Pitt, despite its misses with transfer portal quarterbacks over the last two seasons, is expected to add a new quarterback via the transfer portal. And the coaching staff has made contact with a highly sought-after option.
Pitt reached out to Holy Cross quarterback Matthew Sluka since he entered the portal as a graduate transfer last month, the Portal Report reported.
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Sluka, a 6-foot-3, 216-pound quarterback originally from Locust Valley, N.Y., earned first-team All-Patriot League and Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2023 — named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award for the second straight season.
Sluka has heard from a large number of schools since entering the portal, including Arkansas, Baylor, Cal, Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Virginia and Wake Forest.
He’s a dynamic dual-threat quarterback who lit up the FCS level over the last couple of seasons. He completed 122-of-197 pass attempts (61.9%) for 1,723 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions, adding 186 rush attempts for 1,243 yards and nine touchdowns, in 2023.
He’s completed 412-of-706 pass attempts (58.4%) for 5,896 yards with 59 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, and he’s added 599 rush attempts for 3,579 yards (6.0 yards per carry) and 38 touchdowns on the ground.
He will have one season of eligibility remaining at his next location.
Pitt still has to hire an offensive coordinator, which could bring about drastic changes to the offensive scheme and who the new OC wants to run his offense, but the Panthers don’t have a whole lot of time to wait until that hire is finalized.
Pitt quarterbacks completed 192-of-358 pass attempts (53.6%) for 2,592 yards with 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Phil Jurkovec started the season at quarterback, giving way to Christian Veilleux during the bye week, and Nate Yarnell finished the season.
Yarnell had the most success of the three quarterbacks, and it’s expected that Yarnell and Veilleux will once again be in the mix to start next season, but it’s clear that the coaching staff will monitor the market for quarterbacks.
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