From recruits to transfers to opt-out decisions and more, everything is in full swing right now. Here’s the latest we’re hearing to start the week.
Quarterback, pt. 1
This is the biggest topic right now for Pitt, and it really covers all bases: recruiting, the transfer portal and current players. Where do we start? Let’s go with the immediate present and move from there.
I still haven’t gotten the extra 5% confirmation I wanted in order to feel confident in putting the
Kedon Slovis transfer news on the front page, but I will put it here because there’s been nothing in the last 40 hours to lead me to believe anything has changed.
I thought Slovis might make his decision over the weekend; that didn’t happen (or at least it wasn’t made public), but like I said, no one who initially told me that Slovis planned to transfer has backed off that claim.
Similarly, nothing has gotten quieter with the
Phil Jurkovec rumors; if anything, that talk has gotten louder, and I’m at the point right now where I’m looking at when rather than if when it comes to Slovis leaving and Jurkovec coming in.
There’s always going to be a question of how well Slovis and offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti worked together. As we all know, Slovis committed to Pitt and head coach Pat Narduzzi before Cignetti was hired; would Cignetti have pursued Slovis if he had been hired first? That’s impossible to say. I think there was a lot to like on Slovis’ USC tape and Cignetti may have been just as enthusiastic about it as Narduzzi was. But that’s a hypothetical.
What’s not hypothetical is Cignetti’s connection with Jurkovec. They worked together at Boston College for two seasons that saw Jurkovec throw for 3,472 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 16 games (he only played six in 2021 while dealing with injury. Jurkovec also has mobility to offer, having rushed for 472 yards and eight touchdowns in those two seasons.
Jurkovec is a local native, too, as we all know, and there are going to be varying opinions about him potentially coming home. But the 2023 season is a critical one for Narduzzi and Cignetti (who certainly knows that only one of Narduzzi’s previous four offensive coordinators has lasted more than two seasons), so if they want to hitch their wagons to Jurkovec - which seems to be the move at this point - then they must be convinced about his ability and potential.
UPDATE: Kedon Slovis has put in his paperwork to enter the transfer portal. I imagine things will move rather quickly from here.
Quarterback, pt. 2
Then there’s the high school angle. Pitt lost
Kenny Minchey in a flip to Notre Dame this fall, leaving the Panthers without a quarterback commitment in the class of 2023. The most pressing need is for a veteran to play next season, but getting another high school recruit to replace Minchey isn’t far behind, and that’s what Cignetti spent most of his weekend working on.
The Pitt offensive coordinator started on Friday with a trip to Michigan to visit three-star prospect
Brady Drogosh. The Cincinnati commit has been in a holding pattern after Luke Fickell left the Bearcats for Wisconsin, and while Pitt has been in daily contact with him, the Panthers certainly aren’t the only team in pursuit.
That said, the priority at this point appears to be
Ty Dieffenbach. A UNLV commit from Agoura (Calif.), Dieffenbach is one of the more intriguing quarterback prospects in the class of 2023. He has only played quarterback for two seasons; he was a receiver, and one day in 2020, his head coach noticed him throwing passes to his teammates and realized he might have one of the best arms on the team.
So far, it looks like the move has been a success. In 2021, he completed 62.8% of his passes for 2,669 yards, 34 touchdowns and nine interceptions. This year his numbers dipped as he played in just six of Agoura’s 10 games and threw for 617 yards, five touchdowns and three picks.
Still, the pure ability is impressive. He’s got athletic parents, he’s got good size, he ran run and he’s still young - only 17 years old as a senior.
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I think you can see what Cignetti likes in Dieffenbach, and I think he has emerged as the priority in the class. I expect to see Dieffenbach visit this coming weekend, and I also expect that visit to turn into a commitment.
Quarterback, pt. 3
I think the Pitt coaches have three goals with quarterback recruiting this offseason: a veteran transfer starter for 2023, a recruit to develop and a young transfer who can help fill out the room for the next few seasons.
Jurkovec is likely to be the veteran transfer starter and Dieffenbach is likely to be the recruit. But what about that third component?
One name to keep an eye on - and this has been mentioned on the board - is Penn State transfer
Christian Veilleux. A three-star prospect in the class of 2021, Veilleux was expected to be the backup to Sean Clifford at PSU this season but was passed by four-star freshman Drew Allar and played in just three games. As quarterbacks often do when they don’t see a clear path to the starting job, Veilleux is transferring to find a better opportunity.
In a total of five appearances over the last two seasons, Veilleux completed 23-of-35 passes for 282 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and he’ll have plenty of interested suitors since he’s got a lot of natural talent and three years of eligibility remaining.
It’s been rumored on the message boards that Pitt could be a landing place for Veilleux, and I heard over the weekend that there’s something to those rumors. There has been contact between Pitt and Veilleux, and I have heard he will visit this coming weekend. Things can - and do - always change quickly, so I don’t want to say anything definitively until we get a little more confirmation, but that’s something to keep on the radar.
Quarterback, pt. 4
So if all of this comes together, Pitt’s quarterback room in 2023 could be:
Phil Jurkovec (super senior)
Christian Veilleux (redshirt sophomore)
Nate Yarnell (redshirt sophomore)
Ty Dieffenbach (freshman)
I can understand if you have mixed feelings about that room, but there’s a pretty solid balance of experience and upside; in theory, it should be a room that gives Pitt a chance to succeed in 2023 and creates a bridge to the years beyond next season.
Of course, it’s entirely possible - or maybe even likely - that one or more of those pieces may change in the next two and a half weeks heading into Signing Day. There have been plenty of times when we thought we had the whole picture, only to see the frame change shape altogether before everything was settled.
For now, though, that’s how it looks.
Continued...
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