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Pat Narduzzi and the Theory of Coaching Internships

Dec 262014

new Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi will be officially unveiled as Pitt’s new head coach today. As the media and Friends of Tom Bradley like to point out, he will be the 10 millionth head coach at Pitt since Dave Wannstedt was ~~tarred, feathered and run out of town on rails~~ fired for being a coach-on-the-decline whose only major strengths included a Yinzer accent and a fantastic mustache.

Mike Haywood lasted a couple weeks. Toddy Graham spent one season at Pitt selling used cars with no engines and ripping on his quarterback before he absconded in the middle of the night, not unlike the Baltimore Colts. Paul Chryst left after three mostly uninspiring seasons to take over at that most Shangri-La of schools, Wisconsin.

I get it… Pitt hasn’t had true stability for a long time. And here comes Pat Narduzzi, a long-time defensive coordinator who passed over other head coaching jobs to come to Pitt. We are perpetually losing head coaches. The most common joke I’ve heard on the radio or read in comments sections (yes I should stop reading comments sections) is that Pitt has turned into a coaching internship, a way-station where younglings bide their time until getting called home (or where they apparently have family in the area).

That Narduzzi will do the same – leave in 2-4 years, whether back to Michigan State or to some other school with deeper pockets and a stadium that’s more than half full. What’s the alternative for Pitt?

Tom Bradley? Sal Sunseri? Bill Cherpak? Seriously, don’t make me laugh. Pitt fans don’t laugh. We chuckle ruefully. Continue reading »

Can Pitt Football Become a Wisconsin?

College Football, Football Comments Off

Dec 172014

By Paul_Chryst,_Pittsburgh_Panthers_Head_Football_Coach.JPG: Singregardless derivative work: Crazypaco [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

So, Pitt football is about to be left at the altar again. Another coach absconding away to his dream job. This time, at least, it’s hard to fault the guy for leaving. Paul Chryst grew up in Madison, played at Wisconsin, coached at Wisconsin and still has family in Madison. And I honestly believe that it’s the only job for which he would have left Pitt.

It’s been written much lately that Pitt football is a steppingstone job. This is true. That Chryst is leaving for his dream job. This is true. That Wisconsin is a better program than Pitt. This last assertion is, I think, also true.

But why? Why is Wisconsin a better program than Pitt? It comes, as it always does, to two factors. The first is coaching. Barry Alvarez, who it should be noted is from western PA, turned Wisconsin into a better program than Pitt. It’s one of the best non-blueblood programs in the country. But prior to Alvarez’s stint at the helm of Wisconsin, the Badgers were pretty abysmal. From UWBadgers.com:

When Alvarez arrived in Madison in 1990, Wisconsin had compiled a 9-36 record during the previous four seasons and attendance at Camp Randall Stadium had dipped to an average of 41,734 per game (54 percent of capacity).

Additionally, Wisconsin hadn’t been to a bowl game in the 6 years prior and hadn’t played in the Rose Bowl since 1962. Alvarez changed everything in Madison. He went 118-73-4 as head coach of Wisconsin, winning 3 Big Ten and Rose Bowl titles. Camp Randall Stadium sells out regularly and is considered one of the toughest venues in the Big Ten.

By Ohsuch181 at en.wikipedia [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

Camp Randall stadium