Here's what I've been able to pick up on the Matt Canada situation this morning; much of this follows what has already been discussed and/or reported, but I thought it'd be good to put it all in one place:
The first thing I will mention is Pitt's commitment. We've talked about this quite a bit but I think it bears mentioning. As someone said to me, it's a "new day" at Pitt, with commitment and support from the top leading the charge here. Pat Narduzzi and Scott Barnes have the flexibility to be competitive, and I'm under the impression that Pitt is willing to make Matt Canada either the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the ACC or right near the top.
And I think he's already close to the top in the conference; USA Today's list of assistant coach salaries has Clemson's co-offensive coordinators - Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott - leading the ACC at $643,000 each and Louisville's co-coordinators - Chris Klenakis and Lonnie Galloway - right behind at $607,000. From what I'm told, Canada' current salary is right in that range. And if he opts to stay at Pitt, his salary likely will surpass that of Elliott and Scott.
(Of course, it's notable that while Clemson and FSU pay their offensive coordinators in the $600,000 range, their total investment in offensive coordinators each tops $1.2 million.)
As for LSU, I can't confirm that he has an offer from the Tigers, but based on reporting by Bruce Feldman - who is very good and has obvious contacts at LSU - it appears that the job is Canada's if he wants it. The expectation is that LSU will pay him more than Pitt, even if Pitt pushes close to seven figures (which is the expectation on that end). So Canada will have to decide whether he wants the extra money and the challenge/reward of calling plays in the SEC or if he wants to stick with Narduzzi and Pitt as possibly the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the ACC.
On the topic of getting outbid, I often think back to Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich, who once said something to the effect of, "The only thing I can't compete with is the NFL." He said that when asked about the prospects of keeping Charlie Strong; obviously, we all know how that worked out, and I think that's a relevant comparison: you had a school that was committed to keeping its coach and willing to use a lot of resources to keep him but still lost. It can happen when you run into a school like Texas in that scenario or LSU in this one.
From the very start, the message I was getting was that if LSU did succeed in hiring Matt Canada away, it would cost the Tigers significantly - and a chunk of that money would be going back to Pitt. The thought was that it would be cost-prohibitive for most schools to make that kind of move, but LSU is a different animal.
I'll finish by reiterating what I've said since the weekend: if Pitt does lose Canada, it won't have happened without a fight. It was made clear to me yesterday that Narduzzi, Barnes and company were still battling to keep Canada.
And I also believe that Pat Narduzzi will come out of the ordeal feeling like commitment from the University was not the issue; that's relevant, because the head coach needs to feel like he has the support to be competitive if he is going to win, and I believe Narduzzi feels like he has that.
We'll see what today brings.
The first thing I will mention is Pitt's commitment. We've talked about this quite a bit but I think it bears mentioning. As someone said to me, it's a "new day" at Pitt, with commitment and support from the top leading the charge here. Pat Narduzzi and Scott Barnes have the flexibility to be competitive, and I'm under the impression that Pitt is willing to make Matt Canada either the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the ACC or right near the top.
And I think he's already close to the top in the conference; USA Today's list of assistant coach salaries has Clemson's co-offensive coordinators - Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott - leading the ACC at $643,000 each and Louisville's co-coordinators - Chris Klenakis and Lonnie Galloway - right behind at $607,000. From what I'm told, Canada' current salary is right in that range. And if he opts to stay at Pitt, his salary likely will surpass that of Elliott and Scott.
(Of course, it's notable that while Clemson and FSU pay their offensive coordinators in the $600,000 range, their total investment in offensive coordinators each tops $1.2 million.)
As for LSU, I can't confirm that he has an offer from the Tigers, but based on reporting by Bruce Feldman - who is very good and has obvious contacts at LSU - it appears that the job is Canada's if he wants it. The expectation is that LSU will pay him more than Pitt, even if Pitt pushes close to seven figures (which is the expectation on that end). So Canada will have to decide whether he wants the extra money and the challenge/reward of calling plays in the SEC or if he wants to stick with Narduzzi and Pitt as possibly the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the ACC.
On the topic of getting outbid, I often think back to Louisville Athletic Director Tom Jurich, who once said something to the effect of, "The only thing I can't compete with is the NFL." He said that when asked about the prospects of keeping Charlie Strong; obviously, we all know how that worked out, and I think that's a relevant comparison: you had a school that was committed to keeping its coach and willing to use a lot of resources to keep him but still lost. It can happen when you run into a school like Texas in that scenario or LSU in this one.
From the very start, the message I was getting was that if LSU did succeed in hiring Matt Canada away, it would cost the Tigers significantly - and a chunk of that money would be going back to Pitt. The thought was that it would be cost-prohibitive for most schools to make that kind of move, but LSU is a different animal.
I'll finish by reiterating what I've said since the weekend: if Pitt does lose Canada, it won't have happened without a fight. It was made clear to me yesterday that Narduzzi, Barnes and company were still battling to keep Canada.
And I also believe that Pat Narduzzi will come out of the ordeal feeling like commitment from the University was not the issue; that's relevant, because the head coach needs to feel like he has the support to be competitive if he is going to win, and I believe Narduzzi feels like he has that.
We'll see what today brings.
