Of the 29 total seniors and redshirt seniors on Pitt's roster, only eight are guaranteed to be suiting up for the final three games (plus a potential bowl game) in their respective college football careers.
But for the remaining 21, the decision to stay at Pitt, transfer, or test their prospects within the NFL still looms large.
As Pitt prepares for its noon kickoff on Saturday at Virginia, there was some early talk from Pat Narduzzi during his weekly press conference on the South Side about this topic, especially when considering the list of names which could just as easily bolt or stay put into the 2023 season.
The eight players which are in their final year of eligibility and are guaranteed to be leaving are: Quarterback Derek Kyler; offensive linemen Owen Drexel, Gabe Houy, Marcus Minor, and Carter Warren; defensive end Deslin Alexandre; and linebackers Myles Canton and Tylar Wiltz.
Among the players which could make a return, and which have one year of eligibility remaining: Quarterbacks Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti; running backs Vincent Davis and C'Bo Flemister; wide receiver Jared Wayne; offensive linemen Jake Kradel and Blake Zubovic; defensive linemen David Green, Haba Baldonado, Tyler Bentley, and Devin Danielson; linebackers SirVocea Dennis, Brandon George, and Shayne Simon; and defensive backs Marquis Williams, Erick Hallett II, and A.J. Woods.
Of the 21 players listed, 17 are consistent rotation players or impact starters whose decisions to stay or go could greatly impact Pitt next season.
There is a balancing act to this all, especially in today's era of college football where players are cashing in from lucrative NIL deals and are virtually still being recruited every day they set foot onto the field just by virtue of exposure. This daily recruiting from within has also bee addressed, in terms of player satisfaction and keeping the player "interested" in remining with their program.
That includes with Slovis, who has had a subpar and forgettable season in his first as a Panther since transferring from Southern California.
"Haven't really had that conversation (with Slovis)," Narduzzi said. "Just, you know, let the season play out. I mean, really, have not had it, and you've got senior day in two weeks, so we'll have to figure out soon who's going to walk out there, who's not. As you guys know, some guys will walk out there for senior day, and some guys won't. It doesn't mean they aren't gone, either. So there's decisions to be made for a lot of people come the end of the season."
Slovis would likely find himself back into a battle with incoming freshman and top prospect Kenny Minchey -- who has said he will enroll early -- and potentially Patti for the QB job next season, mirroring what the room experienced in this year's training camp with the arrival of coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. This is almost out of necessity, at this point.
And, of course, there are those which could choose to depart and declare for the NFL draft, whether they are seniors or not. Warren, Dennis, and Baldonado all are viewed as future NFL players, while Hallett played his way into the conversation this season. (Calijah Kancey is included in this, too, but at this point, it's only a matter of when he declares, and not if. One could argue that Israel Abanikanda could bolt after the end of the season if he feels he has a shot at being drafted, as well.)
With NIL and the transfer portal (read: controlled free agency) so prominent nowadays, there is always the looming and lingering thought of which players could bolt versus which truly want to stay. This extends beyond seniors, as the one-time transfer rule works for any player.
It is not that Narduzzi is overly concerned with that, but that is an element to consider when having to configure the roster for the upcoming season.
"There's no question," Narduzzi said when I asked him about keeping players in the building. "I mean, we've done a great job of keeping our guys for the most part. Some get recruited off campus and all that, and we all know that, but I think when you've got a happy place to work -- you guys have got a happy place to work, it's easy to stay. But I think the longer this name, image, and likeness thing goes on and the more you read about it and the more you kind of look around, and the kids are different nowadays than they were three years ago, five years ago, eight years ago, 12 years ago. Everybody's got somebody in their ear, so, you know, you certainly worry about it, but you can't control it. Our job is to win football games and put the best guys on the field and win football games, period, and that's what we have to do."
MORE FROM THE SOUTH SIDE
• For more on the late-Sunday arrest and misdemeanor charge to Pitt defensive end Dayon Hayes, follow the link HERE.
• Virginia is 3-6 overall and 1-5 within the ACC under first-year coach Tony Elliott, who is in his first season after serving on Dabo Swinney's staff at Clemson for 11 seasons. He spent last season as the Tigers' offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, and he previously served as the team's co-offensive coordinator from 2014-'20 and the running backs coach from 2011-'20.
"We've got, obviously, a four-game breakdown on Clemson, which he was there the whole time, so just looking back like what do they do," Narduzzi said. "He's the offensive coordinator/head coach, and he's going to have some say in what's going on in there. I can't imagine him hanging around in the defensive staff room, just like I'm not hanging around in the offensive staff room too much. I go in there and do my GA jobs and give them some self-scout stuff and get out of there and go back to the defense. I can imagine him doing the same. He's going to be involved in the offense, but he's going to let his guys coach, as well."
• THREE punters!? On Pitt's depth chart for the Virginia game, Cam Guess, Sam Vander Haar, and Caleb Junko are all appearing to be vying for the starting nod, after each punted at least twice in the Panthers' win over No. 20 Syracuse. Vander Haar averaged a high of 46 yards per punt, after not traveling to the prior week's game at No. 21 North Carolina.
"That punt team has not been a pretty sight this year, and obviously when you lose your starter that's been starting for whatever it was, four years, for Kirk (Christodoulou), it's something that we've got to work through, and it's not good enough right now," Narduzzi said.
He also quipped that the fourth-string punter is... himself, and he referred to his playing days at Ursuline High School in Youngstown, Ohio.
"But, really, E.J. (Borghetti, of Pitt athletic communications) didn't put on the depth chart what I told him to," Narduzzi said. "He said, 'Any updates?' I wrote on there, I said, 'those three,' and I put another. I said 'Pat Narduzzi' because I think I might be able to go out there and hit it pretty good if you go back and check those records at Ursuline back in the day as a backup punter, so maybe I messed him all up."
• You might be able to credit Jerry DiPaola of the Tribune-Review for more involvement of Rodney Hammond Jr. in the Panthers' running game. During our briefing with Narduzzi on Thursday prior to the Syracuse game, DiPaola asked about getting Hammond some more reps alongside Abanikanda:
DiPaola: "I don't think it would be a bad idea."
Narduzzi: "OK, we'll give Rodney more carries this week, Jerry. It's on you.
DiPaola: "If he scores a touchdown?"
Narduzzi: "I'm giving you credit after the game."
That was on Thursday, when Narduzzi already knew Abanikanda wasn't going to be available for Saturday (Narduzzi did credit DiPaola after Saturday's game).
Here is the follow-up from Monday:
Narduzzi: "I was going to wait until Thursday and ask Jerry what he wanted to do, see if he'd give me some tips."
DiPaola: "I'll tell you right now."
Narduzzi: "What you got?"
DiPaola: "60/40."
Narduzzi: "60/40, OK. Again, we know we've got capable guys back there, and you see it, I see it. We've got an offensive line. Change-up is not bad. We obviously want to keep Izzy healthy, as well. So 60/40 Jerry says, so we'll try to get it right."
• Pitt needs one win for bowl eligibility, and this week along with next week against Duke (a home, noon kickoff, as the people rejoice) present two solid chances to achieve that. Despite the season not being what Pitt expected it to be, Narduzzi maintained that the team has maintained the "one game at a time" mantra:
"It's the same every week," he said. "Nothing has really changed. It's one at a time, and I know that sounds cliche and you guys are looking at me like I'm crazy, but it's all about Virginia this weekend. If we saw our guys, like, ‘Oh, let's get a push for this,’ it would be like, ‘What's wrong with you? Why didn't you push before?’ You don't see it like that. If I saw it like that, I'd be upset. I'd be really upset if that was the case. Like you didn't want to push it a few weeks ago? You didn't want to push it against Georgia Tech?"
• Speaking of bowl eligibility, here is a handful of the latest bowl projections for the Panthers:
-- CBS Sports: Fenway Bowl vs. Memphis, Dec. 17 in Boston.
-- Athlon Sports: Fenway Bowl vs. UCF.
-- Pro Football Network: Fenway Bowl vs. Houston.
-- Sports Illustrated: Birmingham Bowl vs. SMU, Dec. 27 in Birmingham, Ala.
-- 247Sports: Military Bowl vs. Eastern Carolina, Dec. 28 in Annapolis, Md.
-- Action Network: Pinstripe Bowl vs. Minnesota, Dec. 29 in Bronx, N.Y.
