Pat Narduzzi has another spot to fill on his coaching staff.

The latest opening came on Friday with news that receivers coach Chris Beatty will be joining the Los Angeles Chargers as receivers coach under new head coach Brandon Staley, who was hired by the Chargers two weeks ago. Beatty and Staley were both at Northern Illinois in 2007; Beatty was the running backs coach and Staley was a graduate assistant.

Beatty joined the Pitt staff in January 2019. He replaced Kevin Sherman, who had been on Narduzzi’s first coaching staff, and he provided a rather immediate boost to the Panthers’ efforts, both on and off the field.

In recruiting, Beatty’s impact was noticeable from the start. In March and April 2019, he was responsible for getting more than a dozen top sophomores from Virginia to visit Pitt’s spring practices, representing progress in an area that had long eluded the Panthers.

A native of Chantilly (Va.) and a former high school head coach in the Tidewater area, Beatty used his personal connections and his ability to relate to the players to establish a recruiting presence for Pitt. Those efforts paid off in the 2021 recruiting class, as the Panthers signed four players from Virginia and all four were ranked among the top 20 prospects in the state.

That group included four-star linebacker/defensive end Naquan Brown, who ranked No. 5 in Virginia’s 2021 recruiting class; running back Malik Newton, who ranked No. 9 and was the highest-ranked three-star prospect in the state; running back Rodney Hammond, who ranked No. 14; and receiver Myles Alston, who ranked No. 19.

And Beatty’s recruiting impact wasn’t limited to prospects in Virginia. While he didn’t sign anyone from the state in the 2020 recruiting class, Beatty was instrumental in landing receivers Jordan Addison and Jaylon Barden.

Then, once those players got to campus, Beatty helped Addison develop into Pitt’s leading receiver as a freshman. The Frederick (Md.) native caught 60 passes for 666 yards and four touchdowns last season.

Now Narduzzi will have to replace Beatty. He has already made one hire this offseason, naming Bucknell defensive coordinator Ryan Manalac as linebackers coach to replace Rob Harley, who left after six seasons at Pitt to become the defensive coordinator at Arkansas State.