Ex-Pitt players Therran Coleman, Bricen Garner switch sides as Western Michigan comes to town

Therran Coleman and Bricen Garner are in agreement.

They won’t walk onto the grass in Heinz Field’s south end zone (the one in front of Pitt’s student section) and try to relive history, even in their minds.

“We’re past that,” Coleman said. “I’m looking to make new moments.”

“I’m going to definitely soak it in for a second,” Garner said in a small concession to his past, “but my mind is focused on the game, for sure.”

Yet, the former Pitt defensive backs, who come to town Saturday as starters in the Western Michigan secondary facing their former teammates, can’t escape how remarkably close they are connected by that patch of grass.

Both recorded interceptions in the same end zone — the only picks of their Pitt careers — on the last play of overtime to secure victories, 13 months apart.

Garner, a free safety, picked off Youngstown State’s Hunter Wells to end Pitt’s 28-21 victory in the 2017 opener.

Coleman, a cornerback, snatched the football out of the hands of Syracuse’s Nykiem Johnson as they fell to the turf in the Panthers’ 44-37 victory in 2018.

“Fun times,” Coleman said. “Who would have thought we would be playing them?”

Not Pitt wide receiver Taysir Mack.

“I didn’t even know he was playing corner until I got the scouting report,” he said.

“I texted him, ‘Hey, buddy.’

He said, “Stay healthy. I want to see you this weekend.”

“I said, ‘That’s a bet.’”

Coleman was the first player Mack met when he transferred to Pitt in 2018, and they remain close friends. They once took a road trip together to Penn State to attend a concert featuring rapper A Boogie Wit da Hoodie.

“That’s my guy,” Coleman said, and he wasn’t talking about A Boogie.

Coleman and Garner, both members of Pitt’s recruiting class of 2016, said they left with no hard feelings after professionally cordial conversations with coach Pat Narduzzi.

“He gave me a chance (to stay),” said Coleman, a Brashear graduate. “I just had to go find something new. I would have played if I stayed — not to my liking. He wanted to try to use me as a reserve. I’m not a reserve.”

Garner, who played on Central Catholic’s 2015 WPIAL and PIAA championship team, had a similar experience.

“His reaction was cool, just a normal conversation,” Garner said. “I told him I was thinking about entering the (transfer) portal. He wanted to make sure I really wanted to follow through with it. Nothing weird about it.

“He helped me. He reached out to a couple coaches.”

“I did my four years there. I started as a redshirt freshman (in six games). By the end of it, I was at peace. I was ready to go my separate way and start a new journey somewhere else.”

Western Michigan coach Tim Lester said he talked to Narduzzi before accepting Coleman and Garner.

“He had great things to say about them,” Lester said. “It worked out the way it’s supposed to. They have a ton of respect, as do I, for coach Narduzzi. They have nothing but great things to say about the program and the way they run it.”

Plus, Lester was pleased to get a first-hand scouting report on the Panthers.

“It’s nice to know a little bit about some of their players,” he said. “TC and Bricen are both complimentary about the guys’ strengths and things that they do well that we’re going to have to know about to play them.”

Both players played the 2019 regular season for Pitt — Garner stayed through the bowl game — and were eager to play in 2020 for Western Michigan. Covid shortened the season, and Coleman missed it, anyway, with a knee injury.

In Western Michigan’s 28-0 victory Saturday against Illinois State, Garner recorded his first Mid-American Conference interception.

He said he’s treating Saturday’s game like any other.

“You can’t get caught up in, ‘This is my old team,’ ” he said. “They’re going to come out and play college football. You have to come out and play college football, too.”

Mack said he’s taking a similar approach to competing against Coleman, his travel buddy.

“I’ve been watching film, not even trying to treat it as someone I know,” he said. “At the end of the day when we step on those lines, it’s not about how cool we are. At the end of the day, I’m here to get paid and he is, too.”