As a Pitt alum, I was pretty nonplussed to learn the school had hired Miami of Ohio football coach Mike Haywood to replace the criminally conservative Dave Wannstedt, he of much managerial malignancy and the manliest of mustaches. Haywood was a relatively unknown coach without much profile who successfully turned around the RedHawk program pretty quickly but otherwise hadn’t done much. In most circles, “Hey, what do you think about Mike Haywood?” would be unanimously responded to with “Uhh, who?”
Not anymore.
Haywood didn’t have the happiest of holidays as he was charged with felony domestic assault following an altercation with the mother of his young son, in what was said to be a disagreement about visitation rights (now where have I heard that one before?). Barely a fortnight into his new digs as Panther head man and Haywood already committed the most egregious of sins for a coach– guilty or not, Haywood appeared as an actor of impropriety, thereby destroying his own ability to steer 75 young men away from the same fate (as the common thinking goes).
Anonymity remains better than notoriety.
Making matter worse for Pitt, Pittsburgh AD Steve Pedersen (whose own job security is now thrown into question) had the following to say upon hiring Haywood:
[He is] a man of character and integrity [who] will be an inspirational leader for our football team.
Nothing says character and integrity like allegedly roughing up your domestic partner over a squabble. The 180 degree turn seen in following remarks from Pitt chancellor Mark Nordenberg upon Haywood’s firing illustrate the severity of his fall pretty well:
Head coaches… are expected to maintain high standards of personal conduct and to avoid situations that might reflect negatively on the university.
Translation: for a one million dollar salary, the least you can do is keep your nose clean.
The coaching search for Pitt now re-opens with much volatility, as their once heralded recruiting class is falling to shambles and the fanbase is hungry for a quick fix to this image disaster. What about former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who is currently being tied to the Maryland opening? He’s commonly heralded as an offensive genius and would bring just the spark needed to revitalize the underperforming Pitt program. He certainly wouldn’t do anything that “might reflect negatively on the University.”
Damnit. Just promote a coordinator or something.
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Felony charge ends Mike Haywood’s Pitt tenure after 17 days [Dr. Saturday]
