Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Fined for Postgame Comments After Backyard Brawl Win

Pat Narduzzi has been reprimanded by the ACC for his postgame comments following a win against West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl.

The reprimand comes with a $5,000 institutional fine, which will be placed into the Weaver-James-Corrigan-Swofford Postgraduate Scholarship account.

The ACC issued a statement regarding the reprimand:

“Narduzzi’s postgame comments, aired on ESPN regarding the officiating crew, were in direct violation of the ACC Sportsmanship Policy that states, ‘public criticism of officials or public comments evaluating the officiating of particular contests is not in the best interest of intercollegiate athletics. Individuals associated with the athletics programs are prohibited, therefore, from from commentating while acting in an official capacity on officiating other than directly to the Conference office.’”

Narduzzi made the comment to ESPN on the field at Acrisure Stadium following the Pitt win, and the quote eventually made it back to WVU head coach Neal Brown during his postgame press conference.

“Some of the calls we got — late hit out of bounds, they catch a ball with a hands in the face and I’ve never seen anything like it, you know? Wow,” Narduzzi told ESPN after the game. “We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, and we beat the officials, too, in one game.”

Brown fired back at Pat Narduzzi during his postgame presser.

“Yeah, I think that’s bullshit,” Brown said. “I thought the officials — we can say what we want to, but the officials. I’m not real pleased with them either, but I don’t know about that. You’ll never hear me blame the officials or anything, like, I disagree with calls, but it’s a really hard game to officiate. …

“I’m not pleased with the officials either. I feel his pain on that, but I don’t necessarily think they beat them. We’re the one that got a long touchdown called back.”

Pitt was flagged 12 times for 112 yards while West Virginia was flagged seven times for 67 yards. There were some questionable calls on both sides of the ball, but the game wasn’t decided by the officials. It was decided by the Panthers’ fourth quarter comeback.

Pitt erased a 10-point deficit with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. West Virginia wasn’t able to stop Eli Holstein and the Pitt offense after limiting the Panthers to just four yards in the second half prior.

A 1-yard touchdown dive by Derrick Davis Jr. with just over 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, with Holstein on the sideline after having his helmet ripped off, clinched the massive win for the Panthers.

Pitt is now 3-0 for the first time since 2020 and had a chance — with a win against Youngstown State — to close out its non-conference slate undefeated for the first time ever.