Pitt Offensive Coordinator Kade Bell ‘Gets Guys Open’

It’s hard now to point to any one thing that Frank Cignetti Jr. brought back to Pittsburgh for his second stint as offensive coordinator. It’s also hard to believe that the offensive numbers get worse with every subsequent look.

Not only did the Panthers fail to find the end zone last season (just 20.2 points per game and 30 total touchdowns), but the plodding scheme didn’t even lead to an advantage in time of possession — ranking last in the ACC in total time of possession, time of possession per game, total first downs, first downs per game and red zone opportunities.

It’s going to look very different in Pittsburgh next season. I don’t think I saw a single no-huddle set over the last two seasons, but that’s going to change. Bell runs an up-tempo offense that is going to ask the quarterback to throw the football 30-40 times per game. No huddle, snapping the — in some cases — in seven seconds and running through its personnel.

It’s going to be an adjustment for the entire offense, but the wide receivers especially will be in a very different situation. And it’s much needed after the last two seasons.

I don’t know exactly what it was, but for some reason, the wide receivers never seemed to be on the same page with the rest of the offense. The offense as a whole — over the last two seasons — was pretty disjointed, but the receivers just never seemed to catch up. Whether it was route concepts failing to translate or just a lack of synergy, the “easy” throws were seldom there.

And when they were, a good throw wasn’t always guaranteed.

That’s what makes new offensive line coach Jeremy Darveau’s ringing endorsement so appealing. Darveau has watched — and worked with — Bell over the last three seasons. He’s always been impressed.

“The thing that I think makes (Bell) so special is his ability to get guys open,” Darveau said last week. “He’s got so many different ways to manipulate defenses, to get players open, to manipulate big plays. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve been around for a little bit.

“I’ve never really seen a guy who is so good at scheming things up and getting players open, not just from a receiver’s standpoint but the running backs, too. Understanding fronts, understanding blitzes, understanding stunts and how to attack those things. He’s done such a good job in my time with him of doing those things that we need to be successful on offense. I’m so thrilled just to be with him again.”

Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Konata Mumpfield (9) October 5, 2023 David Hague/PSN

The mantra is to play fast and score faster, but that’s obviously when the situation calls for it. It’s picking the right times to speed it up, and the right times to slow it down. Bell is confident in his ability to craft a system that can do both successfully — and Narduzzi is confident in his belief in Bell.

“We’re being up-tempo at times, and we’re gonna play fast, and I think maybe one of the things that sold me is, you know, defensively we’re not very complicated,” Narduzzi said earlier this month. “And any normal football guy would look and say, gosh, they line up on normal downs with four down. They line up in almost the same spots all the time. The linebackers look like this. The corners are pressed out there. I mean, everything looks the same. But then on the snap, it changes. And it’s simple but complex.

“And I think that’s what our offense is. You know, when people talk about playing fast, I think they think the tempo. But I think that fast goes two ways. And you talk to a lot of our guys, and talk during spring ball and after spring ball, so our guys will say it’s simpler for them to go play faster. And again, when I say fast, you can have an athletic guy, but if you take an athletic left tackle, or a tailback, or a wide receiver, and you give them too many things to think about, they start to play slow.”

It’s still certainly going to be a transition when it comes to installing the new offense, which Darveau said Wednesday was about 50% done, but also tweaking the scheme for the ACC level. It’s one thing to dominate the FCS level, it’s another entirely to do so in the Power Four.

Bell, in studying and evaluating how his offense would be able to translate from the FCS to the FBS, concluded that success starts up front. It’s about winning the line of scrimmage. You want fast, explosive skill players, of course, but it begins and ends up front. He came up with two ways to win the line of scrimmage.

• Play really, really fast — create with tempo and get guys tired and get guys to think a little bit to where they can’t play as fast. 
• Recruit really, really good players — bring in the best of the best when it comes to offensive linemen.

It sounds simple because it is. Pitt has pulled in some high-ranked defensive linemen over the last couple of classes (including Ryan Baer in 2022 and Caleb Holmes in 2024), but it will be difficult for the Pitt coaches to consistently bring in the best of the best. Development is important, of course. Development and placing the players in the best situation to succeed.

“Systematically, I think what we do will translate to any level,” Bell said earlier this month. “It’s all about knowing who your players are, putting them in a great position to be successful and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. And that’s what we’re going to try to do during the spring and the summer. Say, ‘Hey, who are our best players? What do they do well? What do they not do well? How do we hide it? How do we hide their weaknesses?’ And I’ll put them in a position to be successful.”

This isn’t meant to pile on Cignetti, but his system failed to do anything worthwhile. Sure, it was okay with an All-American running back breaking century-old individual game records, but that’s what it took to win nine games in 2022. Personnel decisions, a bloated playbook that clearly wasn’t digested by the players and a lack of identity doomed the offense in 2023. 

It wasn’t just the wide receivers that suffered either. Truthfully, it was the entire offense. But it wasn’t easy for the running backs and tight ends. With the increased tempo, the wide receivers will run much deeper than either of the past two seasons. It would be impossible not to do so. But the running backs will be utilized more, too. 

Pittsburgh Panthers running back Rodney Hammond Jr. (6) November 16, 2023 David Hague/PSN

Much like how new running backs coach Lindsey Lamar was utilized during his college days at USF, the running backs will be looked at as hybrids next season.

“They’re called the Hs in this offense, but I would say they’re hybrids because they have to be able to do multiple things,” Lamar said last week. “Not just the old school pound back — be in an I-formation and go downhill and pound it. You’ve got to be able to do multiple things.

“You have to be able to pound it, you have to catch the ball out of the backfield, you have to be able to line up in empty and run routes out of the backfield, and that’s why I love it. That’s why I love it for our guys because I was that type of player myself. I was a Swiss Army knife guy. I was able to do it all, line up wide, get in the backfield, the whole nine yards.”

It’s not the most star-studded cast of skill players returning to Pitt, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism. Rodney Hammond Jr. leads a running backs rotation that may see Derrick Davis Jr. sooner than later. Konata Mumpfield, DaeDae Reynolds and Kenny Johnson headline a wide receiving corps that has been injected with Western Carolina star power. And of course, Gavin Bartholomew is back.

Nate Yarnell, who Bell has already anointed as the starting quarterback entering the spring, will be tasked with making quick decisions and hitting his targets. The spring will be a key time of building for the 2024 season.