The pressure is now on Pat Narduzzi to get his Pitt program back on track.
Less than 24 hours after the 2023 season finale, Narduzzi took his first step towards doing that by parting ways with offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti Jr. Sunday afternoon.
Now the spotlight is squarely on Narduzzi as he will attempt to find a candidate that will not only revitalize the offense but bring about the ability to mentor the inexperienced Pitt quarterbacks.
The thing that has to make Pitt fans uneasy is Narduzzi’s poor track record of hiring offensive coordinators. To use a Mike Tomlin cliche, Narduzzi has been below the line with his offensive hirings. The demands and expectations that he places on his offensive coordinator, along with a stubborn, hard-nosed personality, make him difficult to work for and may exclude a number of candidates. That’s the exact reason Mark Whipple is no longer at Pitt.
Narduzzi is particular with who he wants to run his offense, typically an older, experienced coordinator, and that exact desire is what may hold back this current search. With that being said, this is a monumental hire. Narduzzi can’t get this one wrong.
If Pitt is serious and wants an immediate change, the first person Narduzzi should call is Akron head coach Joe Moorhead.
The 50-year-old Central Catholic graduate is one of the top offensive minds and playcallers in all of college football.
You may have reservations about Moorhead leaving a head coaching position to be an offensive coordinator, but I 100% believe that if Pitt shows him they’re fully committed to him, he’d come back home to run the Panthers’ offense.
Moorhead isn’t going to make a decision just based on salary, if so, he wouldn’t have left Oregon. As the Ducks’ offensive coordinator, Moorhead made $1.1 million per year. He’s now making in the neighborhood of $600,000 at Akron. Keep in mind that Moorhead received a $7 million buyout when he was bought out by Mississippi State. He’s doing OK financially.
Although it doesn’t hurt, forget that Moorhead is from Pittsburgh, Pitt should be looking at him because of his track record of making offenses click.
Consider these numbers here — as offensive coordinator at Penn State, the Nittany Lions averaged 37.6 and 41.1 points per game, two of the six highest-scoring seasons in school history. Penn State hasn’t been as potent offensively since he left and could be looking to lure him back to replace Mike Yurcich.
While at Oregon, the Ducks averaged 31 points per game in the 21 games that he served as offensive coordinator and reached back-to-back Pac-12 title games.
The bottom line is that Moorhead is a very qualified offensive coordinator who runs a very favorable college offense. It’s hard to take his tenure at Akron, a very, very difficult job that hasn’t had a winning record since 2005, as a negative on his resume.
Aside from being an excellent coordinator, Moorhead has the ability to recruit top athletes and with his impressive resume, he’d no doubt know how to attract them to Pitt. Being a Pittsburgh native, growing up idolizing Dan Marino and equipped with a deep knowledge of WPIAL football, this hire makes too much sense.
The only question is whether or not Narduzzi would bring someone to Pitt with this accomplished a resume. Would this scare Narduzzi off?
I hope not because Moorhead is the medicine this Panthers’ offense needs. Until a decision is made, plenty of qualified names will be brought up, but none will have the qualifications or fit that Moorhead would bring.
It’s time that Narduzzi does something bold and makes the best coordinator hire of his nine-year tenure.
I’m not sure he would come to Pitt. I think there would be much more attractive jobs. Pitt is a very difficult job for an OC. Narduzzi wants to be hands-off, so the OC is expected to run the show. However, Narduzzi has no problem throwing his OC under the bus for his decisions. It’s like the worst of both worlds. I have no doubt Moorhead could find an SEC school that would pay more, have better working conditions, and access to better talent to operate his offense if he wants to go back to being an OC.
If he comes to Pitt will be as HC he would go back to PSU before Pitt as an OC!
He needs to tell Naduzzi that if I come, I run my own SHOW, and you have no interjection…
That’s exactly what he did with Cigs but everyone whined.
Because Cig sucked.
Trib Review article September 16th 2021 by Jerry D., Pat had interviewed what would become Western Michigan’s Head Coach in Tim Lester for open OC position.
Lock it in, Tim Lester, final answer.
How many of you actually trust that Narduzzi will hire the right OC who is best (creative/innovative) for Panther offense? Doesn’t the past say enough?
I agree. Narduzzi hired Coach Whip and Pitt won the ACC. I trust Narduzzi to make the right decision here.
If Joe’s gonna come here Mike.It’s going to be as the HC..Would love to have him run the offense but makes zero sense for him to leave a HC position to come work for this idiot
He’s not working for Narduzzi. Never. But, Narduzzi better get this right. His recent success bought him a pass for this pathetic season. Another one like it and he’s in the unemployment line. He has to realize his back is to the wall. Lyke isn’t stupid, she’s making it crystal clear to old Pat.
Give one example where Heather Lyke made anything “crystal clear” to Patt Narduzzi.
I believe Heather has done just that, behind closed doors.
Sean Lewis. Pay what it takes.
Now, I’ve never been to Akron, but I have to believe that Pittsburgh has a bit more to offer than the Tire Capital of the World. You grew up here Joe…it’s time to come home to America’s Most Livable City. If you’re successful here you’ll be celebrated as a damn hero by Pitt fans.
HARD pass. Joe was 14-12 at Mississippi State. He is 4-20 in two seasons at Akron. Everything he has accomplished is ancient history. What has he accomplished recently that might point to future success? The guy has the smell of failure all over him. This is such a bad option.
These players need to be playing with a 8K OC, not working with VHS!
Come on man!
There have been great coordinators that couldn’t figure out HC. Foge Fazio comes to mind.
Gee, Morehead’s resume reminds me of Mark Whipple. Had some success at UMass about 25 yrs ago…then mostly bounced around the NFL before returning to Massachusetts for five losing seasons before coming to Pitt (where he’s still revered by many).
Willy Korn from Liberty will be sought after hard by many P5 programs. Narduzzi might want to consider Major Applewhite from South Alabama.
dizzy duzzy will never bring in a coach who can take his job mid week after a bad loss. He will bring in a “yes man” which will once again send the program into a regressive 3-4 year period. Lyke should have blown out the whole staff and started fresh
Glad you’re not in charge. Making doofus decisions at a time like this is not what Pitt needs. But you know that, you’re just a Ped State troll anyway.
He’s just satisfied with the bronze trophy 🏆 every year, stuck with his 100 million dollar moron coach for another 8 years lol
I actually agree with you.Should blow it up,get rid of the staleness of the program and bring a younger more innovative forward thinking HC..I’d like to see them go after Brian Hartline but I’m not sure if he’s seasoned enough just yet
I bet this season scared the Nard. Hopefully he changes his approach.
If he goes anywhere, it will be to PSU.
It sounds like he is already making more than the Pitt OC position. It takes money to hire top candidates. It is not clear that Pitt pays that well to the position / coordinator coaches.
It’s very clear that they do pay assistant coaches example Alabama tried to pluck Charlie partridge and Heather matched the offer plus the heavy donor dollars coming in the last 5 years puts them in a great fiscal position. 2 billion in there endowment fund as well one of the richest public colleges in the country.