Pine-Richland grad Phil Jurkovec will transfer to Pitt while Kedon Slovis says he's leaving

In a matter of hours Monday, Pitt’s quarterback situation took a dramatic turn.

First, ESPN reported Kedon Slovis will enter the NCAA transfer portal, a move possibly triggered by even bigger news:

Pine-Richland graduate Phil Jurkovec will transfer to Pitt from Boston College, two sources confirmed Monday to the Tribune-Review.

“Really excited for him,” Boston College coach Jeff Hafley said Monday in response to an inquiry from the Tribune-Review.

Jurkovec, whose decision to leave Boston College was reported last week by ESPN, will reunite with his BC offensive coordinator, Frank Cignetti Jr., who joined the Pitt staff a year ago.

When he decided last year to transfer to Pitt from USC, Slovis said the decision was “a no-brainer.” But that changed after Slovis experienced an up-and-down 2022 season at Pitt.

By the end of Pitt’s 12th game Nov. 26 in Miami, Slovis and the aerial game had shown improvement, but it was clear even more was necessary to meet the standard set in 2021 when Pitt won its first ACC championship.

With two games left this season, Slovis said he was unsure about his future.

Phil Jurkovec told ESPN: “I’m thankful to Coach Narduzzi and Coach Cignetti and the University of Pittsburgh for allowing me the opportunity to come home and compete.” https://t.co/MDWVwdgbrk

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 5, 2022

Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi is hoping Jurkovec (6-foot-5, 214 pounds) will improve Pitt’s passing game. Meanwhile, Jurkovec might be able to improve his prospects for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Jurkovec, who will be a graduate transfer with one season of eligibility left in 2023, is transferring for the second time after going to Notre Dame out of Pine-Richland, where he threw for 11,144 yards and 71 touchdowns and led his team to the 2017 PIAA Class 6A championship.

After two seasons at Notre Dame, Jurkovec transferred to Boston College in 2020 and was the Eagles’ starting quarterback in each of the past three seasons. In 2020, he threw for a 10-game, school-record 2,588 yards with 17 touchdown passes. In a 31-30 overtime victory against Pitt, he completed 19 of 35 passes for 358 yards and three touchdowns.

The following year, he missed six games with a hand injury and threw for 914 yards. During the ’20 and ’21 seasons, he developed a good relationship with Cignetti before the coach left for Pitt.

Jurkovec’s 2022 season ended Oct. 29 when he left a 13-3 loss at UConn with knee and rib injuries. He is expected to recover in time for Pitt’s spring practice.

Before the injuries, Jurkovec played behind Boston College’s weak and injured offensive line that allowed 46 sacks, worst among Power 5 schools and third worst in the nation. He threw 11 touchdown passes, with eight interceptions, without the benefit of a running game. Boston College (3-9) finished the season last in the nation in average yards rushing (63.2).

Former Pitt All-American tight end Dorin Dickerson, part of the 93.7 FM “Morning Show” team and a college and pro football analyst for the radio station, said the move makes sense on multiple levels.

“It’s a very good upgrade,” Dickerson said. “Three reasons why I think that this was an absolute must move for Pitt and Jurkovec:

• “For one, Jurkovec can be back with Cignetti. His best year of college football was underneath Cignetti.

• “Two, he gets to come back home. He gets to play in front of his family.

• “And, three, I think a guy like him, coming back home and playing here in Pittsburgh, his NIL is probably going to go through the roof. I don’t think there is any school out there that could have offered him, potentially, more money than businesses around here who already know who he is. His bang for his buck was here.

“And, four, if you want to add a bonus with a cherry on top, you get to play Boston College and Notre Dame next year. To me, it was a no-brainer.”

After the 12-game regular season, it became apparent Pitt needed to improve its passing game for 2023. Slovis’ transition from USC to Pitt was not an easy one.

At Pitt, Slovis was expected to win a training camp competition with Nick Patti, and he did so, starting 11 games this season. He played well in the opener, leading a comeback victory against West Virginia while throwing for 308 yards.

But he sat out the second half of the Tennessee game after suffering a concussion and didn’t play the next week at Western Michigan. Redshirt freshman Nate Yarnell replaced Slovis for that game, but he threw only 12 passes, completing nine for 179 yards and a touchdown in a 34-13 Pitt victory.

Slovis returned the following week against Georgia Tech and carried a heavy load, completing 26 of 45 passes for 305 yards, two late touchdowns and an interception in a 26-21 defeat.

Throughout the rest of the season, Slovis improved gradually, but Pitt lost two of its next three games and was eliminated from the ACC Coastal Division title chase. The only victory in that period was on the shoulders of running back Izzy Abanikanda, who rushed for 320 yards against Virginia Tech.

By the end of the regular season, Slovis started finding a comfort level with senior Jared Wayne, who became the seventh Pitt wide receiver this century to reach 1,000 yards in receptions (1,012).

Meanwhile, transfer Konata Mumpfield averaged only 9.3 yards per catch, and Bub Means, another transfer, totaled only 23 catches for 317 yards and one touchdown. Slovis also never made a significant connection with talented tight end Gavin Bartholomew, who has only 20 receptions (less than two per game on average) for 284 yards and two touchdowns.

Pitt won its final four games, but Slovis ended the season sixth in the ACC in passing yards per game (217.9) and ninth in passing efficiency (127.1), barely throwing more touchdown passes than interceptions (10/9). He completed 184 of 315 attempts for 2,397 yards. His 58.4 completion percentage was 10 points below his career mark entering the season.

Slovis threw six of his 10 touchdown passes in two games — three each against Georgia Tech on Oct. 1 and Miami in the regular-season finale — and never hooked up with Mumpfield for a score.