Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Named Top 20 Coach
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers have enjoyed it's best two-year run since the 1980s, winning 20 games and finishing ranked in the final AP poll for consecutive years.
As a result, the Panthers have gained a new level of national respect in college football and the architect of the transformation from ACC afterthought to contender - head coach Pat Narduzzi - is earning his flowers as one of the best in his profession. Bill Bender from The Sporting News released his annual rankings of every head coach in the FBS and he ranked Narduzzi No. 17, up six spots from last year's ranking.
"Narduzzi enters his ninth season with the program. He has settled in at Pitt with a nice run the last three seasons that includes a 26-12 record, ACC championship and a New Year's Day Six appearance," Bender wrote. "The Panthers have been .500 or better in ACC play each of the last five seasons, and Narduzzi has emerged as a strong voice not just for the program, but for college football as a whole."
Just two ACC coaches - North Carolina's Mack Brown(No. 12) and Clemson's Dabo Swinney (No. 3) - ranked higher than Narduzzi, who owns a combined record of 4-3 against those two teams during his tenure at Pitt. NC State's Dave Doeren (No. 22) and Florida State's Mark Norvell (No. 24) are the only other coaches from within the conference to crack the top 25.
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