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Like the region it calls home, Pitt football under\xa0Pat Narduzzi\xa0has proven to be rugged, relentless and continuously rising.

Upon his hiring on December 26, 2014, Narduzzi pledged his Panthers would "play with a tough, blue-collar mentality\u2014and how else would you want it in the City of Pittsburgh?"

Promise kept.
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The eighth-year\xa0Chris Bickell '97 Head Football Coach\xa0has made an emphatic imprint on Pitt's program.\xa0His vision for the Panthers\u2014on and off the field\u2014continues to bear fruit with each passing season.

The 2021 campaign will go down as one of the most celebrated in Pitt\u2019s long football history. The Panthers stormed to 11 victories\u2014their most in 40 years\u2014and claimed their first outright conference title with a 45-21 triumph over Wake Forest in the ACC Championship Game.

Pitt earned a No. 13 ranking in the final polls, its highest finish since 1982. The Panthers placed No. 12 in the final College Football Playoff ratings, their highest ever.

Individually, three Pitt players earned first-team All-America honors from NCAA-recognized selectors: wide receiver Jordan Addison (consensus), quarterback Kenny Pickett and long snapper Cal Adomitis. The Panthers last had three first team All-Americans in a season in 1982.

Addison won the 2021 Biletnikoff Award (nation's outstanding receiver), Pickett won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (nation's top upperclassman quarterback) and Adomitis earned the Patrick Mannelly Award (nation's top long snapper).

Pickett finished third in the 2021 Heisman Trophy balloting, the highest finish by a Pitt player since wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald was the 2003 runner-up.

Narduzzi also earned personal accolades, receiving the Andy Talley Tri-State Coach of the Year award, annually bestowed by the esteemed Maxwell Football Club to the top college coach in the northeast. Narduzzi was a finalist for the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year, Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year and Paul "Bear" Bryant Coach of the Year national awards.

The 2021 season was a culmination of Narduzzi\u2019s steady yet unmistakable program building. But the crowning achievement of an ACC title was preceded by many other milestone moments and accomplishments. Among them:

• From 2015-21, Narduzzi directed Pitt to 36 victories in ACC play, the conference\u2019s third-highest win total during that span. Only Clemson (52) and Miami (37) won more.
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• Narduzzi directed the Panthers to two ACC Coastal Division titles (2018 and 2021). Since ACC expansion in 2013, Pitt is the only team with multiple Coastal crowns.
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• Narduzzi has coached seven first team All-Americans at Pitt, including four who earned consensus status. Over the 2020-21 seasons, Pitt was one of only four programs nationwide to have at least three consensus selections, joining Alabama, Notre Dame and Texas A&M. In addition to Addison in 2021, defensive ends Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver were 2020 consensus All-Americans.
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• Six Pitt products\u2014Jones, Weaver, center Jimmy Morrissey, safety Damar Hamlin, cornerback Jason Pinnock and defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman\u2014were selected in the 2021 NFL Draft, the most of any program in the ACC and tied for eighth nationally. In the 2022 draft, Pickett was a first-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers\u2014the first Pitt QB to be drafted in the opening round since Dan Marino in 1983.
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• Narduzzi\u2019s Panthers have a well-earned reputation as a dangerous opponent for highly ranked foes. In 2019, Pitt scored a 35-34 triumph over UCF, which visited Heinz Field riding a 27-game non-bowl winning streak. The winning touchdown\u2014a gadget-play pass caught by quarterback Kenny Pickett\u2014has been immortalized as the "Pitt Special."
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• In 2017, Pitt closed the season with a 24-14 victory over No. 2 Miami, which entered the game undefeated and on the cusp of the College Football Playoff.
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• In 2016, the Panthers defeated two teams that finished in the top 5 of the final CFP rankings. Pitt gave No. 2 Clemson\u2014that year\u2019s national champion\u2014its only loss (43-42) and kept No. 5 Penn State out of the playoff field by defeating the Nittany Lions, 42-39.
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• In 2020, Pitt earned an NCAA Public Recognition Award for achieving an Academic Progress Rate (APR) score that ranked in the top 10% of all football programs. The Panthers' multi-year 988 APR set a Pitt football program record and was 24 points higher than the national average.
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• In 2018, the Panthers received the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Academic Achievement Award after scoring a perfect single-year 1,000 APR.
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• In Narduzzi's initial seven seasons as head coach, Pitt had 41 All-ACC Academic Football Team honorees. The Panthers have had at least five All-ACC Academic selections in each season of Narduzzi's tenure.

Narduzzi has engrained toughness and tenacity into the program\u2019s culture. His passionate approach has spurred Pitt\u2019s rise in the ACC and nationally. Moreover, he is committed\u2014in both word and deed\u2014to his student-athletes\u2019 long-term growth.

That last point was vividly illustrated when Narduzzi and his wife, Donna, made a six-figure financial gift to the Pitt Football Championship Fund, which serves the program in such key areas as student-athlete development, facility improvement, technology and recruiting.

\u201cI take great pride in wearing that Pitt Script on my chest each day as the University of Pittsburgh\u2019s head football coach,\u201d Narduzzi said. \u201cThis is an outstanding place with so many amazing people. Donna and I feel incredibly blessed to call Pitt our home.

\u201cThis gift is an expression of our thankfulness for the people of Pitt, especially the student-athletes we get to work with each day. Our responsibility is to give them the finest experiences possible\u2014academically, athletically and personally. Donna and I feel truly honored and fortunate to be able to provide support for that mission at Pitt.\u201d

Narduzzi arrived at Pitt following eight highly successful years as the defensive coordinator at Michigan State under former head coach Mark Dantonio. During that time the Spartans achieved five Top 25 finishes and Narduzzi's defense proved instrumental in that success. Michigan State was the only team to rank in the nation\u2019s top 10 in total defense and rushing defense each season from 2011-14.
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In 2014, the Spartans finished with a No. 5 national ranking and 11-2 record following a stirring 42-41 victory over Baylor in the AT&T Cotton Bowl. Narduzzi\u2019s defense shut out the high-scoring Bears in the fourth quarter, opening the door for 21 unanswered points by Michigan State.
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Michigan State boasted the nation\u2019s top rushing defense in 2014, yielding just 88.5 yards per game. The Spartans finished third nationally with 34 turnovers gained and eighth in total defense, holding opponents to just 315.8 yards per contest.
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In 2013, Michigan State finished No. 3 in the country following a Big Ten title and 24-20 victory over No. 5 Stanford in the Rose Bowl. In the wake of that championship season, Narduzzi was named the 2013 recipient of the prestigious Broyles Award, annually presented to the country\u2019s top assistant coach.
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Narduzzi tutored an impressive list of decorated defensive players at Michigan State, including first team All-Americans in cornerback Darqueze Dennard, safety Kurtis Drummond, linebacker Greg Jones and defensive tackle Jerel Worthy.
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Dennard was a unanimous All-American in 2013, becoming the first Michigan State cornerback to earn that distinction. He also was the school\u2019s first winner of the Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to college football\u2019s top defensive back. Dennard was a first-round NFL Draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2014, the first Spartans defensive back taken in the initial round since 1961. In the 2015 draft, another Narduzzi pupil, Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes, was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings.
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Narduzzi coached 19 first-team All-Big Ten selections. Four players won the conference\u2019s top individual awards under his watch, including two Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year honorees (Dennard in 2013 and Drummond in 2014). Shilique Calhoun was the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2013 while Greg Jones was the overall Defensive Player of the Year in 2009.
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Prior to Michigan State, Narduzzi spent three years (2004-06) as defensive coordinator under Dantonio at Cincinnati, helping the Bearcats to a pair of bowl invitations.
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In 2003, Narduzzi was the defensive coordinator at Miami of Ohio under the late Terry Hoeppner. The RedHawks stormed to a 13-1 record that season, capturing the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship and defeating nationally ranked Louisville in the GMAC Bowl to finish No. 10 in the Associated Press poll. While quarterback Ben Roethlisberger headlined Miami\u2019s offense, Narduzzi\u2019s stout unit topped the MAC in rushing defense (19th nationally), scoring defense (22nd nationally) and pass efficiency defense (34th nationally).
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Narduzzi served as linebackers coach at Northern Illinois for three seasons (2000-02). NIU won a pair of MAC divisional titles during his tenure and in 2002 had the league\u2019s top rushing defense.
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From 1993-99, Narduzzi coached at his alma mater, Rhode Island, serving as the Rams\u2019 defensive coordinator his final two seasons. He began his coaching career at Miami of Ohio, working as a graduate assistant in 1990 and 1991, before earning his first full-time position as receivers coach for the 1992 season.
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Narduzzi was an All-Ohio performer at Youngstown\u2019s Ursuline High School, leading the Irish to the Steel Valley championship and state playoffs as a senior in 1984. He was a starting linebacker under his father, the late Bill Narduzzi, as a freshman at Youngstown State University in 1985 before transferring to Rhode Island, where he became a three-year starter for the Rams from 1987-89.
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Bill Narduzzi was head coach at YSU from 1975-85. He led the Penguins to two NCAA Division II playoff appearances, including the national championship game in 1979, and twice was named the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Coach of the Year. (One of Bill\u2019s first coaching posts was as a freshman line coach at Pitt in 1962.)
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Narduzzi completed his bachelor\u2019s degree in physical education at Rhode Island in 1990 and later earned a master\u2019s degree in sports studies at Miami of Ohio in 1992.
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He and his wife, Donna, have four children: Arianna, Christina, Patrick and Isabella.