Any college football coach, bitter (somewhat understandably) at the freedom athletes enjoy with the transfer portal, could easily assert that his program is better off minus those who departed after a given season.

It wouldn’t be fair to label coach Pat Narduzzi as bitter, but Pitt’s 11th-year head coach undoubtedly believes his Panthers came out of what are now unavoidably turbulent offseasons in solid shape.

After Day 1 of Pitt’s fall camp practice session Wednesday at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, Narduzzi explained how he and his staff were able to keep the nucleus of their roster from 2024 largely intact.

“I think it starts with who we are,” Narduzzi said. “No. 1 program rule is having relationships with our players. That’s where it starts. We didn’t have to fight to get our guys to come back and be here because I think of how it is here every day. … I think you’ve got genuine people in this building who love each other. When you have that, they want to be here, they want to play in Pittsburgh (and) they love what we do and how we do it here.”

Eight months ago, an exodus from Oakland certainly appeared imminent, as Pitt’s second-half tailspin concluded with a six-overtime, 48-46 loss to Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.

It was a disappointing finale for a team that was 7-0 and squarely in the mix for an ACC championship, as well as a College Football Playoff spot.

But injuries, namely to quarterback Eli Holstein, took their toll, resulting in a back half of the year that was as deflating as the first few months were exciting.

Eli Holstein and the QBs getting the morning started: pic.twitter.com/zGRiyOt3gy

— Justin Guerriero (@GuerrieroTrib) July 30, 2025

Predictably, poachers lined up in force to court Holstein, tailback Desmond Reid — both of whom enjoyed impressive debuts with the Panthers last year — and others once the 7-6 season was complete.

At that point, Narduzzi and his staff had to sit back and trust that their program’s culture and the prospect of big things being achievable in 2025 would block out the temptation of the transfer portal and NIL offer.

Before too long, Holstein announced he would return. So did Reid and All-American linebacker Kyle Louis.

Additional key returning players include offensive linemen Lyndon Cooper, Ryan Baer and B.J. Williams; cornerback Rashad Battle; tight end Jake Overman; defensive tackles Nick James, Sean FitzSimmons and Jahsear Whittington; plus defensive end Jimmy Scott.

To be sure, Pitt did lose some talent.

Starting cornerback Ryland Gandy departed, as did linebacker Jordan Bass, defensive lineman Nahki Johnson, running back Rodney Hammond and wide receiver Daejon Reynolds.

However, for Narduzzi and Co., that was simply the price to pay in today’s college athletics.

Plus, transfer portal reinforcements arrived, particularly three offensive and defensive linemen, plus multiple wideouts.

Many returning players offered validation as to how Pitt goes about its business.

“I think that shows that the players believe in what we’re doing,” offensive coordinator Kade Bell said. “With all the changing parts in college football, you’ve seen a lot of players leave places for different reasons. For our guys to stay and say, ‘You know what, I want to play for that coach. I want to play in that offense. I know these coaches and this staff and this school can help me get to my end goal, which is graduating from the University of Pittsburgh and playing in the NFL one day,’ the fact that they believe in that, that’s a big part of what we’re doing here.”

In addition, Pitt’s players, even at this early stage of fall camp, feel that something special is within grasp this season.

The cracking of the sled is a welcomed sound: pic.twitter.com/ObyFnKWz8S

— Justin Guerriero (@GuerrieroTrib) July 30, 2025

“We know an ACC championship, that’s in reach,” Louis said. “That’s in our hands as long as we keep each other accountable. … It’s everything from the players, to the coaches, to the ethics, to the experience, the system.

“I saw that before when I was getting recruited in the 2021 year, and I’ve seen the same patterns this year in terms of the player talent, returning starters and everything. We’ve just got to keep that belief.”

Holstein, after navigating multiple concussions that conspired to keep him sidelined for the Panthers’ final three games last season, is eager to receive the keys to Bell’s offense for a second season.

After Year 1 of Bell and Holstein in their respective positions proved to be a success, expectations are high for an even more explosive offense in 2025.

“We were 7-1 when I was healthy, and our one loss was to a (CFP) team (Southern Methodist),” Holstein said. “That was our first year in this offense and, really, the first year of all of us playing on the same team. All those guys are back this year. We’re more comfortable in this offense.

“I think we’ve even gotten better on offense and defense as a whole team. It gives us a lot more confidence to just go out there, play free, have fun and go out there and play ball.”

Usually, the cliches of “flushing it,” “turning the page” or “onto the next one” come out in full force when players or coaches reflect on games and seasons in the past.

But that isn’t exactly the case at Pitt, where the wound of last year’s collapse is still fresh.

If there’s a motto for the 2025 Panthers, it might well be “unfinished business.”

“We really left a lot of room on the table last year,” Cooper said. “We know we could have won those games last year. The Clemsons, the Virginias, the Boston Colleges, we should have won all those games last year. I couldn’t see myself going anywhere else, especially possibly my last year in college football. I wanted to stay home and continue to build a culture.”

Notes: Narduzzi revealed a handful of injury updates pertinent to the tailbacks room. Redshirt senior Derrick Davis plus freshmen Ja’Kyrian Turner and Synkwan Smith are out for the season because of injury. Davis will take a medical redshirt and serve in a coaching capacity this fall. Those injuries led Pitt to make a last-second addition to its fall camp roster in Jalynn Williams, who joins the program from Western Carolina, from where Narduzzi hired Bell and recruited Reid.

Williams is a 5-foot-10, 210-pound tailback who spent the last three years with the Catamounts and previously played at Toledo (2019-21).

“He’s a really good back and we’re excited to have him,” Narduzzi said. “He’s a big back. … This guy can make you miss, he can change directions well, he can catch the ball out of the backfield. This guy can do it all.”

Narduzzi also confirmed that the Panthers will remain at 85 scholarships this season. Starting in 2025-26, the NCAA is allowing Division I FBS programs to roster as many as 105 scholarship players.

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