Daoust's old-school mindset brought to uplift 'unknowns' on Pitt defensive line taken on the South Side (Pitt)

Pitt Athletics

Pitt defensive line coach Tim Daoust during a scrimmage this spring at Acrisure Stadium.

The 2002 season helped introduce Tim Daoust to Pat Narduzzi. At the time, Daoust was a green graduate assistant working his first coaching job after graduating from Wittenberg University. Narduzzi was in his final season as Northern Illinois' linebackers coach before he took the defensive coordinator job at Miami (Ohio) in 2003.

When Pitt defensive line coach Charlie Partridge left for the NFL this offseason, Narduzzi turned to his old friend Daoust, who has spent every season since that introduction in 2002 coaching up various positions on defenses. Daoust brings a mindset that meshes with how Narduzzi runs his Pitt program, and he is looking to continue the tradition that Partridge started and ran through as the Panthers' defensive line coach.

"I think I'm an open-minded, old-school football coach," Daoust said this week in a phone interview. "I've evolved with football and with kids because I love them and I love helping them on the field and off the field grow to reach their max potential. I think there's certain areas of football, especially in the defensive line, that require a certain degree of intensity and toughness and discipline, and those things are rewarded at our position and I love that about the defensive line and I demand those things out of those kids and have a blast getting them out of those kids."

Partridge was named Football Scoop's Defensive Line Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2022. Since his tenure began in 2017, Partridge developed four Panthers into NFL defensive linemen, including 2022 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and 2023 first-round pick Calijah Kancey. Pitt's defense ranked in the top five nationally in sacks in each season between 2019 and 2022.

The 2023 season brought a bit of a downswing for the Panthers, however. Pitt finished seventh in its conference in sacks and struggled find a defensive lineman to shoulder the load of being a focal point. 

Now, Partridge is gone, Pitt is in Year 2 without Kancey, and the entire starting unit needs replaced. Dayon Hayes transferred to Colorado, Devin Danielson and David Green graduated and Nate Temple will miss the entire 2024 season with injury.

Daoust is up for the challenge.

"I'm excited about my role and carrying on and continuing to build on that tradition with a great group of kids that are complete unknowns, really," Daoust said. "Let's call it what it is. They haven't played a lot of snaps, but the expectation when we go to work every day is the challenge to win the ACC title again this year and I think it's in our grasp to do that."

Daoust is not a stranger to Pitt or this league. He was the defensive line coach at Syracuse 2011 through 2015 and helped their transition from the Big East to the ACC. When Scott Shafer took over as Orange head coach for Doug Marrone in 2013, he promoted Daoust to assistant head coach and special teams coordinator, in addition to fueling his duties as the defensive line coach. 

He mentored a pair of Syracuse's highest NFL draft picks in recent memory. Chandler Jones was selected by the Patriots in the first round in 2012 and Jay Bromley was picked by the Giants in the third round in 2013 after being coached by Daoust. Daoust bounced around between the Mid-American Conference and a pair of Football Championship Subdivision schools after leaving Syracuse. With all of that experience also comes the pedigree.

This idea of building up a new defensive line is nothing new to Daoust.

"I say 'unknown' to the season-ticket holder or the person online trying to figure out Pitt football," Daoust said. "I think guys in the building and in the locker room as I walked through the building today, they know who those guys are and are excited about who they could be. I think it's a young group -- I don't think there's a senior at defensive tackle -- so we're going to build with some guys that have a lot of ability and upside to re-establish who we are as one of the dominant defenses in college football."

Daoust and Narduzzi re-loaded through the transfer portal. Nate Matlack came over from Kansas Sate as a redshirt senior, David Ojigbe arrived from Clemson as a redshirt freshman, Nick James came from Indiana as a redshirt sophomore and Chief Borders signed with Pitt recently as a redshirt junior from Nebraska. 

James is the lone defensive tackle prospect of those four transfers, but the Panthers converted Nahki Johnson as a full-time defensive tackle to go along with Sean FitzSimmons, Isaiah Neal and Elliot Donald. The Panthers also added freshmen Francis Brewu and Sincere Edwards. Daoust considered FitzSimmons as the one who has established himself among the group, though he envisions the defensive tackle spot being filled by a committee and by rotation. Holdover Jimmy Scott was noted by Daoust to be a player that he likes to recruit, so that could bode well for how much Scott sees the field in 2024.

Daoust's familiarity with Narduzzi's defense should help the transition. He said Narduzzi's defense, over the years, evolved as offenses did within college football but remained similar at its core from the time he experienced it in 2002.

Daoust added Narduzzi is passionate about turning around last season's 3-9 record immediately. He is on board with that, to say the least.

"He and I have been friends for more than 20 years. He's a mentor to me," Daoust said. "That's grown into a friendship over the years just talking football in general. I still, when I went to my hotel the first night (after being hired), I shook my head. He has not changed a single bit in the 20-some years that I've known him. 

"He is high-energy, loves football, loves the players. The kids say 'all gas, no brakes.' He is 'go,' and committed to winning football games. ... This community is fortunate to have a guy that's so passionate to get this back where it's supposed to be immediately -- I mean, immediately -- and there's no way around it."

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