By Bill Koch
Enquirer staff writer

As soon as he was offered the job as the defensive coordinator at the University of Cincinnati, Pat Narduzzi knew how difficult it would be to tell Miami head coach Terry Hoeppner that he was leaving after one season.

Narduzzi was happy at Miami. The RedHawks had just gone 13-1 in his first season in Oxford, his defense led the Mid-American Conference, he liked working for Hoeppner and he enjoyed the relationship he had with his players.

"I went and spoke with (Hoeppner) at 11 o'clock at night at his house over a pizza and a beer," Narduzzi said Tuesday. "That wasn't easy at all. And it wasn't easy the next day. And it wasn't easy going to see Brad Bates, the athletic director, after that because when you're 13-1, you're not supposed to leave."

Narduzzi and his new UC defense will face Miami on Saturday night at Nippert Stadium in the annual battle for the Victory Bell.

He's one of three UC coaches with Miami ties. Offensive coordinator Don Treadwell and tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Mark Staten both played and later coached at Miami.

"Don Treadwell's photo is hanging out in our hallway for what he did as a player here," Hoeppner said, "and I worked with him when he was a position coach here.

"I coached Mark Staten when he was a player, and he was a graduate assistant on my staff. Pat Narduzzi has a master's degree from Miami and worked here as a graduate assistant and position coach. Last year I brought him in to be the defensive coordinator, and he did a great job for us."

UC head coach Mark Dantonio, who has known Narduzzi for about 15 years, said he didn't pursue him because he wanted to deprive the Bearcats' neighborhood rival of its defensive coordinator but because of what he thought Narduzzi would bring to the UC program.

He was looking for a coach who had Ohio recruiting ties and who had been successful overseeing a defense whose philosophies would mesh with his. When he looked up the road to Oxford, he found that Narduzzi met the requirements.

"It really wasn't about taking something away from somebody else," Dantonio said. "It was more or less trying to hire the best person I could find to rill the role that we needed to fill at Cincinnati. It wasn't about anything in terms of the rivalry."

Narduzzi said he decided to take the UC job because he considered it a better opportunity, both from a financial standpoint and because the Bearcats are headed next year to the more prestigious Big East Conference.

He, Treadwell and Staten know what the Bearcats will face when they play the RedHawks, who have won the last three meetings against UC, because they've been part of the rivalry from the other side.

"It's a different week," he said. "They will be revved up. It is a huge game for them, without question."

Narduzzi's presence at UC might make it even more intense than it already is.

"I believe that he's upset that I left," Narduzzi said of Hoeppner. "We'll leave it at that."

Said Hoeppner: "It certainly adds some spice to the rivalry, and I think it can be fun. You always want to beat your cousin or your brother.

"It's interesting when you coach against guys you've coached with."

---

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com