Despite the headaches, Pitt's Pat Narduzzi grew to know, respect Mark Whipple

When Pat Narduzzi was a 28-year-old defensive line coach at Rhode Island in 1994, he knew a headache awaited him when he saw Brown on the schedule.

All Narduzzi had to know was Mark Whipple was Brown’s head coach.

“The passing game just blew us up,” he said.

Same deal when Whipple moved to UMass. Overall, Narduzzi faced his future assistant in six games in the 1990s. Whipple won five.

“A pain in the butt to defend,” Narduzzi said.

So, when Pitt’s coach needed an offensive coordinator after a lackluster 7-7 season in 2018 — the Panthers won the ACC Coastal but scored a total of 26 points in the final three games — Narduzzi decided it was time to get Whipple on his side.

Perhaps it was Narduzzi’s finest personnel move in seven seasons at Pitt.

With Whipple coordinating the offense, Pitt’s offense is in the nation’s top 10 in four categories:

• Scoring (fourth, 43.5 points per game)

• Total offense (second, 531.1 yards per game)

• Passing offense (fifth, 373.1 yards per game)

• Third-down conversions (ninth, 48%, 71 of 148)

Plus, Whipple has tutored and gained the trust of quarterback Kenny Pickett, a Heisman Trophy candidate who has led Pitt to first place in the ACC Coastal. This week came word that Whipple is one of 61 nominees for the Frank Broyles Award, annually given to the nation’s top assistant coach.

Narduzzi, who won the Broyles as Michigan State’s defensive coordinator in 2013, said the award isn’t intended to recognize a young assistant on the rise. He said it’s meant for “someone who’s had a lot of success and has done things the right way.”

Narduzzi said coaching against Whipple was similar to trying to outsmart Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst, who matched wits with Narduzzi when both were assistants in the Big Ten.

“Paul Chryst in the Big Ten was the guy,” Narduzzi said. “I loved the challenge and the chess match of going against Paul Chryst. Mark Whipple was the same type of guy.”

Pickett likes to watch video with Whipple, and not just when there’s a game coming up on the weekend.

“I come in in the offseason,” Pickett said, “and he’s watching all these other offenses in the NFL. We’ll sit down and we’ll have Lucas (Krull) watch (tight end) Travis Kelce. We’ll have Jordan (Addison) watch (wide receiver) Tyreek Hill. He’s always looking to add things from other offenses that we can implement and make ours better.

“I think that’s what makes him such a great coach. I know a lot of coaches are stuck in their ways, but he’s a guy who’s always learning new things and I respect him a ton for that.”

Whipple, 64, has been coaching sine 1980 when he was assistant at St. Lawrence (N.Y.) University. He has been with eight colleges (Brown and UMass twice) and three professional teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns and Arizona Wranglers of the USFL).

“I’d known how he developed quarterbacks and made them better,” Narduzzi said. “Kenny’s had a great time with him and so did Big Ben (Roethlisberger) and plenty more throughout his career.”

Said Pickett: “He lived through it. He taught it at the highest level.”

Whipple’s first game at Pitt was the 2019 opener, a 30-14 loss to Virginia at Heinz Field. Next up is Virginia on Saturday with Pitt’s berth in the ACC championship game at stake.

“We’ll see how far we’ve come offensively from that year to this year,” Narduzzi said.

Pitt averaged only 373 yards per game that season, 158 shy of this season’s average.

“It takes time to develop and get your guys to know what to do,” Narduzzi said.

“Look at what he’s done,” Pickett said. “You can go watch the film from 2019 and how we compare.

“We wouldn’t be anywhere close to the offense or team (we are) without coach Whipple coming in and changing the culture on offense and making us believe that we can be what we are now. All the credit in the world should go to coach Whip.

“You need confidence, and he’s big on preaching that to us. He puts that confidence in us and everyone feels that when we go out on Saturdays and play with a little bit of an edge to us.”

Whipple usually is a picture of stoicism on the sideline when he’s giving the plays to Pickett – face-to-face.

But Pickett admits he has seen Whipple angry “a couple times” in three seasons.

“I always get where he’s coming from,” Pickett said. “He wants to bring the best out of everybody. Everyone takes it the right way. We improve from it and move on.”

Other Broyles nominees include Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry; Central Catholic graduate and Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead, who also has coached at Pitt and Penn State; and N.C. State defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, formerly of Pitt and West Virginia

Notes: Pickett was named one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award that goes to the nation’s top upperclassman quarterback. … He is promoting a food drive Dec. 13 for veterans and their families. Distribution will begin at noon at 2934 Smallman Street. … Pitt long snapper Cal Adomitis surpassed his goal of raising $94,000 for pediatric cancer. The total stood at $97,025 on Thursday afternoon.