The 3-2-1 Column: Cignetti is out, the portal heats up, and more

The offseason in college football has become a different beast in recent years and the Pitt football program is certainly feeling that right now. The Panthers closed out the 2023 regular season last week with a 30-19 loss to Duke and changes started to happen almost immediately for the 3-9 football team.

Pat Narduzzi fired offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. and since that first domino dropped more have followed. Pitt has seen several players enter the transfer portal, some surprises and others not so much. We get into all of the news to come out from this week and also look into what is next for Narduzzi’s program.

The Pitt basketball program is in a stretch of five games against five power-five opponents. So far, the Panthers are 1-2 and they still have two big games on the horizon. We break down went happened against Missouri earlier this week and look towards those next two games. Sit back and dig in for an jam-packed 3-2-1 Column.

THREE THINGS WE KNOW

Frank Cignetti has been fired

The offseason was always going to start here first and I do not think there was too much beating around the bush about it. Frank Cignetti Jr. needed to go and it was never really a question of whether or not he would be fired, but when it would happen.

Well, it did not take long after the team’s final game for Narduzzi to make that announcement. In fact, it came on Sunday afternoon not even 24 hours after Pitt closed the 2023 campaign.

The numbers are staggering. Pitt’s offense was one of the worst offenses in the country and that is not at all hyperbole. The Panthers generated 317.9 yards per game over a 12-game season. That total was good for last in the ACC and 114th nationally out of 130 teams.

Pitt only scored more than 30 points twice this season and the Panthers scored under 20 in six games. It was atrocious and there is just no other way to put it. Pitt lost nine games this season and basically almost all of them were a direct result of the team’s pathetic and anemic offense. The Panthers shuffled through three quarterbacks, failed to establish a reliable run game, and underutilized their best weapons on the outside.

Cignetti has been coaching football since 1989. He has been from college to the pros and back and his hire prior to the 2022 season was thought of as a safe one and not overly inspiring. Pitt had just won the ACC and returned its best offensive weapon in Jordan Addison, a promising tailback in Izzy Abanikanda, and the entire starting offensive line. There was optimism with transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis and really all Cignetit had to do was kind of pick up where the 2021 team left off, and of course, that did not happen. Addison transferred, Slovis was not who Pitt expected them to be, but the Panthers leaned on their defense and Abanikanda to win nine games anyway.

The fix this season for Cignetti was to bring in Phil Jurkovec, a quarterback he was familiar with, to run his offense and that proved to be the decision that ultimately cost him his job. Pitt guessed wrong with Slovis in 2022, but it totally bottomed out with Jurkovec. The team started 1-4 with him as the starter and by the time they made the switch, the season was past the point of return.

The move to relieve Cignetti was necessary and in hindsight, his hiring proved to be the single worst decision Narduzzi has made in nine years as the program’s head coach. Not only did it tank the 2023 season, it might set them back a year or two until they can really reverse the damage that was done.

Now the challenge for Narduzzi is to hire someone who can walk into the situation and turn things around quickly, but again it won’t be an easy overnight fix. Pitt still has to figure out a quarterback situation for next year, work to retain some key players from entering the transfer portal, and the normal procedures of implementing an entirely new offensive system.

I think the process has moved quickly already. Narduzzi has been active since Monday and does not appear to be waiting around like he has in the past and has reportedly spoken to about six candidates. The next offensive coordinator he hires will be the sixth one to work under him since he started and in the past he has taken his time with the hires. I do not think he can afford to wait on this hire and he is aware of that.

Pitt has 19 days until signing day and it would be wise to have a coach in place to help aid in the recruiting efforts with high school prospects, transfer portal prospects, and players currently on the Pitt team.

Transfer frenzy

Pitt has seen eight hit the transfer portal this week and truthfully that number is not close to being done just yet. That is in part because the portal does not officially open until Monday. At this point, some players are simply announcing their intentions now, but others will wait until the portal itself opens on Monday following this weekend’s conference championship games.

The craziness has started, but it is not over. Far from it.

When a football team goes 3-9 and players start heading for the hills, the immediate thought is, ‘Oh no, what is happening? The sky is falling.’

But in reality, a lot of these were necessary moves and they would be happening whether Pitt went 9-3 or 3-9 this season. It is just simple math. The Panthers currently have over 20 recruits in the 2024 class and it is pretty well known this team needs immediate help from transfer portal, maybe even as many as ten transfers.

So how do you come up with 30 roster spots? There are some hard and easy decisions. Of course not every player Pitt has lost to the transfer portal has been ideal. Deandre Jules would probably have been a starter next season at defensive tackle and Bangally Kamara has been a two-year starter himself at linebacker. They aren’t guys buried on the depth chart by any means. Having said that, some of the other ones were precipitated by Pitt because, well, they had to do it.

Pitt only had 11 players totally out of eligibly following this season on an 85-man roster. If you want to sign your entire recruiting class of 20+ and also land some help from the portal, then it’s just kind of part of the business right now.

It can sound harsh, but this is also reality. A lot of this is also about college football teams leveling their roster back to the mean, too. The 2020 season was unique because the NCAA granted everyone a free season of eligibility due to the pandemic. It allowed guys to play an extra year, but it also bunched up some rosters and I think that is the case with Pitt. Not every player is meant to be on the team for six seasons and even if they can be helpful for that extra year, you still need to shuffle in new players into the program.

Pitt lost some good players, there is no denying that, but when you talk about this type of overhaul it can’t be perfect, especially in the NIL era.

Pitt drops a tough one at The Pete

The Pitt basketball team started fast this year, but the strength of the schedule certainly allowed for them to gain early season momentum. Starting last week, Pitt began a five-game stretch of games against power-five opponents, a run they are currently still in the middle of at the moment. So far, Pitt has produced a 1-2 record with an easy win over Oregon State, but lost by 15 to Florida in Brooklyn and more recently the team dropped a 71-64 decision to Missouri at home earlier this week.

The Panthers started off fine against the Tigers in the first-ever ACC/SEC Challenge, much like they did against Florida, but some shooting woes caught up with them and doomed the team from having a chance to win. Pitt went without a field goal for nearly nine minutes in the second half and it allowed for Missouri to dictate the pace and keep the Panthers at arm’s length.

It’s still November and there is a lot of season left, but in both losses so far there have been some issues that started to rise to the top and it adds an element of concern heading into this weekend’s game against Clemson and next Wednesday’s showdown against West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl.

Currently it feels like teams are throwing some muscle at the Panthers and they have yet to adjust to it. Missouri out-rebounded Pitt and kept the Panthers off the offensive glass better than most teams. The Tigers also held a 30-12 edge in points in the paint. Pitt had the height advantage in that game (aside from Missouri’s 7-5 guy off the bench), but the team’s three tallest players, Federiko Federiko and Diaz Graham twins, posted only 10 points and 10 rebounds combined.

Going forward, they need to get a little bit more production from those big guys because while Pitt can be a very dangerous outside shooting team, some nights the shots are not going to fall like what happened on Tuesday and the Panthers will need to adjust and find higher percentage shots.

Pitt has some very talented players. Bub Carrington is probably going to play in the NBA one day and Blake Hinson is currently the fifth-leading scorer in the ACC. On most days, those two are going to be able to force the issue and carry Pitt to some wins, but again, they will need some help and it did not show up on Wednesday.

In the Missouri loss, Pitt survived with a lot of scoring from the foul line. The Panthers only made 16 field goals and Hinson and Carrington accounted for 11 of them. Pitt needs other guys to contribute or else the team will find itself in more 71-64 slugfests and I don’t think this team is necessarily equipped to thrive in those games. Pitt needs to play at a faster, frantic pace, and can’t get caught in possession by possession games like it did on Tuesday.

Ishmael Leggett is better than what he showed against Missouri. The big guys certainly played better last season than what they showed so far this year and there is room to grow and expectation it should happen for those three as well. It’s early season basketball and things aren’t perfect. Last year’s team was not necessarily clicking at this point either, so there’s time to adujust.

Having said that, dropping games to Florida and Missouri can be costly later in the year. It is not that these are bad losses, but rather missed opportunities for quality wins. Pitt was a game away from winning the ACC last season and barely made the tournament. The current state of ACC basketball is not all that great, so aiding the resume with good non-conference wins will be important in March, and those were squandered opportunities to bolster the resume, even this early in the year.

Pitt’s game on Sunday with Clemson is not a non-conference game of course, but a win there would go a long way in building up some confidence because it will be a tough task. Clemson is 6-0 this season and were picked ahead of Pitt in the ACC preseason poll.

Obviously the game against West Virginia looms on Wednesday. Pitt and West Virginia renewed their annual rivalry in 2017, and the Mountaineers have won every meeting to date since the series was revived. The Panthers have only come within single digits of West Virginia one time, so this is a good measuring stick game for Jeff Capel’s team.

TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE

Did Nate Yarnell show enough down the stretch?

The biggest decision facing the Pitt football program at the moment is finding an offensive coordinator, but the most important one throughout the whole offseason will be settling on a quarterback for the 2024 season. Coaching matters, so does play calling, but at the end of the day a good quarterback is what will be able to win this team games.

Pitt had well documented issues with its quarterback play in the 2023 season and it played a direct result in the Panthers finishing the year with three wins. The new offensive coordinator, whoever that may be, will ultimately have the final call on the quarterback position. The last time Pat Narduzzi hired a coordinator, the circumstances were different. Pitt pounced on Kedon Slovis in the transfer portal, then hired Frank Cignetti Jr. and that forced marriage did not work out so well.

I think the next coordinator may have a little more autonomy in making that call, assuming Pitt learned from its mistakes over the past two seasons. The first order of business the new coordinator will have to decide is if he feels he can win games with the incumbent quarterbacks. The first one to get the look should be Nate Yarnell, because he ended the year as the top quarterback.

Yarnell’s story is well documented and after waiting his turn he got a chance to start the final two games of the year, and in fairness, he looked pretty good, or at least better to those who proceeded him. Yarnell finished the year with 595 passing yards, four touchdowns, one rushing score, and only one interception. In his first start, the redshirt sophomore led Pitt to a win over Boston College and threw for 207 yards and a score.

Yarnell's second start, albeit a loss, was another sharp performance with 265 yards and a touchdown. The key to Yarnell's game that stood out more about Pitt’s other quarterbacks was his decision making. He did not take many risky throws, and in turn, did not commit many turnovers. Winning the turnover battle can take you pretty far in college football, might I add, and it is something Narduzzi values a great deal.

The perception around Yarnell before his two starts was not overly high. He was mostly used as a game manager back in his start in the 2022 season and that was all anyone really knew of him, but I think in his two-game audition, he showed he can be more than that. He was a little more mobile, or at least willing to run that I expected. But above all else, he was able to read a defense. Yarnell's start against Western Michigan in 2022 was a pretty simplified game plan where he just had to make one-read throws, but in 2023 he was able to scan the field and throw guys open, which is a very encouraging trait. His touchdown throw against Duke while on the run and hitting Bub Means in the back of the end zone was pretty impressive and eye-opening for Yarnell’s capabilities.

Did Yarnell show enough? It is hard to say, but he did show something. After not really getting a chance this past season, I would think Narduzzi will at least make sure the new offensive coordinator will give Yarnell a longer look than his predecessor.

What should Pitt target in the transfer portal?

Pitt has seen a number of departures from its on roster head to the transfer portal, and of course more are still to come. While that roster management process has begun for Pitt, now the next step will be looking to replace guys and fill in the gaps for the 2024 team.

Until all the dust settles, it is hard to say entirely what Pitt needs from the portal, but there are some obvious starting points the coaching staff will need to address.

Starting on defense, Pitt went into this past season with experienced cornerbacks and young, unproven safeties. The 2024 roster will be the opposite. The Panthers have safeties like Donovan McMillon, Javon McIntyre, and PJ O’Brien who played virtually every snap this year, and they will have to be the backbone in the secondary while the cornerback spots works itself out. Pitt has a pair of corners who have played some. Ryland Gandy got some chances this year and while he was injured this year, Rashad Battle has played meaningful reps, but beyond that, nobody else has really played. Pitt needs a transfer cornerback, and could probably justify taking two. Even in Narduzzi’s postgame press conference after Duke, he identified this spot as an area that will get addressed.

Pitt’s young linebackers look promising, but perhaps adding a veteran here could help solidify the two-deep. Pitt has had success in finding quick help at linebacker in the portal. In recent seasons they have had Kylan Johnson, Johnny Petrishen, Tylar Wiltz, and Shayne Simon all help out significantly here, so there is a little track record in place for transfer linebackers.

Obviously defensive tackle is going to be hit hard. Pitt has a talented young group, but it is highly inexperienced. The unexpected departure of Deandre Jules leads me to think adding two older defensive tackles might be necessary.

On offense, the possibility of adding a transfer quarterback is very real, but it will be hard to start that process without a coordinator. Beyond quarterback, Pitt will likely need to take a transfer tight end, which has been a common theme under Narduzzi. Pitt has had multiple transfer tight ends through the years, including two this year with Malcom Epps and Karter Johnson. Given that the team does not have a 2024 tight end recruit, it’s almost a forgone conclusion adding a tight end is necessary.

Pitt could probably stand to add a transfer wide receiver and offensive linemen as well. The Panthers should have enough starter-quality players at those spots, but it could not hurt to upgrade, or at the very least, add depth.

ONE PREDICTION

More Changes ahead

Frank Cignetti was fired on Sunday of this week and the natural reaction was, ‘Well, where are the other ones?’ And I still think more coaching staff changes could happen and most likely will and that is my prediction this week. I hate to name names and specifically say this guy needs to be fired, but we all watched the same 3-9 season and I think we can find concerning areas about this team and areas that need fixed.

Cignetti was the easy call, but when you bottom out with a three win season, more than one change is necessary.

It is also easy to look at the Pitt coaching staff and see some older assistant coaches who may not be up for coaching all that much longer, either. Plus, some could get hired away. The head coaching carousel is happening across college football and this is an industry built on connections. New head coaches may have ties to some Pitt assistants, and could ask them to follow. There is more than just one way the staff could have changes is what I am saying.

Even so, why not make changes now if you are head coach Pat Narduzzi? It is a simple answer, really. Signing day, or National Letter of Intent Day is in 19 days on December 20th.

As of today, the coaches are allowed to hit the road and visit recruits. Pitt is going to try its best to retain it’s 20-man recruiting class that is currently ranked 31st in the nation by Rivals. It would be hard to go through these next three weeks without a full staff on the road while simultaneously trying to hire more than one new coach.

Change can happen, but it does not always have to happen all at once. Like many topics today, though, it goes back to the new offensive coordinator as well. It would be fair and almost essential for him to have the freedom to bring in coaches he would work with, while not handcuffing him.

Transitioning from Whipple to Cignetti while retaining the rest of the offensive staff made sense, because Cignetti was brought in to kind of maintain what they were doing and not overhaul everything. I think because that method flopped, Narduzzi will give his next coordinator more personnel decision.

This week has been a busy one. Pitt made one staff change, saw some players enter the portal, and really this is only tjhe tip of the iceberg for the offseason. The craziness will keep going and it could really get interesting next week when the transfer portal officially opens.