I know the premise might piss some off as too flippant, but I can’t disagree that Pitt coaching searches are a bit of a pip. A groundhog day thing full of crazy rumors, angst and a bit of self-loathing.
So, yeah. Matt Canada took the OC position at LSU. More money and a higher profile job. Calling it a “lateral move” is either ignorant or an attempt to cheap shot Pitt. I favor ignorance in this case.
To expand on some of what I said the other day. If Canada had stayed at Pitt and had similar success for just one more season he would be in the mix for head coaching jobs in the MAC, C-USA and Sun Belt. Have success at LSU for a year or two as OC. Especially in light of all their underachieving in the past 7 or 8 years and he is in being interviewed for AAC, low Power 5 conference jobs and OC spots in the NFL.
Pitt made LSU pay for this. A three-year deal at well over a $1 million (some are saying closer to $1.5 million) a year. Pitt stepped up more than expected. They offered about $2 million for 2-years. But there is a limit to what Pitt can do. It isn’t about being cheap or not being willing. It’s about having a limit on revenues.
LSU football is one of the highest revenue programs nationally. Bigger stadium. Bigger donors. Bigger pool of donors. Bigger TV deal. Bigger.
But Canada did make LSU sweat as well on this.
But he had made a promise to Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi — “One of my great friends,” Canada said Wednesday — that he wouldn’t make a move until he spoke to him, face to face.
“He wanted to go back and talk to his coach (Tuesday) night and do it like a man,” Orgeron said, apparently impressed by this act of loyalty from his newest employee.
So, before he signed an LSU contract, Canada flew from Baton Rouge, La., to Pittsburgh to meet with Narduzzi, who desperately wanted to keep him on his staff.
Loyal to the end, Canada didn’t offer many details of that private conversation when he spoke to the Tribune-Review on Wednesday, but he did say it was “a lengthy discussion.”
“He made it hard. It’s hard to leave your friends,” he said. “We just talked boss-to-employee, talked as friends. It’s a hard decision to make when you leave great people and a great place.”
Asked how seriously Narduzzi and Pitt’s administrators worked to keep him, Canada said, “It went above and beyond any expectations I would have. I’m more than humbled.”
Not sure the word loyalty is quite how I would apply it, but that’s semantics. I still don’t begrudge Canada for this move or consider it any sort of betrayal. It is a move that makes a lot of sense for Matt Canada.
I don’t know who Pat Narduzzi will hire next as the OC. Safe to assume he will not be an air raid style coach. And likely an OC who can work with the QB — as opposed to say an OC that was a O-line or running backs coach.
The other story that came out is that Athletic Director Scott Barnes is leaving for the same position at Oregon State — maybe. Not surprisingly, there was a short and carefully worded denial issued by Barnes via the Pitt Athletic Department.
“I am aware of a report stating that I have accepted a position at Oregon State. That report is not true.”
Not that he won’t accept. Or that he has been offered. Just that it is not true that he as already accepted. Probably because the job has not yet been formally offered.
Steve Clark, OSU’s vice president of university relations and marketing, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that “we are aware that there are national reports that this position has been offered. We can neither confirm or deny those.
“To my knowledge, the position has not been offered at this time.”
The Oregonian/OregonLive reported on Dec. 8 that Oregon State was conducting preliminary interviews for the position last week in Las Vegas and learned that the search has since narrowed its pool of candidates. Barnes is believed to be among the candidates.
Barnes’ name surfaced as a possible option at OSU shortly after Stansbury’s departure.
This has been a long-rumored possibility despite Barnes being AD at Pitt for less than a year. Oregon State lost their athletic director after just over a year to Georgia Tech, and Barnes’ name was one of the first to surface.
Oregon State’s football coach is Gary Andersen who before he bolted Wisconsin for Oregon State — opening the door for Paul Chryst to leave Pitt and return to Wisconsin. Which led to Pitt both hiring Pat Narduzzi as football head coach and firing Steve Pederson as AD. Before that, Andersen had been the head coach at Utah State and had been hired by Barnes there when he was AD.
It’s all connected, man.
It has become something of a recent trend with ADs bolting like they are Todd Graham. Syracuse lost their AD after less than a year to Minnesota. In all cases, the reason tends to do with ties to the school or location. GT was the alma mater of Stansbury. Syracuse’s AD was from Minnesota. Barnes is from Spokane, Washington.
Never a dull December for Pitt football.