Pitt football assistants ready for challenge

The first time a Pitt football player complains about the heat, how badly his feet hurt or the length of practices, he probably will need about five minutes alone with Panthers co-offensive coordinator Mike Norvell.

Now, there's a guy who had reason to bemoan his fate.

Norvell played his senior year at Central Arkansas University in 2005 with a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his shoulder and a torn meniscus in his knee. He never missed a game, but not long after the season, he had separate shoulder and knee surgeries.

That spring, he was hired by the school as a graduate assistant, and there he was running around at practice, helping conduct drills with his shoulder in a sling.

"He was big on ibuprofen," his coach Clint Conque said.

And big on doing things the right way.

"If you told him to run a 14-yard (route), he was going to run a 14-yard (route), and he would stay until he got it right," Conque said.

Norvell is one of five assistants who accompanied Todd Graham from Tulsa to Pitt, joining defensive coordinator Keith Patterson, co-defensive coordinator Paul Randolph, offensive line coach Spencer Leftwich and strength coach Shawn Griswold on a staff that has been completely overhauled from a year ago.

The mission for Norvell and offensive coordinator Calvin Magee is to teach the fast-paced, no-huddle offense (coaches insist it is not a spread) to players accustomed to former coach Dave Wannstedt less-risky, pro-style sets.

Norvell's duties involve tutoring wide receivers, but the man on the spot when the offense veers off course will be Magee, who learned his craft under Rich Rodriguez at West Virginia and Michigan.

"Magee has a challenge as far as being a first-time (main) play-caller," rivals.com college football analyst Mike Huguenin said, "but he has learned from Rich Rod, who was a really, really good play-caller."

Magee and Norvell said the development of the offense will be a team effort, with game plans and situational calls set at meetings during the week.

"We try to have most of those situations memorized (by game day)," said Norvell, who added he worked 16-hour days at Tulsa.

No matter the play call, the goal will be physicality, according to Norvell.

"Pitt will be a run (first), play-action pass team," he said.

Magee, a big bear of a man who was a pass-catching tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1985-1988, is offended when an outsider brands his offense a spread.

"That is the last thing it is," he said. "It is almost an insult to compare it to a finesse offense."

Said Norvell: "It doesn't matter if you play quarterback, receiver or offense line, we are going to have a physical mentality at that position."

In the end, Pitt may be more productive running the ball with back Ray Graham than passing it with quarterback Tino Sunseri.

When Magee coached running backs at West Virginia, the Mountaineers were among the nation's leaders in rushing yards, finishing second twice, third, fourth, seventh and 13th from 2002-07. Tulsa, under Todd Graham and Norvell, was fifth and 15th in '08 and '10.

The result was that Tulsa won 36 games and went to three bowls in Graham's four seasons.

Pitt is Magee's fourth stop in a 16-year coaching career that began at South Florida after he worked five years as a high school coach and juvenile counselor in Tampa.

There, he mentored kids who were often wrongly labeled delinquents, he said.

"When you sit down with kids, you realize they have big hearts," he said. "It was very rewarding, but it takes its toll on you because you get personally involved."

Magee, 48, said he has ambitions to become a head coach, and admitted to a sense of disappointment when Bill Stewart was hired over him in '08 to replace Rodriguez at West Virginia.

At the time, Magee claimed WVU administrator Larry Aschebrook told him Magee's race played a part in him not getting the job. Aschebrook, who is no longer with the university, denied the charge.

Magee said, "I am a man of my word, an honest guy. I have no need not to be, but that is in the past. My mind is on these (Pitt) kids."

Norvell, 29, grew up with a single mom in Dallas — much like Todd Graham's childhood — and played at Grace Prep High School for coach Mike Barber, a former Houston Oilers tight end.

At Central Arkansas, a Division II school at the time, he set school records for career receptions (213) and receiving yardage (2,611), most of the time refusing to bow to injuries.

"I expect my guys to be pretty tough," he said. "There's a difference between when you're playing banged up and when you're truly hurt and can't be out there. I tell them to be tough mentally and fight through nicks and bruises."

Additional Information:

Profiles

Calvin Magee

Assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator, running backs

Age: 48

Previous positions as an assistant: South Florida, 1996-2000; West Virginia, '01-'07; Michigan, '08-'10.

Mike Norvell

Co-offensive coordinator, wide receivers, director of recruiting

Age: 29

Previous positions as an assistant: Central Arkansas, 2006; Tulsa, '07-'10.