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Per a report from Football Scoop, Narduzzi has seemingly made a staff change on the offensive side of the ball...
At Pitt, sources tell @FootballScoop that offensive line coach John Peterson will not returnhttps://t.co/Ikvvbhy4YQ
— Doug Samuels (@CoachSamz) January 24, 2018
Peterson has been with Narduzzi since the start of his tenure at Pitt. Peterson inherited a pretty good cupboard of lineman after Paul Chryst’s departure, and he seemed to take advantage. Pitt’s offensive line in 2016 was one of the best in the country, and two starters were drafted after.
Peterson also gets credit for projected first-rounder and Piesman winner Brian O’Neill. O’Neill was a tight end when Peterson got to Pitt, and Peterson had him change positions where O’Neill has obviously blossomed.
Pitt’s line certainly took a step back this season, however, and there was a huge amount of shuffling in the first half of the season. That shuffling was something a lot of people felt should have been figured out by fall camp. I’ve heard some criticisms that outside of O’Neill, Pitt’s offensive line has had a lack of development. I don’t know football well enough to judge that, but could understand if Narduzzi wanted to make a change because of that.
It will be interesting to see who replaces Peterson, but some are speculating it could be an internal hire:
Football Scoop is report #Pitt OL coach will not return in 2018. I place my money on James Patton to assume the OL coach role going forward. pic.twitter.com/MsinVL7zgq
— Mike-Panther247 (@MikePanther247) January 24, 2018