Pitt Football

Pat Narduzzi didn't hold back his feelings about the officiating in Saturday's Backyard Brawl matchup between Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

The Panthers head coach blasted the officials, saying he and his team had overcome the referees along with the Mountaineers.

"We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl and we beat the officials, too," Narduzzi said, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor.

Narduzzi was specifically upset with a handful of penalties that came late in the tight game.

"Some of the calls we got. Late hit out of bounds. They catch a ball with a hands to the face," Narduzzi said on ESPN's broadcast after the game. "I ain't never seen anything like it.

While it's up for debate whether the officials favored West Virginia over Pitt, penalties were certainly costly for the Panthers. Narduzzi's squad picked up 12 penalties for 112 yards compared to seven West Virginia penalties for 67 yards.

There were some instances, however, of penalties benefiting the Panthers, like in the first half when a handful of defensive holding penalties allowed Pitt to keep its drive alive and ultimately capitalize with a touchdown to take the lead before halftime.

Whether or not Narduzzi's criticism of the officials is fair or not is up for interpretation. What's important is that Pitt improved to 3-0, its best start since the 2020 season. The Panthers have also already matched their win total from a year ago when they finished 3-9.

After a thriller on Saturday, Pitt will get a lighter opponent next week when it faces Youngstown State. The Panthers will then get a bye week before jumping back into ACC play against North Carolina in October.

The Pittsburgh Panthers football team will be gearing up in style this season.

The program showed off the upgrades it made to its locker room in a video released on social media Friday, and the new digs are looking both clean and state-of-the-art:

👀 Check out Pitt’s 🆕 Locker Room

Made some major upgrades this summer to the program’s already first-class facility ✨#H2P » #WeNotMe pic.twitter.com/dDhgdO2N1K

— Pitt Football (@Pitt_FB) June 14, 2024

The program will be hoping the product on the field receives a similar upgrade. The team went just 3-9 last year, its first losing season since 2017 and just its second under head coach Pat Narduzzi.

His Pitt teams have reached six bowl games in nine years, going 2-4 in those contests. The Panthers have won two Coastal Division crowns in the ACC under Narduzzi and one conference championship (2021).

The Panthers will have a soft opening schedule, with home games against Kent State, West Virginia and Youngstown State and a road contest against Cincinnati before the ACC slate hits in October.

A fast start would be ideal. But at the very least, the Panthers will be enjoying life in their revamped locker room.

Just hours after Baby Gronk flipped his commitment to South Carolina, the viral youth football player has once again changed his mind, this time to Pittsburgh.

Madden San Miguel, better known as Baby Gronk, announced on social media that he has "committed" to play for Pitt and posted a screenshot of a direct message he allegedly received from head coach Pat Narduzzi.

BABY GRONK FLIPS TO PITT pic.twitter.com/jGxF8vK3TE

— BABY GRONK (@BabyGronk5) June 6, 2024

It's getting increasingly hard to keep track of how many schools Baby Gronk has committed to at this point, but he has at least given pledges to Pitt, South Carolina, Texas, USC, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Nebraska since May 28.

While Baby Gronk's social media account has claimed the 11-year-old has committed to countless schools, those pledges hold very little weight. Based on On3's database, Baby Gronk has yet to receive any collegiate offers.

What is more likely is that Baby Gronk's representatives—namely his father, Jake San Miguel—are posting the pledges to continue promoting his social media accounts, which have a following of more than 500,000 across Instagram and X.

Could Baby Gronk find himself landing some collegiate offers down the road? It seems possible given how seriously he seems to take football. But for now, it's probably best to take his commitments with a grain of salt, to say the least.

HEIGHT: 6'1"

WEIGHT: 212

HAND: 10⅛"

ARM: 33¼"

WINGSPAN: 79⅜"

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40-YARD DASH: 4.43

3-CONE: N/A

SHUTTLE: 4.40

VERTICAL: 39.5"

BROAD: 10'2"

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POSITIVES

— Good vertical presence. Smooth, strong strider with the speed and size to win down the field.

— Powerful mover overall. Above-average explosiveness, both with and without the ball.

— Flashes of smooth hips and flexibility as a route-runner, especially on routes snapping back to the line of scrimmage.

— Above-average YAC threat. Regularly used on screens as a result.

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NEGATIVES

— Doesn't always make the easy catches look easy. Inconsistent confidence and hand technique.

— Relatively unproven against press coverage despite so many reps outside. Will likely require an adjustment period.

— Low-effort blocker.

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2023 STATISTICS

— 12 G, 41 REC, 721 YDS (17.6 AVG), 6 TD

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NOTES

— Born Jan. 10, 2001

— 3-star recruit in Tennessee's 2019 class, per 247Sports' composite rankings

— Transferred from Tennessee to Louisiana Tech in 2020, then to Pitt in 2022

— 19 career starts

— Attended 2024 Shrine Bowl

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OVERALL

Bub Means is a classic Day 3 vertical X receiver. The athletic tools are there, but he will need refinement to be unlocked in the NFL.

Means is clearly built like an NFL receiver, and he moves like one as well. At 6'1" and 212 pounds, he is a powerful strider with good top speed from the outside. It's easy to see how Means can threaten defensive backs on the vertical route tree.

Means also flashes the ability to work different routes off that vertical tree. Some of his work on comebacks, deep outs and stop routes was impressive in terms of foot quickness and hip flexibility to seamlessly work through the top of the route.

At the same time, Means was largely untested against press and did not prove himself well in limited opportunities. Means' hand usage as it relates to keeping DBs out of his frame is not up to par right now.

Additionally, Means' hands run hot and cold. There are flashes of impressive ability to snag the ball high in the air, but he also routinely drops passes that hit him dead in the hands, especially over the middle of the field.

Means is also a shaky, low-energy blocker. That may scare some teams off.

Means is an intriguing gamble on a vertical outside receiver. He checks the boxes when it comes to size, speed and overall movement skills. Means has a long way to go when it comes to learning the nuances of the position and making his hands more consistent, though.

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GRADE: 5.5 (Backup/Draftable — 6th/7th Round)

OVERALL RANK: 247

POSITION RANK: WR29

PRO COMPARISON: Terrace Marshall Jr.

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Derrik Klassen

Visit B/R's NFL Scouting Department hub for scouting reports on all of the top prospects.

Former Alabama quarterback Eli Holstein announced he's transferring to Pittsburgh.

Time to get to work!!!! #H2P pic.twitter.com/aF0IRPabzK

— Eli Holstein (@eli_holstein10) January 7, 2024

The Louisiana native was the No. 8 quarterback and No. 88 overall recruit in 247Sports' composite rankings for the 2023 class. He didn't make an appearance for the Crimson Tide as a true freshman this season.

Jalen Milroe confirmed in December he's returning to Alabama rather than entering the 2024 NFL draft. The Crimson Tide also signed Julian Sayin, the top QB in 247Sports' composite rankings for 2024. Playing time probably would've remained elusive for Holstein if he had stayed in Tuscaloosa.

That shouldn't be the case at Pitt.

Hopes for the Panthers offense were high after they signed Phil Jurkovec out of the portal. But he was benched after the team opened the year 1-4, and Christian Veilleux threw for 1,179 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions after taking over.

Pitt's informal pursuit of Holstein began well before he entered the portal. According to Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he had been targeted since at least late October.

Perhaps his commitment symbolizes a renewed emphasis on the passing game.

Pitt looked decidedly unlike a Pat Narduzzi team in 2021, when Kenny Pickett threw for 4,319 yards and Jordan Addison won the Fred Biletnikoff Award. The key architects of that high-octane offense left in the offseason, and Narduzzi even spoke derisively about how much the Panthers had passed the ball.

Kade Bell came aboard as the new offensive coordinator in December, with Narduzzi labeling him "an incredibly creative play-caller who is widely regarded as one of the brightest young coaches in the country."

Between making that hire and landing a former blue-chipper at quarterback, Narduzzi is setting the stage for a major evolution on offense.

Following a tough loss against Notre Dame, Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi criticized the roster makeup for the team as a key to the team's struggles in 2023.

The Panthers fell 58-7 to the Fighting Irish, surrendering 27 points in the third quarter alone. The loss dropped Pittsburgh to 2-6 on the season and Narduzzi said that the team's inability to replace talent from previous season is a key to the low performance.

I tweeted this live, as Narduzzi was talking. Below is the full quote, which was transcribed after the presser ended.

"I’ll go back, as a football coach you lose a lot of good players from a year ago and you think as a coach you’re going to replace them and obviously we… https://t.co/oxSeYP7WYf

— Noah Hiles (@_NoahHiles) October 29, 2023

"I'll go back, as a football coach you lose a lot of good players from a year ago and you think as a coach you're going to replace them and obviously we haven't," Narduzzi said, per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Again, it starts with me. I didn't do a good enough job coaching today. Put it on me and we've got to make plays."

The Panthers have had a winning record in every season since 2017 and are just two seasons removed from an ACC Championship. The 2023 season hasn't been all bad, with an upset victory over then-undefeated Louisville just a week ago appearing to be a turning point, but the blowout loss to the Fighting Irish shows just how far Pittsburgh is from the upper echelon of college football.

Pittsburgh ranks 113th in total offense and the struggles Saturday show just why the unit has that ranking. The team produced just 255 yards of total offense and had five turnovers while going 1-of-11 on third down.

The Panthers will look to try to salvage the season going forward, but the next matchup provides no room for relief. Pittsburgh will host No. 4 Florida State next week.

Just five games into his career at the University of Pittsburgh and starting quarterback Phil Jurkovec has lost his job and is changing positions.

The sixth-year senior will be making the move to tight end as sophomore Christian Veilleux takes over as the starting signal-caller, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Noah Hiles.

Jurkovec announced that he was transferring to Pitt from Boston College in December and went 1-4 as a starter.

He reportedly began work at his new position during practice Thursday, per Hiles.

Following Pitt's loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday head coach Pat Narduzzi was asked about making some changes to the offense after the Panthers put on yet another lackluster performance.

"I'm going to re-evaluate where we are," Narduzzi responded. "I see a lot of things that need changed on offense. We had nine first downs. It's hard to win a football game when you have two explosive plays, and that's all we got. We gotta look at what we're doing, how we're doing it and fix it. That's my job as a head coach to fix it. It doesn't come down to one guy. It's everybody. It's a team loss. Period."

It was announced that Jurkovec would be benched Wednesday.

Jurkovec has bounced around quite a bit during his collegiate career. A native of Pittsburgh, he was a four-star prospect out of Pine-Richland High School and ultimately committed to Notre Dame.

After a couple of years with the Fighting Irish in which he had minimal playing time, Jurkovec transferred to Boston College. With the Eagles he started 24 games and passed for 5,183 yards and 35 touchdowns over three seasons.

In this one season at Pitt, Jurkovec has thrown six touchdown passes and has been intercepted three times, each coming in Pitt's 17-6 road loss to West Virginia.

Much like his predecessor, Christian Vellieux is a transfer, coming in from Penn State.

A man was arrested Saturday at Acrisure Stadium during a college football game between the Pitt Panthers and Cincinnati Bearcats after allegedly assaulting a vendor and attempting to steal beer, per WPXI.com.

According to court documents, a 22-year-old man shoved a vendor up against a cooler and pushed him to the ground before punching him in the back of the head twice after he was stopped when he tried to walk away without paying for four beers.

Police say two witnesses confirmed the incident, and now the man is facing charges of simple assault and robbery.

Pitt opened the 2023 season with a 45-7 win over Wofford last week at Acrisure Stadium, which is also home to the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, but fell to Cincinnati 27-21 on Saturday to drop to 1-1 on the season.

HEIGHT: 6'5 1/2"

WEIGHT: 311

HAND: 9 1/8"

ARM: 35 3/8"

WINGSPAN: TBD

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40-YARD DASH: NA

3-CONE: NA

SHUTTLE: NA

VERTICAL: NA

BROAD: NA

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POSITIVES

— Excellent arm length that he maximizes with light, independent and well-timed strikes to establish first meaningful contact and disrupt the timing of rushers

— Fluid vertical and 45-degree pass sets to get to his landmark against wider alignments

— Solid core strength to absorb force on contact, give minimal ground and maintain his posture through the block

— Length serves as an effective recovery tool to compensate for lower-half stiffness

— Gets into his run fits on angle-drive blocks on target and under control with good posture and his eyes up

— Shows a firm grasp of spacing, depth and timing to pass off and pick up basic line games, stunts and dual reads

— Has enough initial quicks on his first two steps to overlay and overtake on backside combinations and cover up tight, inside alignments solo

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NEGATIVES

— Laborious when having to redirect and shift gears laterally

— Tends to wind-up and strike on his double-under technique, causing him to be late

— Loses positional leverage and doesn't adjust well against effective stutters and hesitations

— Middling power to create sudden force on contact

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2022 STATISTICS

— Four starts at LT

— Team captain

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NOTES

— Former 3-star offensive tackle recruit out of Passaic High School in Paterson, New Jersey

— 39 career starts at LT

— Turned 24-years old on January 19

— Was invited to the 2022 Senior Bowl before deciding to return to school

— Suffered a season-ending torn meniscus injury during the fourth game of the 2022 season

— Invited to the 2023 East-West Shrine Bowl

— Trained under Duke Manyweather leading up to the combine

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OVERALL

Carter Warren is a four-year starter inside Pittsburgh's balanced, zone-based run scheme with 39 career starts at left tackle, including extensive time spent as a sixth linemen in 2021 on the right side. Warren started just four games in 2022 before suffering a season-ending knee injury that kept him out of the bulk of the off-season process leading up to the draft. Warren has a long, thick frame and build with a huge wingspan and solid athletic ability.

Warren excels as a run-blocker, using efficient initial footwork with excellent length and strong hands to fit and tie up defenders with solid strain to sustain through contact. He doesn't create much force on contact to uproot defenders, but he plays long and can steer them away from the ball. He shows enough speed to be a functional move blocker on pull and leads, but he has some lower-half stiffness that shows up having to redirect on climbs that fast-flow backers can exploit to work across his face.

Warren is a skilled pass-protector with fluid footwork in his pass sets to beat rushers to the spot, using excellent length with well-timed, independent strikes to establish first meaningful contact and quick control. He has the core strength to brace, play long and maintain his posture through contact to keep defenders tied up once latched. He will get manipulated out of position by skilled rushers who know how to set up their moves with stutters and hesitations, creating soft edges that they can penetrate, but his length comes in handy as an effective recovery tool to buy him time while his feet catch up.

Overall, Warren is an experienced leader at left tackle with the physical tools and skill set to compete for a swing tackle role right away before working his way into a starting lineup within his first contract.

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GRADE: 7.0 (High-Level Backup or Potential Starter/Round 3)

OVERALL RANK: 84

POSITION RANK: OT8

PRO COMPARISON: Joe Noteboom

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Written by B/R NFL Scout Brandon Thorn