Pat Narduzzi has been linked to Michigan State since the Spartans officially fired head coach Mel Tucker for cause in September, which opened up an attractive head coaching vacancy in the Big Ten.
Michigan State has been linked to a number of potential candidates over the last two months, seemingly inching closer to other candidates, but Narduzzi’s MSU ties continue to loom over the situation.
And in an interview with Roddy Jones on ACC Radio, Narduzzi was asked straight up if he had been in contact with Michigan State.
“I’ll say this, the last time — I’ve turned it down a couple of times,” Narduzzi told Jones. “But I have absolutely no contact with them at all. So, there’s been no contact at all with anybody from their athletic department, so we’ll just kinda keep it at that, I guess.”
Narduzzi spent seven seasons at Michigan State, working under long-time head coach Mark Dantonio as his defensive coordinator. He built one of the top defenses in the Big Ten, earning the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in college football in 2013 for his efforts, and he’s spoken highly of his time in East Lansing.
Action Network’s Brett McMurphy reported in September that Pat Narduzzi was a candidate for the Michigan State job, alongside Duke head coach Mike Elko, Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos, LSU defensive coordinator Matt House, Marshall head coach Charles Huff and Wisconsin defensive coordinator Mike Tressel.
A lot has changed since then, but it wasn’t the only time that Narduzzi was linked to Michigan State. The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman linked Narduzzi to Michigan as a “wild-card” option earlier this season:
“The 57-year-old was a superb DC and brought plenty of edge to MSU,” Feldman wrote. “He’s been really solid in almost a decade running Pitt’s program and has had consecutive Top 25 seasons the last two years, going 20-7. Would he want to go back to East Lansing? I’m not sure about that. He has a good job in a great city, but he has been there a long time, and the Big Ten has a lot more stability than the ACC.”
Narduzzi is in the midst of his ninth season in Pittsburgh, with a 65-49 (43-30 ACC) record and the 2021 ACC championship to show for it. It’s been a poor season for Narduzzi and Pitt, but there’s no denying the stability that he’s brought to the program over the last decade. And he’s currently under contract in Pittsburgh until 2030.
Michigan State will go through an extensive search before hiring its next head coach, and it will be able to offer very lucrative contracts (MSU gave Tucker a 10-year, $95 million contract to Tucker), but it seems unlikely that Narduzzi will head to East Lansing.
A 10-year, $95 million contract to Tucker…and we bitch about Heather Lyke’s decision making?
He was caught in a scandal. I was not due to poor coaching thus no buy out. Unfortunately, we stuck with this fraudulent coach named Nardazzi. That’s the difference you guys football IQ is zero
Michigan State’s record last season was 5-7, 3-6 in conference. Guy had one good season and the school paid him like he was going to be the next Nick Saban. That scandal was the best thing that could have happened to Mich State.
Put your money where your mouth is. State schools, which Pitt is not, don’t worry about endowments. The state is their endowment. So they can offer more NIL, better salaries, facilities, etc. Last non state school to win a football national championship was USC (Hollywood $$$$$) two decades ago. Michigan (automakers $$$$) could be the next but has to beat Ohio State, Iowa, Washington and lastly Georgia.
Rubbish.
Go – this program needs a new voice.
See my comment above.
nobody is looking for duzz as a head coach. He’s proven to be a bum running the program. A defensive coordinator maybe.
Notice he said athletic dept. Didn’t say anything about search committee.