The Steve Pederson Disconnect
by CardiacHill on Jan 3, 2011 9:41 AM EST
in Pitt Football
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PrintSo I'm reading Paul Zeise's update over at the Post-Gazette and found this little tidbit - Steve Pederson apparently didn't talk to Dave Wannstedt's assistant coaches until yesterday.
No, seriously.
You read that right - the man who fired the head coach failed to even contact the assistants afterward. At all. A quick timeline check shows that Pederson forced Dave Wannstedt to resign on December 8th - more than three weeks ago.
In that time, Pederson then hired Mike Haywood, but still apparently didn't think it was important enough to meet with the assistants. And then, with the Haywood arrest and subsequent firing, he decided it was finally time.
What?
And according to one assistant, Pederson apologized, admitting he should have met with them earlier:
How do you fire a head coach and then not meet with the assistant coaches? And more importantly, who were they even reporting to? Haywood wasn't hired for another eight days after Wannstedt was let go. And even when he was hired, he was reportedly working evenings to show respect to Wannstedt who was apparently still around during the day.
Man, what a mess. Pederson really sounds like he's stepped into this job for the first time a week ago.
And as the article points out, Pederson wasn't even with Mark Nordenberg when the Chancellor addressed the team. I guess meeting with the players and coaches was too much to ask.
I've been hesitant to get on the 'Fire Steve Pederson' train. No, I don't think he's done a great job and as I've said repeatedly, Pitt should never have hired him back in the first place. I thought that replacing a coach and athletic director would be perhaps too much to take on. But the fact is, if there's a time to do it, it's now. The 2010 season hasn't even officially come to an end and if Pitt can have an athletic director and head coach in place by the end of the month, they can get things on track.
I don't expect 2011 to be a great season on the field, but the fact is that Pitt still has some real talented guys coming back and regardless of who they're playing for, they can still be a decent team. Still, even throwing 2011 away, this team can still get on track for 2012 if they get the right guys in place. That's a huge 'if' and will take some guts by Nordenberg, but if he's willing to make the move, it's now or never.
Ball in your court, Chancellor.
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The Pederson calliope
To the Pitt faithful I am truly sorry to see this. I was hoping Mr Pederson had changed, maybe grown up; or at least learned from his mistakes at Nebraska. My opinion is he is out of touch with the fanbase. He tends to read his inflated write ups and then believe them. This sideshow he is running at Pitt is just a repeat performance of what he ran at Nebraska.
I will say this; another sport excelled under his semi-leadership. Volleyball in particular. The problem is the bread and butter of Nebraska’s and Pitt’s athletic programs are football! As others have written he has NO idea how to hire the right people! Do a little research on how he does his vetting of candidates.
After this last weekends incident with your new coach this should be a warning sign of things to come!
To Mr Pederson I know your staff will read this and maybe you will take the time to see how people feel about you, The Nebraska faithful are just glad you are not here! I hope Pitt see the light before you hurt them any more!
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods,
New article
http://bleacherreport.com/pitt-football
Please Pitt for your sake stay away from the NFL coaches; it doesn’t work!!!! Callahan is still hurting us with the remnants of his program; I think Marvin Lewis would do the same to you.
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods,
It's just like Deja Vu...
Those of us back in Nebraska watched this same sad situation play out before.
Sad but, so true!!!
Heck even the secret meetings are a repeat of our misery. This is just sad and scarey! Pitt fans need to duck and cover; this is going to get really ugly!!!!!
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
"To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods,
The longer this goes on
The more I think a change needs to be made. But the more it drags on, the less likely I think a change is.
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