Pitt football – The Haywood, coaching rundown

The Pitt football community went into its second frenzy in three weeks after new head coach… The Pitt football community went into its second frenzy in three weeks after new head coach Michael Haywood was arrested this weekend for domestic violence and subsequently fired.

The absence of Haywood, who pleaded not guilty to domestic battery on Monday, leaves Pitt searching for its second head coach in less than a month and struggling to retain recruits and assistant coaches.

“This will probably be a lost year for Pitt with the desertion of a recruiting class,” said Murray Chass, a Pitt alumnus who spent decades covering sports for The New York Times. “The whole situation rises above the level of coach and even football and calls the athletic director and the chancellor into question.”

Spokespeople for the university have remained mostly mum on the situation aside from statements released in writing and one press conference with former head coach Dave Wannstedt, who held the position for six years before Haywood.

All the while, the athletic director, Steve Pederson, has been notably absent from the public eye, and the Athletic Department has declined to release his travel schedule.

The following is a look at how Pitt football arrived at its current state.

Haywood’s arrival and following arrest

On Dec. 16, nine days after Wannstedt resigned under pressure, the Athletic Department held a press conference officially announcing Haywood’s appointment as head coach.

Haywood, 46, spent the past two years as head coach at Miami University of Ohio, where he had 1-11 and 9-4 records with the Red Hawks. Prior to that, he served as an assistant coach at Notre Dame, Texas and LSU, among other schools.

Pederson said Pitt chose Haywood after reviewing a list of 400 candidates because he “exhibited the values that were in line with the University of Pittsburgh.”

Haywood, who was set to take over a team that saw four players arrested this season, said he hoped to teach his athletes “to be men of trust; to be men of integrity.”

So it caught most people by surprise when police in South Bend, Ind., arrested Haywood at 3:10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Thomas J. Sanders wrote in court documents that he believes Haywood placed a woman with whom he has a 21-month-old son in a chokehold outside their South Bend home and then threw her backward.

The police report, also filed in court, said that when officers arrived outside the home about 2:30 p.m., the woman and Haywood were separated.

According to the police report, Haywood and the woman were “in the midst of a child custody battle” and had been arguing over child custody and parenting time arrangements. The woman decided to take the child to a relative’s house and placed him in the car.

Officers wrote that they found “dark red marks on [the woman’s] neck and lower face/jaw area, a small raised mark on her back, and redness on her lower right arm.”

The woman told police that Haywood placed her in a chokehold and pushed her backward, causing her to hit a wheelbarrow and experience pain.

Haywood offered a different account. According to the police report, Haywood told officers that when the woman unlocked her car to get in and drive away, he tried to grab the child, she grabbed his shirt to stop him and he pushed her away with his arm. He said that the woman fell and he then helped her up.

When asked how the woman received the marks on her neck, Haywood said that “when she is upset or angry, her neck, face and chest turn red. The redness I could see was a result of her emotional state,” according to the police report.

Officers wrote in their report that they believed the marks on the woman’s neck were consistent with her story.

They took Haywood to the St. Joseph County Jail in South Bend, where he remained until he was released on $1,000 bond Saturday. Haywood appeared for his arraignment Monday afternoon and is scheduled to return to court at 8 a.m. next Tuesday to set a record and jury trial dates.

The St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office warned, “Please be advised that the charges filed against the defendants are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.”

Haywood could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Andre Gammage, declined to comment Tuesday night.

The decision to fire

Hours after Haywood was released from jail, Pitt announced that it had fired the coach. Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said in a statement that the University’s decision does not reflect whether it believes Haywood will be found guilty or not guilty, but rather “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,” Nordenberg said. “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.”

As the national media churned out stories of Haywood’s firing — The New York Times, USA Today and ESPN among dozens of other outlets covered the story — some called into question Pederson’s status as athletic director at Pitt.

Pederson, who has not appeared publicly since Haywood’s arrest or firing, served as Pitt’s athletic director from 1996-2002 before moving to the University of Nebraska.

In Nebraska, he drew the ire of fans after firing head football coach Frank Solich, who had 7-7 and 9-3 records the two seasons before. Pederson experienced trouble filling coaching positions and was fired at Nebraska in 2007.

The same year, he returned to Pitt as athletic director. The University continues to support Pederson publicly.

“Steve Pederson has played a key role in elevating Pitt’s athletics programs, remains an important member of the University’s senior leadership team and continues to enjoy the full support of the Chancellor,” spokesman E.J. Borghetti said in a statement Saturday.

Editor’s Note: The Pitt News does not release the names of alleged domestic violence victims.

Assistant News Editor John Manganaro contributed to this report.