Connections allowed Pitt to ‘Stack’ strength program
Recent hire lifted from Tampa Bay
On the eastern side of the state, Beau Allen is known as a former Philadelphia Eagles pass rusher, a rotational player who wore a poodle mask after the 2018 NFC championship. A photo of Allen and Chris Long served as an iconic (and creepy) underdog image that defined the Eagles’ Super Bowl run three seasons ago.
But that’s Allen’s reputation five hours across the turnpike. He doesn’t have any ties to Western Pennsylvania. Which makes it interesting that he had a small, yet noteworthy role in Pitt football’s newest hire.
Mike Stacchiotti, announced as the Panthers head strength and conditioning coach Jan. 24, impressed Allen in their one year together. Last season, Stacchiotti served as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant strength coach. And Allen, who left Philadelphia for Florida two years ago, fed off the 27-year-old’s passion for lifting weights.
So when Allen, a standout at Wisconsin, and Panthers defensive line coach Charlie Partridge caught up last month, he let the former Badgers assistant know what Pitt would get in “Stack” if he was hired.
“I just told him the truth. He was my guy,” Allen told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the phone from Tampa, Fla. “You want a strength coach that wants to lift. That’s Stack for you, man. I saw him deadlift 600 pounds. Whenever we had heavy squat days, we’d throw on some heavy head-banging metal music, and we’d get fired up.
“He’s a good guy, too. He’s easy to talk to. I think he’s going to do a really good job relating to the players.”
By all accounts, that has been the case as Pitt’s spring camp approaches.
On Feb. 5, Stacchiotti said the transition for him and his four-man staff — and the Panthers’ adjustment to his style — has been “smooth.” Pitt’s early enrollees, meeting with media for the first time earlier that day, spoke highly of “Stack,” a Youngstown, Ohio, native. And Pat Narduzzi, when referencing Stacchiotti’s hiring, said: “I think we blew that thing out of the water.”
Obviously, Stacchiotti did his part in the hiring process. The strength coach’s “passion and intensity knocked us out,” Narduzzi said, when the staff met him via an initial FaceTime interview. From there, Stacchiotti’s scientific knowledge of strength and conditioning — and his experience learning from Buccaneers strength coach Anthony Piroli, a disciple of former Pitt player and coach Buddy Morris — went a long way.
It also didn’t hurt that Stacchiotti had familiar faces in his corner.
Allen, who was recruited by Partridge in 2010 and stayed in touch over the years, wasn’t the only Tampa Bay player Pitt’s staff called. Narduzzi also talked to Buccaneers safety Jordan Whitehead and defensive end William Gholston.
Narduzzi — who recruited Gholston at Michigan State and coached Whitehead for three years at Pitt — received “tremendous feedback” on Stacchiotti.
Whitehead, in particular, said Stacchiotti reminded him of former Pitt strength coach Dave Andrews, who left for Iowa State in early January after spending five years with the Panthers.
“Just the demeanor and attitude,” Whitehead said. “[Stacchiotti would] get us hyped up by doing his own lifts. You can tell who’s a weightlifting guy just by what they do when nobody’s in the weight room. I’d walk in randomly, and he’ll be in there deadlifting. He’s about his weights.”
He’s also young. Stacchiotti is only six years older than guys such as Damar Hamlin, Jimmy Morrissey and Patrick Jones II, which matters.
Stacchiotti said it’s a college strength coach’s job to be “personal” with the players. “It isn’t a militant style of, ‘You’re doing this,’ ” he added. “It’s talking with them. It’s spending time with them and learning their needs.”
Fortunately, Stacchiotti and his staff have had the
Panthers’ undivided attention to do that.
In January and February, there are no organized practices with position coaches. Same deal in the summer. So during this period of limitedto-zero contact, Narduzzi, Partridge and coaches across the country rely on people such as Stacchiotti for updates. And the players lean on the strength staff for guidance.
“That’s what’s really important,” Allen said. “When you’re spending all this time with these coaches, you want to feel like they understand you and see your point of view. That’s what I appreciated about Stack. As a younger guy and a younger coach, he does a good job of looking through everything from a player’s point of view.”
Whitehead concurred. It’s one of a few reasons he supported Stacchiotti’s candidacy.
“I’ve got friends at Pitt, and I want them to win,” Whitehead said. “I want what’s best for them.”
And what’s best for Pitt seems to be “Stack.”