Capel Makes More Pitt Hires

Jeff Capel continues to fill out his Pitt staff: he’s named Jason Richards as director of student-athlete development and Brian Regan will be director of basketball operations.

Richards is a semi-permanent staff member, having served under Jamie Dixon and Kevin Stallings and now Capel.

Regan was on staff too, handling events and camps.

Capel still has one more primary assistant to hire but so far he’s made some very savvy moves. His two primary assistants, brother Jason and Tim O’ Toole, both have head coaching experience and know how to run stations, recruit and so forth. Like Jeff, Jason grew up in a basketball family and has decades of knowledge at a very young age.

O’ Toole has coached all over the country and knows a lot about where to find players. He has decades of experience and relationships to work with.

Capel’s two most recent hires tie him into Pitt institutionally. Richards and Regan know deans and parents and how admissions work. They’re smart hires.

Capel is also smart enough to start working the locals. He's been ingratiating himself with the Steelers, the Pirates and the Penguins, moves that will pay off in a big way down the road in at least two ways: first, just in terms of good will, and second, if he hits a rough patch, the people who run those teams and work for them will have his back.

On some level, every town is a small town or at least a network of small towns and Capel is being very smart about tapping into the right Pittsburgh networks.

• JEFF CAPEL MAKES FOUR HIRES FOR PITT COACHING STAFF
• Jeff Capel adds two with Pitt ties to his staff