Partridge on being asst. head coach, the DL and more
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What did it mean for Charlie Partridge to be named assistant head coach this offseason? The Pitt DL coach discussed that and more this week.
The new title you took on this offseason - assistant head coach - what does that entail?
Partridge: At the end of the day, it gives Coach a sounding board. I can step in if he’s away and help him with any duties he has. As much as anything, it’s someone that’s sat in his chair, someone that’s looked at it through his eyes and can just help bounce things off of him. I’m just there as someone who’s a sounding board, as much as anything.
Does that make you feel more comfortable speaking up?
Partridge: I was comfortable from the beginning, you know what I mean? And I’m grateful for that and appreciate that he’s kind of put it out there that I’m a guy that he leans on. I’m glad he feels that way, but we have a great staff; there are a lot of guys that he leans on. But no, it hasn’t really changed how much I speak up. We have a few more one-on-one conversations, but it hasn’t changed a whole lot.
In that room, is it a pretty open room where ideas are bouncing back and forth?
Partridge: The staff room? It really is, and I’ll tell you what: our new O-line coach has brought some good things. There are guys that - you know, you’ve got a running back coach who’s been at Clemson and, you know, Borbs has been all over the country, Watson with his Nebraska experience, obviously I’ve been in just about every major Power Five league at some point, so there are a lot of guys with a lot of different ideas, and I think Coach Narduzzi does a great job of taking those ideas in but making sure we stay within his vision. So I think Coach Narduzzi does a great job of that, but there is a lot of feedback every time we meet about something, especially based on how significant it is.
There has been talk about the administration really stepping up and helping out with the assistant coaches; is it much different than it was back when you were first here?
Partridge: Yeah, the differences I noticed right when I got back, and I’ll tell you what, Heather Lyke has done nothing but impress me. I can feel her experience as a coach; she has not just been an administrator, she has been on the coaching side of things, so she understands our viewpoint and I appreciate that. That means a lot. You can feel in the way she talks to us that she has that perspective.
But you look back when I left, we were a part of a Big East that was on shaky ground, and you come back and we’re in the well-established ACC that’s about to get a network in 2019 and all of those things really change the whole scope of everything.
On your defensive line, you’ve got a number of guys that are entering their third seasons; what have you seen from that group of guys as far as just refining details and getting into a better place this spring?
Partridge: I’m going to take a look at my list because I don’t want to miss any of them. You know, Weaver is playing at an extremely high level; he’s got everybody’s attention. He’s playing smart, he’s playing fast, he’s making - he’s taking risks and calculated ones, though, so he knows how to cover it if something were to happen.
Wheeler, his game continues to get better. He’s still working on consistently playing at a high level. Amir Watts, same thing. There’s great competition at the D-tackle position.
Patrick Jones is a guy who really - of all of them, he might have made the biggest jump so far this spring within that group. So I’m excited about all of those guys as we move forward.
Is that when you expect guys to start take those steps forward? They’re not young guys anymore.
Partridge: It’s all relative. I think, you know, them getting used to the demands I have for them from a technical standpoint - in my mind, we’re going into our second year, and that’s really how I’m scoping it.
Hendrix - how’s he been doing?
Partridge: He’s good. He’s been really good. He’s been healthy the whole time; we haven’t had to hold him back like a year ago because we were still working him out of the injury, and for that reason, he’s really starting to go up at a high level.
So you have a couple bookends there with -
Partridge: I feel good about those two - Jones and Folston in addition to Weaver and Hendrix - all four of those guys feel good.
Rob told us the other day that with his linebackers, he probably couldn’t identify one’s and two’s and he likes that type of competition. Do you have that, too?
Partridge: I really am, and you’re seeing the depth chart change within practice and daily because of it. You’ve got, really, four D-tackles and a fifth that’s developing; you know, you’ve got Watts, you’ve got Roy, you’ve got Twyman, who’s really starting to come on as a redshirt freshman, and then you’ve got Wheeler and you’ve got Deslin Alexandre, who’s starting to show that he can play.
Then you have all those ends that I talked about before, and it really is changing day-to-day, which is a great thing.
Has Roy become a leader in the group?
Partridge: He is. Hendrix has come on in his leadership. And Weaver’s leadership is starting to show, too.