Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell looks for balance while developing his 4 QBs

Kade Bell can’t sit down with his father, Kerwin, to talk ball as often as he would like, but when they do, the ideas likely fly almost as fast as their offenses move from one play to the next.

Often, the subject is quarterbacks, a given considering Kade is Pitt’s offensive coordinator and Kerwin, the head coach at Western Carolina, played the position at the University of Florida and for 14 seasons in three pro leagues.

The subject was Pitt quarterbacks Thursday when Kade Bell met with reporters after the 14th and final spring practice before the Blue-Gold Game on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium. It’s a smaller QB room this season — three scholarship quarterbacks and a walk-on — but Bell suggested the situation might be good for all four players’ development.

“Spring was hard last spring,” Bell said. “We had seven or eight quarterbacks. How am I supposed to give everybody reps and see what they can all do?”

With starter Eli Holstein backed up this season by Julian Dugger (Penn Hills), freshman Mason Heintschel and walk-on David Lynch, everyone gets enough work and plenty of attention from Bell, also the quarterbacks coach.

Plus, there may be more work for Dugger, the presumed No. 1 backup, who can make things happen with his feet while he learns to play the position.

It’s easy to envision Bell as a scientist in his lab dreaming up special packages to help Dugger navigate in space.

“Me and my dad talk about this all the time,” he said. “Who wants to have just one quarterback who can play? That doesn’t make any sense to me. If you have three or four scholarships, why can’t they all be great players? You have to have that to create competition for kids to get better. I’m trying to invest in the quarterbacks. I want to develop those guys.

“Dugger has taken a big stride. Things you can do with him is pretty cool. It takes some hits off Eli. There are a lot of new things you can do with getting him on the perimeter, letting him read (defenders). It makes you be more creative.

“Mason showed up from Day 1 as a pro. I can’t keep him out of my office. He’s not coming in here thinking he’s going to redshirt.”

Of course, no one doubts Holstein is QB1. Bell is optimistic that Holstein, who helped engineer a 7-0 start that included wild comebacks against West Virginia and Cincinnati last season, can be even better in 2025. Especially when you consider he’s several months clear of ankle surgery and has developed an increased comfort level with Bell’s hurry-up offense.

“Now, he’s starting to answer the questions,” Bell said. “Last year was a whirlwind for him. Now, by the time we get to the film room (after practice), he (says), ‘Yeah, I know I did this. I know what you want me to do.’

“As a quarterback, if you can answer the question before the OC tells you something, that means you’re going to be in a lot better situations.”

Bell’s aim is to recreate the offensive efficiency Pitt showed in its 34-24 victory at North Carolina last season when Holstein threw for 381 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 77 and one score.

“From the first drive to the end of the game, we played a complete offensive game,” Bell said. “We just clicked, played really efficient football and played fast.”

He said the thought at that time was, “We had a chance here to make a run. We were super-healthy then.”

Injuries, ineffectiveness and stiffer competition got in the way, leaving Bell and his players eager to make amends.

“If we can throw the ball early, it opens up the run game,” he said. “Now we can run the football and gash people. To be honest with you, I don’t want to run the ball with 2 yards and a cloud of dust. I want people to be so scared that we’re so good at throwing it, they have to play deep.”