PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – His mentality is something that Pitt fans are going to love and if he is close to living up to the quarterback he admires most, Pitt will have a difference-maker like they’ve only had a few times in the last few decades.
Panthers transfer quarterback Eli Holstein only got work as a true freshman at Alabama on the scout team. He said he learned going up against the best defense in the country, as he called it. He said there was an opportunity to go live in practice, meaning full contact, and he welcomed it. Got popped a few times, but said that’s what football is about.
“It was fun,” Holstein said of getting drilled by the Alabama regulars.
Might help explain that he came from a football family. His brother was a record-setting high school quarterback in Louisiana and attended Louisiana Tech. His father was a punter at LSU.
It sounds like he wants to be like a linebacker at quarterback, much like the Buffalo Bills starter.
“I feel like (I’m like) Josh Allen,” Holstein said Wednesday. “A big quarterback. He’s not afraid to run the ball and not afraid to run through somebody, which I kinda like. It makes me excited watching him play like that.”
“He’s always able to make big plays, not only with his arm, but with his feet. He gets the ball out quick, has a lot of velocity and a strong arm. It’s a lot of fun watching him. I try to do as much as he does.”
The 6’4”, 237-pound Holstein said he’s not afraid and said those runs are within the offense of new Pitt coordinator Kade Bell. Holstein says Bell always tells him if it’s not there, to take off. He believes there will be designed runs and zone reads available as well.
The quarterback with four years of eligibility remaining says he wants to take his family name to the next level. He was going to do that with at arguably the biggest college stage at Alabama, but after just one redshirt season, it was time for a change.
“I just wanted a new, fresh start,” Holstein said. “I didn’t see me growing in the ways I wanted to at Alabama. I knew I needed to pursue other opportunities and Pitt was the place for me to do that.”
It’s not that he didn’t learn. Holstein said the year at Alabama was ‘as valuable as it gets’. He said he got the opportunity to get better, learn from great quarterbacks and coaches. What stuck out to him was how they train like champions in the weight room and film room. He also noticed what an entire staff does to take the team to the next level.
Holstein decided to transfer before Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban retired saying he had no feeling or knowledge before the decision that maybe the greatest coach in college football history would hang up the whistle. He hit the portal and researched options and said he liked what he heard ,and then saw, from the Pitt culture, not only in the locker room, but in the City. He said Pittsburgh reminded him of being in the South from that family standpoint.
There was also the intrigue of what Bell would bring as his offensive coordinator after finishing top five in FCS in total yards, passing offense, scoring offense, first downs and passing efficiency last season at Western Carolina.
“Looking into the offense, what the quarterbacks have done in Coach Bell’s offense,” Holstein said. “They’re throwing it 30-40 times a game (something he never did in high school), 300-plus passing yards, but also running the ball themselves. That’s something I want to do. They score and they score a lot which sounds really good for a quarterback.”
He’s working hard to shorten the learning curve of a new offense, but is in the same boat in that regard with the other handful of quarterbacks. Holstein said he’s willing to be patient because there are areas he needs to grow and learn to perfect his game. Not that he isn’t taking every opportunity to improve quickly.
“Throwing constantly with guys, with tight ends, receivers,” Holstein said. “Just going over the offense. We’ve gotten a brief packet of what the offense will look like. Going over that as much as possible and making sure I know it.”
Panthers have a pair of quarterbacks who started last year returning, at least before another transfer portal window opens in April. Holstein is different. A border-line five-star quarterback who could have played anywhere, but now chose Pitt.
What can they do together?