Pat Narduzzi left Michigan State, where he was the defensive coordinator, to become the head football coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers right in the middle of MSU’s historic run. The Spartans were coming off of a Rose Bowl winning season in 2013 and a Cotton Bowl winning season in 2014. Narduzzi went east to Pitt and the Spartans put together their College Football Playoff semifinal season in 2015, but then collapsed over the better part of Mark Dantonio’s final four seasons in East Lansing.
Coach Narduzzi was building something new at Pitt.