Gavin Bartholomew noticed it when Eli Holstein first stepped onto campus. The fourth-year tight end who has been with the program since Kenny Pickett led the Panthers to an ACC Championship in 2021 could see what Holstein would bring to the table as soon as the Alabama transfer joined the Pitt program. He could see the moxie, the confidence, the poise and the understanding of what it takes to be a leader.
"He showed that right away, from the get-go," Bartholomew told reporters Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side.
Now, Holstein is showing everyone else too.
Through three games as Pitt's starting quarterback, Holstein is tied for fourth in the nation in passing touchdowns (9), fifth in total offense per game (345), ninth in total passing yards (939) and 14th in completions per game (23.67).
Outside of the stats he's recorded, Holstein has also shown the will and the perseverance to lead Pitt to two come-from-behind victories in the past two weeks. The first came two weeks ago against Cincinnati when the Panthers erased a 21-point deficit. Then, this past Saturday, Holstein led two dramatic drives in the final five minutes of the Backyard Brawl to score 14 unanswered points and earn a 38-34 victory over West Virginia.
Holstein's ascension to QB1 started back in the spring during a quarterback competition with Nate Yarnell while he battled a hamstring injury that limited him for most of the spring and through the summer into fall camp. There wasn't much belief, outside of the program, then that Holstein would leapfrog Yarnell and become the starting quarterback. He didn't have the college experience, hadn't played in the big moments and was a newcomer to the program.
Now, Holstein is proving all of the doubters wrong. But, his motivation doesn't necessarily come from proving those non-believers wrong, it comes from proving those who have supported him and believed in him right.
"Growing up, everybody wants to be the best quarterback and everybody wants to prove people wrong," Holstein said. "But like, the mindset I have is I want to prove everybody right. All the people that believed in me since I was little, all the people that have invested time into me. When I got the starting job, when I'm getting all these awards, it's not a relief of, like I did something, it's a relief of I proved the guys and the people that believed in me, I proved them right."
That type of attitude comes from the way Elijah Montgomery Holstein was raised. Holstein carries the name of both his paw paw and his grandfather and does so proudly because of the upbringing they both had. Holstein said his paw paw grew up without shoes to play sports, had to go to the local church for food and clothes and could've played sports in college but had stayed home to take care of his mom and his little sister. His grandfather had just as big of an influence on him. He grew up in Missouri and "worked his tail off" in the salt mines to provide a better life for his family.
"Just having both of their last names in my name is pretty special to me," Holstein said. "So I feel like I get to represent them when I'm out there."
Holstein has done a pretty good job at it as he's been named the ACC Rookie of the Week three times to start the season and was named the ACC Quarterback of the Week this past week after completing 21 of his 30 pass attempts for 301 yards and three touchdowns against West Virginia. He was also named to this week's Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” list and was named the Shaun Alexander Freshman Player of the Week as well.
Earlier this week, Holstein said he received a text from his dad about how cool it was to see the Holstein name on things like the ACC Network and ESPN .
"It kind of brings a tear to his eye, and my eye too, just to see where we are now and where we used to be," Holstein said.
But Holstein isn't just trying to prove his family right, there are so many others. Holstein, who is from Zachary, La., said his dad, mom, little sister, uncle and two of his childhood friends, Griffin and Dylan Davis, from Orlando, Fla. came up for the game this past Saturday to cheer him on. Holstein said Steve Davis, Griffin and Dylan's dad, was his first football coach and was one of the first people who believed in him.
Now, so many years later, Holstein said he still gets to prove him right.
"He's one of those guys that I felt like I proved right," Holstein said. "He's believed in me since I was six years old, playing right tackle, third-string quarterback. It's an awesome feeling just proving him right."
But while he's gotten off to a great start in his collegiate career, Holstein knows he's nowhere near finished and has things to clean up moving forward. The first three games of his career have just been a glimpse of what he hopes to do in the future and he fully plans to continue to prove his supporters right as the season, and his Pitt career carries on.
"I treat every game like the biggest game I've played," Holstein said. "The next game is the biggest game of my career because that's the only one that matters at the moment. My goal is to go 1-0 every game, protect the ball, move the ball and score a lot of points because that's what our offense does and that's what we need to do to win a lot of more games in the future."
