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A history of change: Looking back at Narduzzi's hires

Since Pat Narduzzi’s first offseason at Pitt, he has had to make 10 changes to his coaching staff. Today, Panther-Lair.com is taking a look back at the evolution of the Pitt staff under Narduzzi, from its original configuration to where it stands after this offseason’s two hires.

Narduzzi’s original staff
Jim Chaney (OC)
Josh Conklin (DC)
John Peterson (OL)
Andre Powell (RB/ST)
Kevin Sherman (WR)
Tim Salem (TE)
Tom Sims (DL)
Rob Harley (LB)
Renaldo Hill (DB)

2015 offseason
Jim Chaney -> Matt Canada (OC)

Pat Narduzzi’s first offseason saw just one personnel move, as offensive coordinator Jim Chaney left Pitt after just one year for the same job at Georgia. Prior to coming to Pitt, Chaney had spent the previous six years coaching in the SEC, and joining the Bulldogs represented his return. He coached at Georgia for three seasons and then took the coordinator job at Tennessee in 2019. New Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel opted to not retain Chaney and he was relieved of his duties in January.

To replace Chaney, Narduzzi hired Matt Canada, who had been fired by N.C. State. The two had worked together for two seasons at Northern Illinois in the early 2000’s.

2016 offseason
Matt Canada -> Shawn Watson (OC)
Tom Sims - Charlie Partridge (DL)

The offseason after Narduzzi’s second year at Pitt was the start of a run of multiple coaching changes. The most prominent change after the 2016 season was at offensive coordinator, where Canada turned down a substantial offer from Pitt to take an even more substantial offer to call plays at LSU. Canada held that position for just one season before he was fired, and he landed at Maryland, where the title of offensive coordinator turned into interim head coach before a single game was played.

The Terrapins went 5-7 in the 2018 season, and while Canada was a candidate for the head coaching job, Maryland opted to hire Mike Locksley and Canada was not retained. After a year out of football, Canada resurfaced as quarterbacks coach for the Steelers in 2020, and he was named offensive coordinator this offseason.

For Canada’s replacement - the third offensive coordinator hire in as many years - Narduzzi dug deep for a familiar face and found Shawn Watson, who had been on the same staff as Narduzzi at Miami (Oh.) from 1990-92.

Canada left Pitt on his own, but Narduzzi also created staff turnover when he fired defensive line coach Tom Sims. A member of Narduzzi’s first staff, Sims was an intern with the Baltimore Ravens after leaving Pitt and then got hired at Savannah State, where he is currently the defensive coordinator.

His replacement was another familiar face: Charlie Partridge, who coached at Pitt under Walt Harris and Dave Wannstedt and stands as one of the Panthers’ top coaches - both on the field and in recruiting.

2017 offseason
Josh Conklin -> Randy Bates (DC)
John Peterson -> Dave Borbely (OL)
Renaldo Hill -> Archie Collins/Cory Sanders (DB)

Pitt hired four new assistant coaches after the 2017 season, and the most prominent change came at defensive coordinator, where Josh Conklin left to be the head coach at Wofford and Northwestern linebackers coach Randy Bates was hired.

A member of Narduzzi’s original staff, Conklin has been successful at Wofford, winning two Southern Conference titles. This offseason, he has been mentioned as a candidate for the defensive coordinator position at Tennessee.

Another change made in the post-2017 offseason was on the offensive line. John Peterson had come to Pitt in 2015 but left after three seasons and later became offensive line coach at Youngstown State, where he is still on the staff. Peterson’s replacement was former Maryland line coach Dave Borbely, who had worked with Watson on two previous occasions.

The Panthers had one more staff change - and an addition. That year saw the NCAA allow schools to have 10 assistant coaches, an increase of one that led Narduzzi to add both Archie Collins and Cory Sanders to the staff after Renaldo Hill, a 2015 hire, took a job with the Miami Dolphins. Collins and Sanders are still at Pitt, while Hill was named defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason.

2018 offseason
Shawn Watson -> Mark Whipple (OC)
Kevin Sherman -> Chris Beatty (WR)

While Pitt’s rushing attack set records in 2018 - and led the Panthers to an ACC Coastal Division championship - the passing game was a major weakness, and Narduzzi made changes to address that issue in the offseason. The first change was to fire Watson, who spent 2019 as a quality control coach at Georgia and has been an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach at Northern Iowa for the last two seasons.

For Watson’s replacement, Narduzzi broke with tradition and hired a coach he had not worked with before: former UMass head coach Mark Whipple.

Narduzzi and Whipple never worked on the same staff, but they were familiar with each other from the late 1990’s when Narduzzi was the defensive coordinator at Rhode Island and Whipple was the head coach at UMass (his first stint with the Minutemen). Whipple was a familiar name in Pittsburgh, though, having been quarterbacks coach for the Steelers during Ben Roethlisberger’s first three seasons.

Narduzzi’s other move was to fire receivers coach Kevin Sherman. Another member of Narduzzi’s original staff, Sherman spent four seasons at Pitt and then joined the staff at Toledo, first as a quality control coach and then as the director of player personnel, a position he still holds.

For Sherman’s replacement, Narduzzi made one of his best hires in landing former Maryland assistant Chris Beatty. Beatty had been associate head coach and co-offensive coordinator in addition to receivers coach in 2018, but when Mike Locksley was hired as head coach the following offseason, Beatty was not retained and Narduzzi landed him as a free agent.

2019 offseason
No changes

For the first time in Narduzzi’s tenure at Pitt, there were no staff changes after the 2019 season. All 10 coaches who had been on the staff in 2019 returned for 2020 - a rare bit of stability in a profession where that’s not always the case.

2020 offseason
Chris Beatty -> Brennan Marion (WR)
Rob Harley -> Ryan Manalac (LB)

After an offseason without any changes, Pitt has experienced two this season after a pair of assistants moved on to other jobs.

The first coach to leave was Rob Harley, a 2015 hire who coached linebackers in each of Narduzzi’s first six seasons; he left the staff this offseason to be the defensive coordinator at Arkansas State. His replacement is Ryan Manalac, who comes to Pitt after two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Bucknell.

Manalac comes with plenty of Narduzzi connections, having played for Narduzzi at Cincinnati and then working in various roles at Michigan State with Narduzzi prior to 2015.

Replacing Beatty was a taller task. He had helped Pitt establish a recruiting presence in Virginia that produced four good commitments in the 2021 recruiting class, but he took an opportunity to be the receivers coach for the Los Angeles Chargers, leaving a void on Pitt's staff, both on and off the field.

To fill those shoes, Narduzzi turned to Brennan Marion, a Greensburg Salem alum with three years experience as offensive coordinator and a reputation as a rising star in the industry.

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