Veterans Helping Pitt Move Past Charlie Partridge Departure

The Pitt Panthers veterans helped their younger teammates move on from losing Charlie Partridge.

PITTSBURGH -- The announcement was sudden and stunning. The Pitt Panthers would be losing their star defensive line coach, Charlie Partridge, a crushing blow during an offseason full of massive changes. 

For young Panthers defensive linemen, especially the freshmen that had arrived in January as early enrollees, Partridge's decision to accept a job with the Indianapolis Colts took shook their confidence and made them uncertain about the future, but that's where their veteran mentors stepped in to ease their minds. 

“Dayon, when Coach Partridge announced he was leaving, Dayon was one of the guys - one of many - to keep people like me and Francis [Brewu] and Zach [Crothers], to keep our heads cool," former four-star recruit Sincere Edwards said. "Because at the end of the day, we’re the young guys coming in and we wanted to get coached by Coach Partidge. And with him leaving, it kind of messed our heads up a little bit but the older guys like Nate, Bam, Dayon - those were the guys that would pick our heads up and motivate us to keep going.”

Hayes, along with returning super senior Nate Temple and Bam Brima, players with starting experience who were developed by Partridge, did their best to keep their unit together and confident as the face the challenge of rebuilding from a disappointing 3-9 campaign in 2023. 

Crothers said he was told to keep his head down and work harder. He couldn't control whether Partridge stayed in Pittsburgh or not so it's his job to keep his nose to the grindstone either way. 

“At first, it’s a big shock," Crothers said. "You come in with this expectation that he’ll be your coach but things change. And like all our older teammates said, all our veterans and our high school coaches said, it’s a business in college football. So you can’t expect too much."

Partridge was one of the most revered position coaches in all of college football. He was part of the reason why . Him leaving for the NFL was understandably jarring but to another former four-star recruit, Francis Brewu, it's still the same Pitt defense that prioritizes aggression and pressure. That drew Brewu to the Panthers originally and keeps him confident he will continue to thrive in Pittsburgh. 

"That defense is still here," Brewu said. "It's a great defense to play in, sends a lot of defensive linemen to the league and that's my end goal. I want to get to the NFL so I thought this was the best place for me."

Crothers was able to turn it into a positive as well, saying his veteran teammates told him it would be valuable to have a coach like Partridge in the NFL, so that when he gets to that level, there is a person with connections inside the league for former Panthers to lean on. 

A new era has begun for Pitt along the defensive line but the Panthers are taking it in stride. With the help of their older teammates, Brewu, Edwards and Crothers are ready to welcome new defensive line coach Tim Daoust to the program and keep their tradition of dominant defensive line play alive. 

“It was tough. It was really tough," Brewu said. "But I’m excited for [Partridge], I’m happy for him and I’m excited to get to work with this new coach.”

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