Vukovcan: 3 Things That Have Me Optimistic About Pitt

There are 55 days until the Pitt Panthers get the 2025 college football season underway when they host Duquesne at Acrisure Stadium.

Pat Narduzzi and his players are no doubt counting the days until they’re able to get on the field and start to get the bad taste of the 2024 season out of their mouths.

After starting the season 7-0 and being ranked No. 18–to the surprise of almost everyone—Pitt ended the season by losing their final six games. There were plenty of reasons for that pitiful ending, injuries in particular took their toll, but that’s in the rearview mirror and there’s no way to take a mulligan on the second half of 2024.

The question now is which Pitt team was the real one: the team that started the season so successfully, the one that collapsed at the end, or somewhere in between?

Taking everything into account, I’m one to believe that this team is more likely to perform in 2025 like the one that we saw to start last season and that had so many people excited.

Here are three reasons for that and why I’m seeing things with the glass being half full instead of looking at things half empty.

1) The Return of Eli Holstein

It’s nearly impossible to win in any sort of football without a good quarterback and Pitt is lucky to have one with Eli Holstein. The redshirt sophomore’s performance pretty much mirrored the play of Pitt. After starting out the season red-hot and being discussed nationally, Holstein cooled down and struggled in the second half.

Unfortunately for Holstein, he suffered a couple injuries that greatly impacted his play, the biggest of which were a concussion and an ankle injury. The bottom line was that Pitt’s offensive line failed Holstein last season and were a big reason for his injuries which also led to his inaccuracy.

The constant pressure was something that Holstein had to deal with all season, even when he was having success but eventually the hits and pressure caught up with him.

When Holstein started and finished a game, Pitt was 7-0, when he didn’t, Pitt was 0-6. Enough said.

Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Eli Holstein (10) September 14, 2024. Michael Longo/PSN

Holstein is a difference maker that will only get better in his second year with Kade Bell. In my opinion, too many people overlook the fact that last year was Holstein’s first season as a college starter and his first time play in over a year after redshirting at Alabama.

In his first five games of the season, Holstein threw 15 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions, while throwing for over 300+ yards in 4 of the first 5 games.

Although fans in all sports want it, development and greatness doesn’t happen overnight.

2025 will be a really good year for Holstein and the biggest reason why Pitt will have success.

2) Major Star Power

Along with a big-time quarterback, the other biggest factor that leads you to a lot of success in football is having playmakers on your team. Players that are able to change the outcome of a game with one play either on the offensive or defensive side.

This 2025 Pitt team certainly will have that.

While the team outcome of last season was disappointing, we did learn and see that Pitt has a handful of legitimate stars and they’ll all be returning this season.

The combination of Holstein, Desmond Reid, Kenny Johnson, Kyle Louis, Rasheem Biles and Francis Brewu will allow Pitt to be in every game this season.

Pittsburgh Panthers running back Desmond Reid (0) and center Lyndon Cooper (56) October 12, 2024 David Hague/PSN

As we saw many times, Reid is someone that can go the distance every time he touches the ball. If given time to throw, the combination of Holstein to Johnson could be one of the top QB/WR duos in the ACC. Ryan Manalac’s trio of Louis, Biles and Braylon Lovelace will not only be one of the best trio of linebackers in the ACC  but also one of the most elite in all of college football.

Like Biles and Louis did last season, I believe 2025 will be the season that Brewu bursts onto the national scene and wreaks havoc on opposing quarterbacks and running backs.

Kade Bell’s Development

The other factor needed to consistently win in today’s college football is the ability to consistently put up a lot of points. Gone are the days of winning solely with defense. To his credit, Narduzzi came around to that and hired Kade Bell last season as his offensive coordinator.

The public impression of Bell, like with Holstein, changed as the season went on. As injuries piled up on the offensive line, at quarterback and with his wide receivers, Bell’s offensive productivity declined. That wasn’t a huge surprise.

Bell also inherited players last season that weren’t his and this offseason, plenty of changes were made, particularly on the offensive line and at wide receiver.

I also don’t want to blame all the problems on offense on injuries because that wouldn’t be accurate.

Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell at spring practice on March 13, 2025 / Ed Thompson. PSN.

Despite having success in the past with every offense that he’s called plays for, this was Bell’s first season being an offensive coordinator in Power 4 football. Regardless of what he might tell you and what you might think, there’s a learning curve there. Things that worked in the past maybe didn’t work against better competition.

Bell is a tremendous young offensive coordinator that was a huge get for Pitt. He has a passion for football and has no doubt spent the offseason re-watching film and finding ways to make his no-huddle, fast-paced offense even better in 2025. I have no doubts that will happen and will happen this season. Bell is a ‘gym rat’ and will no doubt will correct things that didn’t work well last season.

Bell is a guy that will one day become a head coach and is one of the reasons Pitt signed him to a contract extension after last season. He’s a star in the college football coaching industry, teams know that and so does Pitt. They want to hold onto him as long as possible.

Pitt’s Outlook for 2025

With all that being said and with a schedule that I think is favorable, barring any major injuries, I think 8 wins is a lock with a good chance of 9 wins.