One telling comment in my view . . . "very comfortable [at VU]" and it showed up "big time" in his non-focused recruiting results over the last few years.
"I wanted one more opportunity to build something, to do something," Stallings said. "I had been at Vanderbilt for 17 years and obviously had gotten very comfortable there, but the lure of the ACC ... I was ready for something different. I have tons of energy and tons of enthusiasm for what I do, and people I do it with. That's why I wanted one more."
But as soon as Stallings was announced as head coach last March, a vicious blowback followed. Barnes used a search firm whose president hired Stallings back at Vanderbilt and worked with Barnes at Washington. Many in the community felt the new coach was an uninspired choice to replace Dixon, who left for his alma mater, TCU. Dixon led Pitt to 11 NCAA tournament appearances, including two Sweet 16s (2004, 2007) and an Elite Eight (2009).
One local columnist wrote Barnes was "out of his mind" with the Stallings hire.
________________________________________________________________________
That is the question confronting not only him and his coaching staff, but Lyke, as well. Lyke also must consider the $10 million buyout owed to Stallings if he is fired. Stallings is asked whether immediate results are needed more in today's sports climate than when he first went to Vanderbilt.
"Do I think that I'll have the same kind of time that I had at Vanderbilt? No," he said. "We had a bad year my fourth year at Vanderbilt, but I was given a fifth year and we went to the Sweet 16, and then we went to the Sweet 16 a couple years later, but I don't sense that I'll have that long to produce [at Pittsburgh]. I think I'll have to produce more quickly than that."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...nthers-basketball-coach-kevin-stallings-fired
"I wanted one more opportunity to build something, to do something," Stallings said. "I had been at Vanderbilt for 17 years and obviously had gotten very comfortable there, but the lure of the ACC ... I was ready for something different. I have tons of energy and tons of enthusiasm for what I do, and people I do it with. That's why I wanted one more."
But as soon as Stallings was announced as head coach last March, a vicious blowback followed. Barnes used a search firm whose president hired Stallings back at Vanderbilt and worked with Barnes at Washington. Many in the community felt the new coach was an uninspired choice to replace Dixon, who left for his alma mater, TCU. Dixon led Pitt to 11 NCAA tournament appearances, including two Sweet 16s (2004, 2007) and an Elite Eight (2009).
One local columnist wrote Barnes was "out of his mind" with the Stallings hire.
________________________________________________________________________
That is the question confronting not only him and his coaching staff, but Lyke, as well. Lyke also must consider the $10 million buyout owed to Stallings if he is fired. Stallings is asked whether immediate results are needed more in today's sports climate than when he first went to Vanderbilt.
"Do I think that I'll have the same kind of time that I had at Vanderbilt? No," he said. "We had a bad year my fourth year at Vanderbilt, but I was given a fifth year and we went to the Sweet 16, and then we went to the Sweet 16 a couple years later, but I don't sense that I'll have that long to produce [at Pittsburgh]. I think I'll have to produce more quickly than that."
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...nthers-basketball-coach-kevin-stallings-fired
