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The Associated Press
Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi fired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti on Sunday.
The move came a day after the Panthers finished a disappointing season with a loss to Duke. Pitt went 3-9 in 2023. That’s the program’s worst mark since going 2-9 in 1998.
The offense was a major issue, with the Panthers shuttling between three quarterbacks in Phil Jurkovec, Christian Veilleux and Nate Yarnell. Pitt finished last in the 14-team ACC in scoring, total offense, rushing, red zone offense and time of possession.
Turnovers were an issue and so was the inability to generate much on the ground, in part because defenses were not worried about the Panthers beating them through the air.
Pitt went 9-4 in Cignetti’s first season running the offense in 2022. The Panthers had hoped reuniting Cignetti with Jurkovec — whom Cignetti mentored while coaching at Boston College — would provide a boost.
Instead, Jurkovec struggled with his accuracy and lost his starting job to Veilleux, who had similar issues before giving way to Yarnell, who put himself in the mix to be the starter in 2024 by completing 66% of his passes and avoiding major mistakes.
Cignetti’s dismissal means the Panthers will be searching for their sixth offensive coordinator during Narduzzi’s tenure, which began with the 2015 season.
Aggies have their guy?
Texas A&M is working on a deal to hire Duke coach Mike Elko, replacing Jimbo Fisher with his former defensive coordinator for four years in College Station.
A person with direct knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that an agreement hasn’t been finalized but Elko has emerged as the school’s top target. Another person with knowledge of the situation tells the AP that Elko has informed Duke about his talks with Texas A&M.
Elko left the Aggies to take his first head coaching job at Duke after the 2021 season and went 15-8 in two seasons. Texas A&M fired Fisher earlier this month, paying a record buyout of more than $75 million.
Indiana needs a coach
Football coach Tom Allen and Indiana are parting ways.
Allen had four years left on a contract he received in 2021 and was owed $20.8 million. The two sides reached a financial settlement worth $15.5 million.
It would be the biggest buyout ever paid by a Big Ten school, surpassing the $15 million Scott Frost receiver from Nebraska last year.
Allen led the Hoosiers to back-to-back bowl games in 2019 and 2020 and coached them to a 6-2 record during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He was named Big Ten and AFCA national coach of the year that season. But Indiana fell on hard times since, posting three consecutive losing seasons and a three-year conference record of 3-24.
5-7 mark gets you a bowl
MINNEAPOLIS — Football Bowl Subdivision newcomers James Madison and Jacksonville State along with five-win Minnesota are bound for bowls because of a shortage of six-win teams.
Those three teams round out the 82 available spots because only 79 teams achieved the six wins necessary for bowl eligibility. James Madison is 11-1 and Jacksonville State is 8-4 but they are transitioning to full FBS status and wouldn’t be eligible if there were enough six-win teams.
Minnesota (5-7) gets the final slot based on its Academic Progress Rate score.
Houston fires Holgorsen
HOUSTON — The Houston Cougars fired coach Dana Holgorsen on Sunday, a day after finishing his third losing season in five years.
The Cougars ended the year with three consecutive losses, capped by a 27-13 defeat at UCF on Saturday. Houston was 4-8 overall and 2-7 in Big 12 play in its inaugural season in the newly configured conference.
Houston’s disappointing finish, which included losses in five of its last six games, leaves the team out of a bowl for the first time since Holgorsen’s first season in 2019. He finished 31-28 in five seasons in Houston.
Georgia, Michigan 1 & 2
No. 3 Washington, No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Oregon all moved up a spot in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, giving the Pac-12 two top-five teams for the first time since the final ranking of the 2016 season.
Georgia remained No. 1 as the two-time defending national champions have been for 24 straight polls, dating back to the middle of the last season. The Bulldogs received 52 of 62 first-place votes.
Michigan returned to No. 2 following a week at No. 3 and received 10 first-place votes after beating Ohio State 30-24 in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
The Buckeyes slipped from second to No. 6, clearing the way for Washington to reach its best ranking since finishing the 2000 season at No. 3 and setting up a top-five matchup with Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game on Friday in Las Vegas.
The final Pac-12 championship game in the conference’s current form before 10 members leave for other Power Five conferences will be its first matching top-five teams.
The last time there were two Pac-12 teams in the top five of the AP poll was 2016, when Southern California finished No. 3 and Washington No. 4. The last time it happened during the season was Oct. 6, 2013, when Oregon was No. 2 and Stanford was fifth.
No. 7 Texas and No. 8 Alabama held their places Sunday. Missouri moved up one spot to ninth and Penn State to No. 10.
Miss. State has its man
Mississippi State has hired Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to be its new head coach.
Lebby has been offensive coordinator for the Sooners the last two years after two seasons holding the same position at Mississippi.
Lebby is the son-in-law of former Baylor coach Art Briles and worked as an assistant under Briles, who was fired an an investigation into the mishandling of sexual assault complaints by the school and athletic department.
This will be his first head coaching job and Mississippi State’s third head coach in as many seasons. The Bulldogs finished their season 5-7.
Bowden out of work
MONROE, La. — Louisiana-Monroe fired coach Terry Bowden after the Warhawks finished a fifth straight losing season. Bowden was 10-26 in three seasons after taking over for Matt Viator and never finished in the upper half of the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division. The Warhawks were 4-8 each of his first two seasons before falling to 2-10 overall and 0-8 in the Sun Belt this year. Bowden previously coached seven seasons at Akron and six at Auburn.
The search begins
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico has fired football coach Danny Gonzales, who never won more than four games over four seasons. The Lobos were 11-32 under Gonzales and ended this season 4-8 after a 44-41 loss to Utah State on Saturday. Athletic director Eddie Nunez said Gonzales brought stability to the football program during a difficult time and that he is grateful for the positive impact Gonzales had on his players.