Tag: Pat Narduzzi

Upcoming Notre Dame opponent suddenly looking strong at 3-0

Notre Dame has long had trouble against Pitt. Now that October 24 trip to Heinz Field is only looking tougher as the season goes on.

If you look at Notre Dame’s most difficult regular season games in what wound up being the two most successful seasons under Brian Kelly, the Pitt Panthers have provided two of those.

In 2012 it took a stunning Notre Dame comeback just to force overtime before missed chip shot of a field by Pitt helped the Irish to their eventual victory.

In 2018 it was an upstart Pitt team that again came to South Bend and led the unbeaten Irish before a late rally kept the Notre Dame dreams of a College Football Playoff appearance alive.

Everyone in and around Notre Dame has circled November 7 against Clemson as the game of the year and understandably so, but three weeks into the season the trip to Pitt isn’t looking like it won’t come against a mediocre Panthers squad but instead a pretty good one.

The Panthers improved to 3-0 on the year Saturday as they handed Louisville their second straight loss, 23-20.

Pitt held Louisville quarterback Malik Cunningham to just 9/21 passing for 107 yards and one touchdown while also forcing three interceptions.

The Pitt defense didn’t just handle the passing game though as the Cardinals gained just 116 yards on the ground and picked up only 10 first downs all afternoon.

Pat Narduzzi hasn’t put together a big season at Pitt yet and tough games at Miami, against Notre Dame and at Clemson are still ahead of them but despite having their best defensive player in lineman Jaylen Twymen opting out before the season, the Pitt defense has still been mighty impressive.

When October 24 gets here it’s not going to be the trap game some thought it’d be before the season, it’s going to instead be a road game against an incredibly capable foe.

ESPN and 247Sports make predictions ahead of ‘20 season

Experts from two major outlets predict how the 2020 ACC and college football season will play out.

Saturday can’t get here soon enough, but until then we have to count down the hours until the Irish kickoff against Duke at 2:30pm EST. While we wait, let’s take a look at how some of the biggest football analysts see the season playing out.

Over at ESPN, Mark Schlabach gave out his predictions to how the conference would shake out, the Irish finishing second behind Clemson, and conference awards, where the Irish went home empty handed. Notre Dame was featured in each of Schlabach’s game’s of the year: ACC conference game, non-conference game and upset of the year. The game of the year is obvious, when the Irish host Clemson on November 7, which Schlabach has Notre Dame winning. If correct, the Irish could potentially stop the Tigers from tying the longest winning streak in-conference play at 29 games set by FSU in the early 90’s.

When looking at the upset of the year, you won’t think the Irish would worry much about Pat Narduzzi’s Pittsburgh Panthers. A so-so offense, but solid defense, shouldn’t pose many problems from Brian Kelly and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees but Schlabach thinks Pitt will. Having home-field advantage won’t be much on an advantage for any team this year, as crowds aren’t expected to be capacity by any means. An upset would be very disappointing especially against the Panthers, as Notre Dame on paper is a much better team.

As for the non-conference game of the year, the tilt against South Florida won’t be an easy win, but should be a win regardless. It’s a bit concerning that Notre Dame didn’t sniff any of the individual awards, but if it’s wins over individual awards, the Irish will surely take it.

Over at 247Sports, it was more of a collective on how the season would play out. Six of their seven experts have the Irish making the ACC championship game, the other team with a berth was North Carolina. The end goal is winning an ACC championship, at least this year it is, getting to the College Football Playoff is a byproduct of winning the conference.

Staying with 247Sports, only one of their seven experts had Notre Dame in the final four of the CFP, Bud Elliott had them finishing 3rd overall. That’s the good news, back to ESPN, Schlabach has the Irish losing twice, once to the aforementioned Pitt and again to North Carolina. This loss would hurt the most, as Schlabach predicts it will knock the Irish out of a CFP spot. What hurts even more is the Irish will have a shot to beat Clemson twice, but fail to achieve the sweep and finish second in the ACC.

These are just predictions, a guess as to what the season will hold of the Irish as they venture into the ACC for the season. I think we all hope Elliott is correct, making the CFP would be exactly what Brian Kelly is looking for this season.

Former Pitt player alleges Pat Narduzzi called players, opponents ‘thugs’

The former Michigan State defensive coordinator has been accused by multiple players for racist and racially insensitive comments.

Pat Narduzzi could soon find himself in hot water.

The Pittsburgh football coach–and longtime Michigan State defensive coordinator–allegedly has called his players and opponents “thugs” according to former Pitt linebacker Elias Reynolds.

Reynolds, who entered the transfer portal after graduating from Pittsburgh this year, alleges that Narduzzi called him and his teammates thugs for wearing hoodies under team jumpsuits, or wearing hats backwards. Reynolds also alleges Narduzzi would refer to opponents as thugs if he didn’t like their style of play.

Reynolds doesn’t specifically name him, but Narduzzi has been the head coach at Pitt the entire time Reynolds has been at the school. Reynolds also references he and teammates getting called thugs because they wore their Pitt hats backwards. Former Pitt offensive lineman Justin Morgan, who Narduzzi dismissed from the team in 2018, replied to the tweet while adding his own story with Narduzzi. Morgan alleges Narduzzi told him to cut his dreads.

“Thug,”–literally defined by Google dictionary as, “a violent person, especially a criminal.”–has taken on a racial connotation in recent years as a way to degradingly refer to a black person. Former Cleveland Cavaliers and Michigan Basketball Coach John Beilein was forced to resign from his job as head coach for the Cavs after he described the players as, “playing like thugs,” during a film session.

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MSU Athletic Department briefing Board of Trustees on head coaching search Monday

Michigan State Athletic Director Bill Beekman is meeting with the Board of Trustees to discuss the head coaching search Monday, Feb. 10.

Amidst a firestorm of rumors around the University of Cincinnati football head coach Luke Fickell, the Michigan State University Athletic Department will meet with the University’s Board of Trustees on Monday to brief them on the search. This was reported by Nick Mantas, reporter and anchor for WLNS, a Lansing TV station.

What isn’t a rumor is that Michigan State Athletic Director Bill Beekman was in Cincinnati this weekend. As of right now, Fickell is the clear top choice and the only name who has been brought up as an interviewee who has not publicly declined the role.

Colorado head coach Mel Tucker removed his name from consideration for the role on Saturday morning. San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh declined to interview, stating he had unfinished business in the NFL with San Francisco. Former MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi was a name that was initially floated for the role, but he quickly killed that rumor in hilarious fashion.

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Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi hilariously tried to ‘squash’ Michigan State rumors

Narduzzi said his phone was “blowing up” after Mark Dantonio retired.

While the news of Mark Dantonio retiring as Michigan State’s head coach shocked the college football world Tuesday, questions and rumors about his replacement immediately followed.

Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell is reportedly the frontrunner for the job — although he said Wednesday that he’s “talked to nobody” at Michigan State — but Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s name has also been in the mix. Narduzzi was the Spartans’ (incredibly successful) defensive coordinator for eight seasons under Dantonio, and it’s long been speculated that he’d return to East Lansing at some point in the future.

Well, Narduzzi attempted to silence any speculation about possibly plans to leave the Panthers during his National Signing Day press conference Wednesday and with this perfect video on Twitter from The Wolf of Wall Street.

During his NSD press conference — Pitt’s 2020 class is ranked No. 44, one spot behind the Spartans’ — Narduzzi said he had a feeling he’d get questions about taking over at Michigan State after his “phone was blowing up [Tuesday] night.” He explained he was as surprised as everyone else to hear about Dantonio’s sudden departure.

Narduzzi did, in fact, get several questions about leaving Pitt and repeatedly said he has no plans to go anywhere. He said, via ASAP Sports:

“Rumors are rumors. Speculation… I can’t tell you what’s going on in the outside world. I don’t know what’s happening up there. Obviously it’s fresh. …

“The rumor, squash them, whatever you want to call it. I got decisions to make, too. I’m here at Pitt. I want to be here at Pitt. That’s where I’m going to be.”

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