Pitt football is coming off its best season since 1981, finishing with eleven wins and winning its first ever ACC Championship while returning several key players. But it's Pitt's newest additions through the Transfer Portal who might cause the biggest buzz during spring practices, which begin Monday.
Pat Narduzzi finally put together a season with more than eight wins and now prepares for his eighth season coaching the Panthers. But it's clear that after Pitt's first major bowl appearance in the Peach Bowl loss against Michigan State, that the program, from its coaches to its players, want more.
After the departures of offensive coordinator Mark Whipple and receiver coach Brennan Marion who both oversaw Pitt's passing attack lead the Panthers to finish eighth in the country in total yards and passing yards, as well as third in points scored per game. They were replaced by Frank Cignetti Jr. who returns as offensive coordinator after a two-year stint under Dave Wannstedt in 2009-2010, and Tiquan Underwood who transitions from being Rutgers' wide receiver coach.
They'll get to work with a team that features an offensive line with every starter returning from last season, all three running primary running backs from last year, a defensive front and secondary loaded with returning stars, and new blood to the program in the form of transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis from USC and Konata Mumpfield from Akron.
Here are your top storylines to watch for the Panthers as spring practices begin Monday for their campaign to repeat as ACC Champions in 2022:
• Can Slovis be the real deal?
I broke down Slovis' game coming to Pitt from USC with a film study back in January. He's a very talented thrower with a cannon of an arm and the guts to fit the ball into the tightest windows while also throwing on the run. The biggest struggle I saw in his game were a lack of working through his progressions when teams were in the proper coverages to take away his primary reads.
Slovis has big shoes to fill after Kenny Pickett's legendary season with 42 passing touchdowns, the most by a quarterback in a season in ACC history, surpassing Deshaun Watson. Pickett had the toughness and by his fifth year with the team, an expert ability to rotate through his progressions to find the open man at a high rate. But Pickett didn't have the rocket arm that Slovis brings to the table, and that could be an advantage that the Panthers take advantage of in the new offense.
Slovis revealed weeks ago when he first spoke after transferring to Pitt that Pickett helped sell him on the idea of joining Pitt to play with Jordan Addison and a strong returning nucleus.
"Hearing Kenny talk about his experience, that was a selling point," Slovis said of his conversation with Pickett. "It's a great honor to follow him. It's a lot to look up to but I'm going to be my own player and I have to play my own game. I'm not Kenny Pickett. This is going to be a different team and hopefully I can build off what he accomplished here."
But Slovis isn't going to just be handed the quarterback spot, as Nick Patti stuck with the program and was Pickett's replacement for the Peach Bowl when Pickett opted out of the game. Patti led the Panthers to a touchdown with a diving run into the end zone early, but broke his collarbone in the process and missed the rest of the game. Slovis would be the presumed frontrunner because of his skills and how highly regarded he was in the Transfer Portal, but Patti also has the respect of his teammates who hold him in high regard, and has established chemistry with Pitt's receiver room.
What may boil this quarterback battle down to is who can adjust to Cignetti's offense the fastest. The new offensive coordinator has already made it clear that Pitt could be looking to run the ball at a much higher rate than it did under Whipple, which would drastically change the outlook of the offense and the play calls that helped Pickett excel last year.
• So, about that run game ...
Pitt's ground attack wasn't a major feature of the offense in 2021 despite the Panthers having three running backs they could rely on in Israel "Izzy" Abanikanda, who ended up as the leading back, Vincent Davis, and Rodney Hammond II. That's something that Cignetti wants to change, as he and Narduzzi indicated in his first Pitt media availability in early Feb.
"It's a big focus," Narduzzi said of improving Pitt's run game. "When you look at Izzy (Abanikanda), Vince and Rodney, those guys all deserve to have carries. We didn't do a great job of getting them the ball. I like to run the ball but I'm not going to tell an offensive coordinator what to do and when to run it. I'll say my peace, and then they better win and score points. But one thing about coach Cignetti is I know he likes to run the football. We're going to try to establish a run game that will open up more explosives for our wideouts."
Cignetti even went so far as to compare Pitt's talent at running back to the group he inherited when he took the job back in 2009.
"It's a really good group of runners," Cignetti said of his running backs. "It's going to be competitive for every group. If one guy arises and can carry the load, he'll be the guy. But a running back by committee has its advantages. It means you have good depth, kind of like when we had Dion (Lewis) and Ray (Graham). But time will tell. I have no idea up here right now, but we'll know come the Backyard Brawl."
But how Pitt uses its running backs will also be a big story for the 2022 season. Davis' 142 carries was the most on the team, but his 621 yards came behind Abanikanda's 667 rushing yards on 123 carries. Abanikanda's average of 5.3 yards per carry and Hammond's average of 4.9 both ranked ahead of Davis' 4.2, and both had more touchdowns than Davis' four touchdowns with Abanikanda scoring seven times and Hammond scoring five.
That division of labor is a tricky game to play, especially in today's college football world with the highly used Transfer Portal. It's hard to logically object to how Pitt used its running backs last year with one of the top offenses in the country and the fact that all three of the Panthers' primary options returned. If Pitt had leaned too hard on any one of them as a bell-cow back, one or both of the other running backs could've seen it as a sign they wouldn't get to play much and decide to transfer to a program that uses them more.
How things play out in these spring practices and who shines in the Blue-Gold spring game set for April 9 at Heinz Field will play a big role in the battle for who gets more carries in this new offense. But whoever wins that battle could get a much larger total of carries, even if the proportions between the three stay the same, as Cignetti refocuses how the Panthers' offense flows.
• Addison's competition for receiving yards
Addison won the Biletnikoff Award for being the most outstanding receiver in college football last year. He joined Larry Fitzgerald and Antonio Bryant as the other Pitt receivers who have won the award, making Pitt football the program with the most winners of the award in its 28-year history, tied with Oklahoma State and Alabama.
Make no mistake, Addison will continue to be a featured part of this offense, and Slovis is excited to get to throw to him and the rest of Pitt's receiver room. Addison's 1,593 receiving yards was fourth in the country while his 17 touchdown receptions was the most in Division I football.
"It's really special," Slovis said of Pitt's receiver room. "Jordan's a hell of a player. Beyond that, I knew what he brought to the table from the tape, but I can't believe what I've seen from the other guys that I didn't see on TV. They're more than talented. Jordan's better than advertised, Konata just got in and played really well, guys like Jared really impressed me in person like him, Jaylon and Jaden. I've thrown to them a lot in the indoor and they're wowing me each time."
But that's where things could get interesting with how the other receiving options work alongside Addison. Mumpfield was a freshman All-American last year at Akron who caught eight touchdown passes last year. That's more than any Pitt receiver last year who wasn't Addison. Mumpfield's tape shows a true separator in his route-running who cleanly gets in and out of his breaks to create large passing windows for his quarterbacks. He joins Addison, Jared Wayne, Jaylon Barden and Jaden Bradley to complete Pitt's receiver room.
While Addison is the complete package at receiver with speed, quickness, good routes, strong hands and playmaking ability, Mumpfield's place in the offense will be very intriguing alongside the bigger bodied Wayne, whose six touchdown receptions was second-most on the team behind Addison last year.
Not to be overlooked is Pitt's returning tight end Gavin Bartholomew, whose four touchdown receptions was fourth-most on the team last year and showed a lot of promise.
"Bartholomew is a good football player," Cignetti said. "Coach (Tim) Salem's done a great job coaching him. As I watched the tape I saw some Nate Bynum in him of a guy that could play on the line but then I saw some Hunter Long in him as a guy we coached at Boston College and went on to be a third round pick with the Dolphins. Can't wait to be on the field with him. I see a lot of upside and a guy who could probably play off the line, on the line, block in the run game and line up in any spot to create mismatches."
When Slovis drops back to pass, he may have one of the most talented group of targets in the country to choose between.
• The rise of Dayon Hayes in Pitt's loaded defensive front
• Charlie Partridge may be the most respected defensive line coach in the country as the Panthers have become a factor at making new talented players in this group over the past few years. Since Partridge took over in 2017, the Panthers have had four defensive linemen get selected in the NFL Draft with Ejuan Price, Patrick Jones II, Rashad Weaver and Jaylen Twyman. The last three of those four all went in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Since 2019, the Panthers have finished third (2019), first (2020) and second (2021) in total sacks in Division I football, and it's been the defensive line leading the way. Even after the departures of two consensus All-American defensive ends in Jones and Weaver, the Panthers reloaded with Habakkuk Baldonado, who led the team with nine sacks, Deslin Alexandre with 2.5 sacks and John Morgan with 5.5 sacks. All three return this year, but there will be legitimate competition with who starts across from Baldonado.
Hayes will be a junior this season with two more years of eligibility due to the NCAA COVID waiver that nullified the 2020 season from impacting a player's years of eligibility. Coming off the bench, Hayes recorded nine tackles for loss, fourth-most on the team, and three sacks on the season. Partridge has praised Hayes' development both before last season and all throughout it to me, and he showed that progress with a strong push through Pitt's final three games against Syracuse, Wake Forest in the ACC Championship, and Michigan State in the Peach Bowl. During that stretch he recorded 6.5 of his nine tackles for loss and all three of his sacks.
His rise in importance of Pitt's defense could make what's already been an elite unit even better.
And none of that even mentions star defensive tackle Calijah Kancey who earned First Team All-ACC and Third Team All-American for the Associated Press last year with a team-leading 13 tackles for loss and second-most seven sacks on the team. Partridge could be in for another major season.
• Linebackers have biggest holes to fill
Most of Pitt's position groups are filled with returning players fitting in starting roles, but the linebackers will need plenty of players to step up under coach Ryan Manalac. SirVocea Dennis led the team with 82 tackles last season and became a true leader of the defense when he took over the mike linebacker position. But the eligibility running out for Phil Campbell III, Chase Pine and John Petrishen while Cam Bright and Wendell Davis transferred out of the program.
That's going to require players to step into roles and play the aggressive style of defense that's become Pitt's brand under Narduzzi. They'll have Shayne Simon take over at money linebacker after transferring in from Notre Dame, along with returning players Brandon George, Bangally Kamara and Solomon DeShields as some of the top linebackers who could earn decent playing time in 2022.
George had 29 tackles last year while Kamara finished with ten and DeShields with eight. Pitt's linebackers played a big role in the Panthers' run defense allowing just 2.7 yards per carry and 91.2 rushing yards per game, both ranking sixth in the country. How those players fill into those roles could play a big factor in if Pitt retains that status in 2022.
• Secondary chemistry
Pitt's defensive backs have all their playmaker returning outside of Damarri Mathis, who will be at the NFL Scouting Combine next week. But that includes safety Erick Hallett who led the team with three interceptions last season, two of them coming in the ACC Championship victory when he earned player of the game, returning one of those interceptions for a touchdown.
Hallett's chemistry with fellow safety Brandon Hill grew last year as both took over for safety positions that used to belong to Damar Hamlin and Paris Ford. There were times last season the two looked out of sync like Pitt's losses to Western Michigan and Miami, but as the season continued, they displayed a better ability to complement each other and the rest of Pitt's secondary. Hill's two interceptions and 71 tackles were both second-most on the team as the physical safety who roamed around the field while Hallett protected against the deep ball.
The Panthers' cornerback room could be a very heated battle for playing time though with returning players like A.J. Woods, Marquise Williams, M.J. Devonshire and Rashad Battle. Woods emerged as one of the team's fastest players last season and tied Hallett for having the most pass breakups with seven. Both he and Williams have been battling for playing time over the past two seasons as Williams has shown to be a smaller but feisty cornerback who contests receivers all around the field.
Devonshire didn't come on for Pitt until late, as he transferred to Pitt from Kentucky before last season. But he also made one of the biggest plays of the season with an interception of North Carolina's Sam Howell in overtime in a win that was a major hurdle for the Panthers to clear on their way to clinching the ACC Coastal division.
Battle will be a junior with a 6-foot-3, 205 lbs. build who's expected to take steps forward this season after not registering a pass breakup or an interception in his first two seasons with Pitt.
Watch for their battles against Pitt's talented receivers play out this spring to see who becomes the top guys defensive backs coach Archie Collins calls upon when Pitt takes on West Virginia for its season opener.
