PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – As he was describing dealing with adversity during his first year as a starting quarterback, redshirt sophomore Eli Holstein mentioned the biggest challenge early in the season in 2025.
“We are going to West Virginia this year,” Holstein said after Pitt spring practice on Tuesday. “We are going to be able to handle adversity when you play a game like that. I heard they are going to be throwing batteries at me and everything, looking forward to that.”
I don’t know if ‘looking forward to that’ applies, but it speaks to his excitement to being back and healthy. There is no question this year who the number one quarterback is. After a season of ups and downs, Holstein said he’s spent a lot of time with offensive coordinator Kade Bell improving.
“Got to be able to make quicker decisions,” Holstein said. “That’s big for a quarterback. Got to be able to go out there and make those quick decisions and make the right ones most importantly. Quicker the decisions are the faster those guys get the ball in their hands and make plays with it.”
Speaking to a number of players through just a handful of spring practices, including Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, year two in the Kade Bell system looks like what they were hoping for the majority of last year.
“We are light years ahead of where we were midway through the (2024) season with this offense,” Holstein said. “These guys are a lot more comfortable. Coach Bell has tweaked some things that is going to benefit us a lot. It makes me more comfortable. It makes the receivers more comfortable with the tempo. We are changing up some tempos.”
“These guys are able to line up faster with the way Coach Bell has changed it. It’s just everything we’ve done is making the offense better and better.”
Pitt averaged 32.9 points a game in 2024 which ranked 31st in FBS. That is buoyed by scoring 55 points against Kent State, 73 versus Youngstown State, 46 against Syracuse when the defense accounted for three touchdowns and 46 against Toledo in six overtimes. In the ACC, minus the three defensive touchdowns, Pitt averaged 20.8 points offensively. It was 23.5 with the three Pick Sixes, which ranked 13th in conference play.
Holstein ended up playing in 10 games, limited in a few of them and missed the final two games of the season entirely. He completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 2,228 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions with a 140.6 rating. The end was nothing like the start of the season. He threw three touchdowns in each of his first five games, winning all of them and throwing for 1,567 yards. He said he has to bring that game every game this year.
More than just believing he’ll be more consistent, tight end Jake Overman, and others, said Holstein has become a leader and the team is getting behind him. You are always a leader when you are the quarterback, but after having a year with his teammates, they are trusting his opinions. Holstein said his father put him in position when he was as young as 10 years-old to help him lead college groups while he was a strength and conditioning coach. He doesn’t shy away from those situations and isn’t afraid to tell a teammate what he is feeling.
“Guys will tell you I’m very honest with them,” Holstein said. “I’m going to be on you, you are not going to like me sometimes. I’ve got to be honest with you. I got to tell you what you are doing wrong. You might throw a punch at me. We might tussle. You might hear what you don’t like sometimes.”
The way he said it is you can’t be a jerk about it. Most times he will pull players aside and talk to them about what to correct or what he saw. Like a coach might say, he’s spending time getting to know his teammates, who to pat on the back and who to kick in the rear.
Along with improving his leadership, maybe the biggest takeaway from having to portions of his first season, perspective.
“I like to have fun,” Holstein said. “At the end of the day, it’s a game.”
Combining that mindset with the improvements to the offense, the Panthers believe they can answer the six losses at the end of 2024 with a better 2025.