Charlie Partridge Receives Recognition As Top Defensive Line Coach in College Football

It’s no secret that Charlie Partridge is one of the most impactful coaches on Pitt’s staff.

He’s the best defensive line coach in college football and serves as one of the key recruiters on Pitt’s coaching staff, especially in the state of Florida. His importance to the coaching staff is obvious.

So obvious that when a recent article from The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman compiled the top position coaches from across college football, he included Partridge as the defensive line coach.

Wasserman wrote:

“Viewed as one of the best defensive line coaches in the country, Partridge has a keen eye for talent and backs it up with developmental chops. He turned Calijah Kancey, a three-star prospect out of Miami, into a first-round NFL Draft pick, and that is the exact type of coach I’d want on my staff.”

It’s well known that Pitt leads college football in disruptive plays under Partridge’s tutelage, with 196 sacks (26 more than second-place Alabama) since 2019, and it all starts up front.

Pitt has recorded 51 sacks (second place), 46 sacks (first place), 54 sacks (third place) and 48 sacks (first place) over the last four seasons, and despite the injuries last season, it was a conference-leading unit.

Pitt’s defense racked up 45 sacks and 90 tackles for loss (21st), and the unit allowed just 98.9 rush yards per game (eighth) and 327.9 yards per game (22nd).

And Pitt did it all as the defensive line was ravaged by injuries all season. Calijah Kancey, Dayon Hayes, Haba Baldonado, Deslin Alexandre and Nate Temple all missed time this season. Pitt’s defensive line depth, of which Partridge has recruited over the last few seasons, was on full display.

Partridge, for his efforts, was named as FootballScoop’s 2022 Defensive Line Coach of the Year.

Kancey became Pitt’s first unanimous All-American in 2022, the first Panther to earn the distinction since Aaron Donald in 2013, and he was selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Baldonado and Alexandre also earned NFL opportunities.

The losses on the defensive line in 2023 will be heavy, as a number of players have since joined the NFL ranks, but it’s just another chance for Partridge to show that the defensive line doesn’t rebuild, it reloads.

And with young players like Hayes, Nahki Johnson, Samuel Okunlola, Elliot Donald, Sean FitzSimmons, Jimmy Scott and Isaiah Neal rising within the system, there is a lot of talent on the way — all of whom were brought in by Partridge.