Jeff Capel may have been retained by athletic director Allen Greene at least for 2025-26, but early into the offseason, a pair of his assistants are being let go.
Associate head coach Tim O’Toole and assistant Jason Capel, Jeff Capel’s younger brother, will not be retained for this upcoming season, a source confirmed to TribLive on Tuesday.
PantherLair of 247Sports was the first to report the departures.
“We must be better going forward,” Greene said in mid-March in an open letter to fans. “I know it. Jeff knows it. And you know it. Jeff and I will continue to examine every aspect of the program and will make the necessary changes.”
Associate head coach Milan Brown and assistant Kyle Cieplicki remain on staff at Pitt, which enters a critical offseason following a 13-20 (5-13 ACC) season.
Both of the now-departed assistants had been with Capel since he took over at Pitt ahead of the 2018-19 season.
O’Toole, 62, joined Pitt from Cal, where he was associate head coach from 2016-18, with additional previous coaching stops at Stanford, Fairfield, Seton Hall, Duke, Syracuse, Iona, Army and Fordham.
Jason Capel, 45, who played college basketball at North Carolina unlike his brother, a Duke alum, previously served as Appalachian State’s head coach from 2010-14, where he went 53-70 overall.
Greene’s decision to retain Jeff Capel on March 13 was controversial following a disappointing campaign and third straight season without an NCAA Tournament appearance.
Pitt’s regression in 2025-26 had to weigh considerably on Greene, as did the financial reality of possibly letting Capel go, paying a significant buyout, potentially buying out a replacement coach and getting a new contract squared away.
In the end, Greene opted to bring Capel back, but as Tuesday showed, Pitt’s men’s basketball program will be different heading into 2026-27.
More changes may well be on the horizon, as the spring transfer portal window is from April 7-21.
“Our focus turns to welcoming a highly regarded recruiting class, retaining key contributors and strategically using the transfer portal to add experience and balance,” Greene continued in his open letter.