According to Brian Bennett of ESPN.com, Pitt is getting ready today to officially announce Mike Haywood as its next head coach:
Pittsburgh has called a news conference for 4 p.m. ET Thursday to introduce Mike Haywood as its next head coach.
Haywood spent two years at Miami (Ohio), going 9-4 and winning the MAC title this year after going 1-11 in his first year as a head coach.
I’ve said it over at Cardiac Hill repeatedly, but this is a hire I have a hard time getting excited about. While it may turn out to be a good hire down the line, this is a far cry from an obvious upgrade over Dave Wannstedt.
There are no sure things in coaching, but I would have preferred Pitt to go after someone with more of a track record than a coach who essentially has a single good season in the MAC under his belt. Haywood has worked at other big name programs such as Notre Dame, Texas, and LSU, but mostly only as a running backs coach. His experience as an offensive coordinator at Notre Dame is questionable as Charlie Weis was there as the head coach and likely assisted Haywood to some degree.
Time will tell.