Pittsburgh Coach Mike Haywood Fired Less than 25 Hours After Arrest for Domestic Assault [UPDATE]
By Jason McIntyre
Dec 3: Haywood’s Miami of Ohio team upsets Northern Illinois, 26-21.
Dec. 16: Haywood named new Pittsburgh coach
Dec. 31: Haywood arrested on domestic assault charges.
Jan. 1: Haywood fired [UPDATE: Full statement after the jump.]
Where does Pittsburgh go from here? The first name you can expect to hear is Rich Rodriguez, assuming he is fired by Michigan in the next 24-48 hours. That could set up Rich Rod going against his former team, West Virginia.
“After careful consideration of recent events, the University of Pittsburgh has dismissed Michael Haywood as its head football coach, effective immediately. He was advised of that action this afternoon.
“To be clear, the University’s decision is not tied to any expectation with respect to the terms on which the legal proceeding now pending in Indiana might ultimately be concluded. Instead, it reflects a strong belief that moving forward with Mr. Haywood as our head coach is not possible under the existing circumstances.
“This is a matter of real regret for the many people at Pitt who had looked forward to working with him. However, head coaches are among the University’s most visible representatives and are expected to maintain high standards of personal conduct and to avoid situations that might reflect negatively on the University.
“We will immediately re-open our search for a head football coach, expanding the process to include a larger pool of candidates. Our goal is to move swiftly, but prudently, to find the right person to successfully lead the Pitt football program for what we hope will be an extended period of time.”