When looking for a new offensive coordinator this offseason, Pat Narduzzi was looking for someone who would score points and usher life into his offense. Someone with energy who was creative with what the team did offensively.
That's what he wanted for his players.
"I talked all the time during the season when things are going good or not going good, we win and lose as a team," Narduzzi said Tuesday at the ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte. "When things aren't going good, it's my job to fix them."
So after a 3-9 season, where the Panthers were last in the ACC in points scored, points per game, rushing yards and total yards, Narduzzi went hunting for a new offensive coordinator. Once he found Kade Bell, he was hooked.
"He wasn't on my radar very long at all," Narduzzi said.
Bell's offense took the Football Championship Subdivision by storm as Western Carolina tallied the most yards per game (504.1), was third in passing yards per game (321.1) and was fourth in scoring (37.5 points per game). So, it was easy for Narduzzi to be enticed by the explosive and fast-paced offense that Bell had constructed.
But while Bell's new offense may be exciting, it's not the only thing that has caught the attention of his players. It's the standard he's holding them to and the accountability he expects from them.
He wants them to be perfect.
"He walks in, everybody is sitting up paying attention in the meeting room," Nate Yarnell said. "You don't know your plays, you're out, next guy is coming in. That standard, that expectation is what a team needs to be great."
Gavin Bartholomew, who is coming off a season where he caught 18 passes for 326 yards and one touchdown, said Bell has brought a new energy level to the team and has started to build relationships with the whole team.
No one seems more excited about the new offense than Narduzzi, who is entering his 10th season at Pitt. He said Tuesday that he watched Bell install the offense throughout the spring and has heard his players talk about their individual workouts and going against the defense in team sessions and he has high expectations for what they'll be able to do this year.
"I couldn't be more excited," Narduzzi said. "I'm a defensive guy. I'm going to turn our offense loose."
The success of the offense will start with Yarnell who started at quarterback the last two games of the season. He led the Panthers to a 24-16 win over Boston College while throwing for 207 yards and one touchdown. The Panthers then fell to Duke 30-19 in the season finale, but Yarnell completed 25 of his 35 pass attempts for 265 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Yarnell said while there was a learning curve to understand Bell's offense at first, he's starting to settle in and can tell that they are going to be better this year. He added that while they are going to play fast, they are also going to stick to what they are good at.
"We're definitely going to dress it up and do motions and that kind of thing, and playing fast is the biggest thing as well," Yarnell said. "We want to keep defenses off guard and score a lot of points."
Bartholomew will surely be a big piece of that scoring effort. The 6-5, 250-pound tight end didn't play in the two games that Yarnell started last year, but Yarnell has vowed to get him involved this season.
"I know some people want to make sure he gets the ball. I'm on that team, on the team of getting Gavin the ball," Yarnell said. "I think he can make plays with it. The question earlier, when he gets the ball in his hands, he's going to get yards. That's important. I'm definitely going to feed him."
Throughout this spring and summer, while Bell has set a new standard on the offensive side, the players have taken it upon themselves to invest in their success this season.
They've held player-led practices and have held each other accountable in terms of learning Bell's offense and making sure they can execute it to perfection when the time comes because, in the end, that's the new expectation.
"We've really embodied that," Bartholomew said. "We're trying to be better than 3-9 because we know that's not acceptable, that's not Pitt football."
