Kade Bell has been on the road most of his tenure as the Pitt offensive coordinator, but as he’s spent weekends in Pittsburgh and caught up on last season’s film, he’s seen a clear-cut No. 1 quarterback.
Nate Yarnell ended the season as the starting quarterback, and he will enter the spring as the starting quarterback.
“Nate’s the guy right now going into the spring,” Bell said Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I thought he played really well watching the film of the last two games of the season. He’s gonna have the opportunity to go out there with the 1s, and it’s his job to lose.
“He’s been awesome since I’ve gotten here. He’s very cerebral, he’s been a great leader — he’s actually become more vocal than he has in the past, I’ve heard.”
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, against Boston College and Duke, he completed 36-of-54 pass attempts (66.7%) for 472 yards with four touchdowns (one rushing) and one interception.
It’s been a wild ride for Yarnell since he arrived as a three-star recruit out of Texas in the class of 2021, and after he made one start during the 2022 season, he entered the 2023 season as the third-string quarterback. It wasn’t until both Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux were benched that Yarnell was inserted back into the lineup.
Yarnell looked more comfortable — and in command — than either Jurkovec or Veilleux last season, but it was a small sample size. Still, though, he’s performed every chance he’s received at Pitt.
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.”
Yarnell will be joined in the quarterback room by Veilleux, Ty Dieffenbach, early enrollee Julian Dugger and Alabama transfer Eli Holstein. It appears as though Veilleux and Holstein will be in the mix, but Bell values the ability to give all of the Pitt quarterback reps.
“We’re gonna have a competition behind (Yarnell) when it comes down to it,” Bell said. “I’m really big on getting everyone reps. I think that matters. Obviously you gotta get (Yarnell) a bunch of reps, quarterback is the biggest part of an offense. If you’ve got a good quarterback, and he can go play, then you can have a lot of success.
“So, we’ve gotta build the system around him and what he does well, and then obviously when other guts are in there, I gotta find out what they do well, too, because he’s really the only one besides Christian that has game film.”
And when it comes to actually running Bell’s offense, which he has emphasized will be high-tempo, it doesn’t matter if the quarterback is “mobile” or not. His offense is adaptable based on who’s running it.
“I know people would probably think that because we’re a tempo, and we spread it around, but I feel like the way the system is, you give me Tom Brady, I think we can win with him. You gave me Lamar Jackson, I can go win with him,” Bell said. “Once the guy is the starter, I’m going to build the system around the starting quarterback.”
The first spring practice is just under a month away, and the offensive install (which is still in its very early phase) will be the top storyline of the offseason. Yarnell is the starter entering the spring, but as the spring unfolds and all the quarterbacks take reps, anything can happen.
Though as Bell said, it’s Yarnell’s job to lose right now.
He’s the #1 qb “right now”. What a ringing endorsement!
Nate said he played only six games in high school, but was rated as a three star quarterback. That’s impressive. I believe this guy is, and has been, the guy for us. For Cignetti to not know this, is not a good commentary on his ability to evaluate. Having said that, If Nate struggles, it seems that Cade Bell would not hesitate to give another q.b. an opportunity. Based on what I have seen thus far, I have to believe that Holstein would be the next option.. Christian looks very average and Dugger probably needs to watch and learn. Dugger… Read more »
Very much agree about Yarnell. A six game starter that did well in Texas is probably better than a lot of guys that played more against lesser competition. 👍
It’s refreshing to see some decisiveness from Bell. I was growing weary of the wishy-washy we’ll wait and see approach. It makes sense to have Yarnell be the guy going in. He played well when given the chance and showed poise the others lacked. Good for Nate because he earned that confidence going in.