So how is the new AD Lyke doing in her first big athletic hire? Epic failure?

[CrazyPaco]

So that's a no.

Thanks.

So, you are judging a hire who not
Only hasn't been made... but certainly hasn't recruited or coached.
Strong work.


Dial down the drama

Uh, no. It deserves attention. I'm judging her recent performance through the first two candidates that wrecked weeks of work by the search committee and believe that recent performance is possibly informative, so I'll dial up whatever I feel is appropriate per the intentions outlaid in my prior post. Timing can be important, something you surely comprehend. In fact, I'd say with over 5,200 views this thread and increased traffic on the olympic board it has already served its purpose, but thanks for your help on keeping it bumped to the top of the board.

I really hope she fixes this and I can come back and say she did an impressive job after a shaky start.

 

[BApanther]

She came in and absolutely wrecked, either intentionally or through incompetence, two hires that were gift wrapped for her and would been perceived as home runs in the national and local wrestling community. This isn't rumor. This also damaged Pitt's reputation throughout the wrestling community and may have put at least one sizable financial commitment to the program in jeopardy.

It signals a very troubling start to her tenure and s.o.p. moving forward. If she can dig herself out of the absolute poop hole that she dug herself, more power to her. In the mean time, it behooves people that care about Pitt's athletic department to ensure that it is aware that there are boosters and fans paying attention and that a cheap and easy backup plan wouldn't sit well as a fix. The scheduled replacement interviewees were rumor, but one that needed to be addressed based on what had preceded it. The current pause hopefully signals some regrouping and refocus. Maybe the noise will squeeze some more resources loose to fix the damage; it certainly should signal there will at least be some scrutiny with such hires, which is the entire point of bringing this topic to the board with the most traffic before any more unfortunate scenarios play out.

I like you crazy Paco!

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Uh, no. It deserves attention. I'm judging her recent performance through the first two candidates that wrecked weeks of work by the search committee and believe that recent performance is possibly informative, so I'll dial up whatever I feel is appropriate per the intentions outlaid in my prior post. Timing can be important, something you surely comprehend. In fact, I'd say with over 5,200 views this thread and increased traffic on the olympic board it has already served its purpose, but thanks for your help on keeping it bumped to the top of the board.

I really hope she fixes this and I can come back and say she did an impressive job after a shaky start.

I think you should always panic.

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

Thanks.
Then I too am outraged by this hypothetical!!

weren't you one of the ones "outraged" at the hypothetical of Wannsted hiring Mazzone?

 

[billyberoux]

Uh, no. It deserves attention. I'm judging her recent performance through the first two candidates that wrecked weeks of work by the search committee and believe that recent performance is possibly informative, so I'll dial up whatever I feel is appropriate per the intentions outlaid in my prior post. Timing can be important, something you surely comprehend. In fact, I'd say with over 5,200 views this thread and increased traffic on the olympic board it has already served its purpose, but thanks for your help on keeping it bumped to the top of the board.

I really hope she fixes this and I can come back and say she did an impressive job after a shaky start.

Was this the same committee that hired Barnes?

 

[goalieman]

Was this the same committee that hired Barnes?

No ...... and by all accounts, this search committee did an excellent job of getting two top notch coaches to come to Pitt for interviews ..... both coaches were very interested in coming to Pitt but the deal could not be sealed with either.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

No ...... and by all accounts, this search committee did an excellent job of getting two top notch coaches to come to Pitt for interviews ..... both coaches were very interested in coming to Pitt but the deal could not be sealed with either.

Big question mark for the new AD Lyke????
These were easy transactions wait until she attempts something difficult!
Go EMU, Go EMU!

 

[PITTLAW]

My reading comprehension is fine. You ability to construct a well thought out paragraph, on the other hand, not so much.

You make three declarative statements, and then your fourth sentence explicitly says that sentence is your opinion. If it was all just an opinion and not a statement of the facts as you see them then there would be no need to say that it was just your opinion, that would have been obvious from the context. The fact that you had to explicitly state that you were then just giving your opinion in the fourth sentence pretty clearly indicates that what came before wasn't just an opinion. Or at least it does to people who actually have good reading comprehension.

Secondly, well yeah, KM-M didn't succeed as a college head coach. I mean you get that if she had she wouldn't be an assistant coach anywhere, not just at Pitt, right? When Nick Saban was looking for an offensive coordinator who was a great offensive coach he didn't hire Kliff Kingsberry, because since he was a reasonably successful head coach he already had a better job. He hired Lane Kiffin, who had failed as a head coach. Or if you want a basketball example with a Pitt flavor, people weren't hoping that Jamie Dixon would bring back Tom Herrion because he was wildly successful at Marshall. TCU and Georgia Tech didn't hire him because he was a raging success as Marshall's head coach. He was available to be hired because he was a failure as a head coach. You understand that's the way these things work, right? Successful head coaches don't take jobs as assistants, unless it's a head coach at a lower level becoming an assistant at a much higher one. You understand that, don't you? When Bob Huggins hired Ron Everhart to be his assistant at West Virginia it wasn't because Everhart was a raging success at Duquesne, was it?

You versus your? LOL, always great when it comes with some form of a grammar lesson. The point is, the women's coach hired her sister...a sister that had a bit of taint upon her based upon how she had been recently fired, in addition to some recruiting scandal. Sis was a failed head coach, and based upon what she has done at Pitt...does not make her look like some assistant coach that you liken to Herrion, Everhart, or Kiffin, etc. If we judge assistant coaches by wins and losses...sis is not pulling her weight [and that is objective factual observation--in case you were not able to discern]. The real question is would sis be an assistant coach at Pitt or anywhere, had she not been thrown a life-line by Suzie? You might also question the propriety of having more than one family member on the payroll for the same team? My vote would be no. Hail to Pitt!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

a sister that had a bit of taint upon her based upon how she had been recently fired

The real question is would sis be an assistant coach at Pitt or anywhere, had she not been thrown a life-line by Suzie?

She wasn't recently fired by Colorado when she took the Pitt job. She was working as an assistant for Tulsa of the WNBA for two years before she came to Pitt. Which kind of answers the question about whether she might be working anywhere else if it wasn't for the Pitt job. But that isn't the answer that you thought it would be, is it?

My opinion on assistant coaches is always the same. None of us, not me, not you, none of us, know how good a job a particular assistant is doing. Because none of us know with any degree of certainty exactly what tasks each assistant has been given by the head coach. Which coaches are working with which particular players, which coaches are doing scouting of which particular up coming opponents, which coaches are recruiting or attempting to recruit which particular players, and so on.

At the end of the day the buck stops with the head coach, so if they think that an assistant is doing their job then that's what matters. Because if an assistant isn't doing their job it affects the metrics by which the head coach gets judged. Which affects whether the head coach keeps their job. If the head coach thinks a particular assistant is doing their job they would know a lot better than you. I know, it's hard for you to believe that anyone knows anything better than you, but in this case it actually is true.

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

weren't you one of the ones "outraged" at the hypothetical of Wannsted hiring Mazzone?

Oh my god.......how can you remember things like that?

 

[PITTLAW]

She wasn't recently fired by Colorado when she took the Pitt job. She was working as an assistant for Tulsa of the WNBA for two years before she came to Pitt. Which kind of answers the question about whether she might be working anywhere else if it wasn't for the Pitt job. But that isn't the answer that you thought it would be, is it?

My opinion on assistant coaches is always the same. None of us, not me, not you, none of us, know how good a job a particular assistant is doing. Because none of us know with any degree of certainty exactly what tasks each assistant has been given by the head coach. Which coaches are working with which particular players, which coaches are doing scouting of which particular up coming opponents, which coaches are recruiting or attempting to recruit which particular players, and so on.

At the end of the day the buck stops with the head coach, so if they think that an assistant is doing their job then that's what matters. Because if an assistant isn't doing their job it affects the metrics by which the head coach gets judged. Which affects whether the head coach keeps their job. If the head coach thinks a particular assistant is doing their job they would know a lot better than you. I know, it's hard for you to believe that anyone knows anything better than you, but in this case it actually is true.

She had been fired by her last college employer [which was recent in the context of her being hired by Pitt]...and likely no college would touch her with the scandal and litigation surrounding her--other than perhaps a college with a family member hiring her. Coaches are often loyal to a fault to their assistants...and likely even more so when it happens to be a family member. As I said, we know the record of the team...which suggests the entire staff is not getting it done. End of the day, Pitt certainly is not getting a proportionate return on the very significant investment it has made on the women's program. Hopefully the new AD starts to apply some pressure. Hail to Pitt!

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

End of the day, Pitt certainly is not getting a proportionate return on the very significant investment it has made on the women's program.

Now that's something we both agree on.

 

[CrazyPaco]

What is the national wrestling community saying about the coaching search? http://www.flowrestling.org/article...-s-legal-problems-weigh-in-rules#.WO1pfP21u2x

00:47:42 mark

It is not flattering.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

weren't you one of the ones "outraged" at the hypothetical of Wannsted hiring Mazzone?

No.

 

[BApanther]

What is the national wrestling community saying about the coaching search? http://www.flowrestling.org/article...-s-legal-problems-weigh-in-rules#.WO1pfP21u2x

00:47:42 mark

It is not flattering.

I've been trying not to think about this situation all week and listening to that got me angry at her all over again. That just about sums it up we are missing the recruits now too...

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

No.

yeah right

 

[CrazyPaco]

Pitt was turned down today by the head coach of South Dakota St, Chris Bono, who interviewed yesterday.

Pitt thus has hired Keith Gavin, alumni and former 2008 national champion at 174 lbs.

He has a total of 3 years experience as an assistant coach (2 at UVA and 1 at Oklahoma St).

A Pitt man, best of luck to him and the program. I hope he proves to be a Jamie Dixon type of surprise success and knocks it out of the park.

But the answer to the question in the original post is, considering the high profile coaches that were interested enough to interview and those that expressed interest and weren't interviewed, and the hits to the program's reputation in the wrestling community, undoubtedly and resoundingly, Quite POORLY and YES.

 

[TIGER-PAUL]

Maybe. I see it more though as Pitt not there yet overall for the established guys.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Maybe. I see it more though as Pitt not there yet overall for the established guys.

You bring three people in to interview, which means they all have serious interest, and close on none. You ignore others. The wrestling community is raising a collective WTF about what is going on. I'd say it is quite obvious Pitt is not there yet.

 

[bobfree]

You bring three people in to interview, which means they all have serious interest, and close on none. You ignore others. The wrestling community is raising a collective WTF about what is going on. I'd say it is quite obvious Pitt is not there yet.

An interview doesn't mean you have serious interest every time. It may mean you want to appear to have serious interest. It got the Lehigh guy more money no?

 

[CrazyPaco]

An interview doesn't mean you have serious interest every time. It may mean you want to appear to have serious interest. It got the Lehigh guy more money no?

In this case, it did. I can tell you with 100% certainty Santoro did not interview at Pitt to leverage salary from Lehigh.

I hope Gavin has a terrific career at Pitt, but there is no way to sugar coat the process that just went down.

 

[bobfree]

In this case, it did. I can tell you with 100% certainty Santoro did not interview at Pitt to leverage salary from Lehigh.

I hope Gavin has a terrific career at Pitt, but there is no way to sugar coat the process that just went down.

I'll have to take your word for it. The small bit of inside info I had on it was these candidates wanted some assurance we were going significantly upgrade our facilities. Having several turn it down leads me to believe we aren't willing to do that.

 

[Panther Parrothead]

Something to ponder: (former) wrestling head coach Jason Peters was relieved of his position in mid-January. Pitt had from January until now to find a worthy, nationally known and respected replacement.

Now some people will point to Pitt's problems with the AD position as a major hinderance for the hiring of the new wrestling coach, but nonetheless, Pitt had a head coaching position to fill, and it took them three long months to fill it.

In hindsight, to those of you who followed the story closely: as the story plodded along, and knowing Pitt as you do, did you really think that Pitt was going to succeed in making that elusive "splash hire" that wrestling fans were craving for?

 

[PantherO]

So, not that I really care about Wrestling, but I do care about Pitt....

Where does the problem lie, that no matter who we have in charge, the same mistakes are made over and over? Does it come down to 1 or 2 high profile donars? Is there a very influential board member? What? I would say it was academia, but other universities appear to get it right. Or, is it as simple as Pitt really isn't a desired stop because we pay like garbage due to a cheap alumni base? Then again, if we had the admin right, maybe they could increase donations?

Grrrr...

 

[pittdan77]

Does this mean the self loathing on this board takes a break for a while until the "our recruiting class is in trouble" posts that usually start appearing after the spring game?

 

[PittSquared]

In this case, it did. I can tell you with 100% certainty Santoro did not interview at Pitt to leverage salary from Lehigh.

I hope Gavin has a terrific career at Pitt, but there is no way to sugar coat the process that just went down.

Paco, I respect your opinion, so help me understand what supposedly happened. Santoro and Flynn were handed to Lyke on a platter, but the process was "mishandled." Does that mean:

1. While they were the search committee's picks, they weren't Lyke's picks. One may disagree with her judgment, but doesn't she ultimately get to make the hire?

2. More likely, they wanted assistant budgets and facilities upgrades for which she doesn't have funds. If that's the case, I respect her not making promises that she has no current ability to keep. Ralph Willard was promised a new arena that wasn't built during his tenure, and he resented it bitterly.

3. Lyke came across as a blithering idiot during the interview, and they both said I would never want to work for such a person. If find this very difficult to believe.

So, instead of these damning generalities, how exactly did Lyke "bungle" the hire?

 

[Black_Man_Panther]

I don't see the infatuation w/ the wrestling program. Especially when you have women's tennis playing matches in a facility near Oakmont which is shared w/ Duquesne. Oh... and the men's and women's track team still doesn't have an outdoor facility and uses CMU's.

If anything, the dept. has proven they cannot maintain the sports they offer and need to shut some down. Wrestling should be shut down.

 

[CrazyPaco]

I don't see the infatuation w/ the wrestling program. Especially when you have women's tennis playing matches in a facility near Oakmont which is shared w/ Duquesne. Oh... and the men's and women's track team still doesn't have an outdoor facility and uses CMU's.

If anything, the dept. has proven they cannot maintain the sports they offer and need to shut some down. Wrestling should be shut down.

Pitt sits smack dab in the center of the biggest wrestling area in the nation. The geographically recruiting advantages are akin to having a university being located in Florida for football. It is certainly arguable that you can have the most national impact for the buck in wrestling out of any sport at Pitt.

Besides that, examine the actual tradition of sports teams at Pitt and let me know why you think wrestling should be one that is dropped: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Panthers#Baseball

 

[Slick Manager of Champs]

I admit to being ignorant on college wrestling, but looking at Gavin's resume, looks like the only thing it has is he is a Pitt guy, which I guess makes a lot of people happy. Don't think that resume is strong enough to be head coach at North Allegheny, let alone a P5 program.

As Paco has stated, you are sitting in a recruiting hotbed. For those of you who say wrestling doesn't matter, I can't understand how you just want Pitt to be below average in anything. This football is the only thing mentality is flawed, especially since football has dropped the ball so often these past 35 years.

This hire is very concerning in that it doesn't give a good look to the new AD. Not a good start to the new regime.

 

[Delpanther]

So that's a no.

Thanks.

So, you are judging a hire who not
Only hasn't been made... but certainly hasn't recruited or coached.
Strong work.


Dial down the drama

Now we know the hire and it's clear she totally screwed this up

 

[gmandingo]

So that's a no.

Thanks.

So, you are judging a hire who not
Only hasn't been made... but certainly hasn't recruited or coached.
Strong work.


Dial down the drama

Now we know the hire and it's clear she totally screwed this up

Is it clear? The only thing that is clear is that you are negative about anything and everything about Pitt. Anyone who reads the Lair knows this to be true. Mark this post! In 5 years this will be considered an excellent hire! Mark it!

 

[Delpanther]

Is it clear? The only thing that is clear is that you are negative about anything and everything about Pitt. Anyone who reads the Lair knows this to be true. Mark this post! In 5 years this will be considered an excellent hire! Mark it!

It's crystal clear. He's not qualified. He should be coaching a HS team...,disgraceful! You know nothing about anything.

 

[vegasgreed]

It's Pitt being Pitt.

 

[PITTsburghFAN]

Pitt sits smack dab in the center of the biggest wrestling area in the nation. The geographically recruiting advantages are akin to having a university being located in Florida for football. It is certainly arguable that you can have the most national impact for the buck in wrestling out of any sport at Pitt.

Besides that, examine the actual tradition of sports teams at Pitt and let me know why you think wrestling should be one that is dropped: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Panthers#Baseball

Dear Sir Crazy -

It's been a long time since I've pinged back on one of your posts. The reason for the delay is that you most often post things that I am 100% in support of. Your knowledge of Pitt and support of all things regarding the University of Pittsburgh are nonpareil.

That noted, and because I know you love Pitt - while you might be correct here, has this drawn out harangue that has cast dispersion on our new AD done more damage than the matter is worth??

I know little about wrasslin' beyond this: The only match I attended in my life got me nearly beaten up by a sociopath who was defeated by a Penn Hills freshman named Bill Fralic. Long story not worth the time here.

That noted - you may well be 100% correct. But a lot of dedicated Pitt people put a lot of time into assessing what we can only assume were a lot of qualified candidates for the AD's role at our favorite unersity. Let's let this one slide and see what comes of it. If it was a mistake of pride on her part let's hope it was an early toe-stub.

Beating this drum too long can, acknowledging that this only a message board audience, still have a negative impact on a new start. Just sayin'

 

[Black_Man_Panther]

Pitt sits smack dab in the center of the biggest wrestling area in the nation. The geographically recruiting advantages are akin to having a university being located in Florida for football. It is certainly arguable that you can have the most national impact for the buck in wrestling out of any sport at Pitt.

Besides that, examine the actual tradition of sports teams at Pitt and let me know why you think wrestling should be one that is dropped: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Panthers#Baseball

Wrestling is not a fully subscribed sport. You can blame Title IX or whatever... but that is a fact. And if your busing young women 45 minutes to play a match - then something is REALLY wrong w/ your athletic department. Drop wrestling... and I guess consider dropping baseball... and fund women's tennis and track and field to the point where you don't have to bus these young men and women around metro Pittsburgh to compete!!!!

 

[thom67]

Wrestling is not a fully subscribed sport. You can blame Title IX or whatever... but that is a fact. And if your busing young women 45 minutes to play a match - then something is REALLY wrong w/ your athletic department. Drop wrestling... and I guess consider dropping baseball... and fund women's tennis and track and field to the point where you don't have to bus these young men and women around metro Pittsburgh to compete!!!!

What is a fully subscribed sport? Pitt wrestling is one sport that that could easily be a top 5-10 team in the nation with little effort by Pitt. All it takes is a good coach. Pitt wrestling( if top 5-10) would draw more fans that any other sport except football and men's Bball. NCAA wrestling draws more fans than any NCAA championships except men's Bball. They get over 100,000 for the NCAA championships and are sold out 1 year in advance. PSU wrestling out draws their Bball team since Cael became their coach. If there is a good product to watch, there will be many fans to watch even at Pitt.

 

[dooz9]

Ah, the supposed Pitt fan base.. Actually it is the home for people who need one more thing to be miserable about....every day. keep up the misery. The rest of the world just keeps laughing at you all.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Ah, the supposed Pitt fan base.. Actually it is the home for people who need one more thing to be miserable about....every day. keep up the misery. The rest of the world just keeps laughing at you all.

Snowflake

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Pitt sits smack dab in the center of the biggest wrestling area in the nation. The geographically recruiting advantages are akin to having a university being located in Florida for football. It is certainly arguable that you can have the most national impact for the buck in wrestling out of any sport at Pitt.

Besides that, examine the actual tradition of sports teams at Pitt and let me know why you think wrestling should be one that is dropped: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Panthers#Baseball

It not just Western PA its the entire state!
The PA Team State finals included two Eastern PA teams located about 10 miles apart in the Lehigh Valley Nazareth and Bethlehem Catholic with Nazareth winning the PA Team State Championship! These teams are in the same conference District XI, wrestle each other in dual meets, districts, regionals, and states.There are other teams in that same conference which are equally talented! Great wrestling in Eastern and Western PA.
PSU is taking advantage of this pool of great wrestlers and PITT as usual is swandering another opportunity which is literally on their doorstep!