Geoff Collins blows past Pat Narduzzi in bizarre postgame handshake (Video)

After Thursday night’s game, Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins awkwardly spurned Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi in the postgame handshake.

On Thursday night, the Pitt Panthers beat the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 34-20. But the headline moment coming out of the game was the postgame handshake between head coaches Pat Narduzzi and Geoff Collins.

As football navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, postgame traditions related to player jersey-swapping and exchanging of on-field pleasantries between opposing players after a game looks different (if they are even done). But the typical postgame handshake between opposing head coaches has remained.

Geoff Collins clearly had somewhere he needed to be

It’s interesting that Bob Pompeani of KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh described Collins as “agitated all night.” A loss will surely put a coach in a bad mood, and there was a brawl during the game that led to unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on both teams. Georgia Tech is now 3-7 this season and headed for 3-8 with their season finale coming against currently No.10-ranked Miami on Dec.19.

Collins downplayed the postgame handshake, saying there was “no ill will intended” toward Narduzzi. Narduzzi had a quote.

“I told him, ‘Hey, you’ve got a great team,'” Narduzzi said. “He said, ‘Baloney,’ or some other nice words, and walked off. I don’t know. I thought it was a good game.”

After the handshake moment, Narduzzi took to Twitter rather expertly.

Narduzzi’s befuddled reaction in the moment, as if he was so grossly offended by the no-look handshake from Collins and expected a far more prolonged interaction, was almost humorous. It briefly seemed he was ready to run after Collins before uniformed officers interacted and he moved on.

Should Collins have taken a loss a little better, with more acknowledgment of Narduzzi? Sure. But the moment was made viral by Narduzzi’s reactions.