Head Coach: Pat Narduzzi is entering his 10th season as the head coach of Pitt with a 65-50 record. He led the Panthers to an ACC championship and Peach Bowl in 2021, making Pitt the only non Clemson or Florida State ACC champ since Virginia Tech won it in 2010. He seemed to have really hit a breakthrough here when they followed it up with a 9 win season and Top 25 finish in 2022, but they shockingly collapsed last season and now Narduzzi is tasked with getting this program back on track.
Program Outlook: It’s pretty incredible to think that Narduzzi has been here 10 years already. Prior to him taking this job Pitt went through unreal turnover at the head coaching position. A total of 6 different coaches were the Head Coach for at least a game between the retirement Dave Wannstedt and when Narduzzi took over. Notable within that is when Mike Haywood took over after leading Miami to a MAC championship, but he got fired after 16 days on the job and never was heard from again. The other funny thing that happened was when Todd Graham took over but left after a year. Needless to say despite the disappointing 2023 season it’s nice that this program has some steadiness to it.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: There’s a lot to figure out. The most damning quote about the this offseason was when defensive linemen Dayon Hayes transferred out in the spring and said the quiet part out loud “I don’t think this team can win this year.” Let’s find some positives, Pitt is going to run the Air-raid! Yes, Pitt Air-raid is coming your way this year! The hire of Walt Bell was Narduzzi realizing he needed to get back to a modern offense like he had in 2021. They need to figure out the quarterback Nate Yarnell is back after a couple ok starts late in the year, and they brought in Alabama transfer Eli Holstein to compete for the job. They’ll have good receivers to throw to with Konata Mumpfield returning and they have one of the best TEs in the nation in Gavin Bartholomew, there’s some transfers in to help as well. Pitt will also need to figure out the run game because a huge problem for them last season was the fact that they wanted to run the ball but couldn’t. The offensive line returns 4 starters and must improve to give a good group of backs room to work. Pitt’s defense will need some work. This program is a defensive line factory but that will be tested this season with just about all of their production gone. They at least got Nate Matlack from Kansas State in to help lead this unit but the rest of it is very green. They will need to figure out their linebackers as well now that their former starters are now playing in the SEC. Another reason Pitt needs to figure out the pass rush is to help the secondary. There’s a lot of man to man coverage in Narduzzi’s scheme and these young corners will be exposed if the defensive line can’t pressure the QB. The safeties are strong and will be able to clean up some of the messes at least.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: Pitt has one of my favorite non-conference schedules of anyone in the country. Just look at all the regional games and historic rivalries! Their big games are the Backyard Brawl (which should be played every year) and the River City Rivalry (bring the trophy back!!) Pitt also faces Kent State and Youngstown State as very close regional opponents from just across the border in Ohio, if I’m being honest it’s possible Youngstown State might be a more difficult game than Kent State. Kent State is still young and figuring a lot out while Youngstown State is one of the better team in FCS and the Penguins are always motivated to beat Pitt. The ACC draw isn’t bad, Pitt has tough games against Clemson and at Louisville, but the rest of the games are against other teams that are sorting things out. It’s not going to require much improvement for Pitt to return to a bowl.
Vegas Projection: Pitt’s win total is set at 5.5 with the odds geared toward the under. Vegas isn’t quite optimistic they can truly rebound despite the revamped offense and easier schedule.
2024 Best Case: The Pitt Air-raid takes off better than expected and the defense manages to be solid as well. Pitt wins big over Kent State then follows it up by winning back to back Rivalry games over both Cincinnati and West Virginia. They handle Youngstown State and then hit the road to take down North Carolina. The streak continues for Pitt to win the next 4 to carry an undefeated record into their showdown with Clemson. The Panthers do end up losing to the Tigers and to Louisville the next week but beat Boston College to end the regular season strong with 10 wins. As an added bonus Pitt wins their bowl game to finish with 11 wins, meanwhile Penn State disappoints only winning 8 games.
2024 Worst Case: The Pitt Air-raid doesn’t take off instead it just causes more turnovers and leaves the defense exposed. They struggle to beat Kent State but things get worse from there. Pitt is downed by Cincinnati and dominated by West Virginia in the backyard brawl. Disaster strikes for Pitt as they turn the ball over multiple times in a devasting loss to Youngstown State. It only goes downhill from there as Pitt struggles the rest of the way only winning 1 more game. A shocking collapse from how good they were in 2021 and 2022. Even worse both Penn State and West Virginia make the college football playoff and win a game.
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