After several Pitt players announced their decisions to opt out of the Sun Bowl, Pat Narduzzi met the media on Monday to talk about the opt-outs, the NFL, the opportunities Pitt's young players will have and a lot more.

Here's the full rundown of what he said.

Narduzzi: It’s good to be off the road. It’s been a long two weeks for coaches being on the road recruiting, trying to prepare for a bowl game, talking to your guys on your team and obviously recruiting. Then you come home off the road on Friday and you’re right into a recruiting weekend. So I think all the coaches are refreshed, just to be here and be present with our guys.

We’ve had two Saturday practices prior to this after being on the road, but we had a really good day today and I’m happy with where we are. Really, UCLA number one today, even though we had some parts of it the last two Saturdays.

Obviously you released a statement a couple hours ago on social media, but what does it say about your program to have this many guys considered for the NFL and being able to opt out for a bowl game and prepare for the next level?
Narduzzi: Yeah, we had two a year ago. It’s a great thing. You wish those guys luck. They all have decisions to make. It tells you they’ve gotten good reviews from their agents that they either signed with or will sign here in the next couple of days. And they’re going to have opportunities at the next level. They want to set up and get ready for that pro day, for that combine, senior bowl, whatever it may be they’ve been invited to, and it’s a good thing. We wish all those guys luck. We obviously wish they were playing, but that’s their decision, and all I can do and all our staff can do is educate them on what we think, and they’ve got to make a decision on what’s best for them.

They’ve been holding the NFL Draft since 1933 and they’ve been holding bowl games the same amount of time; why all of a sudden are there opt-outs now?
Narduzzi: You know, that’s a great question. Why is there this thing called a transfer portal? Okay? It’s all the same question. I think it’s the age we’re living in. 15 years ago, 10 years ago, guys would have given their left leg to go play in a bowl game. I don’t think it’s the case anymore. It’s sad, because I think bowl games are so much fun. It’s a reward for a great season. We’re looking forward to going down to the Sun Bowl. It’s a great bowl. We’re excited. I’m excited. Our families are excited. But it’s kind of the world we’re living in. There’s a lot of things we could say, ‘Why do they do this? Why do we do this? Why is the world like it is today?’ And I can’t really answer that.

Kids nowadays, they want to move on and go to the next thing. And it’s a great thing. I want everybody to go - I mean, everybody wants to go to the NFL. Except me; I don’t want to go to the NFL. But everybody wants to go to the NFL. That’s their lifelong dream of theirs is to go do that, and sometimes some guys want to jump and do it too early, they just get all excited - ‘I want to go train, I want to go get to the next step,’ and it’s okay.

You know, this team right here, the guys that are in this indoor today, are worried about finishing the season the right way and trying to go 5-0 in November and December.

There are a handful of guys who are facing decisions - Jared, Haba, Calijah - they didn’t announce anything today. Do you read into that that they’re coming back?
Narduzzi: I know. I have all the answers. I can’t tell you. That’s not my decision to make. That’s their decision - when they want timing-wise, so I can’t tell you. We’ve got more surprises for you.

How do you view it from a coaching standpoint? Is this an opportunity to look at a guy for next year? Or do you reward a senior that’s been waiting and this is his chance?
Narduzzi: It’s a little bit of both. It’s a little bit of both. The number-one thing we’re going to do is try to win a football game. So it’s not about 2023. That was our focus today: finishing and we’re going to finish the season and we’re going to do whatever we can to win the football game. At some positions, it means that young guys who haven’t had a lot of reps get a chance. There was some interesting talk out on the field last Saturday with one group, they broke down to - I won’t share with you, but it was like, okay, I like that. It was kind of like, hey, it’s time for the new group to get going. So I’m looking forward to it. You see some of these young guys that are going to have opportunities, it is kind of pushing towards the next game. But it depends on the position, it depends on the depth there and it all depends on - we’re going to do the best thing we can do to win the football game, period.

Who’s your starting quarterback?
Narduzzi: I don’t know. You’re going to find out. It’s a battle right now.

Between Nate and -
Narduzzi: And Nick Patti. No question about it. I’d say, based on today’s practice - we’ll do it daily, but after today, Nick Patti was on fire today. So off of today, it’s Nick Patti. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.

In the time since we last talked to you, your starting quarterback this season entered the transfer portal. I was wondering if you had any comments on how that all went down and what the decision was with him?
Narduzzi: You know, that’s - I’m not going to comment individually about anybody. The only people that really know are the guys that are sitting in that office up there and those are personal conversations that we’ve had with guys. To me, it’s about the team. It’s about those guys and what’s best for them. And they have decisions, just like guys that are going to enter the draft and maybe not play in a bowl game.

Everybody’s got decisions to make, around the world and obviously in the football world. I respect everybody’s decisions, and again, there was obviously conversation back and forth with everybody that’s in that position and we wish every one of those guys luck.

And Kedon, I love Kedon. He’s a great kid.

At the same time, you had been very supportive of him. Every time we asked you about him, it was like, ‘This is my guy, I’m sticking with him, I like him.’ Does that make it more difficult when you lose a guy like that that you’ve defended?
Narduzzi: It’s life. I’m going to support all of our guys. I’m going to support all of them. I’m going to be positive and I love Kedon. Kedon’s a great kid and he did a nice job for us. He helped us win eight football games. And I believe at that point he was the best quarterback to lead our 2022 season. We’ll leave it at that.

Were you looking for an upgrade at quarterback for ’23?
Narduzzi: I’m looking for upgrades at every position. I’m looking to upgrade at punter, at right tackle, at left tackle, at tailback; I mean, we’re looking at - that’s what we do. That’s why we go on the road and recruit. You’re looking for constant upgrades at every position. So not necessarily at the quarterback position, but every position, we want to get better. There’s going to be a battle every - I can’t talk recruiting yet, but there’s going to be a battle and competition at every position when we get to spring ball. Period. That’s why we coach. That’s what it is, unless you have Kenny Pickett sitting in that room or Haba Baldonado at right end.

Is Brandon George going to play in the bowl game?
Narduzzi: Yes he is. Yes he is. I can give you that scoop. That’s not an injury. Brandon’s good. He could have played against Miami. But Brandon played three games, and the fourth game will be this bowl game, so we’ve kind of saved it for him. He’s feeling great and we’re excited to have Brandon George back, for sure.

He’s a guy that we’ve been kind of waiting - he came back too early, got rolled up on. He could have been ready six weeks ago. We had him ready and then all of a sudden someone fell on him. But he’s back healthy and we’re fired up to have him.

What do you like about Nick’s makeup? Because he’s been through - it’s ben an adventure for him in his time here, and I’m sure he thought coming off last year he would have a chance to be in the mix and he was; he got a shot and got hurt against Tennessee and sort of hung around there. Does it take a special kind of guy to handle that evolving role that he’s had?
Narduzzi: It does. Nick is a tough guy. He’s a competitor. The team loves Nick. Nick’s a competitor and I can’t wait to see what he’s got. I hope he has every day that he had today in practice the next two weeks that we get an opportunity to go practice.

You’re going to need young defensive ends obviously to step up next season, but you’re going to need some of them in El Paso. Who are you excited to see out of that group?
Narduzzi: I guess you saw a little glimpse because Haba’s been banged up; we’re still evaluating him. Dayon Hayes was out there in the Miami game and we saw what he can do. He’s still right here; we still can get him a lot better. He’s going to be special. But when you look at the other guys, Bam has played, Chris Maloney has played. And some of the young guys, Jimmy Scott has done a great job on our scout team, as well as Sam O. Those are guys - I’m probably going to miss somebody without having a depth chart in front of me. There’s probably one more I’m missing. Those are some of the young guys that are going to have an opportunity. And Nahki Johnson. How could I forget him? He’s at the top there.

So they’re all going to have opportunities and we’re going to find out. It’s a springboard into ’23, especially at that defensive end spot.

Do you look at this bowl game as a chance to maybe showcase the depth that you guys have built because you’re not going to have some of the guys that got you the success you’ve had the last couple of years?
Narduzzi: Yeah, and I would use the showcase afterwards. I wouldn’t say it’s a showcase to go into it; we’ll find out what it is. It’s a showcase or a no-case, you know? I don’t know which one it’s going to be. But it’s an opportunity for those guys to step up. It’s the next man up; whether it’s an injury or someone moving on to the National Football League, it’s an opportunity.

Does that make it difficult - some people might not have watched you guys that much this season and now they’re going to settle in on the 30th and watch you guys and it’s not going to be the Pitt that we saw in November. Does that make it difficult as a coach?
Narduzzi: It makes it difficult, but that’s the world that we’re living in, and I’m sure there are a few times across the country that are the same way. It’s a great opportunity for our kids to go do what they need to do at the next level and that’s the way it is. Bowl games are not really the whole ’22 season. Last year, our two best players didn’t play in the Peach Bowl; if they do, you know, we win that game. Unfortunately, it goes down on my record. I don’t care. I’m not worried about records. I’m worried about winning football games and that’s all we can do. We almost won it a year ago with our third-string quarterback and it doesn’t matter who steps up. We expect to go down there and compete.

Can you talk about Erick Hallett’s availability for the bowl game?
Narduzzi: What do you want me to talk about?

Is he going to play?
Narduzzi: At this point right now, at this point right now, yes, he is. So…

There’s been an influx of homegrown talent to the system via the transfer portal and I know you’ve not really cared for the transfer portal in the last couple of years, but how can you use that to your advantage?
Narduzzi: I don’t know what you’re talking about. I can’t talk recruiting. I can’t talk about any of those guys. I don’t know. I wish I could give you a better answer. Wednesday, I can give you all the answers you want. Today, I don’t want to get in trouble. Someone got in trouble in the middle of the season. I don’t know who it was, got in trouble. You can’t get me.

Are you happy, though, that a guy like Phil Jurkovec -
Narduzzi: Who?

You’re right. Never mind.

Narduzzi: I don’t even know that name.

Will your transfer guys sign on Wednesday, too?
Narduzzi: We will have everybody that’s in the class sign on the 21st. Correct.

How are your young guys taking the opportunity here to step up and show what they’ve got?
Narduzzi: They’re fired up, okay? Let me just tell you, they’re fired up. Everybody’s looking for that opportunity. When you look at last year, when all of our O-linemen said they were coming back, there were a lot of sad faces. This year, there’s a lot of happy faces at that position. So there’s some guys that are excited that they’re going to get to go play. It’s a springboard, like I said, to the next season, so it’s a great opportunity. As coaches, that’s what we look forward to. We’re going to be able to find out their strengths, weaknesses, they’ll see it and we’ll be able to use that as we go into the offseason.

On the other end of that, do you get the sense that the veteran guys who haven’t opted out - do you get the sense that they’re really excited to finish strong with one more game here in a Pitt uniform?
Narduzzi: No doubt about it. If they don’t, they need to opt out, too. But there’s a lot of excitement out here. I will say, talking about opt-outs and all of that stuff, for me, it’s sad. For me, it’s sad because you have senior day, and I’ve said this to the kids, it’s something you don’t know what’s going to happen. Senior day, it’s like, okay, it’s the last home game. The last game of the season, you go, it’s the last game of the season but we’ve got one more. I don’t want to say you get blindsided or you get, like, surprised, I guess, like, really? It’s like, you didn’t get that last chance to give them a hug in the locker room after the game. That’s what hurts me: you wanted to go out one more time. I wish I would have known before the Miami game. That’s what you wish, but that’s the way - and again, maybe they knew and I didn’t know. You’d just like to go out the right way. So that’s my regret, that I didn’t get the chance to have that last-game feeling with those guys.

You mentioned the offensive line. Zubovic and Kradel could come back for an extra year; what have those guys told you?
Narduzzi: You know what? Again, I’m going to leave those personal conversations for them. Maybe EJ can get those guys to come out and make an announcement, one way or another. I don’t want to take their thunder. I think those guys get to make that decision. That’s a great question; I wish I could tell you. And I can tell you, because I do know. But I don’t want to say that for them.

I have a 99.9% idea, but things can change. Things change daily. Guys have until the 18th of January to declare for the NFL. They know that. I know that. So anything can change. You can feel one way today and kids can change their minds tomorrow. So I think it’s best for those guys to tell you personally and not let me do that because that’s not my job.