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Michigan State has shown interest in multiple ACC coaches with B1G experience, per report
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Michigan State has the longest active coaching search of the 2023 season carousel now that Northwestern has named a new full-time head coach.
As one would expect, plenty of names have been mentioned for the Spartan job. Rivals’ Spartans Illustrated recently listed Jason Candle (Toledo), Mike Elko (Duke), Jedd Fisch (Arizona) and Jonathan Smith (Oregon State) as head coaches who have interviewed for the position. When asked about the report, Fisch called it false.
MSU’s interest in ACC coaches extends beyond Elko. FootballScoop reports, per sources, that MSU has “done due diligence” on Pittsburgh’s Pat Narduzzi and “has had conversations” with NC State’s Dave Doeren.
Narduzzi, 57, has been in coaching since 1990. He was Michigan State’s defensive coordinator from 2007-14 before taking the Pitt head coaching job. At MSU, Narduzzi won the Broyles Award for top assistant coach in 2013.
Pitt is in its second losing season under Narduzzi. The Panthers are 3-8 heading into Week 13’s season finale.
Overall, Narduzzi is 65-49 in his Pitt tenure. Narduzzi’s squad went 11-3 in 2021, winning the ACC. Under Narduzzi, Pitt has been to 6 bowl games in 9 seasons. (The 2020 team finished 6-5, but opted out of a bowl game after the COVID season.)
Doeren, 51, has almost 3 decades of coaching experience. He has some Big Ten familiarity from his time at Wisconsin. Doeren was Wisconsin’s co-defensive coordinator, linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator for the 2006 and ’07 seasons. In 2008, he was promoted to defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
After the 2010 season, Doeren left Wisconsin to become the head coach at Northern Illinois. He posted a 23-4 record, guiding the Huskies to a pair of MAC championships. Doeren departed after 2 seasons to take the NC State job.
Doeren is in his 11th season at NC State. The Wolfpack are 80-57 overall under Doeren, suffering only 2 losing seasons. NC State is 8-3, on track to play in its 9th bowl game under Doeren.
A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.