Pitt Fans Be Warned: Pederson About To Make Another Bad Football Hire

Update: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported at 8:21 tonight Pitt will name Michael Haywood its next football coach. The announcement will come in a news conference possibly tomorrow.

Fans and bloggers have been busy this morning checking out the latest Pitt pick for head coach, Michael Haywood, currently the Miami RedHawks head coach in the MAC.

The review by one expert will not leave anyone feeling good about this potential hire.

Chris Dokish, one of the smartest guys who's ever covered Pitt sports, doesn't mince words in his assessment from the Big East Report—

"Sadly it looks like Pitt's athletic director Steve Pederson, and Chancellor Mark Nordenberg once again failed in their latest golden opportunity to move the football program to a higher level."

Check out Dokish's review of Michael Haywood at http://bebballreportpitt.blogspot.com/2010/12/haywood-not-upgrade.html.

If Haywood is the hire, Dokish suggests Pitt chancellor Mark Nordenberg and athletic director Steve Pederson have no idea what to look for in a coach.

That or they are just plain cheap.

No doubt both ignorance and painful thriftiness are playing a role.

Four times before he secured the Miami head job, Haywood could not catch a break.

Charlie Weis relieved him of his play-calling duties at Notre Dame.

Haywood applied to be the Houston Cougars head coach at the same time Kevin Sumlin did. Houston hired Sumlin.

Northern Illinois took a pass when Haywood applied for their head coach position and so did Minnesota.

Haywood's records at Miami are 1-11 in 2009 and 8-4 in 2010. These don't inspire much confidence.

Now comes along Nordenberg and Pederson, who appear to be looking for a saint dedicated to cheap living.

To add insult to injury, even Miami RedHawk fans are questioning the the rationale of a big name school like Pitt going with a career assistant who has had only one season of success as a head coach.

Paul Zeise at post-gazette.com is advocating calm optimism if Haywood is named the next Pitt head coach.

Of course, Zeise will have to work daily with the new guy, whoever he is. For Zeise, being neutral is a way to survive.

If you're a Pitt fan sincerely interested in the future of the football program and believe as I do that Pitt football can achieve greatness again, let Steve Pederson at [e-mail] know what you think of this hire.

You also might want to ask Steve these questions—

*Why is Pitt about to hire a virtual no-name, third-place candidate? 

*Why did Nordenberg not know the going rate of a high profile coach is $2 million?

*Why did Pederson not secure adequate funding for a replacement coach when the 2010 season started heading south at the Miami game and especially after the UConn game?

Haywood might become the greatest coach in Pitt history, but when a stand-up guy like Chris Dokish is telling us he's not the right guy, we need to listen and take action.