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Pitt fires its coach after two weeks

Skidmark said:
I feel bad for the kid who has to endure a couple of volitile parents.
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This is the real issue.

rep.

Just for the sake of argument the woman may have provoked the whole thing, been going postal on the guy, and be completely crazy. He still needs to be smart enough to stay out of situations that put him into a situation to get arrested. He's got enough money, get a court order against her, have a legally ordered person handle the transfer of custody if they have shared custody of a child, etc.

This is the same guy who is going to be responsible for telling 100+ young men to maintain their composure on and off the field. He is going to be telling them that their actions represent the university and their teammates. He is going to be who many of them turn to when they get into a tough situation with a crazy coed.

At the same time his own child is going to be looking at him and how he acts and reacts.

No matter how it turns out in court there is something here worth looking at for the school. They would not have taken the action they did without believing that the evidence was strong enough to support them in a civil suit for wrongful firing.

At the same time their actions reflect on how they will react to a staff member of the university who poses a potential threat to others. I am certain that the parents of at least a few students appreciate this action.
 
There is nothing un-American about expecting high-profile employees to stay out of these situations in the first place. Being the head coach of a BCS football program brings money and notoriety, but it also brings heightened expectations for how you conduct yourself off the field. Innocent until proven guilty is for the legal system, not for whether he deserves to stay head coach at Pitt. He embarrassed the school less than a month after they hired him, that seems pretty serious to me.
 
I agree with what BB says here. The farther up the ladder you go, the more eyeballs you have on you. He deserved to lose his job for this.
 
JDBattleMC said:
I feel sorry for him because we don't know what happened here. He was charged, he wasn't convicted.

I specifically feel bad for him because he is quoted as saying "It isn't fair. The truth will eventually come out."

Now it could turn out that for him the truth is that she hit him first and he had to hit her back, then I woudn't feel bad. But what if she is some crazy baby momma that harmed herself purposefully to mess with him? It's SPECIFICALLY un-american to convict someone prior to their trial. The thought process of innocent until proven guilty is a revolutionary one.

As far as the future for Pitt, I think George O'Leary would be a SLAM DUNK hire. UCF is a bit of a player, but an AQ conference team has to look more promising to O'Leary, especially as going undefeated every year at Pitt isn't out of the question - especially with WVU on the decline.
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Me thinks Pitt will have a big problem if he's not convicted because Cause would have just gone out the window. Unless they have not finalized a contract yet.
 
I think the school really had no choice - their only concern would be a suit based on unlawful termination, but compared to public opinion worth the (minor) risk. OTOH, the story I read said he had grabbed her arm, leaving bruises. Sure, that's serious, but a felony and losing your job, taking a couple of steps back in your career, all seems pretty harsh, especially if it turns out that he was defending himself (we had a similar situation on the team this year, you may recall).
 
Boulder Buff said:
There is nothing un-American about expecting high-profile employees to stay out of these situations in the first place. Being the head coach of a BCS football program brings money and notoriety, but it also brings heightened expectations for how you conduct yourself off the field. Innocent until proven guilty is for the legal system, not for whether he deserves to stay head coach at Pitt. He embarrassed the school less than a month after they hired him, that seems pretty serious to me.
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Just to play devil's advocate, what if the woman completely fabricated the story just to try to gain points in a custody battle? He's supposed to stay out of that situation how exactly?? Go back in time and slip on some protection? I would hope Pitt investigated and found that there's more to the situation than that, but to say that the arrest itself is enough to fire him because the University is embarassed? Sounds an awful lot like some of the worst thinking we heard in Boulder a few years ago...
 
Junction said:
Just to play devil's advocate, what if the woman completely fabricated the story just to try to gain points in a custody battle? He's supposed to stay out of that situation how exactly?? Go back in time and slip on some protection? I would hope Pitt investigated and found that there's more to the situation than that, but to say that the arrest itself is enough to fire him because the University is embarassed? Sounds an awful lot like some of the worst thinking we heard in Boulder a few years ago...
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Two points jump out at me:
1. The charges were elevated from a misdemeanor to a felony which suggests the cops have something more than just a story. A lot of states now have laws that require someone to be arrested in a domestic violence call.

2. In conducting said background investigation are there laws against digging that deep? God knows there are some pretty awful rumors out there about one of our recently hired coaches. But they are just rumors.
 
Junction said:
Just to play devil's advocate, what if the woman completely fabricated the story just to try to gain points in a custody battle? He's supposed to stay out of that situation how exactly?? Go back in time and slip on some protection? I would hope Pitt investigated and found that there's more to the situation than that, but to say that the arrest itself is enough to fire him because the University is embarassed? Sounds an awful lot like some of the worst thinking we heard in Boulder a few years ago...
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When you are on the job for less than a month, you do not get the benefit of the doubt you would in most other cases.
 
The real question is why Steve Pederson even has a job much less AD at a major University....Most Pitt fans were amazed how superficial the job search was and how this guy even got hired.

As far as the legalities of firing him...it is pretty easy...he probably only has a letter of agreement. If he had actually been on the job for a year he would have a better shot at more due process. Life is tough all over.

You want an example of a guy really getting screwed over it was Tom Collen...he was WBB coach at CSU and took a job with Vanderbilt. He was on the job one day and Vandy claimed that he had a discrepancy on his resume. He had listed two master's degrees from Miami University, but Miami had reported only one degree in two subjects. Miami later acknowledged its mistake. But he was forced to resign from the job. He even had the diplomas which showed his degrees.

He should of sued Vandy but took the high road and it turned out okay.
 
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It appears the contract was not signed, giving Pitt an easy out, even when factoring in a potential lawsuit.

The alumns apparently were not sold on Haywood, even before the incident. They didn't like the ommission of the word "win" from his acceptance speech, which featured an emphasis on getting the kids to dress nicely. This was Pitt's last ditch effort to cut their losses, which is within their right to do. (Former Nub AD Pederson is involved and he presumably learned a thing or two from the Solich & Callahan episodes.

Besides, I don't get the "it's unfair. The truth will come out" quotes.
Is Haywood's version of the truth that he is somehow "right" or "vindicated" and his baby mamma is "wrong" or an assailant?

He might have come off better acknowledging his deep sorrow that this happened and then issue a statement that he intends to ultimately act in the best interest of his child and family, while committing to cooperate fully with the investigators of the South Bend Police department.
 
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Junction said:
How long do you have to be on the job before you're entitled to full rights?
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It is a nebulous (non-legal) standard, but he probably gets different treatment if he has a winning season or two at Pitt under his belt. Hell, BlackNGold may be right, he may not have even signed the contract yet.
 
He may be a victim in this, sure. But I'm sure not jumping to that conclusion as some are, hence my lack of pity.

If I remember correctly Coach Price was fired for an image problem, and what he did wasn't even illegal.

This all goes back to my points on Coach McCartney and his remarks in '92. Head coaches are hired to represent their university and win games.
 
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