Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg Needs To Terminate Pederson and Haywood Today

Anyone still in favor of keeping Steve Pederson in the position of athletic director at the University of Pittsburgh? Anyone?

After introducing his new hire as a man of "character and integrity," Pederson finds out late yesterday  the grim news that his new football coach is behind bars for domestic violence (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11001/1114889-142.stm).

The situation is tragic to be sure but it also demonstrates why cliches are often based on the truth. You now the one about the guy who is so tightly strung, so militaristic in his approach to life, he can't keep himself together in one of the most stressful situations of all, like dealing with the mother of his 21-month old infant during an argument.

Questions about Mike Haywood keep coming. Just who was the woman Haywood allegedly man-handled in South Bend? Did Pederson know his new football hire is the father of a 21-month old infant with a woman who is not his wife?

What in the hell kind of background check did the Pitt A.D. do before announcing his new coach as the moral savior of Pitt football? Remember, Pederson chose to frame Haywood as the anti-Wannstedt, a coach who would keep his players out of trouble off the field.

If you study domestic violence situations you will find the victim usually doesn't report an incident the first time it happens.  Infer as you choose about Haywood and his arrest yesterday.

How will Pederson reconcile the fact the coach he hired to clean up the Panthers' off field image is now sitting in a jail cell in South Bend, Indiana?

Conducting interviews for Wannstedt's replacement with a ridiculous degree of secrecy, Pederson now only has himself and Haywood to blame.

Pederson was scorned nationally for replacing Dave Wannstedt, who won nine, ten, and seven games in his last three seasons, with a MAC coach who went 1-11 in 2009 and 9-4 in 2010.

Along the way Wannstedt had put together the nation's 21st or 24th best recruiting class for 2011 depending on which recruiting service you check.

Now Pitt is down to nine recruits. Today's news that the new Pitt coach is incarcerated should just about ensure there are no quality recruits left in the class.

The onus of all of this, of course, falls on the shoulders of Pitt chancellor Nordenberg who gave Pederson the assignment of hiring a new head football coach.

Nordenberg better spend New Year's Day 2011 at the office orchestrating the firing of Mike Haywood, whose short tenure has done immediate, yet repairable, damage to Pitt football and Steve Pederson, whose long tenure is doing irreparable damage to Pitt football across the nation.

Hey, Pederson, what's your catchy slogan for selling Pitt football tickets for next season?

Pederson's employment at Pitt should end long before that question needs to be answered.