INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL kept calling for Charlie Partridge.

Widely respected as one of the best developers of defensive line talent in the college game, Partridge fielded calls every couple of offseasons from NFL teams trying to pry him out of Pittsburgh.

Even Indianapolis called once, a couple of years ago.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard first noticed Partridge when he was a defensive line coach at Wisconsin, and he’d kept an eye on Partridge, looking for an opportunity to hire him.

Partridge wouldn’t budge. For a long time, Partridge turned down every opportunity, preferring to stay at Pittsburgh for six years, an eternity in college coaching circles.

Partridge had his reasons.

But the Colts were finally able to get him this offseason, coaxing Partridge out of the college ranks to come develop young Indianapolis defensive linemen like Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo and Laiatu Latu.

“There’s a point in your career where you want different challenges,” Partridge said. “I think the world of college football, while we all know it’s in a little bit of a flux right now, and they’re trying to figure out the direction in college athletics, but Chris Ballard, wonderful human. Shane (Steichen) has got a beautiful mind, Gus Bradley… The opportunity to come to a place like the Colts, the culture that’s here, all that combined to be an absolute no-brainer.”

Why Charlie Partridge left college football

Partridge can be seen as part of a mass exodus from the college coaching ranks.

Frustrated by the constant demands of the transfer portal and the effect that NIL has produced on recruiting, coaches have been leaving the college ranks more than ever before, heading to the NFL to get back to coaching, the reason they got into the job in the first place.

Partridge loves coaching.

“The thing I can tell you is I’ve always loved developing young players,” Partridge said. “It’s the core of me. What I am, I was a teacher by trade. I love teaching guys the game, I love teaching football.”

But Partridge refused to bite down hard on the changes in the college game.

Making the switch to the NFL level after nearly 30 years as a college coach was more personal for Partridge than other coaches. His career decisions have always been personal; that’s part of the reason he stayed at Pitt so long with a reputation as one of the best defensive line coaches in college football.

“I have two daughters, one of them’s a senior in high school, one of them is a freshman in high school. To be transparent, when I went from Wisconsin to Arkansas to Florida Atlantic back to Pitt, my 10-year-old, it was starting to affect her in a way we wanted to stop,” Partridge said. “Combine that with (how much) I loved my time at Pitt, it was time to stay. Now my daughter’s a senior, she’s working her way to college, this is a wonderful place. .. When you add everything up, this was the time.”

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Ballard first noticed Partridge at Wisconsin.

Everybody did. When J.J. Watt suddenly transformed from a tight end into one of the NFL’s best defensive linemen in a matter of a couple of years, everybody wanted to know the man who’d helped him unlock his prodigious talent.

“I didn’t get to know him well, but I know (Barry) Alvarez spoke just glowingly about him,” Ballard said. “You just look at his history of developing players and his ability to make them better. … This guy has coached some really good players, and they all tell you he’s one of the best ones they’ve had.”

Watt’s the most famous. Partridge also developed Cincinnati defensive end Trey Hendrickson at Florida Atlantic, Buccaneers first-rounder Calijah Kancey at Pitt and a bunch of other players who made it to the NFL.

“Coaching is coaching in my mind,” Ballard said. “It doesn’t matter what level you’re at, you can do it at any level.”

Indianapolis hired Partridge because they have a handful of players on the defensive line that they still believe can get to the next level, players like Paye, Odeyingbo and Latu.

The Colts ripped off 51 sacks in 2023, the most the franchise has produced in a single season in the four decades the team has been in Indianapolis.

Partridge’s job is to make them even better.

'My passion is development'

Partridge has learned from every player he’s coached.

Working with Watt taught Partridge the value of one-on-one time with players; working with former Pitt defensive tackle Jaylen Twyman taught Partridge the value of listening.

“If you’re willing to listen, these players are the ones playing the game,” Partridge said. “If you’re just willing to listen to them, absorb it and then apply it in a way you can, therefore, help develop the next one, you’ve got a chance to grow.”

Partridge has some voices worth hearing in the Indianapolis defensive line room.

None more important than DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, the defensive tackle tandem that forms the bedrock of the Colts defensive line.

“He’s got a lot of energy,” nose tackle Grover Stewart said. “When I first met with him, I just told him: ‘Work me. Push me so I can get there.’”

But Partridge’s job is primarily to finish polishing the young players under his care, help them get to the next level, to be proven players like Buckner and Stewart.

“A guy that knows a lot, man,” Paye said. “He’s not going to leave anybody behind. He coaches everybody the same way. The energy he brings to the meeting room, you can just feel it.”

Partridge has been in the college ranks for a long time.

The Colts believe the same skills that served him well at Pittsburgh can help the defensive line take the next step at the NFL level.

“My passion is development,” Partridge said. “I think there’s some guys we can continue to develop their game.”

It took the Colts a while to convince Partridge to make the jump.

But the job is essentially still the same.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How the Colts coaxed new DL coach Charlie Partridge out of college