Pitt has reportedly keyed in on a Big Ten assistant to be its next head coach.
Yahoo Sports’ Pat Forde reported Monday night that Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi was the leading candidate to succeed Paul Chryst with the Panthers after interviewing with the school within the last week.
Now, Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel and ESPN’s Joe Schad are reporting that Narduzzi and Pitt are nearing an agreement.
According to Thamel, the deal has not yet been finalized and is “not expected to be announced until after Christmas.”
Narduzzi has been the defensive coordinator under Mark Dantonio at Michigan State since 2007 and is considered one of the best assistant coaches in college football. He won the Broyles Award for the nation’s top assistant in 2013 and Michigan State has had a top 10 defense under his watch in each of the last four seasons.
Before joining the staff at Michigan State, the 48-year-old Narduzzi was an assistant at Miami (Ohio), Rhode Island, Northern Illinois and Cincinnati.
According to Forde, Narduzzi also interviewed for the opening at Colorado State last week, but he was “more interested” in the Pitt job. His name has been brought up in coaching searches on many occasions over the past few seasons. He interviewed with Louisville last season and turned down Connecticut last year, Forde wrote. He was also “in the mix” at Cincinnati before Tommy Tuberville was hired by the Bearcats.
If an agreement comes to fruition, Narduzzi will be Pitt’s fifth head coach since 2010. Chryst, who left for Wisconsin, went 19-19 in three seasons with the program and reached a bowl game in each season. The Panthers went 6-6 this year and will play Houston in the Armed Forces Bowl on Jan. 2.
Athletic director Steve Pederson was fired last week, at least in part due to the turnover at the head football coach position.
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