West Virginia fired the opening salvo on the coaching front, and their Backyard Brawl counterparts have apparently responded in kind.
Whether this shot will resonate with the masses remains to be seen, however.
After a day filled with rumors that he would be the guy, Mike Haywood, ESPN.com‘s Joe Schad reports, has been hired to replace Dave Wannstedt as Pittsburgh’s head coach. Schad reports that Haywood will receive a five-year deal, and that the hiring could be officially announced as early as Thursday.
Haywood has spent the past two seasons as the head coach at Miami of Ohio, and, after a one-win season in 2009, led the RedHawks to a win in the 2010 MAC title game.
Prior to the Miami job, the 46-year-old coach served as offensive coordinator at Notre Dame (2005-2008), as well as an assistant at Texas (2003-2004) and LSU (1995-2002).
Haywood’s hiring would leave five Div. 1-A jobs open (for now): Vanderbilt, Temple, Kent State, Ball State and, of course, Miami of Ohio. Haywood would also become the third MAC coach in the past 10 days to take over a BcS program, joining Al Golden (Temple to Miami) and Jerry Kill (Northern Illinois to Minnesota).
