Pitt's Pat Narduzzi said he demoted Phil Jurkovec to No. 2 quarterback because 'we needed a spark'

Kenny Pickett took his last snap as a Pitt quarterback Dec. 4, 2021.

Quarterbacks — good ones, the kind you win with — are difficult to find, and developing them to a coach’s satisfaction is a complicated process. Pickett arrived in 2017, and he didn’t become a star until 2021.

No one knows that better than Pat Narduzzi, who finds himself in the crosshairs of public scrutiny after Pitt opened this season at 1-4, and two quarterbacks he picked from the transfer portal turned out to be inadequate.

Christian Veilleux will be the third Saturday when he starts against undefeated and No. 14 Louisville at Acrisure Stadium.

Narduzzi traded Phil Jurkovec, who has 809 pass attempts in his collegiate past, for Veilleux, who has 62. That’s a risk Narduzzi is willing to take. Of course, he had no choice.

Jurkovec and those teammates around him failed to make Pitt’s passing game a threat, which in turn put up a roadblock for the running game. With Jurkovec 13th in the ACC in passing yards per game (163.6) and 14th and last in completion percentage (50.9%), opponents could all but forget about the pass and focus on Pitt’s ground attack (13th at 115.6 yards per game).

“I felt like we needed a spark at that position to see what happens,” Narduzzi said.

The coach and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. were hoping to see in games the same efficient and productive work Jurkovec showed in practice through the first five weeks of the season and training camp. But it seldom resurfaced.

Let it be known that Jurkovec received a fair opportunity. He was the presumed starter when he transferred from Boston College last December, forcing out Kedon Slovis, who left for BYU, largely because he knew Jurkovec was recruited to replace him. Even after Jurkovec threw three interceptions at West Virginia — an embarrassing performance made even worse because it came during the Backyard Brawl — Narduzzi was reluctant to make a change.

Now, it’s six weeks into the season, and Pitt is a long shot to win even five more games and earn a bid to a minor bowl. Perhaps winning another ACC championship was asking too much considering the talent that left for the NFL, but a finish in the top half of the ACC shouldn’t have been an outrageous expectation.

There are no guarantees with Veilleux, a redshirt sophomore who threw two interceptions and lost a fumble when he replaced an injured Jurkovec for the second half of the North Carolina game. But Narduzzi said there won’t be a quick hook hanging over his new starting quarterback.

“I’m not going to pull the plug on him either,” the coach said. “I don’t think you pull the plug on anybody. He’s got to go out and execute. We expect that. We’ll see how it goes. Everybody around him has got to get it done.

“I think everybody gets evaluated. Phil’s been evaluated for five weeks. We’re going to take that body of work that (Veilleux) puts in Saturday and look at it and keep him on his feet and let him go.”

Within limits, of course.

“We’re going to do whatever we’ve got to do to win a football game. We’re going to find out where we move from here.”

Narduzzi said he still has “a ton of confidence” in Jurkovec. “Even if you (reporters) won’t and don’t.”

The good news is Veilleux, who transferred from Penn State at approximately the same time Jurkovec arrived, has been studying Cignetti’s system for the past 10 months.

“(I) expect to have a good week this week as we did last week at that position,” Narduzzi said, noting the team practiced twice during its off week. “I have a lot of faith in him and (sophomore) Nate Yarnell, as well.”

Narduzzi said the decision to move Jurkovec to No. 2 on the depth chart — where he is listed this week in a release approved by the head coach — was Cignetti’s to make.

“Frank, ultimately, is going to make that decision. We had conversations, for sure,” Narduzzi said. “I think anytime you step overboard and say, ‘I think you need to do this,’ I don’t think it works well. Frank ultimately makes that call, and I’ll say, either ‘Yay’ or ‘Nay.’ ”

Narduzzi also left the door open for further depth chart change at quarterback. He said Jurkovec is “No. 2 right now. We’ll see how the week goes.”

Narduzzi also said Jurkovec is not moving to tight end as had been reported last week.

“Rumors get out there, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “He’s been in the quarterback meetings. He’s a quarterback, and that’s what he is. Could he be a tight end someday? Yeah. I’m talking down the line, but he’s a quarterback here at Pitt.”

He added that Jurkovec didn’t run pass routes last week during the team period in practice, and he didn’t recall if he ran any routes at other times after the demotion.

“Phil is an unbelievable guy. Phil will do whatever you ask him to do,” the coach said. “He just wants to win. He doesn’t care. Phil took (the demotion) like a champion, like I expected him to (take it). He’ll run down on a kickoff (if he’s asked). He’ll play defensive end. He’ll do anything.”

Note: Pitt’s game at Wake Forest on Oct. 21 will begin at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by the ACC Network.