When Eli Holstein plays quarterback for Pitt, he said he’s representing pride, work ethic of 2 families
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In the final tense moments of the Backyard Brawl, ESPN TV cameras focused on Eli Holstein, capturing the sweat on his brow, the passion and even anger in his eyes and — when the comeback against West Virginia was complete — the pride and joy on his face.
You might think such intensity was born merely from the excitement generated from Pitt’s improbable victory and Holstein’s part in it.
The last three minutes of the WVU game were emotional for Eli Holstein for a variety of reasons, but he did not forget to mention the role backup QB Nate Yarnell played in the victory. pic.twitter.com/uLAFjukvgv
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) September 18, 2024
You’d be only half right.
In his first season actually playing quarterback in college football, Holstein, who won’t turn 20 until next month, is playing for more than the Pitt, his teammates and coaches. He’s playing for the Holstein and Montgomery families, the ones that brought Elijah Montgomery Holstein into the world and taught him the value of hard work.
“Being a Holstein, you’re born with (the hunger and intensity to succeed),” he said Wednesday after practice.
“My papaw is a guy who grew up without shoes to play sports, had to go to the local church to get food and clothes. Could have gone to play sports in college, but couldn’t because he had to go back and take care of his mom and little sister.
“I really appreciate my name. My real name is Elijah Montgomery Holstein. I got my papaw’s last name, and I got my grandfather’s last name. Having both their last names in my name is pretty special to me. I feel like I get to represent them when I’m out there.”
Holstein said both have passed in recent years.
“My grandpa grew up in Missouri, worked his tail off in the salt mines in the Midwest, just providing a better life for his family than he had growing up. So did my papaw.
“I got a text from my dad (Scott Holstein), talking about how awesome it is to see his dad’s name on the ACC Network, ESPN. It kind of brings a tear to his eye, my eye, too, just to see where we are now and where we used to be.”
Holstein is in a good place through the first three games of the season, helping Pitt to a 3-0 record while putting up an interesting set of numbers.
Through three games, he has thrown for 939 yards and nine touchdowns. In former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett’s first three games of 2021 — when he ended up a Heisman finalist — he threw for the same yardage as Holstein, with one more touchdown pass. Pickett ran for 115 yards, Holstein 96.
Holstein said he’s trying to prove right those people in his past who believed in him. Several of those were inside Acrisure Stadium last Saturday, including childhood friends Griffin and Dylan Davis of Orlando, Fla., whose dad was Holstein’s first coach.
“Coach Steve. That’s my guy,” he said. “He’s a guy who’s been there every step of the way. He’s one of those guys I felt like I proved right. He believed in me since I was 6 years old playing right tackle and third-string quarterback. It’s an awesome feeling proving him right.”
Holstein’s immediate family also were in attendance. Those unable to attend received celebratory phone calls from Pitt’s quarterback. When he embraced his father after the game, he slipped him his game towel.
“He likes to collect those,” Holstein said.
After less than nine months, Holstein has earned his teammates’ respect and assumed a place among the team’s leaders, even though he’s just a redshirt freshman.
Holstein said he knew his place on the team from his first day on campus.
“When I first got here (in January), I was a quiet guy,” he said. “I feel I had to earn people’s respect before I really spoke up. I worked my tail off in the weight room, in the film room, learning the offense, just doing the little things right. Once I earned the respect of how I do things, then I’m able to earn the respect and be able to lead them vocally.
“You don’t have to be a vocal guy. You just have to go out there and prove that you’re going to work hard, no matter the situation.”
Tight end Gavin Bartholomew is impressed by Holstein’s accountability: “If something bad happens, he’ll take the responsibility for it.”
Holstein said the passion in his face at the end of the WVU game came from the situation — Pitt was down 10 points with a little more than three minutes to play — and something else that happened near the end.
“They blatantly just ripped my helmet off,” he said of the last play before the decisive touchdown. By rule, Holstein was forced to sit out one play. “It was kind of frustrating, but Nate (Yarnell) did a great job going in there.”
At Pitt, Holstein is surrounded by the same type of people who back home in Zachary, La., helped mold him as a football player and a young man.
He said he’s a perfect match for offensive coordinator Kade Bell, also born south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
“We both have that same hunger to want to be great,” Holstein said. “He’s got that hunger like I’ve never seen before. He’s really, really confident in what he does. He wants to go out there and prove everybody wrong that he should be up there with the best coordinators in the country, and I believe he should be.
“The mindset I have is I want to prove everybody right. All the people that believed in me since I was little, invested time in me. When I got the starting job, when I’m getting all these awards, it’s not a relief of I did something. It’s a relief that I proved (to) the people who believed in me, I proved them right.”
After a day of practice, video review and game-planning for Youngstown State with Bell on Wednesday, Holstein said nearly the entire team was planning to go to Petersen Events Center and watch Pitt’s women’s volleyball team, No. 1 in the nation, meet No. 3 Penn State.
“I know we’re doing great, but our volleyball team is dominating right now,” he said. “They’re the best team on campus. We’re tying to get to that point.”