Former Miami (OH) coach Haywood in at Pitt

Is the Mid-American Conference the Big East’s feeder program? These days it sure feels like it. Brian Kelly, Butch Jones and now Mike Haywood have all come from the MAC and become head coaches in the Big East.

Kelly may have been the best coach in the past five years in the Big East, winning Big East coach of the year honors in each of his three seasons at the helm of the Cincinnati program. Jones has had a rough time taking Kelly’s success and building on it, but promises to bring back the magic that Kelly began.

So, what’s Mike Haywood’s plan? The former Miami (Ohio) head man told ESPN.com’s Brian Bennett, “We’re just looking forward to doing the best job we can so we can develop our team and compete for the Big East championship each year.”

He also told Bennett about his first team meeting, where he told the Panther players, “I’m here for you. The most important thing for you to do is do a great job studying for finals. The second most important thing is to go out and practice well each day so you can provide yourself an opportunity to be successful in that bowl game on the 8th, so you can send Coach Wannstedt out with a win and at the same time win one for the University of Pittsburgh.”

Haywood is familiar with the Western Pennsylvania area, having recruited there when he was at Notre Dame as an assistant under Charlie Weis. He also signed two players out of Gateway High School last offseason to play for him at Miami (OH).

And, Haywood is also familiar with the Big East, having lost two games in two seasons to Cincinnati. This year was especially lopsided, with the Bearcats—a team that went 4-8—beating the eventual MAC champions 45-3 at Nippert Stadium.

In fact, Bennett yesterday wrote, “In Haywood, [Pitt] got a guy who has two years of head coaching experience and a 10-15 career record. Not exactly someone who gets people rushing out to renew season ticket orders. A natural reaction followed: They fired Wannstedt for this? For a guy whose team lost 45-3 to Cincinnati in October?”

Ron Cook, from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette said, “Really, is it so wrong to give Haywood a chance?”

I guess we’ll find out. Haywood “changed the culture” at Miami after going 1-11 in his first season in Oxford. He engineered the largest turnaround in the country this year by leading Miami to nine wins and the MAC title. Players had to sit in the front of their classes. Haywood had 6 a.m. practices and workouts. Players wore shirts and ties on gameday, all promoting Haywood’s no-nonsense style of coaching.

Will it work at Pitt?

I think we need to give Haywood a chance, like Ron Cook pointed out. Last year at this time Cincinnati was a-buzz with Butch Jones fever, happy that a man wanted to come to Cincinnati and “not just preach family, but live it.”

One thing is for certain, if you want my opinion. The 2011 UC-Pitt game, well, it could get real ugly, real quick. 45-3 wasn’t a fluke. Hopefully for Pitt Panther fans, Haywood isn’t a fluke either. But if you’re a fan of UC, this could be a great hire.
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Brian Bennett also linked a story from Pittsburgh that talked about a Pitt recruit who is now starting to switch his mind about signing with Pittsburgh in February. Jameel Poteat, a running back from Harrisburg’s Bishop McDevitt High School, hasn’t ruled out Pitt but told reporters he was unhappy that the school parted ways with Dave Wannstedt as their head coach. “Pitt was my first love, but they let my man go,” Poteat told the Post Gazette. He said Cincinnati is now his No. 1 choice. We’ll see where Poteat signs on Signing Day.