PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – When quarterback Eli Holstein first arrived at Pitt in January, he admittedly didn’t say much. He wanted to let his play and his actions do the talking. Now that his play is talking, so is he and giving us insight into the quarterback who has led a pair of amazing comeback wins.
What we learned during a news conference with local reporters on Wednesday is the redshirt freshman is a family man. When he was asked where he got his work ethic and motivation from he quickly, glowingly gave us a brief history about his grandfathers.
Young Eli said his one grandfather grew up with little. He had to go to the local church to get food and clothes and while he could have played college sports, didn’t, to take care of his mom and little sister. His other grandfather worked in salt mines in Missouri to make a better life for his family.
He said he represents both of them not only on the field but is proud his full name is Elijah Montgomery Holstein, Montgomery being his mother’s maiden name.
“Seeing where they came from and where we are now, the Holstein name, it’s pretty cool,” Eli Holstein said. “I got a text from my dad talking about how awesome it is to see his dad’s name on the ACC Network, ESPN. It kinda brings a tear to his eye and my eye too to see where we are now and where we used to be.”
Both of his grandfathers died within the last couple of years, but his father, mother, brother and sister were all at the Backyard Brawl on Saturday. He gave his father a game towel afterwards, his dad collects them.
These last two towels will carry great stories. The Panthers trailed by a total of 31 points in the two games and Holstein needed roughly 25 minutes to pull both games out.
The 6’4” quarterback originally signed with Alabama, but only made it on the scout team his freshman year and entered the portal. After signing with Pitt, he wasn’t named starting quarterback until the week of the first game. Now he’s on the verge of leading Pitt to its first ever unbeaten non-conference schedule.
His approach is not about proving doubters wrong.
“The mindset I have is I want to prove everybody right,” Holstein said. “All the people that believed in me since when I was little. All the people that have invested time in me. When I got the starting job and getting all of these awards, it’s not a relief of I did something it’s a relief I prove the guys and people that believe in me. I proved them right.”
He did it his way. Holstein didn’t come in from Alabama acting like he was all that and that he was owed the starting job. As a five-star recruit who Nick Saban thought could be a great quarterback could have had that mentality. Instead he quietly went to work.
“You don’t have to be a vocal guy,” Holstein said. “You have to prove you are going to work hard no matter the situation. When I first got here, I didn’t really talk. You can talk to some guys, I was a quiet guy when I first got here. I felt like I had to earn people’s respect before I spoke up and said anything.”
“I got in here every day, worked my tail off in weight room, in the film room, learning the offense, just doing the little things right. Once I earn the respect of how I do things, then I’m able to earn their respect and lead them vocally.”
Respect earned.
Brawl eye-opener
Holstein grew up in Louisiana. His uncle was an LSU season ticket holder and would often invite Eli to games. He said as a Tigers fan you hated Ole Miss, Alabama, all of the other SEC teams, but it wasn’t a true hatred. He said fans at LSU would invite visiting fans to their tailgates to eat, drink, hang out.
Having never heard of the Backyard Brawl growing up, he said he got a lesson on Saturday.
“Y’all kind of hate each other,” Holstein said. “It’s definitely different. It was a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to playing (more) in that rivalry.”
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