Never mind the loss of Heisman Trophy finalist Kenny Pickett. He was one of the best players to wear a Pitt uniform this century, and now he’s gone.

Never mind that starting linebackers John Petrishen, Phil Campbell III and Cam Bright — the heart of a good defense — must be replaced after they recorded nearly 20% of the team’s tackles.

Never mind that Pitt is now the hunted — not the hunter — after winning the ACC championship in 2021.

With spring drills scheduled to begin Monday morning, the expectations for the 2022 season remain high, perhaps higher than at anytime since 2010 when Pitt was coming off a 10-3 season in ‘09. Count ‘em up: There are 16 players returning after they were in the starting lineup for the 45-21 victory against Wake Forest in the ACC championship game.

Allow Pitt fans — any fans — to experience the euphoria of a championship, and they no longer will settle for mediocrity.

Pitt (11-3 last season) might be the favorite in the ACC Coastal, but the team will have a new look in many areas.

Here are five points to ponder in advance of the first of 14 practice days before the Blue Gold game April 9 at Heinz Field:

1. Narduzzi’s guy

Give coach Pat Narduzzi credit. He immediately launched into rebuilding mode only days after Pitt defeated Wake Forest in the ACC title game. Single-focused while his staff prepared for the Peach Bowl, Narduzzi personally handled the recruitment of Pickett’s presumed replacement at quarterback, USC transfer Kedon Slovis.

“That was kind of my guy,” he said.

Narduzzi said Pitt targeted three transfer quarterbacks, pointing out Slovis was atop the list while the others were eager to commit. It got a little uncomfortable before Slovis made up his mind, but Narduzzi believes he got a good one.

“We did a lot of homework,” he said.

Although he was slowed by injuries at USC, Slovis appears to have an accurate arm, completing 68.4% of his passes in three seasons. If numbers matter, he threw for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns with a 71.9 completion percentage as a freshman in 2019. Pickett’s five-year percentage was 62.4.

Slovis left USC because a coaching change there might have locked him onto the bench, one of the reasons the NCAA created the transfer portal.

Forget the comparisons with Pickett, though. No one deserves to shoulder that kind of pressure coming onto a new team.

Slovis is 6-foot-3 (same as Pickett) and 15 pounds lighter (205, compared to 220), according to their respective bios from USC and Pitt. By the way, has anyone bothered to measure Slovis’ hands?

No one should forget Nick Patti, who was Pickett’s backup for three seasons before breaking his collarbone early in his big Peach Bowl opportunity Dec. 30. Patti had surgery the next day and was having a happy new year two weeks later when he was moving around and throwing a football. Two months post-surgery, Patti has recovered and is looking forward to competing for the starting job.

Also, don’t ignore the respect Patti earned from teammates, not only from his four years in the locker room, but also from the way he was injured — diving into the pylon to score a touchdown

Narduzzi won’t just stand back and hand the job to Slovis.

2. Near-complete overhaul

Pitt identified two other specific targets in the NCAA transfer portal, landing linebacker Shayne Simon from Notre Dame and wide receiver Konata Mumpfield from Akron.

Simon steps onto a linebacker group that will be scrutinized as carefully as the battle between Slovis and Patti.

With his experience, Simon might have an early edge on the outside (money) position after Petrishen and Campbell ran out of eligibility and team captain Bright (outside, star) transferred to Washington.

Losing Bright doesn’t help, but it opens an opportunity for younger players such as Brandon George, who had been playing in the middle, Bangally Kamara and Solomon DeShields.

“There’s an opportunity for guys to step up and show what they got,” Narduzzi said.

Kamara has made his mark in short bursts, recording two tackles for a loss, three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble last season.

There is plenty of experience elsewhere on defense, including six players named All-ACC:

• Defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, first team.

• Middle linebacker SirVocea Dennis, who led Pitt with 87 tackles, second-team.

• Defensive end Habakkuk Baldonado and safety Brandon Hill, second team.

• Defensive end Deslin Alexandre and safety and championship game MVP Erick Hallett, honorable mention.

3. Addison’s high ceiling

There’s plenty of optimism about the return of Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison, who — to his credit — turned out to be a loyalist who eschewed the transfer portal. He caught 100 passes for 1,593 yards and 17 touchdowns in his second year. How good can he be one year older and wiser?

A year from now, the NFL might be deciding between Addison and Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the first wide receiver off the board in the 2023 NFL Draft.

But Pitt lost five pass catchers, including wide receiver Taysir Mack, who missed the last six games with a shoulder injury, Also gone are Melquise Stovall, Tre Tipton, Shocky Jacques-Louis and tight end Lucas Krull.

Jacques-Louis transferred to Akron, but before he did, he changed his mind and wanted to return to Pitt, Narduzzi said. Pitt was in a scholarship crunch at that point, and there wasn’t room.

But the portal actually completed a trade, with Pitt signing Mumpfield, who was a freshman All-American at Akron last season with 61 receptions for 723 yards and eight touchdowns.

Can he do in the ACC what he did in the MAC? In any case, there’s backup with Jared Wayne (47/658/6), Jaylon Barden and Jaden Bradley.

At tight end, rising sophomore Gavin Bartholomew (28/326/4) looked ready for a big stage as a freshman All-American.

4. New-look offense?

With a new quarterback and the heralded return of offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr., the offense, naturally, will have a new look.

Narduzzi might like to see a bigger emphasis on the running game, with seven seasoned offensive linemen and the top three running backs returning. Izzy Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond Jr. combined to rush for 1,748 yards.

“Those guys deserve to have carries,” Narduzzi said. “We didn’t really do a great job of getting them ball.”

In fairness to former offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, the prudent move was probably keeping the ball in Pickett’s hands and letting him find an open receiver. But you get Narduzzi’s point, right?

5. What about Narduzzi’s extension?

The paychecks of college coaches are notoriously high. Take a look at Michigan State’s Mel Tucker, who received a 10-year, $95 million contract before the end of his second season. Then, he went out and earned it by beating Pitt in the Peach Bowl.

ACC coaches Mack Brown of North Carolina and Dave Doeren of N.C. State received deals this year that will pay them $5 million annually.

Extensions are important for recruiting purposes, and the colleges that want to compete are not usually reluctant to pay the going rate.

Twice in the past two months, Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke said talks to extend Narduzzi’s contract, which runs through the 2024 season, are ongoing. Three weeks ago, she said they were close to an agreement.

Entering his eighth season, Narduzzi is tied with Walt Harris for the longest head-coaching tenure at Pitt since John Michelosen concluded his 11th season in 1965.

Although he needed two more seasons to do it, Narduzzi (53-37) already has won more games than Jackie Sherrill (50). He can pass Pop Warner (60) and Michelosen (56) this season and move into second place all-time.

Since you asked, Jock Sutherland (1924-38) is the leader with 111 victories, 12 ties and only 20 defeats in 15 seasons.

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