PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s a relationship publicly defined by Geoff Collins blowing through a handshake following a loss to Pitt in December 2020. Pat Narduzzi was taking no pleasure in Collins losing his job on Monday.
“My thoughts go out,” Narduzzi said shortly after the news broke. “It’s never easy. Geoff Collins is a great guy. I know you guys will talk about the handshake, but he’s a good dude. He was mad at the officials. He’s intense.”
“He’s a really good football coach. You don’t want to see that happen to anybody, I don’t care who it is. I don’t care what the record is, he has a family.”
Collins was 10-28 overall (seven ACC wins) as he was four games into his fourth season with the Yellow Jackets. This season GT is last in the ACC in touchdowns with seven, averaging a league-worst 13.8 points-per-game. They are 13th in points allowed at 31.8.
How will this impact how the Panthers prepare for Saturday night’s matchup?
“It changes a lot of things,” Narduzzi said. “We don’t know. You are going back to the opening game of the season again not knowing what they are going to do.”
Narduzzi said he anticipates them running the same or similar stuff, but added there could be stuff they’ve wanted to run but was previously vetoed by Collins. He said they will prepare like Clemson is walking through the door and he said Georgia Tech has a lot of skilled talent.
One shy
56 wins now in his eighth season at Pitt, one more victory and Narduzzi moves into third place alone on the all-time Panthers football wins list. He’s currently tied with John Michelosen who was 56-49 from 1955-65.
“Not really, it just means I’m getting old,” Narduzzi said of the opportunity Saturday. “I’ve been here for a long time. It really doesn’t matter, it’s about winning every week and going 1-0. The team wins the games, we just get to watch them play on Saturdays.”
A win would not only move Narduzzi into solo possession of third place, but then three behind Pop Warner for second place. Jock Sutherland is the all-time leader with 111 wins in 143 games from 1924-38.
Homecoming Starts
Next week is Homecoming at Pitt, the ACC announced the game against Virginia Tech on October 8 will start at 3:30p. Panthers pregame on 93.7 The Fan begins at 12:30p.
Narduzzi also announced defensive end Nate Temple and corner Rashad Battle are out for the season due to injury.