Pat Narduzzi apparently still isn’t happy with the way Matt Canada left Pitt.
In a video that recently surfaced from his presentation at the 2019 Nike Coach of the Year Clinic in Portland, Oregon, Narduzzi blasted the way Canada left his program after eight months on the job for a higher-paying gig at LSU.
Pitt reportedly came close to matching the three-year, $1.5 million contract that LSU gave to Canada, but was unable to retain the itinerant coach that is now on his fifth job in six years.
Narduzzi appeared to be cautioning young coaches against that career path and went on to say that he didn’t think Canada was worth the salary that was offered by LSU.
“He spent eight months with me, left to take one of those big jobs for $1.2 million,” Narduzzi said. “I said, I don’t think you want to go. He’s like, well, it’s a lot of money. I got him a lot of money. I got him a million at our place.”
“I don’t even think he was worth a million,” Narduzzi said. “He wasn’t even that good.”
Pitt’s offense under Canada in 2016 set a program record for total points and finished 10th in the country with 40.9 points per game. Since Canada left, Pitt finished 101st and 94th in the nation in points per game under Shawn Watson in 2017 and 2018 and 113th under Mark Whipple in 2019.
Narduzzi thought leaving Pitt would harm Canada’s career in the long term.
“You go there, you’re starting your career over again,” he recalled saying to Canada. “You stay here for another year, you have a good year, I’ll send you out of here a head coach. No patience.”
Canada spent part of one season at LSU before a highly publicized breakup with head coach Ed Orgeron. He then went on to become Maryland’s offensive coordinator and interim head coach in 2018 and was hired as the Steelers quarterbacks coach in January, a few months after the video of Narduzzi was recorded.
A Pitt football spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking a request for comment.
Clown
your the clown
“You’re”, but awesome rebuttal.
“Canada, but was unable to retain the itinerant coach that is now on his fifth job in six years.”
Narduzzi was correct.
Alan, stick to The PSN Daily Notebook
People like that NEVER build a program and aren’t worth the money, even if they are good coaches. Always looking for greener grass!
So you would turn down a pay raise to Coach much better athletes at a much better, top 5 program with a rabid fan base in the best football conference in the country?
He wasn’t wrong