Mike Haywood Contesting Pitt Firing, Asks State To Investigate

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When last we left our intrepid hero Mike Haywood, he was lobbing chilly letters at state officials over his unceremonious ousting at Pitt, following the surfacing of certain unsavory domestic violence charges against his person, a plan of action that mostly served to remind us all how Mike Haywood got fired. His new plan of attack involves claiming his firing was racially motivated, which rings odd since he was, y’know, hired in the first place. Our Pitt blog finds this all a touch suspicious:

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You may remember that Mike Haywood was briefly the Pittsburgh head football coach last year before a domestic violence charge ended his tenure before he coached a down. You might think you would just move forward and attempt to get on with your life after this, but you’re not named Mike Haywood. He’d like everyone to remember that whole thing in requesting an investigation of his dismissal, which according to Haywood’s attorneys would not have happened with a simple investigation of the facts of the case.

Haywood may have the charges dismissed if he completes 60 hours of community service and submits to a psychological evaluation, and this would go a long way towards clearing his name in the criminal sphere. In the professional sphere, however, this is reminding everyone about that time you were arrested for domestic violence, but really just grabbed a woman during an argument, who then happened to fall and hurt herself, according to the coach. Doesn’t that sound so much better than just moving on with your life, especially when you pair it with a budding and completely improbable conspiracy theory about why you were fired? We hope Haywood is paying his lawyers in buttons and pocket lint, because it sounds like that is what they deserve.

Multiple reports named Tulsa’s Todd Graham as the new Pitt Panther head coach today. The University made it official with an announcement by AD Steve Pederson:

“We are thrilled that Todd Graham has agreed to become the head football coach at the University of Pittsburgh,” said Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson in a statement. “His innovative, creative and energized approach to football makes him an exciting leader for our program. He has a proven track record of success at all levels of football and his wealth of experience on both sides of the ball gives him a unique set of credentials.”“My family and I are honored to join such a prestigious university and rich football tradition like the University of Pittsburgh,” Graham said in a statement. “Pittsburgh is a tremendous football city with great fans. We will work diligently every day to earn their respect and build a program that competes for and wins championships. I’m also excited to return to the Big East, a conference that plays tremendous football.“No time for a honeymoon, Todd. You’ve got a recruiting class to rebuild and a fanbase to re-invigorate after a couple crazy weeks.

In four years as Tulsa head coach, Graham went 53-36 with three bowl wins. He also led Rice to a 7-6 record in 2006.

Thamel reports Graham has signed a six-year deal to be announced tomorrow, while Fox 23 reports it’s a five-year deal worth $10 million, a raise over his current $1.3 million annual haul and has him leaving for Pittsburgh tonight.

Let’s try this again. The University of Pittsburgh has officially started its second head coaching search in as many months after firing Mike Haywood following his arrest for domestic violence. You might recall that Haywood was hired after the Panthers fired Dave Wannstedt, whose crime was not winning the very wacky and not very good Big East.