One of the biggest Pitt football questions heading into the Peach Bowl has been answered.
Heading into No. 12 ranked Pitt's Thursday game against No. 10 Michigan State, the Panthers were without their offensive coordinator after Mark Whipple resigned from the position on Dec. 7.
The two top prospects to take on the play calling duties were wide receivers coach Brennan Marion and tight ends coach Tim Salem. They were the only offensive assistants on staff with experience being offensive coordinators at the collegiate level, as Marion had been a coordinator for Howard from 2017-2018, and at William & Mary in 2019, and Salem had been coordinator for Eastern Michigan in 2003, and UCF from 2004-2008.
Pat Narduzzi announced during a Sunday press conference he would be going with the latter of the two as at least the temporary replacement.
"Tim Salem is going to run our offense," Narduzzi said. "Anybody on our offense could do it. And our kids could tell you, I'm sure you'll talk to them next here and talk to them tomorrow and so forth, but it's been as smooth a transition as you can imagine. We've got a bunch of coordinators on our staff. So I trust everybody."
Salem and running backs coach Andre Powell have been the only two offensive assistants to coach their positions for the entirety of Narduzzi's head coaching tenure at Pitt since he took the job in 2015. That tenure with each other speaks to the kind of loyalty Narduzzi often mentions when he's talking about the make-up of what constructs his program at Pitt.
"Tim Salem has been with me for seven years," Narduzzi continued. "Our players have a lot of trust in him. It's just -- it left right where it took off. We're going to do what we do offensively. And, again, guys have a lot of faith. So we're going to find out on Thursday night how good it is. And I think we have a great game plan right now and we've just got to get to the game."
For Peach Bowl captain tight end Lucas Krull, the announcement means that his position coach, who he references as his nickname "Turbo Tim" for Salem's relentless work ethic, should keep the offense at the pace it's been running on its way to finishing fifth in total offense and third in scoring offense in the country.
"Salem, just stepping right in filling shoes tremendously," Krull said of his position coach-turned coordinator. "He's a guy been doing this a long time, knows how to do it. That's what we know as an offense, we haven't skipped a beat with (Nick) Patti, and Turbo stepping up. It's just another day, and we're getting back to work, working out things that we have always needed to work out, and improving all things on and off the field. So Turbo is a great leader and everybody respects him. We love him to death. And so we're going to play our hearts out for him, and we know he's going to give us his best too."
The move brings excitement and familiarity for several Pitt players who have been used to the intensity and consistency that Salem brings as a position coach over the years. He's been deeply embedded in Pitt football's culture and was the coach who recruited Kenny Pickett to the program.
But the announcement cannot overshadow the potential for passing up Pitt's newest but highly impactful coach, Marion, for the opportunity. The 34-year old coach from Greensburg, Pa. has been a fast-rising coach over the past ten years and has changed programs in each of the last three seasons going from William & Mary in 2019, to Hawaii in 2020 and Pitt in 2021. He oversaw a massive change in Pitt's wide receiver production with a steep decline in drops from 33 in 2020 to just 17 in 2021, as well as a steep incline from being responsible for 11 touchdowns in 2020 and 30 touchdowns in 2021.
Several veteran players from Tre Tipton, to Taysir Mack and Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison made statements all season about how Marion impacted their game differently and challenged them in ways that had them working to improve different aspects of their games at all hours.
Salem being announced as interim offensive coordinator doesn't mean Marion's necessarily out of the running for a future at the position with Pitt, nor does it guarantee he'll leave. But it does mean Marion might get offers to make such a leap with other power five conference programs who saw his contributions for a historic season at Pitt.
