I had no choice. I tried to type something simple, like, “Matt Canada Hired as New OC.” But it went through the Mandatory Wordplay Headline Generator and came out as “Pitt Fans Prepping to Blame Canada.” Another simple explanatory headline on his joining the coaching staff came out as, “Canada Invades Pitt.” So, embrace the bad wordplay and all it entails.
Almost as soon as the surprising announcement of Matt Canada being fired from NC State less than a week ago, the possibility of Canada becoming Pitt’s OC made a lot of sense. There was some prior history between Canada and Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on the Northern Illinois University staff for a couple of years. Canada has a solid rep as an OC, and his offensive style meshes with what Narduzzi wants. Add in the fact that Canada was not just a power 5 OC, but one within the ACC.
The only way it wasn’t going to happen was if Narduzzi already had slam dunk hire lined up and was waiting for either the final bowl games to finish or some contract stuff to be worked out. Instead, the announcement was made mid-afternoon today.
Matt Canada, a 24-year coaching veteran who most recently orchestrated some of the most productive offenses in NC State history, has been named offensive coordinator at Pitt by Pat Narduzzi.
Under Canada’s direction, NC State averaged more than 30 points per game each of the past two seasons. In 2015, the Wolfpack scored 33.2 points per contest, the third highest average in school history.
Canada’s Pitt appointment marks a reunion with Narduzzi. The pair worked together at Northern Illinois from 2000-02.
“I’ve known Matt and his family for a very long time and I feel very fortunate to bring him to Pittsburgh,” Narduzzi said. “Matt is an innovative offensive mind, excellent teacher of quarterback play and strong recruiter and evaluator. He is a great leader who will provide our team and staff with a real spark. Most importantly, Matt is a tremendously loyal person who will be a great fit for Pitt.”
“I’m thrilled and honored to join Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt football program,” Canada said. “I have tremendous respect for Pat as a person and professional. He truly does things the right way. Pat is building something special at Pitt and I’m ready to hit the ground running and begin contributing to the effort.”
When Canada was let go by NC State, the general fan reaction was roughly, “Ummm. Okay. I guess.” They were more interested (hopeful) on whether the DC, Dave Huxtable was next. The issue, surprisingly enough, seemed to be a personality clash between NC State HC Dave Doeren and Canada. I say, surprisingly, because they had been working together back at NIU. Additionally NC State had stepped up last year to make Canada one of the highest paid assistants in the ACC with a 3-year deal, when Tennessee tried to grab him.
Yet, all accounts are that it was a personality clash that drove the split. The spin that tried to be played out was that the NC State offense sputtered in key games last year. Yet, that seems a bit strained to fire the guy. Especially considering what he did accomplish, and what the offense lost this past year —
The Wolfpack also had 2,659 rushing yards last year, the fourth highest total in school history. The past two seasons Canada has also helped rejuvenate the career of graduating starting quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
After two lackluster seasons at Florida and sitting out 2013 due to his transfer, Brissett has developed into a potential mid-round pick in April’s NFL draft. He threw for 5,268 yards with 43 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions in his two seasons with the Wolfpack.
The WR corp this year was considered weak (think Pitt if there was no Tyler Boyd this past season). The offense wasn’t the issue, even with losses in personnel.
Bottom line: CDD’s [Coach Dave Doeren] second year was better than all of TOB’s [Tom O’Brien] years save for one, and, despite regressing in the W-L column by a game, CDD’s third season was better than his second (and thus also better than all of TOB’s years save for one).
Here’s the rub: As the metrics show pretty decisively, CDD’s improvement of the program has come on the offensive side of the football. Fremeau rates the last two Canada offenses ahead of the best offense of the TOB era. Connelly does the same. While Connelly is lukewarm on the Pack D, Fremeau (who hasn’t bothered to update the individual units, only the F/+ overall, during bowl season) puts a big old frowny face on Dave Huxtable’s unit. It’s probably safe to say that Huxtable’s defense will finish in the 80s for a third straight year once the rankings are updated. The NC State defense isn’t just bad; it’s not showing any appreciable improvement. But, despite the Swiss cheese approach, the offense’s grand improvement still propels the program past the mediocre TOB standard.
The team had a talented running back with a 10 cent-brain in Shadrach Thorton who was dismissed from the team. Their next best running back, Matt Dayes missed the last five games due to injuries.
So, yeah, the decision to fire the OC, but not make any changes to the defensive side of the ball is being met with a little confusion among the NC State faithful.
For Pitt, this just feels like a good fit. Pitt gets a good OC with plenty of experience and success. He’s got ambition (he also interviewed for the East Carolina State head coaching job in December). His first call after agreeing to terms was to Thomas McVittie — the star QB recruit in Pitt’s 2016 class.