CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Pat Narduzzi and three Pitt players arrived at the Westin Charlotte for Thursday’s ACC Kickoff at around 9:30 a.m. They spent an hour-and-a-half filming TV features before taking the podium for a press conference. Narduzzi hopped on ACC Network before joining his players for an open interview session.
During those 30 minutes, Narduzzi covered a lot.
He addressed Jordan Addison’s transfer to USC. He acknowledged Louisiana Tech transfer Jerrod “Bub” Means is eligible for this season. He confirmed freshman linebacker Marquan Pope will be on a medical scholarship after suffering a spinal injury during spring camp. And he lamented the ACC’s new 3-5-5 scheduling model that will go into effect in 2023, preferring the Coastal and Atlantic division setup.
“I'll play anybody,” Narduzzi said of the scheduling switch, which will put Pitt up against Boston College, Syracuse and Virginia Tech on an annual basis. “I think some people didn't like having Clemson in their division.”
After that, he stepped into a hotel hallway and strolled toward lunch. On his way, Narduzzi stopped and caught up with the Post-Gazette for a brief conversation about the state of college football — and his team — entering the 2022 campaign.
— When you’re seeing the USC and UCLA news, how do you take that in?
— Narduzzi: It’s crazy. It’s just chaos. But you knew that when Texas and Oklahoma left, (the SEC is) at 16 and someone wasn’t going to sit at 14. I knew as soon as that happened that there was more to come — and there’s still more to come, as we all know now. We’ll all sit here and act shocked when it happens in six months, eight months or a year. But there are going to be more things going on. Everyone’s trying to make their conferences better and add who makes sense for them.
— A lot of people appreciate college football being regional. Having schools from California in the Big Ten, is that good for the sport?
— Narduzzi: I don’t think so. Two opportunities we had when I was at Michigan State to go out west, we lost both of them. That’s a long haul. We lost to Cal, and we lost to Oregon. They were both night games, and when they ended, it was 2 o’clock in the morning eastern time. The travel is brutal. There’s a lot to think about. But for those schools out in southern California to have to take five trips out here? That’s going to be really brutal. ... These players don’t have a day to recover when they come back. The coaches and players have to work the next day. I think college football is supposed to be regional. But that’s changing. You just kind of have to move with the flow.
— Where do you see how the ACC fits in right now? And is expansion OK with you?
— Narduzzi: I think expansion’s cool. When they talked about these divisions ending a year ago, then Texas and Oklahoma leave, like, we shouldn’t even be talking about these divisions. Who knows if we’re going to even use this model? What’s the point of changing for two years or something like that? But I’m not worried about it all. There’s nothing I’m going to do. I’m not in the inner workings of the ACC office. If I wanted to worry about that, I’d go see if commissioner Phillips can give me a job. I’m not there yet. Maybe in 20 years.
— Does Jim Phillips keep the coaches informed on talks of expansion, unequal revenue sharing and those kind of ideas?
— Narduzzi: No, we have not had that conversation. We haven’t had a conversation about these big changes in the Big Ten. It’s football season, so we might not have that conversation until after the season. They have it under control and don’t need our advice. I’m sure Heather [Lyke] and the ADs have had those calls. But that’s not my problem.
— What’s the next step for name, image and likeness? What does that look like to you?
— Narduzzi: That’s one of those ‘above my pay grade’ questions. But I think it’s great that our kids have the opportunity to make money. You look at Jim Tressel. He got fired for having kids going to a tattoo parlor and getting free tattoos. I mean, that shouldn’t have been a problem even back then. If you have a restaurant and you want to feed the kids, you should be able to feed the kids. Like, what are we doing here? But it’s gone overboard. When you hear about kids making $500,000 who haven’t played a down for you, how does that happen? What are we doing? Those are the things I worry about.
— Is it different when you come here this time around as a conference champion?
— Narduzzi: It’s about the same. Same people. Same building. Same conference. Different year.
— How do you feel differently about this year’s team than you did about last year’s team going into the season?
— Narduzzi: You know, there are question marks at positions, at the quarterback position in particular. But I feel good. I feel like our guys are going to compete. I think we’re going to do a great job coaching them. I think they’re going to play their tails off for us. You’re always going to win in a different way. Kenny Pickett, he was the guy last year, and he had weapons around him. But we’ll find a way. We’ll find a different way. That’s what good football teams do.
