Anonymous ACC coach sees health as biggest thing holding Pitt back

The ACC is coming off a season where the two teams that made the conference championship game found their way into the College Football Playoff. Now, the Pitt Panthers and head coach Pat Narduzzi are hoping to knock down the door and make a run at the Playoff as well.

Opposing coaches in the ACC see the potential with Pitt. However, as one anonymous coach who spoke to Athlon shared, there’s a key to the Panthers figuring it out. They need to stay healthy. The coach said, “They could be a lot better this season if they aren’t as banged up, basically.”

In 2024, it was a tale of two seasons for Pitt. They opened the year 7-0 and found themselves ranked as high as 18th in the country before losing to SMU. That SMU loss began a spiral for Pitt, with the Panthers going on to lose their final six games. That includes a bowl game against Toledo. A major reason for that was their depth was tested by injuries and couldn’t stand the test in November and December.

Those difficult final few weeks of the season could easily cause a team to spiral in the offseason as well. However, ACC coaches remain confident in Pitt, especially now that they’re healthy again going into the 2025 season.

“If they can keep the offensive line and quarterback healthy,” an ACC coach said. “They’re a lot closer to the 7-0 team from last year.”

Pat Narduzzi has had three offensive coordinators over the previous four seasons and, 2024’s new offensive coordinator Kade Bell was a massive stylistic shift for the offense. Pitt also brought in Eli Holstein as a transfer quarterback to run the offense. He’d start 10 games and play well, but eventually became one of the injured Panthers and missed three games.

“Last season was the perfect headache for that staff. They wanted to commit to change and brought in a really good OC who made that side of the ball look a lot more modern than some of what we’ve seen from [Pat] Narduzzi. They started hot,” the ACC coach said. “Took a ton of injuries and fell apart down the stretch so badly some people thought he’d be let go.”

In the end, Eli Holstein, Pat Narduzzi, and Kade Bell have all returned for the 2025 season. The hope is that with more comfortability and a healthy season, Pitt can compete in the ACC. That run will start on August 30th against Duquesne before their first ACC game will then be on September 27th against Louisville.