Pitt rotated through three different starting quarterbacks last season, largely without success, but the quarterback room will look quite different entering the 2024 season.
When Alabama transfer quarterback Eli Holstein arrived earlier this month, some expected him to slot in immediately as the next starting quarterback. But that does not appear to be the case — at least, not this spring.
According to ACC Network’s David Hale, Nate Yarnell will enter spring ball as the “clear-cut” starting quarterback.
“Pat (Narduzzi) said we’re Nate Yarnell as their clear-cut No. 1 on the quarterback depth chart. It’s his job to lose. They brought in Eli Holstein from Alabama, they still have Christian Veilleux on the roster and they’ve got some depth at the position. I think that he sounds very bought in on Nate Yarnell, and what the rest of the team thinks of Nate Yarnell, too. So, some enthusiasm about offense in Pittsburgh.”
Yarnell, a rising redshirt junior, finished the season as the starting quarterback and looked more comfortable than either Veilleux or Phil Jurkovec throughout his two games.
Pat Narduzzi said following the season finale that Yarnell would — at the very least — be considered for the starting job in 2024.
“No question about it,” Narduzzi said following the loss to Duke. “He’s a guy who can win a lot of football games for us. He’s smart, takes coaching, he’s tough and he made some good plays out there and made his mistakes, too. So, we have a lot of faith in him.”
Yarnell completed 25-of-35 pass attempts (71.4%) for 265 yards with two touchdowns and an interception against Duke. It was another solid performance, one in which he stood in the pocket and progressed through his reads to spray passes all over the fields and used his mobility to make plays off-platform.
In two starts (and clean-up duty in two more games), he completed 41-of-62 pass attempts (66.1%) for 595 yards with four touchdowns and an interception — and a rushing touchdown. In just the two starts, he completed 36-of-54 pass attempts (66.7%) for 472 yards with four touchdowns (one rushing) and one interception.
Yarnell wasn’t worried about what the future held when it came to whether or not he earned the starting gig at the end of last season. It was up to the coaching staff, he said, but he was just going to continue to work to be the best quarterback and leader he could be for the team. Pitt means a lot to Yarnell.
“They gave me an opportunity to play Power Five football,” Yarnell said following the loss to Duke. “I played six games in high school, I played at Lake Travis, but I didn’t have a ton of tape. I knew that I was a really good quarterback and coach Narduzzi went off the six games and gave me an opportunity, and I’ll be forever grateful for that.”
It remains to be seen what will happen over the course of the spring, and then throughout the summer and into training camp in the fall, but Yarnell has the keys to the Pitt offense in his hands. But it will certainly be a competition between Yarnell, Holstein and Veilleux this offseason.
It’s unfair to say that the quarterback competition, which Yarnell currently leads, will be the most important battle to follow this offseason. Especially as new offensive coordinator Kade Bell installs his offense.
|
Games |
Attempts |
Completions |
Passing Yards |
Passing TD |
Interceptions |
| Nate Yarnell |
4 |
62 |
41 |
595 |
4 |
1 |
| Christian Veilleux |
7 |
94 |
184 |
1,179 |
7 |
8 |
| Eli Holstein |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Ty Dieffenbach |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Julian Dugger |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
I hope Yarnell takes this opportunity and proves all the doubters wrong! He is a PITT guy imo!
I want to see Yarnell stick it to these guys and send them back through the transfer portal.
I certainly have confidence in Nate succeeding as the starter, but I don’t want to see potential starters go to the portal, especially Holstein.
to quote a famous coach, Lee Cross, “Not so fast, my friend.”
It should be Nate’s job to lose, but given Duzz’ history, he did not commit a bunch of NIL money to Holstein to have him sit, whether he should or not. 2 years running of bringing in a transfer and handing them the job and sticking with them way too long despite terrible results. These guys transfer for a reason. I know there are the stud transfers like Burrow and Hurts, but Pitt is not competing for those guys. I agree the OC the last two years deserves a lot of the blame, but Nate was the best QB last… Read more »
Difference between previous transfers and Holstein is they were experienced, with only a year or two of eligibility remaining. Coaches aren’t going to just hand the job to a freshman QB.
Nate earned the job. Pitt wins at least 7 games if he would have started last season. Holstein, given the offers he had, and his physical attributes, is the future starter after Nate. If Nate is suffers an injury, ( good Lord forbid), Pitt has to very good options. The Q.B. room is in excellent shape.
Pose, good decision, and leadership. Nate will win. Just think what last season would have been if he started.
If Yarnell is the starter, we’re doomed. Narduzzi thought so little of him last year that he was third-string heading into the season. Now all of the sudden, he’s the answer? We are going to lose football games next year. Better to lose them with Holstein getting experience than leaving him waste away on the sidelines contemplating a transfer.
It was Cignetti that thought so little of him, and Cignetti was proven wrong. Holstein will get his opportunity if he stays in one place long enough.