ACC Football
Kade Bell, Nate Yarnell are the faces of Pitt’s new-look offense
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – There wasn’t much to celebrate for Pitt’s football program last season. Any remaining shine from the 2021 conference championship, or a No. 22 finish in the AP Top 25 Poll in 2022, quickly faded away.
The Panthers finished 3-9, which was not only the worst record in Pat Narduzzi’s previous nine years as head coach, but it marked the most losses in a single season for Pitt since 1998. And Pitt’s 2-6 record in ACC play was its worst since joining the conference.
“It was not a fun season,” Narduzzi said last week at ACC Kickoff at the Hilton in Uptown Charlotte. “It was just one of those years where things didn’t go our way. That’s not who we are… Sometimes you need to get punched and knocked down in the ring, so you can get back up and fight some more. I think that’s kind of the attitude we’ve taken.”
When asked what was lacking from the team last season, Narduzzi gestured towards the offense, but didn’t point at the scheme or personnel. For him, it was the unit’s leadership that had to change.
“The first thing was making a change on offense and getting someone that our players believed in; that they’re having fun playing the game on offense,” Narduzzi said. “The offensive players aren’t changing that much. It’s just who’s leading those guys, who has energy and who believes.”
Indeed, eight regular starters on offense return for the Panthers, including skill position playmakers in wideout Konata Mumpfield, running back Rodney Hammond Jr., tight end Gavin Bartholomew, and four offensive linemen.
What’s different this year is the man under-center, and the man giving him direction from the sideline.
Phil Jurkovec is gone, Nate Yarnell is in. The Frank Cignetti era is over and the Kade Bell tenure begins.
For Bartholomew, working with a new passer and play-caller is nothing new.
Now entering his senior season, the 6-foot-5 former All-ACC selection began his career at Pitt catching passes from Kenny Pickett with Mark Whipple calling the shots. As a sophomore, Cignetti took the reins of the offense and Kedon Slovis was throwing the ball. Then there was last year, which started with Jurkovec, featured some Christian Veilleux and sprinkled in some Yarnell at quarterback before Cigentti was finally fired less than 24 hours after the dreadful season ended.
In 2023, Pitt had the lowest scoring offense in the ACC at 20.2 points per game. The only Power Five teams who scored less than Pitt were Nebraska, Arizona State, Michigan State and Iowa. Pitt was also 124th in FBS in first downs gained and 121st in rushing offense. The Panthers tied with Syracuse for the highest turnover rate in the ACC, coughing up the ball 1.8 times per game.
Within two weeks of Cignetti’s dismissal, Bell was hired from FCS Western Carolina. In each of Bell’s three season as offensive coordinator in Cullowhee, North Carolina, the Catamounts averaged north of 31 points per game, a figure that ballooned to 37.6 points in 2023 which was among the top 10 in FCS.
So far, Bartholomew likes the changes he’s seen under Bell.
“Coach Bell is really particular about how he wants this offense run,” the senior tight end said. “Everything’s got to be to perfection – which, you know, that’s how it should be. That’s the standard.”
He added: “We’re definitely moving a lot faster. The pace has definitely picked up. Coach does a great job of trying to get the players the ball in space to make some plays. And he’s doing a great job moving us all over the field.”
While Bartholomew just met Bell a few months ago, he’s known Yarnell for a while. The two were roommates during their true freshman seasons in 2021. While Yarnell redshirted, Bartholomew played quite a bit, catching four touchdowns from Pickett as Pitt won its first ACC football title.
“Having a guy like him lead our team is awesome,” Bartholomew said. “Our relationship is going to continue to grow.”
Pitt QB Nate Yarnell talks to reporters at the 2024 ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, N.C. (Mitchell Northam / Pitsburgh Sports Now)
When Pickett left, Pitt didn’t turn to Yarnell right away. Instead, the Panthers brought in a pair of transfer quarterbacks – Slovis from USC and Jurkovec from Boston College. However, Yarnell did get the chance to shine early in the 2022 season at Western Michigan, where he completed 9-of-12 passes and threw a touchdown in a win for the Panthers.
Yarnell started twice last season and featured in a total of four games, completing 66% of his passes and tossing four touchdowns.
“You know, all along, I thought he was a pretty darn good quarterback,” Narduzzi said of Yarnell. “And he could have started the last two years. Two years ago, came in, after two quarterbacks got hurt versus Western Michigan, and he took that game over. You know, he’s a winner – that’s what I think he is. I saw him a lot on scout team. I just thought he was a tough son of a gun… That’s something I’ve felt for two years.”
Narduzzi said that, despite his admiration for Yarnell, he never really got first- or second-team reps over the past two seasons and “he’s never been developed.” That changed this past spring and summer. Pitt brought in just one transfer quarterback — redshirt freshman Eli Holstein from Alabama — but paved the way to give Yarnell a legitimate shot at winning the job.
Judging by his appearance at ACC Kickoff and the way Narduzzi talked about him, Yarnell seemed to have done just that.
“You know, it’s a really humbling opportunity. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a kid. Getting the opportunity to start is kind of surreal. I know we have a really great team around me and so, obviously I feel confident going into it just because of that, and I know I got a lot of guys around me that are going to help me.”
Like Bartholomew, Yarnell mentioned speed when asked about how Bell’s new offense feels. Yarnell said he ran an up-tempo system in high school outside of Austin, Texas, where 247sports ranked him as one of the 25 best pro-style quarterbacks in the 2021 class.
“That’s something I’m really excited about. We’re playing a lot faster. We’re going to be more spread out,” Yarnell said. “We’re going to run the ball; we’re going to pass the ball – he’s going to do a lot of great things. I don’t have enough good things to say about (Bell).”
Last season, Pitt was one of just six FBS teams that ran less than 60 plays per game last season.
Bell also brought three transfers from Western Carolina with him to Pitt, one of whom is running back Desmond Reid, who Narduzzi calls “explosive.” Narduzzi said there’s “no doubt” that Reid and receivers CJ Lee and Raphael Williams are ready for FBS-level football.
“He’s not very big, but he will hit you in the mouth,” Narduzzi said of Reid, who averaged 6.9 yards per carry in two seasons for the Catamounts. “He’s one of the strongest guys on our team… So, not only did we get Kade Bell, but we got three excellent young men and players from Western Carolina.”
