Frank Cignetti Jr. took big, eager steps Wednesday when he entered Pitt’s team meeting room.

There, he hugged an old friend, acknowledged another with a great-seeing-you-again wave and, truly, looked like a guy who had just returned home for the first time in years.

Which is, actually, the case.

“It’s great to be home. How’s everyone doing?” said Cignetti, in his first public appearance since accepting the job of Pitt’s offensive coordinator.

After two years at Boston College and several other stops throughout the NFL and college, he replaces Mark Whipple, who teamed with Kenny Pickett last season to build one of the most powerful offenses in college football.

Cignetti, the fifth coach to run Pat Narduzzi’s offense in eight seasons, has served under three previous Pitt coaches: Mike Gottfried and Paul Hackett as a graduate assistant and Dave Wannstedt as offensive coordinator for a team that won 10 games in 2009. Cignetti’s father, Frank Sr., and brother, Curt, also were Pitt assistants. Taking the three of them collectively, they worked for eight of the past 12 Pitt coaches, going all the way back to Cignetti Sr.’s three seasons (1966-1968) under Dave Hart.

“We always consider Pittsburgh home. Family is here,” said Cignetti, who played and coached at IUP. “My parents still live in Indiana, Pa. I have two sisters that live up there in Pine-Richland (School District). So, not only for myself but my whole family, my wife Ellen and our kids, it’s a homecoming.”

Now that the greetings and pats on the back are out of the way, it’s time to attempt to duplicate the success Whipple found with Pickett. Spring practice starts Feb. 28.

It was, perhaps, fitting that immediately after his chat with reporters, Cignetti was walking into a meeting where Pitt’s run game would be the topic of conversation.

“We are very excited to get a run game identity going here,” he said. “Not that there wasn’t one in the past, but it’s just something where you look at it and we want to get this run game going.”

Before Cignetti’s talk, Narduzzi mentioned that running backs Izzy Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond Jr. might have been under-utilized last season.

“We didn’t really do a great job of getting them the ball,” Narduzzi said.

Narduzzi likes to run the ball, but he said he didn’t meddle in Whipple’s offense. Of course, he didn’t. Making your Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback the focus can’t be questioned.

With Pickett gone, it might be time to lean on the veteran running backs and offensive linemen a bit more.

“I’m not going to tell an offensive coordinator what to do, how to do it, when to run it,” Narduzzi said. “I say my piece, and you better win. You better score points.

“One thing about coach Cignetti, I know he likes to run the football. We’re going to try to establish the run game, which, to me, is going to open up more explosives for those wideouts.”

Cignetti said he likes the talent on the line and in the backfield.

“When you watch the tape, there are good football players here. There are really good football players here,” he said. “When I looked at the offensive line and I looked at the talent of the running backs, wow, man, really excited. Kind of like when we walked in last time (2009) with the offensive line that (former line coach) Tony Wise had and the running backs that (assistant) David Walker had, you know, with Dion (Lewis) and Ray (Graham).”

He called the wide receivers, including Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison, “an unbelievable group.” The offensive linemen are “tough, physical, very businesslike.”

Of course, quarterback remains the most important position on the field, and Cignetti will conduct competition between two who are eager to grab the reins formerly held by Pickett.

• Kedon Slovis, who transferred to Pitt after completing 68% of his passes for 7,576 yards and 58 touchdowns in three seasons at USC.

• Nick Patti, who is recovered from shoulder surgery, Narduzzi said.

“He’s full go (for spring drills). He’s throwing it around right now.”

Patti hurt the shoulder diving for a touchdown a month ago in the Peach Bowl.

One change Cignetti will make is something everyone can see — or won’t see. Whipple was on the field and made contact with Pickett after most plays. Cignetti will be in the coaches’ box above the field and signal the play to new on-field graduate assistant John DiBiaso.

“I’m an upstairs guy. Cool and calm, I like to be able to see it and dial it up,” Cignetti said. “You have a great view up there. You see the game. You see it well. You don’t get caught up in the emotions of what’s going on.”

Quarterbacks will get plenty of face time with Cignetti, 56, during the week.

He said he values relationships built with his players over three decades, remaining close to many of them beyond their playing days.

“We’ve always said this: The wins and losses will come and go, but the relationships last a lifetime,” he said.

“I learned a long time ago as a quarterback coach, and I’ve had great mentors — my father, (Dallas Cowboys coach) Mike McCarthy — they said, ‘Hey, look, when you’re coaching the quarterback, always try to see it through their eyes. Ask them, what did you see? That way you can understand the decision that they made.’

“Football is a really tough game. Playing quarterback is very difficult. So I’ve always taken the approach as a teacher that I want to put the quarterback in a position to be successful. In practice, we’re going to be demanding. On game day, we’re going to be cool, man. We’re going to be at our coolest, because those players, especially the quarterback, they need my help.

“I’m going to try to help them play their best football.”

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