ESPN.com reports that Michael Haywood broke the news of his departure to his Miami-Ohio players last night at a late evening meeting after he was in Pittsburgh during the day:
Miami (Ohio) coach Mike Haywood, known for his fiery speeches and CEO-like leadership skills, has been chosen by Pitt to succeed Dave Wannstedt as coach.
Haywood, 10-15 in two seasons in the Mid-American Conference, held a series of meetings on campus Wednesday with Pitt officials — some of which were spotted by students. He then returned to Oxford, Ohio, where he broke the news to Miami’s players at a late-night meeting.
No word on how the players took it, but these things are typically never easy.
The article also mentions that Miami of Ohio will be facing Middle Tennessee in the GoDaddy.com Bowl and that Haywood is unlikely to coach the team in that game. That hasn’t been confirmed and it’s not known who will coach the team if Haywood does not.
As mentioned earlier, Haywood is expected to be named as the Pitt coach at a 4:00 p.m. news conference.