During a week of celebrations, with Pitt winning the ACC Championship Saturday and Kenny Pickett being named a Heisman Trophy finalist Monday, the Panthers will undergo a big change to their coaching staff.
Mark Whipple, the team's offensive coordinator, resigned from his coaching position Tuesday and won't coach in Pitt's upcoming Peach Bowl contest against Michigan State on Dec. 30.
Whipple was in his third year as Pitt's offensive coordinator, after taking over the position in 2019. Pitt ranked outside the top 40 in scoring offense in 2019 and 2020, but Whipple oversaw Pitt's offensive surge in 2021, to rank third in the country with 43 points per game and fifth in the country with 504.3 yards per game.
After those results, Whipple was named a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in the country. Shortly after Whipple's announcement was reported, Michigan's offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was announced as the winner of the Broyles Award:
Michigan OC Josh Gattis wins the #BroylesAward as the nation’s top assistant coach. Wolverines have made dramatic improvement this season.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 7, 2021
Whipple also served as Pitt's quarterbacks coach and mentored Pickett over his last three seasons with the program — he had Shawn Watson as his offensive coordinator in 2017 and 2018.
“During his three seasons at Pitt, Mark Whipple was a great asset for our entire football program,” Pat Narduzzi said in a statement released Tuesday. “He did a tremendous job transitioning us from a heavy run attack to one of the best passing games in the entire country. His great work with quarterbacks was obviously on full display, given the outstanding year Kenny Pickett has enjoyed. I am very grateful for Mark’s time in Pittsburgh, both personally as well as professionally, and I wish him and his family the very best moving forward.”
That leaves the position open, with Pitt's first New Year's six bowl game since 1981 a little over three weeks away. Pickett had stated that he was playing in the bowl game the night Pitt won the ACC Championship. While Whipple's resignation could be a sign that Pickett's status might change, I wouldn't expect it — his loyalty to the program has led to great success, being one of the top quarterback picks of the upcoming NFL Draft class.
Only two of Pitt's offensive assistant coaches currently on staff have experience as offensive coordinator — wide receivers coach Brennan Marion and tight end coach Tim Salem.
Salem has been Pitt's tight end coach since Narduzzi took over as head coach in 2015, but he might not be the choice. His offensive coordinator experience was with Central Florida from 2004-2008. Salem did, however, recruit Pickett to the pack in 2016.
Instead, Marion could be the move. He worked as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for both Howard and William & Mary between 2017-2019, before taking the wide receivers coach position at Hawaii in 2020, then transitioning to Pitt in 2021.
Marion's also coached Pitt's receivers to a drastic improvement in production this season. Marion took over the position after Pitt's 2020 receivers coach, Chris Beatty, left to become the Chargers' receivers coach. Beatty had recruited Jordan Addison to the program, who's a 2021 finalist for the Biletnikoff Award for most outstanding receiver in college football, but Marion has coached Addison and Pitt's receivers to soar to new heights.
Before the season, Marion told DK Pittsburgh Sports that he charted receivers differently than his predecessor, and his receivers confirmed it helped them focus on their craft in more specific ways. That led to better production.
In 2020, Pitt's receivers, under Beatty, recorded 2,502 receiving yards, 11 touchdown receptions and recorded 33 drops. Addison was the team's best receiving weapon with 666 receiving yards and four touchdown receptions.
In 2021, Pitt's receivers before the ACC Championship game, under Marion, recorded 3,176 receiving yards, 28 receiving touchdowns, and only 17 drops. That's a 48 percent reduction in drops, an increase in yards by 21 percent, and an increase in touchdowns by 246 percent. That also doesn't include a passing touchdown from Jared Wayne and an additional touchdown rush from Addison.
Meanwhile, Addison finished the season with the third-most receiving yards in the country with 1,479. His 17 touchdown receptions are the most in the country. Both statistics were the second-most in program history behind Larry Fitzgerald's legendary 2003 season — 1,672 receiving yards and 22 touchdown receptions.
Marion's recent experience as an offensive coordinator and his intuition of the Go-Go offense at both Howard and William & Mary already made him an offensive coordinator prospect for a Power Five program. But his coaching to drastically improve wide receiver production at Pitt should make him a strong candidate for either Whipple's replacement or an offensive coordinator position at another program.
It behooves Pitt to get in front of the chase and give Marion the interim position of offensive coordinator for the Peach Bowl and the inside track to take over as full-time offensive coordinator in 2022.
