Pitt HC Pat Narduzzi Ranked Sixth in ACC By CBS Sports
PITTSBURGH -- Pat Narduzzi may have taken a couple of years to really get his Pitt Panthers moving but once he did, he made the program one of the better in their conference and the Power 5.
But after leading the Panthers to 20 wins over two seasons, consecutive top 25 finishes and an ACC Championship, Narduzzi still falls in the middle of the pack of head coaches in his conference, according to a recent poll from CBS Sports.
CBS and 247Sports' college football staffs came together this offseason to rank the head coaches in the ACC and Narduzzi checked in at sixth, trailing Clemson's Dabo Swinney, Wake Forest's Dave Clawson, Florida State's Mike Norvell, North Carolina's Mack Brown and NC State's Dave Doeren.
"Narduzzi lost a Heisman finalist at quarterback, had to cycle through signal-callers due to various injury issues in 2022 and still managed to win eight regular-season games -- including a bowl victory over UCLA," Will Backus wrote. "This came a year after he led the Panthers to their first ACC championship in program history and first New Year's Six bowl appearance since 2004. Narduzzi has just one losing season on his ledger as Pitt's head coach."
Narduzzi also placed sixth in last season's voting of this same poll, but fell two spots from No. 27 to No. 29 in the ranking of all Power 5 head coaches. In a write up of those rankings, CBS's Tom Fornelli acknowledged that the logic of these rankings don't always make sense.
"Earning respect from our voters is not easy for Narduzzi," He wrote. "Last year, I remarked that Narduzzi climbed only four spots in our rankings to No. 27 after reaching the ACC Championship and a New Year's Six bowl. Meanwhile, two SEC coaches jumped at least 20 spots for going 7-6. This year, Narduzzi follows an 11-3 season with a 9-4 year despite losing his Heisman Trophy finalist QB and drops two spots!"
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