A "heck of a ride" led Charlie Partridge back to a new Pitt
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A lot can happen in 10 years, and Charlie Partridge knows it.
10 years ago, he was entering his fifth and final season as a Pitt assistant coach. The next offseason, he took a job as defensive line coach at Wisconsin, a position he held for three years before adding associate head coach and co-defensive coordinator titles in 2011. Two years later, he went with Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema to Arkansas, where he spent one year as assistant head coach and defensive line coach before Florida Atlantic hired him to be head coach.
After a trio of 3-9 seasons, Partridge was let go by FAU, and that move led him right back to where the story began:
Pitt.
Pat Narduzzi announced on Tuesday that Partridge will be joining the Panthers’ staff as defensive line coach, replacing Tom Sims, who was part of Narduzzi’s original staff two years ago and was let go after Signing Day.
“It’s been a heck of a ride,” Partridge told Pittsburgh media in a teleconference Tuesday afternoon.
In a press release, Narduzzi said that he has “been a big fan of Charlie’s work for a very long time,” but that feeling is mutual. When Partridge was on staff at Pitt, Narduzzi was part of Mark Dantonio’s staff at Cincinnati - meaning annual matchups in Big East play. And when Partridge went to Wisconsin, he saw Narduzzi again - this time at Michigan State.
So Partridge is familiar with Narduzzi’s defensive approach, a scheme that Partridge and then-Pitt defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads would study for ideas on how to improve the Panthers’ defense. Now Partridge will work directly with Narduzzi and current Pitt defensive coordinator Josh Conklin.
“When it became public that the job was open, I expressed my interest to the staff and, really, a lot about coaching staffs, to be honest with you, is fit - making sure that you fit within the staff,” Partridge said.
“I think that, over the last 10 years if you take the time since I’ve been in Pittsburgh, I’ve had the opportunity to grow in different roles, and I just think that the experiences that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of can bring a lot of things to the table that help Pittsburgh.”
Of course, Pitt in 2017 is different from the Pitt that Partridge left in February of 2008 - and that’s a big part of the appeal.
“When you look back at when I was there, it was a very turbulent time in that the Big East was in transition and then, as I was leaving, the Big East from a football standpoint was disintegrating,” Partridge said. “I continued to watch it from afar, and when Pitt got the opportunity to join the ACC, I was very excited for the program. I always believed this university and this football program and the passion from the people in the city for the sport of football is very unique. There’s a lot of loyalty that you could feel when I was there and there’s a lot of people that believe Pitt can compete at the highest level. They proved that this past year.
“It’s got everything you want in terms of selling to recruits, it’s a world-class university, on top of the fact that you’ve got that city - there’s a lot to sell in that city - and the facilities are beautiful. All of those things combined with a tremendous leader in Pat Narduzzi make this a program that, I don’t know that you can measure where the ceiling truly is, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”