Pitt football has a new No. 2 man to head coach Pat Narduzzi.
Cory Sanders was promoted to assistant head coach on Tuesday, taking over the spot left vacant by Charlie Partridge after he left for the NFL.
Sanders is entering his seventh season at Pitt. In addition to his assistant head coach responsibilities, he will continue to work with the Panthers’ secondary, specifically the safeties.
“From the day we hired Cory back in 2018, he has been an outstanding resource for our entire program,” Narduzzi said in a statement. “This promotion reflects the deep impact he already makes on our players, coaches and staff. Cory is an excellent teacher and mentor who makes everyone around him better. He sees the larger picture in everything we do. Everyone in our building will benefit from his expanded role with our program.”
Safeties have been a strong spot for Pitt under Sanders, producing NFL players like Erick Hallett II (Jacksonville Jaguars), Brandon Hill (Houston Texans) and Damar Hamlin (Buffalo Bills).
“I am incredibly grateful to coach Narduzzi for giving me the opportunity to make an even greater impact for Pitt football,” Sanders said in a statement. “The University of Pittsburgh is a tremendous place and it has been such an honor to work on behalf of the Pitt football program the past six years. I truly believe our best is yet to come and I’m excited to work with our coaches and players to bring another ACC championship trophy back to Pitt.”
Today, the Panthers’ safety room arguably could be the best collection of experience and talent on the roster heading into the 2024 season. The unit boasts seasoned veterans who’ve developed on Pitt’s roster like redshirt junior safety Javon McIntyre and senior safety Phillip O’Brien Jr., as well as fellow senior Donovan McMillon, who transferred to Pitt from Florida in 2022.
McMillon said when he first spoke to Pittsburgh media back on Jan. 25, 2023, that Sanders was the first coach to contact him once his 48-hour window of entering the transfer portal window had ended and credited him with selling McMillon on the program.
“They have consistently put DBs into the NFL,” McMillon said on Pitt’s secondary coaches Sanders and Archie Collins. “That really excited me to see that happen.”
In addition, Sanders may be in the process of developing one of Pitt’s best rising young stars in redshirt freshman safety Cruce Brookins. Brookins — out of Steel Valley — was a three-star prospect coming out of high school and showed promise in his true freshman season throughout practices, as he used the year as a redshirt season with just two game appearances.
But in 2024, Brookins has emerged as one of the most talked about players in Pitt’s spring practices and earned the Ed Conway Award for the most improved defensive player of Pitt’s spring practices.
From the NFL players to come from Sanders’ safeties room to the current players that stack that part of the Panthers’ depth chart, plenty of evidence exists to show the success Sanders has had as a position coach for Pitt.
