Walt Harris

[tbozeglav]

/obligatory

[GP1]

I haven't looked at his Stanford contract, but I would guess he's still drawing a nice salary from the Cardinals?

It's Cardinal, not Cardinals. If it was Cardinals, their mascot would be something other than a giant redwood tree.Anyhow, it's not April 1, so it can't be April Fools Day. Harris is an excellent QB coach and Jacq will benefit greatly from his teaching. Long term, what does this mean? I still think one way or another, JD is finished after 2009. I don't like the idea of Montgomery being the next head coach, but I do like the idea of Harris being the next coach. Harris took Pitt to a BCS bowl the year he was FIRED from Pitt (they haven't been back to one since). He is a strange guy, but the success was there at Pitt. Harris could be the next coach at Akron.

This is the second time you've said that Walt Harris was fired (or FIRED) from Pitt. I don't recall it that way. His last year at Pitt was 2004 and he was named the Big East Coach Of The Year that year. He also led Pitt to the Fiesta Bowl on 1/1/05, although they lost decisively to Urban Meyer's undefeated Utah team. According to a Pittsburgh newspaper article at that time, at the end of 2004 Harris's agent wanted Pitt to renegotiate his contract or let him go. It became a moot point when he took the Stanford job, although apparently he interviewed at Stanford without Pitt's permission. If they wanted to fire him, wouldn't they have been encouraging him to look for another coaching job? I recall that some people at Pitt were unhappy with him, but it seems unlikely that they would fire a guy who was just named the conference coach of the year and who took them to a BCS bowl. Are you sure about that? Or could it be that they "fired" him after he announced that was taking the Stanford job?

You can call it whatever you want. He was basically fired at Pitt. Pitt started his last season 2-2 and the Post Gazette ran a bunch of articles on who the next coach at Pitt was going to be. Pitt had a great remainder of the season and went to a BCS game. No matter what, Pitt did not want him to come back for another year. Again, call it what you want, but he was fired.

[you am i]

I haven't looked at his Stanford contract, but I would guess he's still drawing a nice salary from the Cardinals?

It's Cardinal, not Cardinals. If it was Cardinals, their mascot would be something other than a giant redwood tree.Anyhow, it's not April 1, so it can't be April Fools Day. Harris is an excellent QB coach and Jacq will benefit greatly from his teaching. Long term, what does this mean? I still think one way or another, JD is finished after 2009. I don't like the idea of Montgomery being the next head coach, but I do like the idea of Harris being the next coach. Harris took Pitt to a BCS bowl the year he was FIRED from Pitt (they haven't been back to one since). He is a strange guy, but the success was there at Pitt. Harris could be the next coach at Akron.

This is the second time you've said that Walt Harris was fired (or FIRED) from Pitt. I don't recall it that way. His last year at Pitt was 2004 and he was named the Big East Coach Of The Year that year. He also led Pitt to the Fiesta Bowl on 1/1/05, although they lost decisively to Urban Meyer's undefeated Utah team. According to a Pittsburgh newspaper article at that time, at the end of 2004 Harris's agent wanted Pitt to renegotiate his contract or let him go. It became a moot point when he took the Stanford job, although apparently he interviewed at Stanford without Pitt's permission. If they wanted to fire him, wouldn't they have been encouraging him to look for another coaching job? I recall that some people at Pitt were unhappy with him, but it seems unlikely that they would fire a guy who was just named the conference coach of the year and who took them to a BCS bowl. Are you sure about that? Or could it be that they "fired" him after he announced that was taking the Stanford job?

You can call it whatever you want. He was basically fired at Pitt. Pitt started his last season 2-2 and the Post Gazette ran a bunch of articles on who the next coach at Pitt was going to be. Pitt had a great remainder of the season and went to a BCS game. No matter what, Pitt did not want him to come back for another year. Again, call it what you want, but he was fired.

Since ALL of the stories of the time, national, Pittsburgh, and Stanford, say that he resigned, I'll call it resigned. There are too many sources to list. If you've got ANY source, even one (other than a fan blog), saying or even suggesting that he was about to be fired after being named conference coach of the year, I'd like to see it. You'd think that someone would have picked up on that story. Just trying to be fair. He's one of our guys now.

[GP1]

I haven't looked at his Stanford contract, but I would guess he's still drawing a nice salary from the Cardinals?

It's Cardinal, not Cardinals. If it was Cardinals, their mascot would be something other than a giant redwood tree.Anyhow, it's not April 1, so it can't be April Fools Day. Harris is an excellent QB coach and Jacq will benefit greatly from his teaching. Long term, what does this mean? I still think one way or another, JD is finished after 2009. I don't like the idea of Montgomery being the next head coach, but I do like the idea of Harris being the next coach. Harris took Pitt to a BCS bowl the year he was FIRED from Pitt (they haven't been back to one since). He is a strange guy, but the success was there at Pitt. Harris could be the next coach at Akron.

This is the second time you've said that Walt Harris was fired (or FIRED) from Pitt. I don't recall it that way. His last year at Pitt was 2004 and he was named the Big East Coach Of The Year that year. He also led Pitt to the Fiesta Bowl on 1/1/05, although they lost decisively to Urban Meyer's undefeated Utah team. According to a Pittsburgh newspaper article at that time, at the end of 2004 Harris's agent wanted Pitt to renegotiate his contract or let him go. It became a moot point when he took the Stanford job, although apparently he interviewed at Stanford without Pitt's permission. If they wanted to fire him, wouldn't they have been encouraging him to look for another coaching job? I recall that some people at Pitt were unhappy with him, but it seems unlikely that they would fire a guy who was just named the conference coach of the year and who took them to a BCS bowl. Are you sure about that? Or could it be that they "fired" him after he announced that was taking the Stanford job?

You can call it whatever you want. He was basically fired at Pitt. Pitt started his last season 2-2 and the Post Gazette ran a bunch of articles on who the next coach at Pitt was going to be. Pitt had a great remainder of the season and went to a BCS game. No matter what, Pitt did not want him to come back for another year. Again, call it what you want, but he was fired.

Since ALL of the stories of the time, national, Pittsburgh, and Stanford, say that he resigned, I'll call it resigned. There are too many sources to list. If you've got ANY source, even one (other than a fan blog), saying or even suggesting that he was about to be fired after being named conference coach of the year, I'd like to see it. You'd think that someone would have picked up on that story. Just trying to be fair. He's one of our guys now.

Some say red, some say cardinal, some say rust colored, etc. I don't think we really disagree. Here is a story from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette saying he was forced out. In my book, forced out means fired. I am trying to be fair to Harris. He was treated horribly at Pitt and the program has not been as good since he was fired.

[Lee Adams]

all i'd say is that its some instant credibility for the program...i'm sure walt didn't need the money...

[ZachTheZip]

McManamon on how Harris ended up at AkronSome good quotes in there. I can't wait to see what he can do. It looks like he will be working with Jacq on reducing those game-killing turnovers.