Shawn Watson leaves IU for Pitt, will be replaced by Nick Sheridan

Only two months into his tenure as IU quarterbacks coach, Shawn Watson has left the Hoosiers.

Watson will become offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh under Pat Narduzzi. Ironically enough, Watson replaces former IU OC Matt Canada at Pitt. Canada left the Panthers two months ago for LSU, after a season in which Pitt’s high-powered offense was the only one to defeat eventual national champion Clemson.

Watson spent last year as a quality control coach for the Hoosiers, but once Tom Allen took over, he promoted Watson to QB coach. Watson does have offensive coordinator experience, as he previously spent time under Charlie Strong as OC at both Louisville and Texas. While with Louisville, he was instrumental in the development of Teddy Bridgewater, who eventually became a first-round pick for the Vikings. At Texas, however, he was dismissed after two lackluster seasons.

With Watson gone, as well as Greg Frey off to Michigan, Indiana now has two offensive coaching vacancies that Tom Allen and Mike DeBord need to fill.

UPDATE: Per friend of the blog Chris Vannini, Nick Sheridan will be filling the QB coach vacancy.