Pittsburgh's Pat Narduzzi Shuts Down Michigan State Rumors After Dantonio Exit

Pittsburgh's Pat Narduzzi will not be leaving Pitt for Michigan State.

The head coach made that notion abundantly clear on Wednesday evening, tweeting out a doctored clip from The Wolf of Wall Street to thoroughly drive home his point:

A former defensive coordinator under Mark Dantonio, Narduzzi is 36-29 at Pitt since taking over the program in 2015 and fresh off an 8-5 season with a Quick Lane Bowl victory over Eastern Michigan. The coach had been linked to the MSU job in the wake of Dantonio's retirement on Tuesday.

Speaking to Will Graves of the Associated Press, Narduzzi said his phone was "blowing up" on Wednesday night, but he has no plans to leave Pitt. 

"It's my ultimate goal to be here at Pitt," Narduzzi said. "I came here to get a job done. We're just working on continuing to move forward."

Notably, Narduzzi credited Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke as one of the reasons why he wanted to stay put. 

"I know what I'm dealing with here at Pitt," Narduzzi said. "I know every day when I call up Heather Lyke and say, 'How about this?' She's going to say, 'We'll get it done.' I just know that. I don't know that about any place else in the country like I know it here."

Back in East Lansing, Michigan State's interim AD, Bill Beekman, said he wanted a quick process to replace Dantonio. While Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell has been floated as a front-runner for the job, Fickell maintains he has yet to talk to anyone from MSU. 

"I have talked to nobody and that's the truth," Fickell told ESPNU Radio Wednesday. "Obviously, I'm very good friends with Mark Dantoinio, I have been for a while, I have stayed in contact—we always dou2014with him. But I have not communicated or talked to anybody besides Mark Dantonio in the last three, four weeks from Michigan State. I haven't been thinking about it, I haven't been focused on it." 

Both Narduzzi and Fickell spent Tuesday night assuring recruits they wouldn't be leaving their posts. Lyke, for her part, has noted that Narduzzi's decision may lead to a new contract in the near future. 

"We may evaluate that with him," Lyke said. "What he wants to do is take care of his players and his coaches. And that's the most important thing for him."