What are appropriate expectations for Pitt in 2025?

Voting media members in the ACC project the Panthers as middle of the pack, having selected them to finish ninth in the league (last year’s ninth-place squad, Boston College, went 7-6). Nationally, Pitt landed three votes in the preseason AP Top 25 poll.

But internally, self-belief is high within a program that feels somewhat slighted, despite returning its starting quarterback, tailback and several key defensive players.

Detecting some outside doubt about their prospects — unquestionably because of last year’s second-half collapse — the Panthers adopted “EGK” (Everybody’s Gonna Know) as a slogan, with a meaning that runs deep among the players.

“Everybody’s gonna know that Pitt’s going to be a powerhouse in the ACC, fighting for an ACC championship, fighting for a CFP spot,” quarterback Eli Holstein said. “ … Everybody’s gonna know that Pitt is one of the perennial powerhouses in college football. That’s the motto this year. Everybody’s gonna know that we’re here to play, we’re here to dominate, we’re here to win.”

Whatever it is that Pitt lets everyone know this season, whether the Panthers achieve or fall short of Holstein’s ambitious goals, will be in large part contingent on the growth of their redshirt sophomore quarterback.

While injuries limited Holstein in the second half of last season, coinciding with Pitt’s 0-6 spiral to conclude the year, he still put together a solid debut campaign in Oakland, throwing for 2,225 yards and 17 touchdowns with a 61.9% (180 for 291) completion rate and seven interceptions.

Holstein also served as leader of a first-year offense under coordinator Kade Bell, who, like his quarterback, returns for Year 2 at Pitt.

There’s already enough evidence to suggest Bell’s offense, prolific at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision level (Western Carolina), has translated nicely to the ACC.

Now it’s on Holstein to execute the newest iteration of Bell’s scheme.

Those around the former Alabama transfer believe Holstein is showing signs of being able to do so.

“He’s very mature for how young he is and being a redshirt sophomore,” said fellow quarterback Cole Gonzales, a senior transfer from Western Carolina. “He’s seen a lot of time on the field. His eyes are very well-detailed. He knows how to read safeties and can read coverages really well. He’s getting the ball out of his hands fast, and anticipating the throw is something he’s really good at, as well.”

Eli Holstein -> freshman tight end Max Hunt on Day 2 of Pitt’s fall camp: pic.twitter.com/zZ1bCh2aKy

— Justin Guerriero (@GuerrieroTrib) July 31, 2025

Coach Pat Narduzzi wants his players to become “film rats,” being diligent about breaking down past games, their own snaps and what opposing teams did against Pitt in various situations.

But over his coaching career, he has found players can often benefit from a helping hand in refining how to study film.

So this offseason, Narduzzi spent time with Holstein watching film and trying to ingrain the best studying methods into arguably his most important player.

As Pitt prepares for the season opener Aug. 30 against Duquesne, Narduzzi has been impressed with the leaps Holstein made in his quest to mentally master his position.

“He’s watching more tape,” Narduzzi said. “When you talk about improvements, it’s recognition of coverages, safeties and who’s telling you what the coverage is pre-snap. A lot of it’s pre-snap. You can imagine sitting back there, people are walking around and moving and you’re trying, as the quarterback, to dissect what it is. He has become pretty good at that.

“We’ll find out on gameday how it transitions from practice … but that takes time. Imagine where he’s going to be in a year or two years. Kenny Pickett didn’t have it right away — nobody does. Stuff’s happening fast out there, especially at that position.”

On top of Holstein’s increased maturity, the Panthers are counting on a bigger year from the retooled wide receivers room, featuring transfers Blue Hicks and Deuce Spann, plus youngsters such as Zion Fowler-El and Tony Kinsler.

In addition, leading returning receiver Kenny Johnson (46 grabs, 537 yards, three scores) is back, as are Poppi Williams (37/426/team-high six touchdowns) and Censere Lee, all of whom could be in line to break out.

“Eli knows where I’m going to be at,” Johnson said. “Eli knows what I’m feeling, and he knows the type of leverage I like for certain things. He can just feel that, and I think that’s going to be the biggest thing for us. Last year, there were points in time where we were kind of off-page. We didn’t know what we were feeling and thinking.

“But this offseason we got time to look at coverages, specific routes, specific leverages and things. The communication has been great, and I’m excited for this year.”

Nice ball from Eli Holstein, good awareness/footwork by Kenny Johnson and a banger of a tune by AC/DC playing in the background: pic.twitter.com/WTi5c5lcer

— Justin Guerriero (@GuerrieroTrib) August 15, 2025

As important as Holstein will be for Pitt, so is Desmond Reid, who emerged as one of the nation’s more dynamic running backs last year, his first at the FBS level. Reid was named a first-team preseason All-American as an all-purpose player.

The Panthers also will look to returning tight ends Jake Overman and Malachi Thomas for protection and production.

Ultimately, Pitt’s offense is not without its question marks and concerns. But as the season opener approaches, confidence abounds.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a coordinator for two years, a quarterback for two years,” Narduzzi said. “Eli Holstein’s going to lead that group game-in and game-out. … We’re going to play good offense.”

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