Pitt uses transfer portal to build more than 1/3 of its 2-deep depth chart
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Pat Narduzzi isn’t thinking past Youngstown State, the opponent that will visit Acrisure Stadium on Saturday to challenge his undefeated team (3-0).
But if you ask him what might be necessary to succeed beyond 2024 and into the future, he might answer reluctantly even while he already knows the answer:
It may take another productive trip through the transfer portal.
Pitt’s depth chart, released Monday, lists at least two players at each position on offense and defense. Of the 44 players identified as either first or second team, 16 (36.3%) came from the portal.
That includes quarterback Eli Holstein, leading rusher Desmond Reid (319 yards), the team’s most productive pass catcher, Konata Mumpfield (16 receptions, 255 yards, 15.9 average, three touchdowns), leading tackler Donovan McMillon (32) and No. 1 sack man, defensive end Nate Matlack (three).
“I think the portal has been good to us,” Narduzzi said Thursday. “We’ve gotten rid of things. We’ve been able to replenish our roster in the right way. When guys leave, we’re able to bring better ones in. There’s a little strategy that goes to that. We’ve done a good job of evaluating and not bringing in the same thing we lost or less.”
Navigating the portal isn’t easy because of the uncertainty involved in evaluating someone else’s players. But Narduzzi notes, “You better win those wars. You better get the right guys.”
Imagine where Pitt might be without Reid and Derrick Davis, a transfer from LSU and an important backup who scored the decisive touchdown against West Virginia.
Also, wide receiver Dae Dae Reynolds, who caught a 40-yard touchdown pass during the late rally, is a transfer from Florida.
The portal, however, also has its dark side.
“I don’t like it for the guys you don’t want to lose,” Narduzzi said, noting the loss of wide receiver and Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison after the 2021 season. “Those are the ones you don’t like when someone can come and tamper.”
But Narduzzi said he likes the portal for the opportunities it gives players who have fallen behind on the depth chart.
“It’s important for these kids to get what they need, what they want,” he said. “I’m going to help those guys get those opportunities wherever they are.”
One such player will be on the opposite sideline Saturday. Safety Stephon Hall, a Central Valley graduate, starts for Youngstown State after transferring from Pitt at the end of the 2023 season. He’s third on the team with 10 tackles and has three quarterback hurries.
“Hall’s a great player. He’s a hitter, and he’s a local kid. We love Steph,” Pitt’s coach said. “There’s a relationship there. It was a good decision. He wanted to play. We didn’t want to lose Steph, but he wanted to play and be a starter and that wasn’t going to happen right now with what we had depth-wise in that (safety) room.”
Narduzzi recalls the day linebacker Aydin Henningham told him he was entering the portal after four years at Pitt.
“Super kid. He cried and hugged me,” he said. “I don’t think he let go. He didn’t want to leave, but he knew to play he had to.”
Henningham starts at Division II Albany (Ga.) State and is second in tackles (nine), with an interception.
Of course, it still pays to keep a close eye on high school kids. All three starting linebackers — Brandon George in the middle and Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles on the outside — came to Pitt directly from high school. George, actually, entered the portal after last season before deciding to remain at Pitt.
Louis, Biles and George stand second, third and fourth in tackles behind McMillon with 27, 25 and 20.
Of Louis and Biles, Narduzzi said, “Those are two electric dudes who are making a lot of plays. They’re making more plays than we made at that position the past two years. Those guys are really good.
“You put that with a really smart middle linebacker (George) who’s playing the best football he’s played since he’s been here. Our linebacker group right now, I don’t know if we have six or seven of them, but right now we have three really good ones.”