Pitt's New ACC Opponent Confirms New HC

The Pitt Panthers' newest conference rival has a new head coach.

Mar 13, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; USC Trojans head coach Andy Enfield reacts to a call in favor of / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

PITTSBURGH -- One of the Pitt Panthers' newest opponents in the ACC will have a new head coach heading into next season as they prepare to leap from the Group of 5 to the Power 5.

SMU, who is set to join Pitt's home conference as a full member alongside Cal and Stanford this coming fall, has announced that former USC head coach Andy Enfield has accepted a new job in the same role with the Mustangs, the program announced this week, confirming multiple reports that had surfaced the week prior.

The timing of the change is interesting, given that SMU's head coach for the last two seasons, Rob Lainer, had completed a dramatic two-year turnaround, improving his win total by 10 from the season prior. 

Enfiled has spent the last 11 seasons as head coach of the Trojans. He's made five NCAA Tournament appearances and was named the 2020-21 Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Before that, he was the architect of Florida Gulf Coast's surprise Sweet 16 run in 2013, when they knocked off Georgetown and San Diego State as a No. 15 seed. 

With Louisville adding a new head coach and other of the traditional cellar-dwellers settling on new coaches, the Panthers' path through the ACC is getting more difficult heading into the 2024-25 season. 

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