After transferring from Alabama, quarterback Eli Holstein seeks ‘new, fresh start’ at Pitt
Share this post:
Eli Holstein was the scout quarterback last season at Alabama, a freshman thrown into practice situations with the intent of emulating that week’s opponent. Sometimes, he got hit with friendly fire from what he called “the best defense in the country.”
“I got popped a couple times by some big dudes,” he said. “That was a lot of fun.”
Pitt QB Eli Holstein meets the press pic.twitter.com/DJSg5yrw2R
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) February 1, 2024
He said the Alabama experience was “as valuable as it gets,” but he didn’t see a Crimson Tide career as the best road for growth. So he entered the transfer portal after one season without appearing in a game. He ended up at Pitt, a school still looking for an adequate replacement for Kenny Pickett, two years after his departure.
Holstein said Nick Saban’s retirement was not a factor in his plans to transfer.
“Just wanted a new, fresh start,” he said Wednesday during a chat with reporters at Pitt’s training complex. “I didn’t see myself growing in the ways that I wanted to at Alabama. I knew I needed to pursue opportunities. Pitt was the place for me to do that.”
If Holstein had committed to Pitt a year earlier than he did, fans would be giddy with excitement over what would have been hailed as, perhaps, coach Pat Narduzzi’s greatest recruiting triumph.
Holstein (6-foot-4, 237 pounds) universally was regarded as one of the nation’s top prep quarterbacks in 2022, ranked No. 22 in the nation among all positions by ESPN.com. A three-year starter at Zachary (La.) High School, he threw for 7,014 yards and 62 touchdowns with only 13 interceptions. He attracted the SEC’s best teams, securing scholarship offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Texas A&M.
He flipped from his original choice, Texas A&M, before landing at Alabama among a group of four- and five-star quarterbacks and eventual starter Jalen Milroe. The Crimson Tide quarterback room is loaded with talent, including Milroe, who led Alabama into the 2023 College Football Playoff; four-star Austin Mack, who played for new coach Kalen DeBoer at Washington; five-star sophomore Ty Simpson and four-star redshirt freshman Dylan Lonergan, who was in Holstein’s 2023 recruiting class.
After Holstein — as a junior — led Zachary to the 2021 state championship in Louisiana’s largest classification, coach David Brewerton heaped a large helping of praise on his quarterback.
“They’re getting a kid who is addicted to work,” Brewerton told SI.com. “His attention to detail and his desire to be prepared is something that I’ve never really experienced as a high school coach before. Any free time he has, he spends it trying to become a better quarterback.
“He’s a sponge, man. He loves being in the film room and being in meetings. He loves just learning the game. He’ll be like a little kid on Christmas morning when he gets his hands on that playbook. They’re going to love him.”
Brewerton was talking about Alabama, but Narduzzi is banking on getting the same player for Pitt this season and beyond. Holstein enrolls, however, as just one of the guys seeking to win the starting job.
Narduzzi told ESPN’s David Hale on the ACC Network that junior Nate Yarnell will enter spring drills as the No. 1 quarterback. Yarnell will join Christian Veilleux as Pitt’s two quarterbacks with starting experience.
“I just got here,” Holstein said, “so those guys are definitely going to be in front of me. I’m just going to come in here, learn as much as I can, grow as much as I can. There are a lot of things I want to work on in my game. I feel like (offensive coordinator Kade Bell), coach Narduzzi and everybody can help me in that aspect.
“We’re all on the same playing field with a new offense. It’s going to be a lot of fun this offseason learning the offense.”
Holstein said he’s eager to learn Bell’s offense that put up big numbers last season at Western Carolina (an average of 321 yards, 36.4 pass attempts and 37.6 points).
“I’ve never really thrown it 30-40 times a game, so that’s definitely something I’m going to have to get used to and I’m really, really looking forward to,” he said. “They score and score a lot, which sounds really good for a quarterback.”
Holstein said even one season at Alabama can show a player what it takes to win in college football.
“Being coach Saban’s last year, he put a lot of commitment, a lot of effort into that team,” he said. “I got to learn from Milroe, learn what it takes to be a champion because there are always champions at Alabama, it seems like. I got to see the work ethic you do in the weight room, you do in the film room, what overall the entire staff has to do to take that team to the next level.”
Holstein spent much of his time with reporters talking about his close-knit family. His father, Scott, was a punter at LSU and older brother, Caleb, was a quarterback at Louisiana Tech.
“I’m always communicating with them, seeing what they think,” he said, noting Caleb accompanied him on recruiting visits as a “lie detector.”
“He kind of knew if people were being honest with me. Family means everything to me. My goal is to make my family proud, take that Holstein last name to the next level and do the best I can to honor it.”