In this week’s 3-2-1 Column, we talk about Kenny Pickett’s decision, 2022 signing day, and the volleyball team playing for a national championship.

THREE THINGS WE KNOW

Kenny Pickett’s Pitt career is over
Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett announced last night that he will not be playing in the upcoming Peach Bowl game on December. There had been speculation in recent weeks about his playing status, and he confirmed his plan last night over Twitter, ending his Pitt career.

His decision concludes a legendary senior season, and also a highly-decorated career for the Pitt quarterback. Pickett’s time as leading the Panthers saw many ups and downs, but after guiding his team to its first 11-win season in 40 years and claiming the first-ever ACC Championship for the program, he will leave the school on top as a champion.

Pickett departs Pitt as the school’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns. His 2021 season also set the standard in school, history with 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns.

Pickett’s production is now unmatched in the Pitt record books, but what he meant to this program, especially in the 2021 season, cannot truly be measured by statistics.

Pickett is a Pitt legend. Period. His name can now be mentioned with Dan Marino, Larry Fitzgerald, Aaron Donald - you name it. He is now among those great players, and the jersey number ‘8’ might not be an option for future Pitt players to wear.

He woke up the Pitt football program this season, and he did it with poise and style. The Fake Slide? The Pitt Special? The bootleg against Miami? That’s Kenny Pickett.

Pickett’s career was not always perfect. There were bad losses, questionable throws, and tough games, but when it came to answering the questions after those losses, Pickett was there each and every time. He was the ultimate face for this team and program, and seemingly everyone followed his lead.

Pickett’s personal accolades this year have been great, from every Marino record he broke this season, to the All-American honors, ACC Player of the Year, Heisman Trophy finalist - it goes on and on, but he will be remembered most for is the ACC Championship. It is something he always wanted to deliver, and in his last game wearing the blue and gold he walked out with a trophy.

A small recruiting class
Kenny Pickett may steal the headlines, but the big news this week across college football was Signing Day. The 2022 recruiting class was able to start sending in their National Letters of Intent on Wednesday. Pitt announced the signing of 12 recruits spanning from nine states and even another country.

Pitt’s 2022 class is not a big one by most standards with a typical class bringing in closer to 20 recruits. There is the opportunity to bring in more recruits in the February signing period, but it does not look likely for the Panthers.

So why is that? Well, counting scholarships is a tricky situation, but it’s the main reason why Pitt’s recruiting class is on the smaller side, and there are a variety of reasons for that.

The NCAA opted to give every player an extra year of eligibility due to the uncertainty of last season created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically a Division-1 football roster consists of 85 scholarship players, but there was no limit in 2021 due to that extra year.

Now the NCAA is saying trams need to get back to that 85-man limit for the 2022 season, and that is where things really get tricky for Pitt. The Panthers have eleven seniors that could return for an extra season, but at least it is known punter Kirk Christodoulou is moving on after this season. The remaining ten have yet to announce their intentions. There is of course speculation about who might try their luck in the NFL, who might just be ready to be done with college, and the others that will want to return to Pitt for one more year.

Given this particular uncertainty at the moment, it has led to a small recruiting class of only 12 names at the moment. Pat Narduzzi addressed the media on signing day, and thought that it was actually a good thing. Pitt probably benefitted more than any other team in college football with a super senior using an extra year with Kenny Pickett, and there are some players that can undeniably help the 2022 team. It’s no surprise Pitt will take the trade off of a small class if it means starters like Gabe Houy or Cam Bright, or whoever opt to come back for one more year.

A historic season comes to an end
The Pitt volleyball team made its first-ever appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament last evening, but came up short three sets to one to tenth-seeded Nebraska. The Panthers grabbed the first set, but the Cornhuskers seemed to assert control after that taking the next three and the match.

Pitt uncharacteristically played a sloppy game on Thursday with more service errors than usual. In the fourth set, Pitt rallied to make it 20-all, but couldn’t complete the comeback, and now Nebraska will take on Wisconsin in the NCAA Championship match on Saturday night.

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise record-breaking season. The Pitt volleyball team came as close as any program in the Pitt athletic department to winning a national championship since the 1976 football team accomplished that feat.

The Panthers conclude the season with a 30-4 overall record. The 2021 season was Pitt’s third 30-win season in the past four seasons. It was the sixth straight season Pitt has advanced to the NCAA Tournament, and it was the farthest the team has gone in the bracket in school history.

Pitt’s run under head coach Dan Fisher has been nothing short of amazing. He’s turned Pitt into one of the premier programs in the country, and also the top program in the school’s athletic department. It will be hard to top this season with the losses of stars Kayla Lund and Chiaza Ndee, but given the sustained success and increased recruiting, the Panthers should once again be a top contender in the ACC and nationally in 2022.

The Pitt football team generated the most buzz around campus this year, but having the volleyball team make the final four and the men’s soccer team advanced to the Elite 8 helped create one of the best athletic seasons this school has seen in a long time.

TWO QUESTIONS WE HAVE

What else does this team need for 2022?
In spite of the limited roster space, there are likely going to be more players added to Pitt’s 2022 roster before it’s all said and done. There is a second signing period in February to consider, and of course the transfer portal has been an asset for this program in recent years. Pitt has landed high-impact transfers like Marcus Minor, Lucas Krull, and DJ Turner in the past few years, and I would imagine that trend continues.

So where will Pitt look to add talent? There are some positions groups that make more sense than others.

Quarterback: With Kenny Pickett moving on and no 2022 quarterback signed yet, it’s fair to say that Pitt will bring in a quarterback for next season in some capacity. It may be a ready-made starter, or it may be a player to compete with the current quarterbacks on the roster for the starting spot. Pitt hosted Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy for a visit last weekend, but I do think other options are being explored at the moment. Given Pitt’s uncertainty at the offensive coordinator position, it could be tricky to land a quarterback, but an obstacle they can still overcome.

Tight End: After signing three tight ends in the class of 2021, Pitt has finally built up some depth at this spot. Gavin Bartholomew being an instant contributor was an unexpected bonus, but with Lucas Krull moving on, could Pitt look to add another transfer? I could see it, unless Kyi Wright, Cole Mitchell, or Jake Renda step up and make a case. I don’t know if Pitt needs a tight end like they have in past seasons with Bartholomew returning, but having another veteran option here couldn’t hurt.

Offensive Line: As Pitt waits for spots to open up by the decisions of the super seniors, one outcome is that the team could need some offensive linemen. Pitt has four senior starting offensive linemen, and they all have the ability to return next season. If they all come back, or if most of them return, then this need is nullified a bit. If more of those starters move on than what is expected, I’d imagine Pitt would look to be active at this spot.

Linebacker: Pitt is losing a lot of talent, production, and experience at this spot following the end of the season. Pitt will have the benefit of starting Sir’Vicea Dennis. Senior Cam Bright could return, and there are some promising young players here. But given the way this team rotates on defense, adding an experienced linebacker would make sense. Pitt had luck a few years ago finding Kylan Johnson in the transfer portal.

Best Available: I don’t necessarily know if Pitt needs help on the defensive line and secondary, but anything could happen with those spots. Even on offense at receiver and running back, both positions seemed stocked pretty well, but Pitt has been linked to freshman All-American wide receiver Keyonta Mumpfield in the portal. I’m not sure if Pitt is actively looking for more receivers, or if they just feel good about Mumpfield in general, but that’s kind of the point. Talent is talent, and if there is a fit, then Pitt will look to make a move.

Again, we don’t know how the numbers will look in a few weeks, but it’s fair to assume that the Pitt roster for the 2022 season is not finalized and they have some time before spring ball starts to make any further additions.

Where does Pitt basketball go from here?
The Pitt basketball team will take a 3-7 record into tomorrow afternoon’s game against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden for a noon national TV tip at the World’s Most Famous Arena.

It is always exciting for teams to play nationally televised games against other power-five opponents, though there is not a whole lot of buzz around the Pitt basketball team at the moment. The Panthers are coming off a 56-52 defeat to Monmouth, the team’s third loss to a mid-major program on the season. In that game, Pitt dug itself a big hole and trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half. They nearly came back, but given the level of the opponent the valiant effort to make it a game has mostly been forgotten, or diminished entirely.

Grasping for moral wins just doesn’t seem to be cutting it right now, as this program is in a bad way right now.

As the non-conference portion of the schedule winds down, a grim reality is setting in for the remainder of the season. Pitt is ranked as one of the worst power-five teams by nearly every metric, and is looking down at a 19-game ACC slate to close out the year at the end of the month.

Pitt has had to fight and claw for its three wins this season, and now the competition is only getting more difficult.

So what happens now?

I have to be honest, I don’t think it’s going to be a real pretty finish to the season for Jeff Capel’s team. The Panthers have been dealt some tough blows in the past 12 months with this basketball program and Capel has tried to weather the storm as best he could, but at the end of the day, this is a 3-7 basketball team that is going to miss the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight year, and it’s the fourth one under his watch.

Nobody denies Pitt was a tough job to inherit coming off an 8-win season, but it has been one misstep, recruiting miss, and bad loss after another.

Do things probably go a bit better this season with Ithiel Horton and Nike Sibande on the court? Absolutely.

But in the end we’re talking about Capel’s entire tenure and he is sitting on a 43-55 record staring down the gauntlet of a tough ACC schedule ahead.

Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke has said supporting things of the basketball coach, but things do appear to be coming to a head in many respects. The losses have continued to pile up, the attendance is down considerably, and there are no recruits lined up in the class of 2022.

I’m not sure I know what happens next to Pitt basketball program. It does seem, though, that Lyke will be the one that has to come up with that answer.

One Prediction

Kenny Pickett will be a top 5 pick
The last year is one that is hard to put into words watching Kenny Pickett rise to where he is today. From the moment he said he was coming back to Pitt for one more season to his announcement about the Peach Bowl last night, it has been a rapid, yet steady climb for Pickett as a player and as a prospect.

Pickett’s ascent isn’t over just yet.

The Pitt quarterback guided the team to 11 wins, an ACC Championship, while shattering every individual Pitt record and reaching the Heisman Trophy ceremony along the way. Each and every week this season, Pickett went from that guy look to improve his draft stock to now looking to become the first quarterback taken in the upcoming 2022 NFL Draft.

I think Pickett reaches that pinnacle in the next few months. He will be the first quarterback taken in the NFL Draft. Typically each year the top quarterback prospect jumps up draft slots, and I believe Pickett will ultimately be valued to the point of being a top five pick as well. You see mock drafts with him being picked outside the top ten now, but I think that will change as we get closer to April.

It’s hard to believe all of this, really. The 2018 season, Pickett was a game manager. In 2019 and 2020 he posted an identical 13 touchdown to 9 interception ratio on the field. He was a good, not great NFL prospect.

He showed on the field that one year can make all the difference. Pickett pushed his way into the conversation as one of college football’s top players this season, and leading up through the draft process, I feel he will have a similar climb to the top of many team’s draft boards.

The topic of Pickett’s draft status will be beaten to death, as NFL Draft conversations can become tiresome and repetitive during the football offseason. Experts will point to his first three years as a starter, or his hand size, or whatever else they want to pick apart about Pickett’s game - it’s all part of the process.

He does not have the size of a Justin Herbert or the rocket arm of Patrick Mahomes, and I’m not comparing him to the players they are, but rather the prospects they were.

In the end, I believe teams will be drawn to the savvy play of Pickett, the leadership he brings, and the season he had, not to mention the type of offensive system he ran in college.

Pickett will be a top 5 pick, and man I never thought I would write that.