Pitt assistant coach Charlie Partridge leaving for the NFL
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In an offseason of significant staff transition, Pitt football is losing another assistant, with the news Monday morning that defensive line and assistant head coach Charlie Partridge is heading to the NFL.
FootballScoop.com reported Partridge will coach the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive line.
Over the past seven seasons, Partridge made his mark in his second term as a Pitt assistant while coaching defensive linemen and recruiting in his native state of Florida and elsewhere. He coached three first-team All-Americans at Pitt while his defense averaged almost 50 sacks a season from 2019-22.
My heart is heavy and full of gratitude for Pitt and Pittsburgh. I am honored to have the opportunity to be a DL coach in the NFL. It’s time and I’m excited to go coach football!! #H2P
— Charlie Partridge (@CoachPartridge) February 5, 2024
Thank you, @CoachPartridge pic.twitter.com/meFZMMaWps
— Pat Narduzzi (@CoachDuzzPittFB) February 5, 2024
Previously, he coached defensive ends and special teams for former Pitt coach Walt Harris in 2003 and ’04. Then, when Dave Wannstedt was hired in 2006, he spent two seasons coaching defensive linemen, linebackers and special teams.
Partridge coached Pitt’s linebackers in 2007 when Scott McKillop, a first-year starter at middle linebacker, led the nation in tackles (12.6 per game) and was named All-America and an unanimous first-team All-Big East honoree.
“As a coach and mentor, Charlie Partridge has been vital to our program’s rise over the past seven years,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said in a statement.
“When I hired him back in 2017, I had high aspirations for the type of impact he would make for us. True to form, Charlie surpassed even those expectations. His influence on our players, on and off the field, is well known.
“Speaking personally, Charlie has been a tremendous confidant, advisor and friend, and I’ll always be grateful for that. The National Football League is getting a great coach and an even greater man. On behalf of our entire program, I wish him and his family only the very best.”
Partridge received rare recognition as a two-time winner of FootballScoop’s National Defensive Line Coach of the Year award in 2020 and 2022.
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In 2022, he coached tackle Calijah Kancey, a unanimous All-American, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a 2023 first-round draft choice of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Also last year, two others coached by Partridge — defensive ends Deslin Alexandre (New York Jets) and Habakkuk Baldonado (New York Giants) — signed NFL contracts.
In 2020, Partridge coached consensus All-America defensive ends Patrick Jones II and Rashad Weaver, the first time since 1977 that Pitt had two defensive players earn consensus status in the same season. Defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman was named a second-team All-American by six different outlets in 2019. Jones, Weaver and Twyman were selected in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Partridge has held many jobs in college football, including head coach at Florida Atlantic from 2014-16. At Florida Atlantic, he recruited 10 players who signed NFL contracts.
He also has been an assistant coach at Drake (his alma mater), Iowa State, Eastern Illinois, Wisconsin and Arkansas. At Wisconsin, he was co-defensive coordinator in 2011 and ’12 and also coached 2010 All-American and national defensive player of the year J.J. Watt.
Previously this offseason, Narduzzi fired four assistants from his offensive staff.