Pitt's fortunes in 2024 hinge on dramatic changes on offense

When Pat Narduzzi spoke to his team one day early in training camp, he made the 2024 season personal for his players.

“I told the guys … ‘This is team 135. This is the 135th edition of Pitt football. The 2024 team will be one team — it’s you. What are you going to do?’ “

Yes, Pitt football history goes all the way back to 1890 when the school was called Western University of Pennsylvania for the next 18 years.

You think college football has changed in the past five years? At the end of the 1800s, Pitt did not have a coach in four seasons, played only two games in 1894 and lined up against East End Gymnastics, Indiana State Teachers College and the Sewickley AC.

Just guessing, there probably was no Panther Pitt. No one sang “Sweet Caroline.”

Thanks to many factors, Narduzzi has a tougher job this year than Anson F. Harrold, Pitt’s first coach, had in 1893 when his team was 1-4 and scored a total of 14 points. Like Harrold, who only coached one season, Narduzzi needs to improve matters on the offensive side of the ball.

To that end, he fired 58-year-old offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. the day after the 2023 season ended, hired 31-year-old Kade Bell to replace him with a hurry-up, no-huddle offense and hit the transfer portal hard. A total of 15 Pitt players attended classes at another institution of higher learning last year, including wide receivers Censere Lee and Poppi Williams and running back Desmond Reid, all of whom thrived in Bell’s offense at Western Carolina against FCS opposition.

The first test will be at noon Saturday when Pitt meets Kent State of the Mid-American Conference at Acrisure Stadium.

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After a slow start in the first scrimmage two weeks ago, reports from practice have been nothing but glowing on how the fast pace is designed to catch the defense napping, how the football is snapped 15 seconds or so after the end of the previous play and how Bell has a knack for scheming his playmakers open.

“Are people ready for this here?” longtime ACC play-by-play man Wes Durham said when the ACC Network visited camp.

Durham knows Bell’s dad, Kerwin Bell, a former NFL quarterback and currently the head coach at Western Carolina.

“I knew what Kerwin had done at Valdosta State (where he won a Division II national championship with his son calling plays in 2018),” Durham said. “Kerwin played in those Florida days where they were breaking ground with the way they threw the ball. Kade has taken all of that and now expanded it. You can tell by the lineups and the formations that there is some NFL influence on this. Bell likes toys, and he has toys here.”

But Bell needs to make the toys work. Aside from the three transfers, Bell can design plays for veterans at running back (Rodney Hammond), wide receiver (Konata Mumpfield and Daejon Reynolds) and tight end (Gavin Bartholomew). If the offensive line remains healthy, Bell has a better chance to succeed.

One positive: Delay of game penalties have been eliminated. Offensive left tackle Branson Taylor said he would be “super surprised” to see any.

“Now, we can just go. We’re getting up to the ball, set, hut, and we’re going off the ball,” he said.

Narduzzi has two quarterbacks he claims can win for him — holdover Nate Yarnell and redshirt freshman transfer Eli Holstein, formerly of Alabama.

The coach hasn’t named a starter, but there’s a chance both will receive significant playing time. Narduzzi promised he won’t make the same mistake two years in a row after allowing quarterback Phil Jurkovec to play through a 1-4 start.

“Last year, we assumed too much and the offense assumed. Bad job, I put that on me,” Narduzzi said.

The defense has nine new starters after five left through the transfer portal. The veteran presence at safety may be offset by the inexperience at cornerback. Pitt lost its pass-rush ferocity last season, but Narduzzi is counting on senior defensive end Nate Matlack, another transfer, to help get it back.

Now that the offense has been modernized, there’s hope the defense will benefit when confronted with tempo systems on the other side of the ball.

“Going into the season, we’re much more prepared for these spread offenses and all the gun runs and all that stuff,” Narduzzi said.

Although there are questions on the field, Narduzzi likes the way his players have approached their work.

“They got a business-like attitude right now. You watch them, and it’s like they’re going to work. I just don’t see as much clowning around. These dudes are a little bit more serious. Reason why, I don’t have any idea. Even walking off the field. They seem to be more locked in.”

While there are high expectations in the locker room, Pitt is not getting much recognition nationally or even within the ACC. In The Athletic’s weekly ranking of all 134 FBS teams, Pitt was 83rd, ahead of only two ACC schools — No. 84 Virginia and No. 87 Stanford. The ACC preseason poll ranked Pitt 13th of 17 schools.

That’s where the players’ attitude can help.

“We feel we’re disrespected right now, and we have a lot to prove,” safety Donovan McMillon said. “So obviously, it’s going to be really serious.”