Reports: Pitt's Jamie Dixon considering head coach job at TCU
March 20, 2016 9:13 PM
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon talks to the press on Thursday before Pitt faced Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. According to CBS Sports, Dixon is being considered for the head coach position at TCU, his alma mater.
Parrish, citing sources inside the TCU athletic department, wrote that the school has made Dixon their top candidate for the job.
Dixon did not return phone calls Sunday night and Pitt athletic director Scott Barnes did not respond to text messages.
A Pitt athletic department spokesman released a statement Sunday night, saying, “It is our practice to not make statements regarding other institutions’ coaching searches. So we will respectfully decline comment.”
Several people around the department and others who who know Dixon said he has a good relationship with TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte, and that has resulted in some discussions between the two, though some were skeptical if Dixon was seriously considering the offer
Dixon was instrumental in reaching out to Del Conte and getting TCU into the Big East Conference in 2011, but the league then fell apart and TCU found a home in the Big 12.
Dixon’s ability to seek other jobs is limited, though, by his contract with Pitt, which runs through 2023 and has a buyout that is believed to be in the $10 million range. Dixon makes about $3.2 million per year, according to tax documents the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained in May 2015.
That would mean in order to sign him to a similar deal — five years is a typical length for a contract — TCU would have to pay, between the contract and buyout, about $26 million to get him.
But Parrish, citing sources, wrote that money will not be an obstacle for TCU and that they will pony up to hire Dixon and make sure he doesn’t take less money.
Pitt is coming off a tough loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament, and several people around Dixon said he has felt the criticism from fans and media members and knows he has become a victim of his own success.
The position at Pitt also is different than the one he took in 2003 because the Panthers are in the ACC not the Big East and he has admitted that the transition has been a little tougher and taken a little longer than he first anticipated.
Still, one source close to the situation said that while Dixon “hears and reads what people are saying,” the source believed it is “unlikely” Dixon is going to take the job, considering what Dixon has built at Pitt and what it would take to be competitive in Fort Worth.
TCU fired Trent Johnson after four seasons in which he was 50-79 overall and 8-64 in Big 12 games, which is the lowest winning percentage for a coach (.111 in B games) in conference history.
The Horned Frogs also have not made it to the NCAA tournament since 1998 and have played in the tournament only seven times in their history.
And since 2000, the Horned Frogs have been to the postseason only twice — the 2005 NIT and the 2012 CBI.
Dixon played at TCU from 1984-87.
March 20, 2016 9:13 PM
Matt Freed/Post-Gazette
Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon talks to the press on Thursday before Pitt faced Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. According to CBS Sports, Dixon is being considered for the head coach position at TCU, his alma mater.
Parrish, citing sources inside the TCU athletic department, wrote that the school has made Dixon their top candidate for the job.
Dixon did not return phone calls Sunday night and Pitt athletic director Scott Barnes did not respond to text messages.
A Pitt athletic department spokesman released a statement Sunday night, saying, “It is our practice to not make statements regarding other institutions’ coaching searches. So we will respectfully decline comment.”
Several people around the department and others who who know Dixon said he has a good relationship with TCU athletic director Chris Del Conte, and that has resulted in some discussions between the two, though some were skeptical if Dixon was seriously considering the offer
Dixon was instrumental in reaching out to Del Conte and getting TCU into the Big East Conference in 2011, but the league then fell apart and TCU found a home in the Big 12.
Dixon’s ability to seek other jobs is limited, though, by his contract with Pitt, which runs through 2023 and has a buyout that is believed to be in the $10 million range. Dixon makes about $3.2 million per year, according to tax documents the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obtained in May 2015.
That would mean in order to sign him to a similar deal — five years is a typical length for a contract — TCU would have to pay, between the contract and buyout, about $26 million to get him.
But Parrish, citing sources, wrote that money will not be an obstacle for TCU and that they will pony up to hire Dixon and make sure he doesn’t take less money.
Pitt is coming off a tough loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament, and several people around Dixon said he has felt the criticism from fans and media members and knows he has become a victim of his own success.
The position at Pitt also is different than the one he took in 2003 because the Panthers are in the ACC not the Big East and he has admitted that the transition has been a little tougher and taken a little longer than he first anticipated.
Still, one source close to the situation said that while Dixon “hears and reads what people are saying,” the source believed it is “unlikely” Dixon is going to take the job, considering what Dixon has built at Pitt and what it would take to be competitive in Fort Worth.
TCU fired Trent Johnson after four seasons in which he was 50-79 overall and 8-64 in Big 12 games, which is the lowest winning percentage for a coach (.111 in B games) in conference history.
The Horned Frogs also have not made it to the NCAA tournament since 1998 and have played in the tournament only seven times in their history.
And since 2000, the Horned Frogs have been to the postseason only twice — the 2005 NIT and the 2012 CBI.
Dixon played at TCU from 1984-87.
