When Pat Narduzzi spoke at a coach of the year clinic last year, his message to the crowd of coaches was “be patient” when thinking about other jobs.
Good advice, especially for those who hold good jobs.
To illustrate his point, Narduzzi told the story of an offensive coordinator who worked for him at Pitt and left after one season.
Narduzzi didn’t mention the coach by name, but his description fits the profile of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach Matt Canada.
Narduzzi said the coach worked for him for “eight months” and left for a salary at an unnamed school for more than $1 million.
Canada did leave Pitt for LSU after one season (2016) for a reported annual salary of more than $1 million. Narduzzi said he tried, unsuccessfully, to keep Canada.
“I got him a million at our place,” Narduzzi said at the clinic. “I don’t think he was worth a million. He wasn’t even that good. He was a good friend.”
Narduzzi said he told the unnamed coach, “You’re stupid to go.”
Whether any assistant coach in college is worth a million-dollar salary may be up for debate. But Pitt set a school record for points (532) and yards (5,808) under Canada in 2016. Pitt also defeated Syracuse that year when the Orange scored 61 points, but Canada’s offense countered with 76.
Pitt also defeated eventual national champion Clemson that season, 43-42.
As it turned out, Narduzzi was correct that the LSU experience didn’t work out well for Canada (other than the money), who was fired after one season. He spent the 2018 season as offensive coordinator and interim head coach at Maryland before the Steelers hired him this year to work with Ben Roethlisberger.
“He could have been at one place (Pitt),” Narduzzi said at the clinic. “So, be patient.”
Sometimes, however, impatience pays off, too.
