How Pitt administrators helped Pat Narduzzi decide to remain Pitt's coach

When news of the coaching vacancy at Michigan State reached Heather Lyke’s office in Petersen Events Center, she made the most logical, reasonable and — as it turns out — crucial move possible.

She called Pat Narduzzi.

“I wanted to make sure he knew we wanted him to be at Pitt,” she said.

One conversation wasn’t enough, however, and Pitt’s athletic director promised to pick it up with him Wednesday morning.

“The reality is you have to sleep on things in life,” she said. “These are decisions, career, family, life, you don’t make in an hour.”

Both went home to think. Early in the morning, Narduzzi texted Lyke with the news that he plans to stay.

“I told him I’d come see him,” she said.

Later, when he met with reporters, Narduzzi slammed his palm on the podium in front of him and said, “The rumors, squash them, whatever you want to call them. I’m here at Pitt, and I want to be here at Pitt. That’s where I want to be. It’s my ultimate goal to be here at Pitt.

“I came here to get a job done. We couldn’t be in a better situation at the University of Pittsburgh.”

Narduzzi also spoke Tuesday night with Pitt chancellor Patrick Gallagher, who reiterated what Lyke had told the coach. Pitt has no appetite for a coaching search or a return to even a brief period of instability at the top rung of the football program.

The reality, however, is there are people at Michigan State who wanted — and still do — Narduzzi to replace Mark Dantonio as coach after Narduzzi had great success for eight years as the Spartans defensive coordinator.

Narduzzi was asked Wednesday if he heard from anyone at Michigan State since Dantonio’s retirement became public. Initially, he declined to answer, but he interrupted the next question by saying, “Put it this way, my phone was blowing up (Tuesday) night.”

During his nearly 30-minute news conference Wednesday, most of the questions directed at him were about Michigan State and how its coaching search has affected him.

At one point, he was asked if the attention was flattering.

“Flattering? I don’t know. Kind of pain in the tail, I can tell you that,” he said. “You know how much success you had at another place and you enjoyed it, too. If you didn’t enjoy it, you wouldn’t have stayed for eight years.

“I know where my heart is, but you got people pulling at you.”

In the end, Narduzzi said his relationships at Pitt — from the Cathedral of Learning in Oakland all the way to the South Side weight room — were too important to lose.

“I know what I’m dealing with here at Pitt,” he said. “I know every day when I call up Heather Lyke and say, ‘Hey, about this?’ and she’s going to say, ‘We’ll get it done.’ I just know that.

“I don’t know that about any place in the country like I know here.”

Lyke was asked if there might be any adjustments to Narduzzi’s contract that runs through 2024.

“We may evaluate that with him,” she said. “It’s not about very many things to him. What he wants to do is take care of his players and his coaches and that’s the most important thing for him.”

Speaking with reporters, Narduzzi mentioned the four players on defense — Paris Ford, Jaylen Twyman, Patrick Jones II and Damar Hamlin — who could have left for the NFL this year but decided to return for the 2020 season.

“We have a great football team coming back. Don’t underestimate that,” he said. “Our players are committed, and their coach is committed. We can’t have a head coach with one foot in. I want to win championships here.”

Pitt signed two more recruits Wednesday, but a day earlier he received a call from one of them — kicker Ben Sauls of Tipp City, Ohio — who wanted to know about Narduzzi and Michigan State.

Narduzzi took the call and immediately put Sauls on Facetime.

“I wanted him to look me in the eyes,” he said. “I wanted (him) to see who I was.

“He asked me what’s going on and, obviously, he signed (Wednesday). I’m not going to sit on Facetime and lie to a kid. I’m going to tell the truth.”

Narduzzi said he had a similar conversation with cornerback Rashad Battle of Fairburn, Ga., who also signed with Pitt after their talk.

The other reality surrounding Narduzzi’s program is there are high hopes among Pitt’s administrators, coaches and players about next season’s team. With a defense that finished 15th in the nation in yards allowed and has several players returning and with quarterback Kenny Pickett back for his third season as a starter, the team will be expected to make its longest strides yet in six seasons under Narduzzi.

“What’s most important to Pat are the people,” Lyke said. “He’s got a coaching staff that’s all coming back. A lot of (players) who had choices to make.

“In reflection, he says, ‘Everybody is coming back. This program is headed in the right direction. We have a lot to look forward to this coming season.

“Why would I be the one that leaves?’ ”

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