Analysis: At the outset of Pitt’s offseason, Pat Narduzzi throws support behind Nate Yarnell
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Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi’s nearly two-year-old quest to find a competent successor to Kenny Pickett will continue into the offseason. He should not and will not ignore the transfer portal.
But perhaps he won’t have to look so hard for a quarterback from somebody’s else team. That hasn’t worked out well the past two offseasons.
He said he has a candidate on the roster now who has been part of the team for the past three seasons.
After the 30-19 loss at Duke on Saturday, Narduzzi gave a strong endorsement of sophomore quarterback Nate Yarnell, who threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns and completed 71.4% of his passes against the Blue Devils.
“I thought Nate played well. I like what I see out of him,” the coach said. “He can get better, third start ever. I think he’s just going to keep getting better.”
Asked if Yarnell can potentially be the 2024 starter, Narduzzi said, “No question about it. He’s a guy who can win a lot of football games for us. He’s smart. He takes coaching. He’s tough. He made some good plays out there, and he made his mistakes, too. But I’ve got a lot of faith in him.”
We can’t look past the obvious facts. Pitt failed to score 20 points for the sixth time in a 12-game season. To put that in perspective, 47 FBS teams averaged 30 points per game coming into this weekend, and six of them play in the ACC. But Yarnell was responsible for only the last two games.
He threw an interception and was sacked four times, but it wasn’t all his fault. Duke did not need to worry about Pitt’s ground game and could concentrate on harassing the quarterback. Running backs Rodney Hammond and C’Bo Flemister averaged a collective 2.2 yards per carry.
Still, Yarnell’s 265 yards turned out to be the second most by a Pitt quarterback this season (excluding the Wofford game).
Yarnell said he’ll leave the personnel decisions to the coaches, but after the game he spoke like a starting quarterback while expressing gratitude for the opportunity given to him.
“I’m going to be the best quarterback that I can be, the best leader for this team I can be,” he said. “I couldn’t be more grateful.
“Pitt’s a family. I’ve seen the culture we have. It’s my job as a quarterback to build on that culture and make it stronger.”
Sounds like a starting quarterback.
Pitt’s first touchdown drive that spanned the first and second quarters was one of the best of the season, considering that Yarnell moved the team 93 yards and maintained possession for 7 minutes, 31 seconds.
“Everything we were doing was working,” he said. “We were in our hurry-up. I think it really got Duke out of position.”
But Pitt reached as far as the Duke 17 and 4 in the first and fourth quarters without scoring a touchdown. At the end of the first, Pitt settled for a field goal. A penalty and interception stonewalled the second threat.
If Yarnell is the quarterback, some questions remain.
• Christian Veilleux, who started five games and threw seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions, transferred from Penn State with the hope he would be the starter when Phil Jurkovec moved on in 2024. What’s on his mind after he lost his starting job?
• Meanwhile, Narduzzi must decide what do with his coaching staff. A 3-9 season often mandates change, but Narduzzi didn’t offer much in the way of details Saturday when he was asked about his staff.
“I’m going to digest this, watch the videotape,” he said. “Evaluation goes on year-long, every game, every Saturday, every Sunday, every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday through Friday. Just evaluate where we are and what we can do to get better. It starts with the coaches, period.”
Is change necessarily the answer? He already has hired five offensive coordinators in nine seasons, none better than Mark Whipple, who left after Pickett exhausted his eligibility.
• While acknowledging the obvious — “We have to score more points” — Narduzzi said the makeup of the roster must be addressed “across the board.”
“We have a lot of good players in that locker room and we have to build it around them. We lose a lot of good seniors.”
One specific area of concern is cornerback, where A.J. Woods, M.J. Devonshire and Marquis Williams can move on to possible pro careers.
“That’s one spot that definitely needs re-tooled,” he said.
He can add offensive and defensive lines to that list, but maybe it’s time to develop the quarterbacks on the roster and save the NIL money for others.