Former Pitt Football Coach Haywood Requests Investigation Over Firing

June 29, 2011 / Football
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Paul Zeise

Former Pitt head football coach Michael Haywood has asked the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and other state and federal agencies to investigate the university’s firing of him.

Haywood has retained the Buzbee Law Firm of Houston, Texas, which announced the action late Tuesday afternoon.

In a corresponding notice letter sent to the university this week, Haywood attorney Tony Buzbee raises concerns about Pitt’s lack of investigation and the coach’s termination sixteen days after he was hired.

The university had no immediate comment.

Haywood, was hired Dec. 16 to replace Dave Wannstedt, who was fired two days after the regular season ended, but Haywood was fired on Jan. 1st because of a domestic incident he was allegedly involved in with the mother of his young child the night before.

Haywood was arrested Dec. 31 in South Bend, Ind., where he kept a home, for alleged domestic abuse involving the mother of his then-21-month-old child who lived in that house. The incident took place on Friday in the afternoon and within hours of the allegation, the university fired Haywood.

The alleged victim in the case soon thereafter filed court papers asserting Haywood was not a danger to her or the couple’s child. The submitted paperwork also raised questions about the accuracy of the police report.

At a pretrial hearing in February, Haywood did admit to grabbing the woman during the altercation, which was over custody of their young son, and that she got hurt when she fell down trying to get away from him.

But he was given the option of having the charges dropped in a year if he lived up to the terms of a pre-trial diversion agreement with the court. The terms included a psychological evaluation, possible anger management counseling and 60 hours of community service by February, 2012.

Buzbee issued the following statement yesterday:

“In their rush to judgment, Pitt officials did not bother to contact the alleged victim or even the coach himself. I believe the university violated its contract with the coach, the university’s employment procedures, and the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Had Pitt conducted even a cursory investigation, it would have determined that the alleged incident simply did not occur as reported, and the termination would not have occurred. We are exploring other motives for Pitt’s firing of Coach Haywood.”

Haywood signed a five-year deal with Pitt which, according to Buzbee, would have paid him as much as $7.5 million, plus other incentives.

The day after Haywood was arrested, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg met with key members of the administration and some of the university lawyers. It was decided unanimously that Haywood should not only be fired, he should have his contract terminated without any further compensation because his actions violated the morals clause of his contract.

Nordenberg then issued a statement that day, which began “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.”

Later in that same statement, Nordenberg, the former Dean of Pitt’s Law school, then made it very clear that the fact that Haywood was arrested and involved in some kind of incident was more than enough for the school to legally terminate his contract regardless of the outcome of the case.

“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.”

Pitt athletic director Steve Pederson, on a teleconference with select media members a few days later, clarified that it was the morals clause in Haywood’s contract and is standard in every contract the university draws up with coaches, which enabled the school to terminate him without having to compensate him.

Buzbee said Haywood seeks a state investigation and a meeting with university officials.

Haywood also issued the following statement:

“I deeply apologize for all the problems this incident has caused, including the 16 people who were once part of my staff. However, the allegations as reported are completely false.”

Haywood, who was born in Houston and played for and graduated from the University of Notre Dame, came to Pitt from Miami (Ohio) University where he was named 2010 MAC Coach of the Year after leading the Redhawks to a 10-4 recors and the MAC championship.

He was replaced by Todd Graham.


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