Jeff Capel just completed his fourth season at Pitt, and there is talk that he is on the hot seat.
Capel’s Pitt Panthers went 11-21 and got blown out by 20 by BC in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday to end their season. That led some to wonder whether Capel will be back next season.
Pittsburgh just lost by 20 to Boston College.
Now the question becomes whether Panthers AD Heather Lyke brings Jeff Capel back next season. Buyout is around $15 million.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) March 8, 2022
Capel told reporters he hasn’t heard from the school’s athletic director whether he will be back. But he believes he will be.
Jeff Capel said he hasn't gotten any assurance from Pitt AD Heather Lyke that he'll be back next season. Said they haven't had those kind of conversations
Does he have confidence he'll be back?
"I do"
— Craig Meyer (@ByCraigMeyer) March 8, 2022
Then Capel offered a quote that drew some attention. He said the program needs better players in order to get better and to help build and maintain a winning culture.
This was the full quote from Jeff Capel (and the question the answer was in response to), courtesy of the ASAP transcipt here at the ACC tournament pic.twitter.com/1euvpQukyn
— Craig Meyer (@ByCraigMeyer) March 8, 2022
Many felt Capel was throwing his team under the bus. But he also took responsibility, saying they need to recruit and develop better too.
People also believe that Pitt should move on from him. But Capel thinks people need to have some perspective about the matter considering where Pitt was when he took over.
Remember, Kevin Stallings was fired after going 8-24 and 0-18 in conference during his second season on the job. Capel took over after that and went 14-19 and then 16-17 in his second year. The program has won six games in conference three seasons in a row and has had a negative trending record for two years in a row.
But Capel is confident the program is in a better place.
Jeff Capel when asked if the Pitt program is in a better spot now than when he found it
“Hell yeah, from when I found it. It was completely depleted when I got here. It was a mess. I didn’t know how bad it was. I don’t think the people inside the program knew how bad it was.”
— Craig Meyer (@ByCraigMeyer) March 8, 2022
He’s right. The program is better now than where Stallings had it. But there is a feeling that Capel has stalled out, so he needs to show significant improvement in order to keep his job.
The reality is Pitt has not been the same program since joining the ACC. Jamie Dixon recognized how much more difficult their path was, which is why he left for TCU.
Pitt has only had one winning season in conference since joining the ACC. Any coach that heads the program will have major task on their hands.
