Veilleux is 'ready for the moment,' says QB coach
Christian Veilleux will make his debut as Pitt’s starting quarterback on Saturday when the Panthers host No. 14 Louisville at Acrisure Stadium.
It’s a big moment for the Penn State transfer, who will be making his first career start after appearing in five games over two seasons with the Nittany Lions and two games in reserve duty with Pitt so far this season.
So when he walks onto the field for the Panthers’ first series Saturday night, it will be a culmination of sorts, and Donovan Dooley, a quarterback coach based in Michigan who has known Veilleux for 10 years, thinks he is ready for it.
“He’s always been able to persevere, even when he was at Penn State and going through that, and he understood that, hey, when an opportunity comes, you have to seize the moment,” Dooley told Panther-Lair.com.
“And the moment’s now, so he has to do what he has to do.”
Dooley, who runs Quarterback University, was first introduced to Veilleux when the Ottawa native was 11, and the two started working together when Veilleux got to high school. Veilleux spent his sophomore year at Canisius High School in New York before transferring to Bullish School in Maryland as a junior.
While at Bullis, Veilleux threw for 2,006 yards and 29 touchdowns to lead the team to the 2019 Interstate Athletic Conference championship game. Bullis lost to Georgetown Prep in the title game, but Veilleux was named IAC Offensive Player of the Year.
As Dooley watched Veilleux at Bullis, he believed he was watching a player who could excel in college.
“When he went to Bullis High School, I thought he had a huge ceiling in terms of what they’re looking for at the next level. He’s very coachable, very smart kid, bright kid. Obviously, he has the size and the measurables and instincts, and he understood the intel part of it, just as far as understanding defensive structures, coverages and fronts - he really absorbed that.
“He’s a passer. He’s definitely a passer. So he understands spacial awareness and delivery of the football, and I call him a one-timer: after you tell him something one time, he’s able to do it right away. That’s a trait you look for. He’s always looking for constant feedback and he always wanted to get it done. He always wanted to get extra work in and work on his craft, just doing things to get better.”
Among Veilleux’s stats at Bullis, he completed just 50.9% of his passes, and he came to Pitt with something of a reputation as a gunslinger. Dooley said he sees some - but not necessarily all - elements of that in Veilleux’s game.
“Well, a gunslinger to me is a guy that’s reckless with the football; I’m hoping that’s not the case this week,” Veilleux said. “But I would say this: he’s not afraid to deliver the football. I’m not going to say he’s careless with the football, but what I would say is, he’s not afraid to take the top off the defense. Sometimes your passing percentage can go down when you take so many shots. They call them ‘opportunity shots’ - just knowing when to take them and when not to take them is going to be very key and critical for him.”
Dooley, who has been working with quarterbacks since 2011 and counts Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton, Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 quarterback in the 2025 class, and 2024 four-star prospect Cutter Boley among the players he has helped develop, is looking forward to seeing how Veilleux does against a Louisville defense that sacked Notre Dame’s Sam Hartman five times and forced three interceptions last week.
“I think he’s just excited,” Dooley said. “He’s ready for the moment. He’s not a young pup anymore; he’s a seasoned guy. He’s been around big-time football, so I don’t think any moment can get too big for him. It’s just as simple as this: he needs to get out there and get it done.
“He knows what this moment is about. Trust me: he knows. And I told him as simple as this: some dogs stay on the porch and get off the porch. It’s time for you to get off the porch.”