There are going to be sweeping changes to the Pitt offense in 2024, all the way from the offensive coordinator and down, and it appears likely that another quarterback will be added to the roster.
Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord entered the transfer portal when it opened Monday morning, one of the first major dominos to fall across the college football landscape, and the polarizing quarterback has already been linked to Pitt.
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247Sports’ Brad Crawford listed Pitt, along with Miami, North Carolina State, Rutgers, Louisville, Mississippi State, Kentucky and Nebraska, as a potential transfer destination.
Crawford appears to have speculated more than anything, noting the Panthers adding starting transfer quarterbacks in each of the last three seasons, but McCord does fit the quarterback mold that Pat Narduzzi has targeted lately.
McCord is coming off a season at Ohio State in which he completed 229-of-348 pass attempts (65.8%) for 3,170 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s a pure pocket passer who had the luxury of playing with future NFL wideouts Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Mt. Laurel, N.J. native didn’t reach the standard set by Heisman-caliber quarterbacks at Ohio State during his lone season as the Buckeyes starter, and his performance in a loss to Michigan drew a lot of scrutiny. So much so that Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day did not commit to McCord in the upcoming Cotton Bowl.
McCord, a former top recruit in the class of 2021 out of St. Joe’s Prep in Philadelphia, will have one season of eligibility remaining.
Pitt will have Nate Yarnell and Christian Veilleux on its roster entering the 2024 season, and Yarnell’s late-season play was certainly encouraging, with Pat Narduzzi saying that he will at least be given a chance to compete for the starting job.
But it seems likely that Narduzzi, and whoever he hires as the new offensive coordinator, will look into the portal once again.
For all your college football transfer portal needs, check out the Portal Report and their Transfer Portal Tracker.
2023-24 College Football Transfer Portal Database
Really? By now you’d think that Duzz would have figured out that transfer QB’s are not his calling card. Peterman worked out but the rest crapped the bed. I don’t get the fascination with the portal. Trust your evaluations, develop them and play.
Nooooooooooooooo!
Wait, he’s leaving Ryan Day who is known for developing QB’s and will come to Pitt? Yarnell should leave right now, he never get’s any respect. McCord will want way too much money
“Yarnell should leave right now!” Why, because a reporter speculated that pitt might offer one of the most sought after portal targets? Get triggered much?
Focus on hiring a quality and respected OC and that would attract good players.
Narduzzi will find a way to screw the position up. big time.
If he had more than one year of eligibility left, I would think about it, but another one and done guy who was a disappointment at his previous school is not what we ought to be after. That uh…hasn’t worked out for us very well recently. Stick with Nate!
If they get McCord, we’ll be in the same position again next year
NEW tires (incoming Freshmen), not re-treads (Portal patches).
NIL reward the guys you already have.
I would be in favor of this if all the QB’s were given a fair shot at the starting job, but if this McCord kid was being promised the job, no thanks.
Exactly, just like they did with Phil. That’s why they waited until he blew 5 games for us. They promised him the job, then they preach all this competition bullshit.
Polarizing? Why?
#1 Nate #2 Christian #3 Julian, then find an offensive coordinator that develops quarterbacks and can recruit receivers.