Where's the beef? Find it on Pitt's offensive line, with all 5 starters returning

They marched into the room Wednesday morning – four of them, weighing a total of nearly 1,300 pounds – wearing wry smiles like someone carrying a secret no one else knew.

Trouble was, Twitter already ruined the surprise minutes earlier: Pitt’s starting offensive linemen had decided en masse to return for the 2022 season.

Few more cold ones with the boys ????#h2p pic.twitter.com/kY479LxsZ0

— Owen Drexel (@owendrex) December 22, 2021

Big news, as coach Pat Narduzzi later pointed out to reporters.

“As big as they are, that’s how big it is,” Narduzzi said. “That’s a lot of beef.”

That’s also a lot of experience, more than 130 starts among the five of them. Any line coach will say knowing the proper technique involved in moving an opponent from Point A to Point B is just as important as being strong enough to do it.

The extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA after the covid interruptions of 2020 facilitated the players’ return. But what made the revelation even more significant was each player’s situation. They could have tried their luck in the NFL or — as many college athletes are doing these days — peeked into the NCAA transfer portal.

• Left tackle Carter Warren eschewed an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

• Left guard Marcus Minor had no intention of playing two seasons at Pitt when he transferred as a redshirt senior from Maryland earlier this year. “I’m not going to lie. I was thinking one year simply because I thought that was best for me at the time,” he said. “After going through the season and doing well and having the time with the boys, I thought it would be great to do it again.”

• Right tackle and Upper St. Clair graduate Gabe Houy and his parents were honored at Senior Day.

• Center Owen Drexel – like Warren and Houy — will be approaching a sixth season at Pitt.

• Right guard and Butler graduate Jake Kradel, who wasn’t available to speak to reporters Wednesday because he’s rehabbing a foot injury, is the only junior of the group. He has some unfinished business to handle after making 25 career starts prior to his injury.

Each man had a personal decision to make, but Minor admitted there was plenty of group discussion.

“We do think as an O line, having a year of playing with one another, having the chemistry, it will be great for us to come back and do it together,” he said. “We were able to talk about it after we made our decisions, and we thought it was a great thing to do. It’s all based off hard work, blue collar. It was an exciting decision to make.

“We’ll be able to work with each other, know what our faults are, know what are positives are. Be able to coach each other, if we need to. We can communicate, go back to the drawing board if we need to. Won’t be down in the dumps for too long if something happened.”

Added Drexel: “Marcus came in last year and fit in like he was my brother as soon as he walked through the door. The chemistry’s real.”

The linemen’s decision surfaced 12 months after quarterback Kenny Pickett surprised everyone by deciding to return when he could have gone to the NFL. Pitt has its share of players entering the portal – and more are sure to emerge after the Peach Bowl – but keeping the most important players could make the Panthers the preseason favorite to repeat as ACC Coastal champions.

Among those with eligibility to return (aside from the offensive linemen) are:

• Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison, who will be approaching his junior season after recording 93 receptions for 1,479 yards and a nation-leading 17 touchdowns.

• Second-team freshman All-American tight end Gavin Bartholomew, who caught 27 passes for 317 yards this season.

• Top three running backs Vincent Davis, Israel Abanikanda and Rodney Hammond Jr., who combined for 1,669 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns.

• And at least 10 key contributors on a defense that played an important role in defeating Wake Forest in the ACC championship game. They include third-team All-American defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, safety Erick Hallett, the game’s MVP, and three other members of the secondary, Marquis Williams, A.J. Woods and M.J. Devonshire (Aliquippa).

If they all return and come close to their 2021 efforts, that will speak to a spike in effective recruiting over the past few years and Narduzzi’s ability to keep the team together.

“That’s the biggest thing I’m proud of, the culture we have,” Narduzzi said.

The linemen’s news came less than 24 hours after Pitt got USC transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis’ name on a national letter of intent. Slovis threw for 3,502 yards and 30 touchdowns as a freshman in 2019 before being named first-team All-Pac 12 in 2020.

Minor played a small role in recruiting Slovis.

“I talked to him simply because I’m a transfer,” he said. “I told him we were coming back. It was really just up to him. I can only go off of what I’ve been through here in my time, which has been awesome.”