PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pat Narduzzi girded himself for a steady stream of knocks at his door during the offseason with players popping in to tell the longtime Pittsburgh coach they were considering entering the transfer portal.
The stream, however, turned out to be only a trickle, tangible proof to Narduzzi that the family-like culture he's built during his decade-plus on the job has become part of the firmament.
Quarterback Eli Holstein stuck around after an occasionally dynamic, injury-marred freshman
season. Do-everything running back Desmond Reid and linebacker Kyle Louis, too.
It's not that they weren't necessarily approached. It's just that it never reached the point where they found themselves sitting across from Narduzzi to have a potentially difficult conversation.
“I have a lot of meetings in my office, but it gets real when they’re there,” Narduzzi said. “But that tells you there was not even a thought of it.”
Continuity is hardly a guarantee anymore. Pitt seems to have it at the moment. The trick for the Panthers will be having it mean something by avoiding the kind of Jekyll/Hyde season they endured last fall, when a 7-0 start morphed into an 0-6 finish, though only three of those losses were by more than five points.
“If I’m a fan I'm going, ‘Shoot, every game is going down to the fourth quarter, and it’s a game of inches and you’ve got to win those inches and sometimes you do and sometimes you don’t,’” Narduzzi said.
If Pitt wants to end up on the right side of those inches this fall, it will need Holstein to stay healthy after missing three entire games and parts of two others during the Panthers' second-half swoon.
“Our kids played their tails off and gave it all they did based on the health that we had on our football team,” Narduzzi said. “It’s hard when your starting quarterback is not out there. Eli was 7-1 as a starter and then you’re bouncing around and it’s just different.”
Narduzzi believes Holstein is “far beyond” where he was at a year ago, when he pitched in a battle with Nate Yarnell for the starting job. It's firmly his now, and there's optimism that the hiccups in offensive coordinator Kade Bell's system have been smoothed out.
“There’s nothing better than you’re going into the season knowing what Eli has done, what kind of football player he is,” he said. “We’re not sitting there wondering what’s going to happen on game day. I think we all have a pretty good idea.”
Reid — all 5-feet-8 of him — was a revelation after transferring from Western Carolina. Piling up 1,545 yards from scrimmage and nine touchdowns and adding another on a punt return will do that.
Reid believes he's just getting started. One of the reasons he remains up for whatever in 2025.
“(I) can’t be like a regular running back,” Reid said. “I’ve got to do everything. Shoot, last year I didn’t really showcase everything I could do for real. I didn’t really play every game. This year, that’s my main focus, trying to play every game, be there for the team, showcase what I can do to help the team win.”
The list of defensive players the Panthers have sent to the NFL during Narduzzi's tenure is long. Louis figures to add to the list whenever he's done, though the second-team All-American is hardly in a rush to get to the next level following a season in which he had 16 tackles for loss, seven sacks and four picks, returning one for a touchdown.
“He has a great ability to key the football, find the hole, and hit the guy with the ball,” Narduzzi said, later adding, “We want Kyle Louis to go to the ball. The ball is the main thing.”
The Panthers open the season on Aug. 30 by facing crosstown rival Duquesne for the first time since 1939.
Pitt's nonconference slate includes 75-mile trip south to Morgantown to face West Virginia in the “Backyard Brawl.” No. 6 Notre Dame visits Acrisure Stadium on Nov. 15.
The ACC schedule includes trips to both Florida State (Oct. 11) and No. 10 Miami (Nov. 29). The tone for Pitt's season will likely be set by how it navigates a two-week stretch in which it welcomes both Louisville (Sept. 27) and Boston College (Oct. 4). The Panthers lost to both a year ago.
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