Slovis to enter transfer portal
Kedon Slovis will only play one year at Pitt, as sources have told Panther-Lair.com that the senior quarterback has filed paperwork to enter the transfer portal.
Slovis, a Scottsdale (Ariz.) native, came to Pitt last offseason as a transfer from USC. He made 26 starts in three seasons with the Trojans, throwing 58 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions before deciding to enter the transfer portal after USC’s coaching change.
In the 2022 regular season at Pitt, he played in and started 11 games, missing only the Week Three win at Western Michigan after leaving the previous week’s game against Tennessee at halftime with a concussion.
After he returned, Slovis threw three touchdowns in a loss to Georgia Tech on the first day of October but didn’t have another scoring pass for more than a month. Over the next four games - wins over Virginia Tech and Syracuse and losses at Louisville and North Carolina - Slovis threw for 740 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.
He finished the season strong, though. In the final three games of the season, threw for 660 yards, five touchdowns and three picks. Pitt won those three games and finished on a four-game winning streak to improve its record from 4-4 at the end of October to 8-4 and bowl-eligible.
Now that Slovis has entered the transfer portal, Pitt’s quarterback situation for 2023 will be thin. Redshirt senior Nick Patti has the option to return for a sixth year but is not expected to do so, leaving redshirt freshman Nate Yarnell as the lone scholarship quarterback currently projected to be on the roster next season.
Yarnell started the Western Michigan game this season when Slovis and Patti were both out due to injury; in a run-heavy game plan, Yarnell completed 9-of-12 for 179 yards and one touchdown that day.
Pitt will have multiple resources from which to replenish its quarterback depth chart. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti is targeting several high school prospects in the 2023 recruiting class, and the staff is also gauging interest from transfer candidates. That includes younger players who could transfer in and develop over the next few years as well as older quarterbacks who could be a starting option for next season.