Pitt’s loss to Boston College on Tuesday in the ACC tournament was the final chapter of an extremely disappointing season. It felt like the Panthers made some progress this year but, then again, it is hard to really tell how much.
Jeff Capel will almost assuredly return as Pitt’s coach for next season and I think that is the right decision. Athletic director Heather Lyke values stability and is patient with her coaches when it comes to building a program. Plus, to fire Capel at this point would be to start over. There also is a very large — $15 million, according to reports — buyout that makes firing Capel impractical on a number of levels.
The thing is, Capel needs to be on an extremely hot seat next season. That will be his fifth season, and while there were a lot of things working against him when he started, it is now time to deliver. There can be no more reasons why the program is stuck in a rut. There can be no more major mistakes in recruiting and no more mass exodus of players and a reset of the process.
