New Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi said that he wanted to assemble his coaching staff rather quickly after taking over as the Panthers head man.
The past few days he has made strides in assembling that staff.
Narduzzi has filled the role of defensive coordinator with the hiring of Florida International defensive coordinator Josh Conklin.
Conklin has been Florida International’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons and is regarded as one of the nation’s brightest young defensive coaches and was up for the Broyles award as the nation’s top assistant coach, an award that Narduzzi won just a couple years ago.
At FIU Conklin coached a very aggressive defense that ranked fourth this season in the FBS in takeaways (33), 35th in total defense (363.8 yards per game) and 40th in scoring defense (24.8 points per game).
Truth be told, any hire to replace Matt House would be a step in the right direction, but the Conklin hire looks to be a good one on paper.
The role of special teams coach has been filled by Maryland special teams and running backs coach Andre Powell. He will also coach the running backs at Pitt.
While at Maryland for the last four seasons, Powell has coached a solid special teams unit. This past season the Terps produced Lou Groza Award-winning kicker Brad Craddock and had a very solid return game.
Dave Andrews comes to Pitt as their strength and conditioning coach after spending one season at Notre Dame. Andrews, a former player at Ohio State, was the associate strength and conditioning coach at Illinois before going to Notre Dame last season.
Finally Narduzzi named Ben Mathers the Director of Football Operations. Mathers worked with Narduzzi at Michigan State for the past seven years.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
