OT: Mike Haywood (Miami-OH) hired to be Pitt's coach
MIke Haywood has been hired to be Pitt's new football coach. Pitt's pretty irrelevant to Michigan fans, except for the fact that a few of Michigan's recruits also have heavy interest in Pitt (Kyshoen Jarrett, Desimon Green, etc.).
Haywood seems like a fairly uninspiring hire. He did turn Miami-OH around in the past couple years, but he doesn't have much experience as a head coach.
December 15th, 2010 at 10:55 PM ^
If anyone else like me can't get through, the news is also on ESPN.com:
Also played and coached for ND. That is reason enough to wish schadenfreude.
December 15th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
A relevant Pitt would make midwest recruiting even more interesting. Still upset Pitt got Baldwin.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:03 PM ^
Pitt would siphon off recruits off of PSU (If Michigan doesn't want or need them). I can remember when Pitt was an equal rival to PSU. Then Joepa didn't want to lose OOC games anymore and scheduled teams like Youngstown St. and Coastal Carolina school of the lepers.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:26 PM ^
Maybe they can put a hurt on Ohio State's pipeline into Gateway in Pittsburgh.
December 15th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
DAMN YOU DAVE BRANDON!!!!
MORE COACHES ARE BEING HIRED!!!!1!!
THERE WON'T BE ANY GOOD ONES LEFT BY JAN 1!!!!!!!!!!!!1!
DON'T MAKE HIM TWIST IN THE WIND ANYMORE!!!11!!!
December 15th, 2010 at 11:27 PM ^
w/ GERG.
The Beaver could be OC
December 15th, 2010 at 11:27 PM ^
If I hear the phrase "twist in the wind" one more time, I'm gonna ...........
December 15th, 2010 at 11:52 PM ^
...........poop your pants?
Yeah, I bet it's that.
December 15th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
December 15th, 2010 at 11:00 PM ^
I mean, Miami-OH was a nice story this season, but this just seems like a massive reach. Does Pitt administration really think that Mike Haywood is going to do a better job than Wannstedt? To answer my own question, I'm sure they do, but I have to politely disagree.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:00 PM ^
Unispiring is an understatement. To the best of my knowledge there was no talk that had Haywood's name in play for this job but that's a measure of how far Pitt has fallen nationally as much as anything. I can't imagine he was their first or even second choice. On the bright side that's three MAC coaches now moving up in class in 2011.
Somewhere Ron English waits for his call to come..........
December 15th, 2010 at 11:03 PM ^
I mean, Urban Meyer had some decent success in the MAC and then turned that into some decent success at other schools, so I'm not saying Haywood is a horrible hire. Anything can happen. It just seems like kind of a big job for someone with a) little head coaching experience and b) some uninspiring coordinating prior to that.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:17 PM ^
True but iin fairness Meyer had two years at Utah before the move to Florida. If you're looking for a young coach moving up in class why not Troy Calhoun from Air Force? I just have a hard time seeing Haywood doing anything but continuing the downward Wanstadination of the program.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:23 PM ^
I've heard Calhoun's name mentioned for better jobs than Pitt. I have no idea if Pitt sent any feelers out for Calhoun, but I wouldn't be surprised if Calhoun rebuffed them.
December 16th, 2010 at 9:10 AM ^
he LOVES the USAFA and thinks of himself as following in Fisher DeBarry's legacy of being a long time academy HC. He's also an Academy grad and that holds a lot of sway with Air Force types.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:15 PM ^
As a somewhat follower of Miami (OH) football, I never understood the interest in Haywood. Miami might be one of the worst 4 loss teams. The offense was marginal, and they got by on defense. However, I have heard that he is a big fan of attitude and character, and the players respond well the that.
Best of luck to him at Pitt, I hope he does well. It's nice to see the cradle of coaches back in action. Remember one of our very own came from that same school.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:22 PM ^
While they might be a bad 4-loss team, they were an 11-loss team in 2009, so he must have done something right.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:28 PM ^
And I have to say I was quite impressed with that MAC Championship Game. I figured NIU would blow the doors off Miami, yet the RedHawks never went away. They got pretty lucky on that tip-drill 4th down play, but then I remember a certain tip-drill working in our favor this season...
Either way, going from 1-11 to 9-4, with the potential for 10(!!) wins, is damn impressive.
December 16th, 2010 at 1:06 AM ^
As a Miami grad I have to ask, did you pay attention to the team a few years ago when Shane Montgomery drove that program into the ground? From '06 to '08 he went 10 - 27 at a school that typically has a winning record.
I think Haywood will end up being an excellent hire by Pitt. Full disclaimer: I don't consider Pitt to be a destination job or a prestigious program so obviously that affects my opinion regarding the hire. However I think as evidenced by the fact that Haywood took over for a program that had crattered, to then to win their league within 2 years is impressive.
December 16th, 2010 at 9:27 AM ^
Cosigned. I was an undergrad during the end of the Montgomery era at Miami and they played some of the most uninspired, flat football I've ever seen. They actually had some talent too, but they never did anything. Everyone praises Haywood for his work ethic and getting the most out of his players, which he did this year. I think he'll do really well at Pitt.
Ps love the name and the avatar, +10000 (in my head)
December 16th, 2010 at 10:00 AM ^
I think this is the exact thing that has been missing at Pitt during the Wannstadt era. He was a good recruiter but a terrible "gameday" coach according to most of the Pitt faithful. Assuming that Haywood can continue to get some talent (a lot of kids from the PGH area want to attend Pitt or at least consider them because of the program's history and their parents growing up as Pitt fans), I think he can succeed if the mentality of the program changes. I actually think its a great hire for Pitt assuming he can recruit. They needed a drastic change if they are unhappy with 7-8 wins each year.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:23 PM ^
And were are all these inspiring coaches?
December 15th, 2010 at 11:53 PM ^
Treadwell to Miami? Seems to make perfect sense considering he played there.
December 16th, 2010 at 12:08 AM ^
this is uninspiring enough to make Jarrett decommitt and turn blue.
December 16th, 2010 at 12:23 AM ^
Until he grows a porn stache I will not acknowledge him as Pitt's coach.
Seriously though, Pitt has an over-inflated view of themselves if they fire the coach that gave them their first 10 win season in over two decades as well as a share of a conference championship.
December 16th, 2010 at 12:50 AM ^
When I saw the title, I thought it was Ironhead Hayward for a split-second.
December 16th, 2010 at 1:48 AM ^
Say what you want about Wannstadt, but he could recruit. I'm hoping M and SU can siphon out some of their commits.
December 16th, 2010 at 8:59 AM ^
This makes two formerly great teams taking a flyer on giving a coach a chance instead of recycling coordinators and former head coaches...Miami & Pitt. I like it. I like to see AD's think in big terms because especially in a place like Pitt they really can only go up. Sweatervest was a flyer and unfortunately he's worked out.
Michigan took a flyer a few years ago and we'll know the outcome in early January.
December 16th, 2010 at 9:17 AM ^
Rodriguez was an established head coach. That was what Bill Martin was looking for.
Bo was a flyer.
Flyers often turn out to be the best hires.
December 16th, 2010 at 9:41 AM ^
Mr. Schembechler was the head coach at Miami of Ohio from 1963-1968, so he had 6 seasons of head coaching experience. That does not make one a flyer. You cite one example and the guy you pick has 6 years as a head coach with the following record:
| Miami Redskins (Mid-American Conference) (1963–1968) | ||||||||
| 1963 | Miami | 5–3–2 | 4–1–1 | 2nd | ||||
| 1964 | Miami | 6–3–1 | 4–2 | T–2nd | ||||
| 1965 | Miami | 7–3 | 5–1 | T–1st | ||||
| 1966 | Miami | 9–1 | 5–1 | T–1st | ||||
| 1967 | Miami | 6–4 | 4–2 | T–3rd | ||||
| 1968 | Miami | 7–3 | 5–1 | 2nd | ||||
| Miami: | 40–17–3 | 27–8–1 | ||||||
Uh, I think he had a legitimate body of work to review as opposed to being a flyer......
December 16th, 2010 at 10:47 AM ^
But, Don Canham didn't hire Bo so much on his record. Canham wanted someone to restore Michigan and fill up the stadium. And Bo was very different from Bump.
I think it had more to do with Bo as a person than as a credentialed coach. Also, this is the same school Haywood is coming from.
Edit: Here is a link to an interview with Canham. It only touches on hiring Bo, but is an interesting read, nevertheless.
http://www.michigandaily.com/content/michigan-football-needed-turnaroun…
December 16th, 2010 at 9:58 AM ^
Greg Robinson was a flyer for Syracuse.
ugh.
December 16th, 2010 at 12:07 PM ^
In Iceland, "flyer" is pronounced "fail-yur".
December 16th, 2010 at 5:01 PM ^
He had 6 years HC at WVU (in the BE which almost dropped football in 2003/2004 and shouldn't be BCS autobid) and a few years at Glennville State and Salem.
I would say at the time that English (on staff) or Miles would have been a more safe (read conservative not good) pick.
Golden has 4 years at Temple and Haywood has 1 at NTM.
December 16th, 2010 at 9:37 AM ^
Seems that everyone is all enamored of the latest and greatest guy to have 1 good year and the media stir and pundit stir and blog stir whip this guy up into epic proportions and some moribund program that is not winning as much as they would like jumps all in.
Head football coaches at the BCS conference top levels or those who want to be there are getting to be more like celebrities and CEO's for public companies more and more each day. People and schools are out for the latest genius and looking for the great coaching holy grail and hoping to catch lightening in a bottle with hires like Muschamp and Haywood and Holgorsen and Wilson who do not have previous head coaching experience and are taking over at places that fancy themselves as perennial top 25 schools.
It will be interesting to see how all these coaching changes pan out in 3 years or so.
I wonder what a look at the track record of successful coaches would be in terms of their progression in their careers and when they 1st became head coaches and where. I wonder if there is a big difference between someone with no head coaching experience anywhere versus the path of someone like Urban Meyer or Jim Tressel, who had a number of years as a head coach at lower level schools before taking the Big Job....
December 16th, 2010 at 10:38 AM ^
Not sure if I would call the hire an upgrade over the Stache. Time will tell, however.
December 17th, 2010 at 8:45 AM ^
I am so ashamed of you guys. Didn't you know that Miami of Ohio is the Cradle of Coaches?