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If you’re the coach responsible for one of the top offenses or defenses in the nation, chances are, your phone is going to ring in the offseason.

When Athletic Directors go looking for new head coaches and head coaches go looking for new coordinators, they inevitably look at who has had success.

Pitt’s Matt Canada certainly fits the bill, having turned an offense that ranked No. 68 nationally and No. 9 in the ACC last year into one of the best in the conference and the nation - despite losing an NFL draft pick at wide receiver.

In just one year, Canada has reimagined Pitt’s offense in the most coachspeak-turned-practical-application way possible: he took the players he had and used them to the best of their abilities. With an experienced offensive line paving the way for the running game and providing ample protection for the passing game, Canada achieved near-perfect balance in his offense: 2,364 yards rushing and 2,362 yards passing, and 29 rushing touchdowns and 22 passing touchdowns.

The result is the No. 15 scoring offense in the nation, a team that averages 39.3 points per game (a statistic aided by seven defensive and special teams scores), a team that has the nation’s longest active streak of scoring 28+ points in consecutive games (Pitt has topped that mark in all 11 games this season and has scored at least 36 in nine of 11 games) and a team that set the school record for points scored in a season.

And again, Canada did that in less than a year, having been hired by Pat Narduzzi last December after Jim Chaney left Pitt for Georgia after just one season with the Panthers, a departure that coincided nicely with Canada being unceremoniously let go by N.C. State.

With Chaney’s departure fresh in his mind, Narduzzi looked to Canada as a good fit for his team schematically and a coach who would, ideally, stick with the program for a few years.

“You know, as a young head coach, you surely hope,” Narduzzi said Monday when asked if he expected Canada to stay at Pitt for the foreseeable future. “I had the same expectation when we hired Chaney, and sometimes you get snowed, whatever, but I've known Matt for a long time. We've got a great relationship. I think he's having fun.

“I know the business we're in: if people look and see where you are and what you're doing and like it, people are going to come get your guys. When you've got a great staff, people are going to try to go get them and poach them, but we're going to do what we can do to make sure Matt stays here for a while.”

That last point - Narduzzi and Pitt doing what they can do to keep Canada with the Panthers - is a key one. If other opportunities present themselves, either this year or beyond and to Canada or other assistants, the administration may need to be competitive in order to maintain the status quo.

Narduzzi believes he’s got that kind of support.

“Yeah, I really do. The Chancellor and (Athletic Director) Scott Barnes, there's no question about it. I feel really good about that.

"Especially if you're having fun where you are, too, I think that's part of it. If you're miserable working in your job, then I don't think all the money or contract incentives can keep you, but if you're happy, then maybe it does. I think that's part of it.”

Narduzzi knows something about coordinators staying in one place for an extended period of time. He was Mark Dantonio’s defensive coordinator for 11 years, first at Cincinnati and then at Michigan State. While he was with the Spartans, Narduzzi won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top coordinator - an award Canada will be considered for this year - and all of that attention drew plenty of interest from other schools.

But Narduzzi stayed with Dantonio until the right opportunity presented itself, and he hopes for the same from his staff.

“It's not all about the money. If it was about the money, I'd have been gone from Michigan State a long time ago. If it's about the money then maybe you've got the wrong guy.”