Did Pitt Do Enough This Offseason? ESPN Weighs In

What was once a rather straight-forward college football offseason that dealt with polishing off high school recruiting classes and the rare transfer addition here or there has turned into chaos with player movement left and right.

Nowadays, it comes down to if teams can hold onto their top players, while plugging gaps with those available on the open market.

The college football offseason of 10 years ago wouldn’t recognize the one of today. That’s why there’s more emphasis on what teams can do with their NIL money to attract transfer portal talent and those top prospects on the high school recruiting trail.

ESPN took an in-depth look at how each Power Four program maneuvered this offseason and ranked them within their respective conference.

The writers at ESPN — Eli Lederman, Max Olson, Adam Rittenberg and Bill Connelly — looked at three main categories: retention of key (non-draft-eligibile) players, retention of key coaches or upgrades and player additions, primarily through the transfer portal but also high school recruits.

When it came to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson, Miami and Duke took home to top three spots, respectively, for the best offseasons.

Pitt was in the middle of the pack as it checked in at No. 9 in the conference.

The Panthers’ biggest departures, according to the article, all left for the NFL in offensive lineman Branson Taylor, tight end Gavin Bartholomew and wide receiver Konata Mumpfield. ESPN also highlighted the losses of projected starting cornerback Ryland Gandy and defensive end Sincere Edwards to the December portal.

As for key additions, offensive tackle Kendall Stanley, wide receiver Cataurus Hicks and defensive end Blaine Spires were all mentioned, along with Jeff Persi and Keith Gouveia on an improved offensive line. Top incoming recruits included, offensive tackle Jordan Fields, wide receiver Bryce Yates and defensive lineman Trevor Sommers.

Pitt transfer wide receiver addition Cataurus Hicks. March 18, 2025 — Ed Thompson / PSN.

Pitt did not lose, nor gain any new members to its coaching staff. However, the biggest move came via offensive coordinator Kade Bell’s contract extension after increasing the Panthers’ passing offense to No. 15 in his first season.

At the conclusion of Pitt’s summary, Connelly provided his overall take on where Pitt stands this offseason by writing, “Narduzzi retained all the sparkly offensive puzzle pieces that produced improvement last season, which is good. But we’ll see whether incoming transfers can provide a boost for what has been a mediocre defense for two straight years.”

Here’s how the rest of the ACC was ranked:

No. 1 — Clemson

No. 2 — Miami

No. 3 — Duke

No. 4 — Florida State

No. 5 — Virginia

No. 6 — Louisville

No. 7 — Georgia Tech

No. 8 — SMU

No. 9 — Pitt

No. 10 — Virginia Tech

No. 11 — NC State

No. 12 — North Carolina

No. 13 — Boston College

No. 14 — Syracuse

No. 15 — Wake Forest

No. 16 — Cal

No. 17 — Stanford