. Today, Pitt (8-4) has a chance for its best season since it went 10-3 in 2009.
“Where was our football program a year ago, and where is it now?” Barnes said. “Now you have a proven head coach in a program that has unbelievable trajectory.” Barnes said he approached Narduzzi during summer with this promise: “Whatever you got (in your contract), go knock it out of the park (during the season), and we will be talking again.”
With limitations, of course. “We're not talking about going crazy,” Barnes said. “We're talking about honoring and rewarding the good work your coaches are doing.” Barnes said it's difficult to walk the line between being competitive and “crazy” when paying coaches.
He said Pitt “absolutely” will be competitive when seeking a replacement for former offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, who left last week for Georgia. But he added, “Crazy is a good way of putting where this market (for coaches) is going. We are not going to be crazy. We will be right where we need to be.” Barnes said he spoke to Chaney before Chaney accepted the Georgia job, but he also had other offers. Chaney replaced Brian Schottenheimer, who earned $950,000 this year as Georgia's offensive coordinator, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.“It comes down to your core values and fiscal responsibility,” Barnes said.
While Narduzzi searches for a replacement and prepares his team for the Military Bowl, the ticket office has been busy. Pitt sold out of its allotment of 7,333 tickets in about a week and continued to ask for more until about 8,000 had been sold. During the previous seven years, Pitt sold, on average, 2,902 bowl tickets. Barnes acknowledged initial disappointment among fans that Pitt was bypassed for a better bowl. But that disappeared in six hours, he said, as fans realized Pitt had a better opportunity to gain relevance by beating No. 21 Navy than it would have by playing Indiana (6-6) in the Pinstripe Bowl. “People jumped on the bandwagon and became our best recruiters,” he said. “Customer evangelists.”
Barnes said Pitt enjoyed an increase in road attendance this season and met its goals for revenue and tickets sold at home games. But he noted the program has “a long way to go” in drawing people to Heinz Field. “It's one thing to sell tickets and another thing to get them there,” he said. Other than selling out for Notre Dame, Pitt saw attendance drop for every game this season, from 49,969 for the opener against Youngstown State to 40,126 for the regular-season finale against Miami.
Barnes said Pitt also is undertaking several capital improvement projects, including a new basketball floor at The Pete for the 2016-17 season. “If we sand that thing down one more time, the nails are coming up,” he said. Other projects include synthetic turf for one of the football practice fields on the South Side, an enhanced LED ribbon at The Pete and a new locker room for the swim teams. Barnes also wants to dress up the football team's indoor practice facility, saying it currently looks like a warehouse. All projects will be funded almost entirely through private donations, he said, noting such gifts have increased during the past year.
Also, Barnes said the Pitt script logo will become nearly universal on signage, uniforms and fields by May. “A lot of times that logo change is polarizing,” Barnes said. “I have not met anybody that doesn't like this Pitt script.”
Jerry DiPaola is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
