What I am about to express is an accumulation or facts plus observations I have made over the years. In advance, I will not debate with any of you, almost all of whom I respect, regarding my comments going forward.
Keep in mind that I do not have a dog in the race. I realize that I have no power to bring changes to the institution I love. I am a Pitt grad and will always support the university. I do not like nor do I dislike our basket-
ball coach. I am just relating what my senses tell me.
Several years ago my wife and I went to the basketball "FANFEST" at the Pete. We walked up to the table where Jamie Dixon was sitting, shook hands with him and attempted to engage him in conversation. This turned out to be Mission Impossible. There were no others at or near his table. He seemed to be disinterested. If so why was he there? After all it was for the fans was it not? We walked away in disbelief and just assumed he was having a really bad day.
Since then I have watched JD closely, at Pete games, on television, and on the internet because I enjoy Pitt basketball. I wish I could state otherwise but in my judgment, JD has personality issues. Watch him in a press conference. He does not and cannot maintain good eye contact. This is not an opinion, it is a fact. Over the years, I've estimated that he maintains eye contact about 20-25% of the time during interviews. He looks down at the floor or away from the person to whom he is responding. Andy Toole, the RMU coach, in an interview leading up to the Colonials NCAA play-in game, was about 85-90% with his eye contact.
Why do I mention this and consider it an issue? The reason being, I feel that this is the biggest drawback to JD's recruiting. His actions result in many negative connotations. If I am a parent sitting in my living room or in JD's office because he is seriously recruiting my son to play for him, it is game over. Having worked in HR for a large Pittsburgh corporation, I lectured at campuses, including Pitt, and covered resumed writing, appearance, handshakes, and yes, eye contact. The latter was overwhelmingly the largest negative with department heads who were evaluating my "recruits". Poor eye contact eliminated more than one hopeful candidate. I know this to be unequivocally true.
If my son is being recruited by Thadd Matta, Shaka Smart, Jay Wright, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, John Thompson, Jr. etc., how do they stack up against JD? Or compare him to ACC coaches: Mike K., Roy Williams, Danny Manning, Rick Pitino, and Tony Bennett. Just watch JD in almost any post-game news conference. It isn't even close! He doesn't stack up with these other coaches regarding eye contact. Oh sure, he'll get some decent recruits from time to time, but why does he miss so frequently on better recruits? JD needs to look in the mirror. If I am Scott Barnes, the new AD at Pitt, JD is going to sit down with some professional individuals from the Pitt faculty/hospitals to work on improving his eye contact. Also, he's going to work on his public speaking. People in positions of power at the university should be concerned with a D1 coach, who makes 2.5M a year, having such poor eye contact, plus his hemming and hawing jibberish (Well we...we…ah…ah…we). To many he does not appear to be outgoing and confident, but evasive and skittish.
Take for example, when JD is carping at the refs because one of his players is getting abused by an opponent. When the ref approaches, what does JD do? Almost without exception, he goes into his signature baseball catcher's crouch so he is not face-to-face and eyeball-to-eyeball with the ref and looks up at him like
a misbehaving puppy. Does this inspire confidence in him by his players? No! Most coaches at times will purposefully take a T by arguing more, as a motivation for his team. When is the last time you can recall JD first for all, eyeballing a ref nose-to-nose and then taking a T, even when comfortably ahead? I can't recall, myself. Is this what one would call "having his players' backs?" No! It's as though he is afraid of the refs; all they have to do is approach him and down he goes! These are the things preventing Pitt from getting better recruits. JD is his own worst enemy and it's not his assistants who are failing at recruiting because JD is the closer. Things will not change unless he changes. If he doesn't or can't, well that's another story.
A recent occurrence is what impelled me to write this out. A friend had a nephew visit Pitt this past season for one of Pitt's Junior Days. The young man is a talented player and is receiving interest from D1 schools. During coffee, it was mentioned that the nephew, in fact, was at Pitt. In response to my question of how the visit went, my friend, shaking his head from side to side said, "He loved all of the assistant coaches but he did not like JD." I didn't have the inclination to say what I just wrote. If a junior in high school can read JD then so can desirable top-level recruits and their parents/guardians (think Mustapha Heron's dad)! This is why Jamie Dixon is not a good recruiter. It's his personality, specifically the horrendous eye contact! This is hurting the Panthers. Pitt's fans, students and players deserve better. No time like the present.
JD had only 5 quality wins this year - Kansas State, Notre Dame, Syracuse twice and North Carolina. He had 13 of his 19 wins against rent-a-victims. He lost to Hawaii, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Miami, Florida State and George Washington. So much for the 20-win seasons. His last 5 games, all losses, were to teams that did not make the big dance. Better recruiting would improve this.
As mentioned, there will be no response from me to your replies. Call me anything you care to. Say I'm a troll, a Hoopie, insane, whatever. I have no hatred for JD. I ask you only to go back and watch any interviews, games, press conferences, etc from this season or earlier. It's right there before one's eyes and is undeniable, Compare JD to other coaches you see. My power of observation is no better or worse than yours. Please, just don't deny this continual recruiting snafu and the reason(s) it occurs. Pitt can't regularly get stellar recruits because of JD. It's not that they dislike JD's offense or defense, the recruits and their parents just don't like him! Would you feel comfortable in the presence of a coach who has such poor eye contact? Also, don't blame JD's assistants, poor recruiting is not their fault. JD can't close when it matters which is sad because he is the closer! To me the gig is up and it is time for changes! Time will tell. Hail to Pitt!
Keep in mind that I do not have a dog in the race. I realize that I have no power to bring changes to the institution I love. I am a Pitt grad and will always support the university. I do not like nor do I dislike our basket-
ball coach. I am just relating what my senses tell me.
Several years ago my wife and I went to the basketball "FANFEST" at the Pete. We walked up to the table where Jamie Dixon was sitting, shook hands with him and attempted to engage him in conversation. This turned out to be Mission Impossible. There were no others at or near his table. He seemed to be disinterested. If so why was he there? After all it was for the fans was it not? We walked away in disbelief and just assumed he was having a really bad day.
Since then I have watched JD closely, at Pete games, on television, and on the internet because I enjoy Pitt basketball. I wish I could state otherwise but in my judgment, JD has personality issues. Watch him in a press conference. He does not and cannot maintain good eye contact. This is not an opinion, it is a fact. Over the years, I've estimated that he maintains eye contact about 20-25% of the time during interviews. He looks down at the floor or away from the person to whom he is responding. Andy Toole, the RMU coach, in an interview leading up to the Colonials NCAA play-in game, was about 85-90% with his eye contact.
Why do I mention this and consider it an issue? The reason being, I feel that this is the biggest drawback to JD's recruiting. His actions result in many negative connotations. If I am a parent sitting in my living room or in JD's office because he is seriously recruiting my son to play for him, it is game over. Having worked in HR for a large Pittsburgh corporation, I lectured at campuses, including Pitt, and covered resumed writing, appearance, handshakes, and yes, eye contact. The latter was overwhelmingly the largest negative with department heads who were evaluating my "recruits". Poor eye contact eliminated more than one hopeful candidate. I know this to be unequivocally true.
If my son is being recruited by Thadd Matta, Shaka Smart, Jay Wright, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, John Thompson, Jr. etc., how do they stack up against JD? Or compare him to ACC coaches: Mike K., Roy Williams, Danny Manning, Rick Pitino, and Tony Bennett. Just watch JD in almost any post-game news conference. It isn't even close! He doesn't stack up with these other coaches regarding eye contact. Oh sure, he'll get some decent recruits from time to time, but why does he miss so frequently on better recruits? JD needs to look in the mirror. If I am Scott Barnes, the new AD at Pitt, JD is going to sit down with some professional individuals from the Pitt faculty/hospitals to work on improving his eye contact. Also, he's going to work on his public speaking. People in positions of power at the university should be concerned with a D1 coach, who makes 2.5M a year, having such poor eye contact, plus his hemming and hawing jibberish (Well we...we…ah…ah…we). To many he does not appear to be outgoing and confident, but evasive and skittish.
Take for example, when JD is carping at the refs because one of his players is getting abused by an opponent. When the ref approaches, what does JD do? Almost without exception, he goes into his signature baseball catcher's crouch so he is not face-to-face and eyeball-to-eyeball with the ref and looks up at him like
a misbehaving puppy. Does this inspire confidence in him by his players? No! Most coaches at times will purposefully take a T by arguing more, as a motivation for his team. When is the last time you can recall JD first for all, eyeballing a ref nose-to-nose and then taking a T, even when comfortably ahead? I can't recall, myself. Is this what one would call "having his players' backs?" No! It's as though he is afraid of the refs; all they have to do is approach him and down he goes! These are the things preventing Pitt from getting better recruits. JD is his own worst enemy and it's not his assistants who are failing at recruiting because JD is the closer. Things will not change unless he changes. If he doesn't or can't, well that's another story.
A recent occurrence is what impelled me to write this out. A friend had a nephew visit Pitt this past season for one of Pitt's Junior Days. The young man is a talented player and is receiving interest from D1 schools. During coffee, it was mentioned that the nephew, in fact, was at Pitt. In response to my question of how the visit went, my friend, shaking his head from side to side said, "He loved all of the assistant coaches but he did not like JD." I didn't have the inclination to say what I just wrote. If a junior in high school can read JD then so can desirable top-level recruits and their parents/guardians (think Mustapha Heron's dad)! This is why Jamie Dixon is not a good recruiter. It's his personality, specifically the horrendous eye contact! This is hurting the Panthers. Pitt's fans, students and players deserve better. No time like the present.
JD had only 5 quality wins this year - Kansas State, Notre Dame, Syracuse twice and North Carolina. He had 13 of his 19 wins against rent-a-victims. He lost to Hawaii, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Miami, Florida State and George Washington. So much for the 20-win seasons. His last 5 games, all losses, were to teams that did not make the big dance. Better recruiting would improve this.
As mentioned, there will be no response from me to your replies. Call me anything you care to. Say I'm a troll, a Hoopie, insane, whatever. I have no hatred for JD. I ask you only to go back and watch any interviews, games, press conferences, etc from this season or earlier. It's right there before one's eyes and is undeniable, Compare JD to other coaches you see. My power of observation is no better or worse than yours. Please, just don't deny this continual recruiting snafu and the reason(s) it occurs. Pitt can't regularly get stellar recruits because of JD. It's not that they dislike JD's offense or defense, the recruits and their parents just don't like him! Would you feel comfortable in the presence of a coach who has such poor eye contact? Also, don't blame JD's assistants, poor recruiting is not their fault. JD can't close when it matters which is sad because he is the closer! To me the gig is up and it is time for changes! Time will tell. Hail to Pitt!
