Mike Haywood Contesting Pitt Firing, Asks State To Investigate

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:

Look, I'll never say something happened for sure when I really don't have any idea. But I have a hard time believing race played even a small part in this. In fact, it's so far fetched in my opinion that it's barely worth addressing. But, essentially, it can come back to this: If Pitt had any racial motivation in its hiring/firing, why would they have hired him in the first place while many other more popular white candidates were out there (i.e.Tom Bradley)?

As a black man who went to Pitt, I've got to say that I think the school does a pretty good job of not only promoting diversity, but going out of their way to do so.

For more Panthers news and discussion, visit SB Nation's Cardiac Hill. 

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.

Follow updates on Graham and Pitt football at Cardiac Hill and SB Nation Pittsburgh.

In the biggest college football news of the night (no), the Pittsburgh Panthers are reportedly set to announce Tulsa coach Todd Graham as the successor to short-lived Mike Haywood. Tulsa’s Fox 23 reported the move early Monday afternoon, with Pete Thamel confirming later.

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.

Former Tulsa offensive coordinator, who was recently hired to fill the same role on the Clemson Tigers staff, is a top candidate for the Tulsa job according to Fox 23.

Haywood was fired after being arrested on a domestic violence charge very shortly into his Pitt tenure.

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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.

One coach who will almost certainly not be a candidate is Rich Rodriguez, fired by Michigan. One coach who could very well be a candidate, and maybe the front-runner at the moment, is Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. ESPN has Bradley being interviewed by the university, while one local TV news station has Bradley as “a done deal”, though the school has denied this and any report of a head-coaching agreement by any local TV news station is automatically suspect.

Alabama assistant Sal Sunseri has also reportedly been interviewed after being a rumored candidate last go-round. Some of the other candidates cited by ESPN were also in the running when Pitt decided to go with Haywood instead.

In the statement Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg released to announce Mike Haywood's firing, he termed the episode a "matter of real regret." Here's that statement, via FanHouse:

"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."

After news broke on New Year's Eve that incoming Pittsburgh head coach Mike Haywood had been arrested for domestic violence in South Bend, it remained to be seen what his new employer would do in response.

Reportedly, Pittsburgh is going to let Haywood go.

FanHouse's Brett McMurphy has the first mention of it, via tweet:

Pitt coach released per Pitt chancelor.

Pitt chancelor: "After careful consideration of recent events, Pitt has dismissed Michael Haywood as football coach, effective immediately:

Haywood was named the head coach at Pittsburgh on Dec. 16, and had previously been the head coach at Miami of Ohio.

We're obviously not likely to hear about Pitt's plans for replacing Haywood in the extreme short term, but the Panthers appear to be back in the same spot they were after Dave Wannstedt's surprising retirement, and Haywood's firing will likely make his tenure an ugly incident that has observers wondering what compelled the school to hire him.

Stay tuned to our StoryStream for the latest updates on Haywood as they develop.