Pat Narduzzi issues statement on departure of Jim Chaney

As mentioned earlier, Pitt offensive coordinator Jim Chaney was reportedly hired by Georgia to fill that same post. The Panthers' head coach Pat Narduzzi made it official, issuing this statement a short time ago:

"On behalf of our entire program, I would like to thank Jim for his contributions to Pitt. His work was very important as we established our program in this first year. In addition to being an excellent football coach, he is a tremendous person and we wish him and his family the very best."

There's not much to take away there, obviously. Narduzzi and Chaney had no prior relationship before he came aboard at Pitt so it's also not as if these are two long-time friends, either. We don't know much about their relationship and why Chaney left isn't immediately clear. We also don't know if Pitt would have preferred to keep him or if the feeling was relatively mutual. Lots to sort out over the days to come.

Just a year after hiring Chaney, Narduzzi now has to fill his post. Pitt fans have been understandably a little divided over his departure, but the Panthers can survive without him. As stated before, the money is there for a good hire and while Narduzzi has some work to do, there's no doubt that it isn't a loss that should cripple the program.

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