New Pitt QB Eli Holstein Sets Himself Up for Success in 2024

Eli Holstein put his head in his hands, ducking down to hide his emotions, but Pat Narduzzi didn’t miss it. He saw the tears in the eyes of his new starting quarterback.

Holstein — a 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback from Zachary, Louisiana — hasn’t been in Pittsburgh long. He’s come to love the city, but that doesn’t mean he should be the third transfer quarterback to start a season opener in three seasons. No. No, he should start the season opener because he’s earned it. It doesn’t matter if he’s just a kid who’s spent a season in Alabama.

Holstein may have started slowly, but once he got going this offseason, he pushed Nate Yarnell every step of the way. Yarnell was the starter coming out of spring ball, but Holstein closed ground over the summer.

And it was midway through fall camp that Narduzzi started to see Holstein gain some momentum in the quarterback competition.

“You just watch him continue to get better every day, make good decisions with the ball and it’s all about the ball,” Narduzzi said Thursday. “I mean, the ball is the ball game and protecting the ball, making smart decisions is critical. And now you gotta go out and do it in the game as well.”

Holstein, interestingly, hasn’t started a college football game yet; he hasn’t taken a single snap at the college level. He was a top recruit, a consensus four-star with offers from just about every major college football program in the country, but that doesn’t matter now. His prowess as a high school quarterback at Zachary High means nothing to the Pitt coaching staff.

What matters now is how Holstein can show the Pitt coaching staff that he’s ready to be the guy now.

If Narduzzi wants Holstein to show that he’s the same quarterback in the season that he is in practice, he has the perfect chance now. The quarterback competition between Holstein and Yarnell isn’t over. Holstein has clearly done enough in practice to surpass Yarnell and earn the first start, but a strong showing against Kent State ends the competition.

Narduzzi wants a quarterback who doesn’t turn the ball over. If Holstein wants to hold onto his job, he can’t turn the ball over against Kent State, but it’s more than that. Holstein can showcase exactly what Narduzzi wants.

“I think just little by little (Holstein has shown he can start),” Narduzzi said. “It’s something that we obviously looked at in practice this week. And completion percentage, all the little details, just felt like the guy’s come a long way and deserved to get that nod.”

It only took Holstein getting this healthy offseason to claw his way to the top. But it still wouldn’t have been possible without Yarnell in the room.

“He was struggling moving around in the spring because of the hamstring, but also, as a young guy, he’s very mature,” OC Kade Bell said Wednesday. “And I think that’s because of Nate. Nate’s a very mature guy, Nate’s a pro.

“So, if he wanted to compete for this job, he would have to attack every day like a coach and like a pro. And that’s what’s caught him up. You don’t see a lot of young guys his age coming with the mentality of just, ‘Hey, I gotta work just as hard. I gotta put the work in. I gotta be up here watching film and studying.’ And I think that’s kind of what got him caught up because he was a little bit behind after spring ball.”

Holstein was very secure in who he was as a person and a quarterback.

“At the end of the day, we’re not really competing against each other, we’re competing against the defense,” Holstein said at Media Day. “Our job is to get the ball to playmakers as fast as possible, make the right decisions, not turn the ball over and at the end of the day, people think we’re competing against the guy in the room, but we’re “all just friends in the room right now.”

Bell, who is in his first season coaching all the quarterbacks, feels good about where Eli Holstein and Yarnell are mentally. They both understand what he wants, in terms of where he wants the ball delivered and expectations when the defense is blitzing and when it isn’t.

Holstein has a good feel for what Bell wants to do offensively. And he can make plays that his peers may be unable to make. It’s a new look.

“Coach Bell really sold me on how I fit into this offense, the kind of player I am and the kind of player he needs in his offense,” Holstein said. “Just wanted a new opportunity, new chance, kind of a fresh start. Coming out of high school, I definitely didn’t think I was going to go anywhere above the Mason-Dixon line but here I am, it’s a great, fresh start.”

Narduzzi admitted that Bell is the No. 1 decision maker when it comes to the quarterback competition, and while Holstein and Yarnell have battled this offseason, he goes deeper than who was N0. 1 and who wasn’t on the roster entering the offseason. Narduzzi will certainly make his voice heard though.

“I trust Kade to make the right decision,” Narduzzi said. “But if I ever feel that it’s the wrong decision, I’m going to step up and veto.”

That’s a different tone than past seasons, but I’m going to guess that this season’s decision works out with Eli Holstein leading the way.