Frank Cignetti Jr. made his first comments as an offensive coordinator for Pitt football under Pat Narduzzi Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. His comments along with those from Narduzzi, Kedon Slovis and Konata Mumpfield were the first glimpses at what Pitt's 2022 offense will look like.
The Panthers finished the 2021 season ranking third in the country in points scored and eighth in both total yards and passing yards. But most of that was behind Kenny Pickett's historic season that set program records for Pitt, ACC records and elevated to finish third in Heisman Trophy voting.
But while Pickett's gone, most of his offensive teammates remain, including 2021 Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison at wide receiver, the entire starting offensive line returning, Gavin Bartholomew who was an honorable mention for the All-ACC team as a freshman and a three-headed backfield with Israel Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond II all returning to the Panthers.
But it's those last three players that Narduzzi and Cignetti seemed focused on the most to make the most of in 2022, as the Panthers' 149.2 rushing yards per game ranked eleventh in the conference, the lowest major offensive category ranking by the group. Both coaches seemed confident that could be the biggest change to help the unit remain as one of the best offensive group in the country even with the excitement around Pitt's new quarterback in Slovis who transferred from USC.
"It's a big focus," Narduzzi said of improving Pitt's run game. "When you look at Izzy (Abanikanda), Vince and Rodney, those guys all deserve to have carries. We didn't do a great job of getting them the ball. I like to run the ball but I'm not going to tell an offensive coordinator what to do and when to run it. I'll say my peace, and then they better win and score points. But one thing about coach Cignetti is I know he likes to run the football. We're going to try to establish a run game that will open up more explosives for our wideouts."
Those "explosives" Narduzzi mentioned were the big play passes Pitt threw downfield all season long with Pickett at quarterback. They came naturally to Pickett and Addison who came into 2021 with a year of experience together. But that's why a stronger run game to attract more focus from opposing defenses away from Pitt's talented receiver group is such a focus for the 2022 season.
It's hard to point and complain at the results former offensive coordinator Mark Whipple got out of that group to lead the program to its first ACC Championship. But with a new quarterback, the idea of using the talent in Pitt's backfield better is a sound plan to not force Slovis to have to come into a new offense and air it out the way Pickett did after four years of playing for the Panthers.
"It's a really good group of runners," Cignetti said of his running backs. "It's going to be competitive for every group. If one guy arises and can carry the load, he'll be the guy. But a running back by committee has its advantages. It means you have good depth, kind of like when we had Dion (Lewis) and Ray (Graham). But time will tell. I have no idea up here right now, but we'll know come the Backyard Brawl."
Cignetti brings the experience of working over a decade as a coach in the NFL and being an offensive coordinator for Pitt in 2009-2010 under Dave Wannstedt when he helped Pitt to its only other season with ten or more wins. That experience was something to lean on for Narduzzi in his coaching search that he admitted included 15 different coaching candidates, but his decision came down to who Cignetti was as a person and the investment he would make in returning to his hometown and the first program he ever coached for in Pitt.
"First thing you're looking for is good people," Narduzzi said of his offensive coordinator search. "He's a family guy and he's back home. That's important. But his passion and love for the game that you can tell when you talk football with him, it's like a class, football 505. Look at his track record. It all comes down to personnel and who you want to put on the field. He's coached at a high level whether it's with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay or with the Giants, he can do anything."
Cignetti couldn't have been more happy to return to Pittsburgh.
"It's great to be home," Cignetti said. "Last time I stood up here like this I talked about what a dream come true it was, and it's truly a dream. When coach Narduzzi told me, I was so excited to get things moving. Can't say enough great things about the city of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh. I was born in Pittsburgh. It's my third time coaching in Pittsburgh."
Cignetti has coached for 32 years between NCAA and the NFL, including a one-year stint as a graduate stint for Pitt as his first ever coaching job in 1989, and then his returned stint with Pitt in 2009-2010 before heading to the NFL as a quarterbacks coach for the Rams, Giants and Packers, as well as an offensive coordinator for the Rams in 2015. But Pittsburgh still holds a special place for Cignetti as his hometown and the major city where most of his family lives in or close to, as well as the area where his father Frank Cignetti Sr. worked close to as a long time coach for Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
"My father coached here, my brother coached here, we always considered Pittsburgh home," Cignetti continued. "My family's here with my parents in Indiana, Pa., I have two sisters in Pine Richland. So not only for myself, but also for my wife and kids, it's a homecoming. Growing up with Pittsburgh being the city of champions and the greatest city in America for football, what an opportunity. Then seeing the unbelievable football program coach Narduzzi has built here, it's unbelievable."
One thing that spoke to Cignetti immediately upon his joining Pitt's coaching staff was the experience it brought, as both running backs coach Andre Powell and tight ends coach Tim Salem have been with Narduzzi since he became head coach for Pitt in 2015 and offensive line coach Dave Borbely has coached the Panthers since 2018. Cignetti compared working with the group to working with an NFL staff, and noted that while he doesn't want to change too much of what they do, he wants to focus on what they do well and take it to the next level.
"You do have a foundation of an offense here," Cignetti said. "I've sat down with the staff to look at the things we do. We want to be great at things. We don't want to be good, we want to be great. That's the advantage of spring ball. We can find some things we're great at and see what things that might not fit us that well."
But on top of the players Pitt has returning to the offense are the new additions, and none carried more importance than Slovis. The transfer junior from USC threw for 7,576 passing yards, 58 touchdowns and 24 interceptions with the Trojans before entering the Transfer Portal for five days and then choosing Pitt. Narduzzi admitted that finding a transfer quarterback was always the plan for the program, as they knew ahead of time that with Pickett's final year they didn't want to focus on any quarterbacks of the 2022 high school recruiting class.
"It was a major factor," Narduzzi said of getting a transfer quarterback. "Our plan all along was to get one that we made last February. We didn't want a highs school quarterback because we didn't see one in the 2022 class that made us say, 'we want that guy.' We were full steam ahead on three guys, but fortunately we got our number one guy. We had two other guys try to commit first, but we had to say hold on, because we were waiting on our number one guy. That was a rough week to hold off because he was our number one, but when he did, that was big."
That Slovis was Narduzzi's top quarterback says something, and he wasn't alone. Both Narduzzi and Slovis admitted that former offensive coordinator Whipple tried to recruit Slovis to his new program in Nebraska, but that Pitt got help to close the agreement by none other than Pickett, who already had a relationship with Slovis.
"Kedon was with Kenny in the Manning camp," Narduzzi said. "Kenny told me that Kedon didn't think he would be able to talk with the coordinator before he arrived on campus. I had to reassure him there was no way that would happen. Those guys have to work together and they've been in a room together every single day."
When Slovis was mulling over his decision, Narduzzi had Pickett give him a call to let him know about the program he was about to join. That decision helped Slovis finalize his decision to join the Panthers.
"Hearing Kenny talk about his experience, that was a selling point," Slovis said of his conversation with Pickett. "It's a great honor to follow him. It's a lot to look up to but I'm going to be my own player and I have to play my own game. I'm not Kenny Pickett. This is going to be a different team and hopefully I can build off what he accomplished here."
But it wasn't just Pickett, as Slovis learned only once he entered the Transfer Portal that Pitt's returning team would have most of the talent it boasted in 2021. That, and the culture Pickett informed Slovis he would be joining, drove home the idea that Pitt was his best option.
"A lot of reasons," Slovis said when asked why he picked Pitt. "The amazing thing was with all the success last year, I thought they would be losing a lot of older guys. But then when I realized everybody was staying except for Kenny, I looked at the opportunity and realized it was a no-brainer. There are great people here and a great culture and it's something I look forward to playing."
Not least of all of those teammates Slovis would join would be Addison, who exploded for the Panthers in 2021 to be the country's most outstanding receiver in college football. But it wasn't until Slovis got to campus and started working out with Pitt's other receivers at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex that he realized how talented of a receiver room he had inherited by choosing the Panthers. In addition to Addison, Slovis gets to work with Mumpfield, Jared Wayne, Jaylon Barden and Jaden Bradley.
"It's really special," Slovis said of Pitt's receiver room. "Jordan's a hell of a player. Beyond that, I knew what he brought to the table from the tape, but I can't believe what I've seen from the other guys that I didn't see on TV. They're more than talented. Jordan's better than advertised, Konata just got in and played really well, guys like Jared really impressed me in person like him, Jaylon and Jaden. I've thrown to them a lot in the indoor and they're wowing me each time."
But Cignetti and Narduzzi both acknowledged that quarterback position wasn't settled just yet, as Nick Patti, who broke his collarbone on a touchdown run for Pitt in the Peach Bowl, had a successful surgery and would be ready for spring camp. As far as Cignetti's concerned, Slovis will have to earn his status as a starter just like every other player on a roster with a new offensive coordinator.
"I see it as a competition in every room," Cignetti said of position battles. "A new coordinator walks in and you've got a new set of eyes to evaluate every position. The bottom line is the best players will play. You practice, you compete and the best quarterback will start. The best way to settle that is who practices the best."
Both quarterback and running back battles look to play a major role in how Pitt's offense will look in Cignetti's return to the program. But it will be the balance the experienced coach from Pittsburgh establishes that becomes the identity for the group in following up such a successful year like 2021.
• Cignetti also made sure to mention the importance of working with Bartholomew, who enters his sophomore season with a lot of promise after a strong freshman year. The last time Cignetti coached an offense for Pitt, he inherited Dorin Dickerson, who had only two touchdown receptions in his first three years for the program. In his one season under Cignetti, Dickerson exploded for ten touchdowns in a year that helped get him to the NFL.
Cignetti wouldn't draw comparisons between the two, but he did acknowledge he knows he's dealing with a talented individual in Bartholomew.
"First off, Dorin was an outlier," Cignetti said of Dickerson. "You walk in here and see a guy who's very talented and it was a matter of finding the niche and the rest is history."
"Right Pat?" Cignetti paused to ask his former quarterback Pat Bostick who was in attendance. "You were there."
"Bartholomew is a good football player," Cignetti continued. "Coach Salem's done a great job coaching him. As I watched the tape I saw some Nate Bynum in him of a guy that could play on the line but then I saw some Hunter Long in him as a guy we coached at Boston College and went on to be a third round pick with the Dolphins. Can't wait to be on the field with him. I see a lot of upside and a guy who could probably play off the line, on the line, block in the run game and line up in any spot to create mismatches."
• Mumpfield, a rising sophomore transfer receiver from Akron, revealed in his first time speaking to Pittsburgh media how he was well aware of Pitt as the Panthers tried to recruit him out of high school. But his attraction to consider Pitt also stemmed from watching Addison and the offense light up scoreboards in 2021, as well as when he studied a common opponent in Western Michigan and how well the Panthers' receivers moved through the Broncos' defense last year.
"They actually recruited me out of high school," Mumpfield said of Pitt. "An ACC championship is appealing and the numbers Jordan and the offense was putting up caught my eye. Coach Narduzzi was very energetic and I've always like that. I remembered watching how their receivers moved when I studied Western Michigan last year and how easily they ran through defenses. They seemed like they were always in the right spots."
Beyond that attraction, Mumpfield said he had been welcomed into the receiver room that was already packed with talented receivers across the board.
"They're definitely cool people," Mumpfield said of Pitt's receivers. "When I came in they introduced themselves and you could feel the love. There's no hate there even with everyone having their own goals. We're all trying to get to where we want to get. That's a great receiver room and it's a blessing to be part of it."
"He's athletic, makes plays and has great ball skills," Narduzzi said of Mumpfield. "That's the top thing we want. He's got to catch the ball and run. We'll find out about more about him in spring. But it's going to be a fun spring. Even Jaden Bradley just keeps getting taller, he's like 6-foot-4 now."
• Both Narduzzi and Slovis noted that Pitt's quarterbacks welcomed Slovis with open arms as well, emphasizing that the players in the program welcome more challengers into the room.
"Do we recruit character or do we develop it?" Narduzzi said. "I'm not sure what it is, but I have to think we develop it, but our kids do a great job bringing people into the family. It's competition, sure, but everyone welcomes it in that room. Our kids will always have open arms for new guys into the program."
But beyond the question of competition still was the overall challenges of recruitment in the NCAA. After a one-year hiatus on scholarship limitations due to COVID-19, the reinstituted 85 scholarship limit put a bind on programs from continuing to expand their recruitment reach while keeping experienced players who wanted another year of college football.
"The NCAA doesn't give us unlimited scholarships," Narduzzi said. "We're limited to 85 and if you have only so many seniors leave, you're limited. Everyone gets fired up when the hogs (offensive line) say they're coming back for another year, right? But that changes your numbers because then you realize that changes your scholarship numbers. You plan for what you plan."
"For example, Shocky Jacques-Louis, everybody loves Shocky, right?" Narduzzi continued. "Shocky told us back last February that he was moving on after the season. So we use that scholarship for recruitment. But then the day after the signing day, Shocky texts us and says he's thinking about coming back. But then we had to tell him we didn't have any scholarships left. That scholarship crunch messes a lot of things up. We're as detailed as you can be to plan for scholarships, but you can't give out more than you have."
Jacques-Louis ended up transferring to Akron, in essence swapping a senior receiver for a sophomore in Mumpfield between the two programs. But there's no doubt the Panthers would've loved to bring his experience back had the space for scholarships been available after he changed his mind.
As it stands, Pitt's recruiting class of 12 incoming high school recruits and four players transferring into the program is the smallest in program history, per Narduzzi. But that's a result only made because of how many Pitt players returned to the program after last season looking to repeat their standing as ACC champions. The idea of having a small recruiting class in exchange for an experienced roster is one that Narduzzi not only seemed willing to accept, but excited about.
"You have to be, right?" Narduzzi said when asked if he was comfortable with the size of Pitt's recruiting class. "What does a small class mean? When I look out on that field I think, 'holy cow the football team that won us a championship last year is out there.' When you look around and realize everyone's back, that's a wow. That means next year's (recruiting) class is going to be big. The great thing is we'll have just a handful of young guys and that tells you there's a good football team in that indoor facility. You realize there's not much missing, and that's why Slovis, (Shayne) Simon and Mumpfield come because they see that."
• Simon is a transfer linebacker with three years of experience playing for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish's money linebacker. He confirmed Wednesday while speaking to the media he is being coached by Pitt linebackers coach Ryan Manalac to assume the same role with the Panthers. But what attracted him to the program was the aggressive style of play from the defense that he saw for years.
"We played Pitt a few years ago," Simon remembered from his time with Notre Dame. "When we faced them we knew they were one of the best defenses and they were physical and took away the run. They play fast, downhill and that's like we played at Notre Dame. It's a lot about just tweaking my game and learning their process so I can play fast and have fun."
