Minutes after Pittsburgh introduced Pat Narduzzi in the waning days of 2014, then interim athletic director Randy Juhl gave the school’s new football coach a pretty unique mandate.
asserted
Juhl → introduce → mandate
The way Juhl figured it, if the university can find a way to help cure polio — as Dr. Jonas Salk did in a basement laboratory at Pitt’s Medical School in the early 1950s — then it “ can sure as hell win 10 football games.
asserted
it → figure → games
Yet winning with regularity wasn’t the only thing the Panthers lacked at the time.
asserted
Panthers → lack → time
The program’s lack of stability became a running joke as it bounced from Dave Wannstedt (fired in 2010) to Mike Haywood (axed just weeks after being named Wannstedt’s replacement) to Todd Graham (who bolted after a season for Arizona State) to Paul Chryst (who turned three so-so years into an offer to head home to Wisconsin ).
asserted
who → become → Wisconsin
While Narduzzi has only hit that 10-win plateau once — during a magical 2021 season in which the Panthers captured the ACC title and quarterback Kenny Pickett became a surprise Heisman finalist — he has made the program a consistent contender in a conference not exactly known for consistency.
Narduzzi has clutched the job no one seemed to want with both hands.
asserted
one → hit → hands
when he jogs onto the Acrisure Stadium turf on Thursday night when the Panthers (2-0) open ACC play against Syracuse (1-1, 0-1), he’ll do it for the 144th time, breaking a tie with Jock Sutherland for most games coached in the program’s 122-year history.
asserted
he → jog → history
Not that Narduzzi wants to talk about it much.
asserted
Narduzzi → want → it
While the 60-year-old’s passion remains evident nearly four decades into his coaching career, his eyes remain fixed on the windshield and not the rearview mirror, a habit he picked up while watching and then playing for his father Bill Narduzzi at Youngstown State.
asserted
he → remain → State
“He was on to the next, I think all the time,” Pat Narduzzi said.
asserted
Narduzzi → think → next
“And I tell our kids all the time, nobody gives a crap what you did last weekend.
asserted
you → tell → what
Nobody cares about the rain.
asserted
Nobody → care → rain
Nobody cares about the score.
asserted
Nobody → care → score
Nobody cares about the defense or the offense.
asserted
Nobody → care → defense
Because one week you’re a hero and next week you are a zero.
asserted
you → ’re → ?
It’s a roller coaster Narduzzi has grown comfortable riding.
asserted
Narduzzi → ’ → ?
Pitt’s 56 conference victories since his arrival are third in the ACC, trailing only Clemson and Miami.
asserted
victories → trail → Clemson
The Panthers are one of just four programs to win a conference championship since they joined the league in 2014.
asserted
they → win → 2014
Pitt has largely stayed above the mushy middle thanks in part to the kind of continuity among the coaching staff that can be hard to find elsewhere.
asserted
that → stay → staff
The man he replaced, Randy Bates, spent eight years in the job.
asserted
he → replace → job
“If it’s a revolving door with your coaches, I’m constantly worried about coaching the coaches up so we can make sure we’re taking care of players like I want to,” Narduzzi said.
asserted
Narduzzi → ’ → players
Narduzzi is firm in his belief that the level of care the staff takes is one of the reasons nearly two dozen former Panthers find themselves on active NFL rosters.
asserted
Panthers → take → rosters
It’s also one of the reasons Pitt doesn’t frequently find itself being raided in the transfer portal (with a couple of notable exceptions).
asserted
itself → ’ → exceptions
While the program has a proud history — when Sutherland was hired in 1924, the man he replaced was Pop Warner, yes, that Pop Warner — Narduzzi also makes sure the Panthers carry themselves with a bit of an edge.
asserted
Panthers → have → edge
Sometimes that edge can lead to self-inflicted wounds.
asserted
edge → lead → wounds
He raised eyebrows both internally and externally following a blowout loss to Notre Dame in 2023 when he vented publicly about the quality of the roster, something he walked back days later while stressing the responsibility for the result falls exclusively on him.
asserted
responsibility → raise → him
More than once, he’s parried with opposing programs or conferences.
asserted
he → parry → programs
While answering a question about the uncertainty surrounding NFL players returning to college a few weeks ago, he stated bluntly, “one minute the SEC says ‘We’re going to do this’ and the next day they’re like, oh, you know, on their knees.
asserted
you → answer → knees
So is pulling off a stunner or two every fall.
asserted
pulling → pull → stunner
The Panthers have appeared in at least one AP Top 25 poll in eight of his 11 seasons and knocked off a dozen ranked opponents along the way.
asserted
Panthers → appear → way
There’s a chance to do it again this fall behind sophomore quarterback Mason Heintschel, who stayed at Pitt even after Narduzzi claimed Heintschel received overtures from Miami.
asserted
Heintschel → ’ → Miami
The threat of losing a top player to a program with deeper pockets is not something Narduzzi had to worry about when he took over nearly a dozen years ago.
asserted
he → lose → pockets
It’s now become an uncomfortable reality — not just at Pitt, to be clear — that Narduzzi stressed does not come close to outweighing his passion for a job he hopes to have for the rest of the decade and beyond.
asserted
he → become → decade
“We can’t control some of the craziness that’s going out there,” he said.
asserted
he → control → craziness
You love the game.
asserted
You → love → game
You loved the game of football.
asserted
You → love → football
You love what you have in this room and coaching these young men every day.
asserted
you → love → men
That’s the fun part.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
I mean, all that stuff is, you know, I let other people worry about that and I’ll just get to coach football.”
asserted
I → mean → football
The Aporia
