Bell, Narduzzi, city of PGH made Pitt 'a great opportunity' for Holstein'

When Pitt’s recruiting staff took a photo for Alabama transfer quarterback Eli Holstein to use when he announced his commitment to the Panthers on social media, they made sure to include the decision-maker in the family.

His younger sister, Mary Grace.

“They are very close, and she had to sign off on all of this,” Holstein’s father, Scott, told Panther-Lair.com after the announcement. “Now, she is a Pittsburgh lover. She wants to live up here.”

The city of Pittsburgh was appealing to the entire Holstein family during their weekend stay in town as they considered Pitt as a transfer option.

“We really didn’t know how awesome the city is,” Scott Holstein said. “We had no conception whatsoever, and it has just blown us away. There’s so much to do here; it is crazy. On the first night we were here, went to eat at Serafino’s, and since I’m from Louisiana I had to order the crab cakes so I could see if they know how to cook up here.

“They were the best crab cakes I’ve had in my life.”

Of course, it wasn’t just crab cakes that sold Eli Holstein on transferring to Pitt. The former four-star prospect from Baton Rouge signed with Alabama in the class of 2023 as the No. 147 overall recruit in the class and the No. 9 pro-style quarterback prospect. He joined the Tide after throwing for 7,014 yards, 62 touchdowns and only 13 interceptions at Louisiana powerhouse Zachary, and he also rushed for 1,233 yards and 30 touchdowns.

He ultimately committed to Alabama over offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Louisville, Miami (FL), Michigan State, Mississippi State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, South Carolina, Stanford, Texas A&M and Utah.

Holstein arrived in Tuscaloosa with that pedigree, but he spent the 2023 season on the scout team and entered the transfer portal after Alabama lost to Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal.

“Alabama was great to me,” Eli Holstein said. “I learned a lot I can use for the rest of my life and I had great relationships, great teammates and great coaches. But now I’m excited to have a new opportunity.”

And that new opportunity will be at Pitt.

“It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “Coach (Pat) Narduzzi and is a really personal guy, and talking to him and Coach (Kade) Bell made me excited for what Pitt has to come in the future.”

Pitt first appeared on Holstein’s radar due to a family connection. Since he was eight years old, Holstein has trained with Tom Shaw, a longtime family friend; four years ago, Holstein and his family met former Pitt offensive lineman Mike McGlynn through Shaw.

Once Holstein decided he was going to transfer from Alabama, McGlynn’s status as a Pitt alum drew Holstein’s interest to the Panthers, and from there, he began researching the program, its history and newly-hired offensive coordinator Kade Bell.

Holstein and his family liked what they learned about Pitt, and when he entered the portal on Jan. 3, Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt staff connected with him.

That contact led to this weekend’s visit, where Holstein observed Pitt’s shared facilities with the Pittsburgh Steelers; saw the Steelers’ 2022 first-round pick and former Panther Kenny Pickett in action; got to know Narduzzi, Bell and the rest of the staff; and took an in-depth tour of Pitt’s weight room, which was of considerable interest Holstein as a kinesiology major.

After checking those boxes, Holstein decided Pitt was his next move.

“We were familiar with Pitt because of the success they’ve had recently,” Scott Holstein said. “Everybody knows who Kenny Pickett is and everybody knows about the ACC championship and that Pitt has traditionally been a great program. And it’s a great place academically.”

A big part of the weekend visit was spending time with the Pitt coaches, and Eli Holstein said that his connections with Bell loomed large in his decision to pick the Panthers.

“He’s awesome,” Holstein said. “He’s got a lot of energy, he’s a young guy and he loves football. He’s got a lot of juice and he’s going to bring the juice. He’s very confident in his system and he loves what he’s doing.

“It’s going to be fast and we’re going to control what the defense does with tempo and how fast we’re going. We will go as fast as we want and as fast as we need to so we can influence the defense.”

Narduzzi also impressed the Holsteins during their visit.

“We met with everybody through the process,” Scott Holstein said, “all the head coaches we talked to when Eli was getting recruited out of high school, and Coach Narduzzi is by far the most genuine coach we’v sat down with.

“One of the things we both looked at and were looking for was how he interacted with other players. So Kenny Johnson was Eli’s host and he’s a genuine kid, so watching those two interact, you could tell that Kenny really likes his coach.

“Eli said this is the first coach he’s had that you feel like you can go into his office and talk about anything. We really liked that. Coach Narduzzi likes to do things the right way. Eli just wants an opportunity to compete where his hard work can pay off, and that environment is here.”