Brennan Marion is looking to bring some new energy to the Pitt football program. After officially being hired last week to be the team’s new wide receivers coach, he is now in Pittsburgh looking to get acclimated ahead of spring ball which is slated to start later this month.

Marion comes to Pittsburgh as someone that is used to moving quickly. Pitt is already the 11th stop of his coaching career which began back at the high school ranks in California back in 2010.

He spent one year at the University of Hawaii in 2020, but after seeing the Pitt job open up when Chris Beatty departed for the NFL, he was drawn to it almost immediately. A graduate of Greensburg-Salem, Marion has his roots in the Pittsburgh region and was able to pounce on the job opening.

“I got word that he (Beatty) was leaving and a lot of people from Pittsburgh reached out to me,” Marion told reporters on Wednesday. “I just really was excited about the opportunity to even interview for the job.”

The interview itself with Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi really sealed the deal on both ends according to Marion.

“He’s a normal guy, he’s a football guy,” Marion said of Narduzzi. “He’s from Ohio, Youngstown. I have family that lives in Youngstown. It was good, really good.”

The task now for Marion will be getting to know his position group on the fly. Pitt is returning an experienced group of wide receivers led by sophomore Jordan Addison, who finished last season with 60 receptions.

He did not recruit Addison or any of the other players on Pitt’s team. Marion said he is studying their films to learn more about them as players, but building trust with the guys on the roster comes first for the new Pitt assistant.

“Right now the biggest thing we’re doing is creating relationships,” he said.

In addition to meeting with the players, he’s looking to build a connection with his fellow coaches. Marion comes to Pitt only as the new wide receivers coach, but it’s hard to talk about him without mentioning his days of being an offensive coordinator and running the “Go-Go offense.”

Marion is hoping to implement some of those concepts for Pitt this season. Through common connections, he feels it was easy to come in and start working right away with the rest of the Pitt offensive coaching staff.

“I come in and my input is valued,” Marion said. “I think we’ll definitely have some things that will go in and help us put more points on the board.”

So what is the ‘Go-Go’ offense? Marion created the playbook at the high school level. He developed it mainly due to the lack of depth he had on the offensive line at his first stops coaching football.

“It really gives you an opportunity to make a big play even though you’re lacking something up front,” Marion said about what his offense creates matchup wise.

Marion is forging relationships with the players on the team and the coaching staff, but he is also doing it on the recruiting trail. The departure of Beatty certainly creates a void in Pitt’s recruiting efforts, and Marion is hoping to pick up that slack, and hemay be able to do it in creative ways.

Marion’s cross-country journey that he has seemingly been on since leaving Greensburg has helped him establish relationships everywhere he has been.

“I’ve lived in all the hot beds of recruiting,” Marion estimated.

He’s had stops in California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Georgia among other places. Living all of those places is advantage to him according to Marion. He believes he can connect with recruits from anywhere.

“I think that’s my edge for recruiting,” Marion said of his moving all around the country. “I can get around people, understand them and ultimately get them.”