Pat Narduzzi's contract extension probably won't be celebrated by every fan of Pitt football, but it should be. It should be regarded as more than a contract extension for a coach; it should be viewed as affirmation that the program is healthy, vibrant and stable.
It should be viewed as the official end of the three-ring circus that Pitt football had become as a result of poor administrative decisions, bad coaching hires and bad coaching decisions. Pitt football had become a parody of itself at times and far too often the punchline of too many jokes, many of which wrote themselves.
Pat Narduzzi was the right guy to take on the enormous job of bringing stability to Pitt's football program, He had all the right qualities that a job of that enormity took. That starts with enough of a Napoleon complex and chip on his shoulder that he wasn't interested in being everyone's best friend and wasn't worried about stepping on people's toes. He is task-oriented and a borderline workaholic and he expects his coaches and support staff to work as hard as he does and be as focused as he is.
He clearly had a plan, one he at times seemed to stubbornly stick to even when criticism from the outside was loud. Narduzzi built a program that isn't going to be a one-hit wonder. It is sustainable. It is clear he understands how to adapt to things like NIL and the transfer portal and has used both to the program's benefit. He may be a dinosaur in some ways, but he is one who understands the landscape of college football has changed forever and he has embraced it.
The program he built clearly values hard work, toughness and physicality, but almost most importantly, it is built on loyalty. Like every team, Pitt has had some players transfer over the years, but it isn't the revolving door many other programs have become in the age of the transfer portal. Players want to play at Pitt.
Those are qualities of a very healthy program and a very healthy atmosphere.
This contract extension through 2030 isn't a guarantee that Narduzzi will stay around that long, but it is as close to one as possible. Narduzzi isn't motivated by money, and I can point to a number of things he has said and done to that end. He isn't going to leave just because some bigger program throws a bunch of money at him.
He just isn't built that way, and that's why I expect him to retire from coaching as the head coach at Pitt. Plus, he proved last year that Pitt can win the ACC title and get to New Year's Six bowl games. He was a couple of plays away in the Miami and Western Michigan games from getting to the College Football Playoff, so he knows he can accomplish everything he wants at Pitt.
It should also be noted that Pitt's administration, starting with chancellor Patrick Gallagher and athletic director Heather Lyke, deserve a world of credit for figuring out what their predecessors all seemed to struggle with, and that is the value of stability at a program like Pitt. It is hard to win at a place like Pitt, which has a very good program but isn't among college football's elite, without building a program the right way.
If you don't believe me, consider the hot mess the ACC Coastal division has been and look no further than the coaching hires/fires/defections that have taken place there.
Do you really think it is a coincidence that Pitt is in by far the best shape of any of those programs considering Narduzzi, now entering his eighth year, has more tenure at his current stop than the rest of the division's coaches combined? That has a lot to do with the fact that four of the other six programs have coaches entering their first seasons, but it shows how unstable the world of college football is.
Gallagher and Lyke stuck by Narduzzi when a lot of others would not have, but that's because there were signs that the program was growing and improving. Pitt won eight games his first two seasons and won the Coastal in his fourth year. Patience is not a virtue in college athletics — and sometimes it may not be warranted — but when a program is having success on some levels and growing, it is almost always better to stick one more year with a coach than fire him one year before the breakthrough.
He has always been good against his peers in the ACC, as he is 36-22 in those games, and they should enter this year again the favorite to win the division. There are some who believe Pitt's success was propped up by Kenny Pickett and won't be duplicated, but I'm not sure how you could look at the roster coming back and come to that conclusion. I actually think if Kedon Slovis is as good as advertised, the Panthers will be more balanced and better.
There were some nervous moments after Pitt lost to Western Michigan this past year, but Narduzzi validated the administration's faith in him as the Panthers rebounded quickly and finished the year with a Coastal title, an ACC championship and a trip to the Peach Bowl.
Monday was a great day for the Pitt football program and Panthers fans everywhere because Narduzzi's contract extension is a loud and clear message that the program isn't going to take a step back any time soon.
