I'm sick and tired of reading treads labeling our coaching carousel as 100% driven by coaches that viewed Pitt as a second tier job. It's simply not true.
1. John Majors said the hardest decision of his life was leaving Pitt to go back to his Alma Mater and later said on many many occasions leaving Pitt was the biggest mistake of his career. So yes he left but the alma mater thing was big. In his second go around he was fired by Pitt.
2. Jackie was forced out of Pitt by an insane chancellor and his staff. He wanted to stay at Pitt in literally the worst way and with any vote of confidence he would have stayed despite the money Texas A&M threw at him. If you debate this you're wrong.
3. Foge- fired by Pitt.
4. Mike Gottfried- Fired by Pitt and would have stayed here forever.
5. Paul Hackett- Fired by Pitt.
6. Johnny 2- See above.
7. Walt- Fired by Pitt and would have finished his career here as he told me many times. Hell he is a Northern Cali boy and he moved back to retire here and is a Pitt season ticket holder.
8. Dave W- Fired by Pitt and yes he would have stayed here until retirement if Pitt so chose.
9. Mike H- Arrested for domestic abuse and fired before moving to Pitt.
10. Graham- Legitimate bolter and also nutso.
11. Paul Chryst- I will put him in the stepping stone category too but again Wisconsin was his alma mater.
So if you look at the last 11 coaches I will only accept 3 as leaving of their own accord and two were to their alma maters. Again in 1976 Tennessee was in no way the job Pitt was in any way shape or form. Pitt were the kings of CFB with a still fertile recruiting base and a booster club that acted like Alabama's does today. John Majors left to go home. So PLEASE stop with the Pitt is a stepping stone job. The facts and history don't prove it at all. Now if you tell me great success on the field with some of these coaches would have made that the case then you very well may be right but we don't know that do we? The far bigger issue here is Pitt not supporting coaches with $$$ or a legitimate booster club ( from Hackett on) and then firing coaches prematurely if anything. ( I think we all agree on Walt and Wanny being let go with no good plan)
1. John Majors said the hardest decision of his life was leaving Pitt to go back to his Alma Mater and later said on many many occasions leaving Pitt was the biggest mistake of his career. So yes he left but the alma mater thing was big. In his second go around he was fired by Pitt.
2. Jackie was forced out of Pitt by an insane chancellor and his staff. He wanted to stay at Pitt in literally the worst way and with any vote of confidence he would have stayed despite the money Texas A&M threw at him. If you debate this you're wrong.
3. Foge- fired by Pitt.
4. Mike Gottfried- Fired by Pitt and would have stayed here forever.
5. Paul Hackett- Fired by Pitt.
6. Johnny 2- See above.
7. Walt- Fired by Pitt and would have finished his career here as he told me many times. Hell he is a Northern Cali boy and he moved back to retire here and is a Pitt season ticket holder.
8. Dave W- Fired by Pitt and yes he would have stayed here until retirement if Pitt so chose.
9. Mike H- Arrested for domestic abuse and fired before moving to Pitt.
10. Graham- Legitimate bolter and also nutso.
11. Paul Chryst- I will put him in the stepping stone category too but again Wisconsin was his alma mater.
So if you look at the last 11 coaches I will only accept 3 as leaving of their own accord and two were to their alma maters. Again in 1976 Tennessee was in no way the job Pitt was in any way shape or form. Pitt were the kings of CFB with a still fertile recruiting base and a booster club that acted like Alabama's does today. John Majors left to go home. So PLEASE stop with the Pitt is a stepping stone job. The facts and history don't prove it at all. Now if you tell me great success on the field with some of these coaches would have made that the case then you very well may be right but we don't know that do we? The far bigger issue here is Pitt not supporting coaches with $$$ or a legitimate booster club ( from Hackett on) and then firing coaches prematurely if anything. ( I think we all agree on Walt and Wanny being let go with no good plan)
