Blocking chatter about his future, Mason Heintschel focused on chasing ACC title with Pitt
Mason Heintschel’s first collegiate start likely wasn’t even over before a chorus of speculation began as to where Pitt’s true freshman quarterback would transfer or which programs would be lining up to poach him at the earliest opportunity.
Within the framework of college athletics in 2025, such a response was hardly surprising.
While certainly not by design, Heintschel’s performance Oct. 4 against Boston College and his body of work under center since then has done much to fan the flames of that sort of talk.
But as he’s gone from irrelevant third-string freshman to a rising star taking the ACC and college football by storm, Heintschel has turned away from that noise.
“I try to block that out as much as I can,” Heintschel said. “I’m focused on what we’re doing right now, which is trying to go win an ACC championship and taking it week by week. All that other stuff, that doesn’t really matter to me. I’m here to win games. I love these guys, I love this place and I’m focused on what we’re doing right now.”
As Pitt prepares to travel to Stanford this weekend, Heintschel will make his fifth college start, having completed 65.1% (95 of 146) attempts for 1,243 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
Heintschel’s ascension to becoming one of the steadier quarterbacks in the ACC is remarkable given his modest recruitment coming out of Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio.
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While he amassed 7,322 yards and 79 passing touchdowns in high school, Heintschel garnered just one Power Four offer: Pitt.
Smaller Buckeye State programs certainly took note of the 6-foot-2, 215-pound prospect, with offers coming in from Toledo, Kent State, Akron and Ohio.
But other than that, Liberty, Coastal Carolina and Bowling Green rounded out his scholarship opportunities.
The thought has crossed Heintschel’s mind as to why he flew under the radar as a recruit.
“It’s a great question,” he said. “A part of me wants to say, ‘I don’t know,’ but I think a part of it is where I’m from. Oregon, Ohio — not too many people know what that is. I tell people I’m from Oregon and they think the state. I think that (played) a big role in that, but I’m appreciative of what Pitt did for me and what they’re doing for me right now.
“That’s a testament to the coaching staff — especially (coordinator Kade) Bell and (coach Pat Narduzzi) having that trust in me, coming to find me and taking a kid out of a small town in Ohio.”
It’s a certainty that other interested programs will be making a pitch to Heintschel at the conclusion of this season.
How that will play itself out isn’t worth preemptively speculating on.
But Heintschel’s assertion about focusing on an ACC championship is not far-fetched.
The fact is, since Narduzzi made the bold gamble to turn to Heintschel, Pitt’s fortunes have increased dramatically, as he is undefeated as a starter and has his team at 6-2 (4-1 ACC) on the year.
Only No. 8 Georgia Tech (8-0, 5-0), which Pitt plays Nov. 22, and No. 15 Virginia (7-1, 5-0) sit above Pitt in the league standings.
Granted, a frustrating loss to Louisville (6-1, 3-1), now ranked No. 16 in the nation, earlier in the year — the last game Eli Holstein started before Narduzzi made his switch at quarterback — may have implications for the Panthers.
Ditto for Pitt’s Backyard Brawl loss Sept. 13 to a West Virginia squad sitting in the cellar of the Big 12 standings.
For Heintschel and the Panthers, what’s done is done.
Now, Pitt will travel cross country Saturday to play Stanford (3-5, 2-3), with Heintschel coming off a three-touchdown, 423-yard outing against N.C. State in which he set a Panthers freshman passing record.
As the final month of the regular season approaches, the next task for a rejuvenated Panthers team, riding a four-game win streak, awaits.
“It helps the morale in the locker room after wins,” Heintschel said. “Everybody’s excited and you’re looking forward to next week and having another opportunity to win. I think that’s the big thing for us. We’ve always had high aspirations of going and winning an ACC championship and going to the College Football Playoff. It starts with the next week. We’ve got to go 1-0 this week. You can’t look past anybody. … We’ve got to go out and get the job done this weekend.”
Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.
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