Amid the storm that was the 2023 season was a ray of light peeking through the clouds.
Pat Narduzzi's quarterback position has been in constant flux since the day Kenny Pickett left the program for the NFL. Since the start of the 2022 season, five different quarterbacks have started at least one game for Pitt, and three different quarterbacks started at least one game in each of those seasons.
The storm began to subside near the end of the 2023 season with Nate Yarnell's play, and he will have his first major rehearsal as Pitt's undisputed starting quarterback Saturday at 2 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium at the annual Blue-Gold spring game.
"Nate's a little bit of a gambler," Narduzzi said Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "He knows when it's practice and he knows when it's a game. He knows when he can take chances and when he can't. I just looked at him today in pass (skeletons) and I'm like, 'dude, you're locked in today,' and he's like, 'coach, it's game week, there's going to be fans there.' Sometimes he's going to make a play and sometimes he'll pick, 'oh I want to throw it to Kenny (Johnson) or I want to throw it here' but he was locked in today. I noticed his throws and it was like, woah. He threw a couple dimes out there. He just seemed a little bit different today."
Yarnell's moxie, his positive attitude, and his willingness to take shots are the chief traits that Narduzzi loves. The redshirt junior, however, had to have some patience to get to this point.
Yarnell, a former three-star recruit, sat behind Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti in 2022 and earned a starting nod that season at Western Michigan. The game plan largely leaned on running back Isreal Abanikanda, but Yarnell still managed the game effectively by completing 9 of 12 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown.
He entered 2023 in the same position he entered 2022 in. He was slated as the third-stringer behind Boston College transfer Phil Jurkovec and Penn State transfer Christian Veilleux and, again, had to wait his turn for an opportunity to play. Given how poorly Jurkovec played before transitioning to tight end and how ineffective Veilleux was in his five starts, Yarnell earned an opportunity to start the final two games of the season with bowl eligibility out of sight and a future to try to plan for.
Narduzzi and then-offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. made the switch, and Yarnell rewarded them. He completed 11 of 19 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown in Pitt's 24-16 win over Boston College and then completed 25 of 35 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in Pitt's 30-19 loss at Duke to close the season.
In line with the "gambler" mantra Narduzzi noted is the calculated approach new offensive coordinator Kade Bell is teaching him. The Pitt offense is expected to carry an up-tempo feel to it, but Yarnell winning on those gambles will have to be a part of it.
"I think it's more of what Nate tries to do sometimes, which is a little 'gunslinger' a little bit, which I like," Narduzzi said. "But coach Bell wants to take that completion and a completion that will move the sticks. He gets it. He understands. Nate gets it."
After that Duke game and with an offseason full of change ahead of him, Yarnell professed loyalty and gratitude for those two years where he sat behind other quarterbacks. He touted the culture that was already built but also acknowledged it was his job to strengthen it.
"They gave me an opportunity to play Power Five football. I played in six games in high school," Yarnell said in November. "I played in Lake Travis (Texas) but I didn't have a ton of tape and I knew that I was good at quarterback and coach Narduzzi went off of those six games and gave me an opportunity, and I'll forever be grateful for that."
His opportunity is now. Johnson noted a rise in confidence from Yarnell this spring.
"I think Nate's been more vocal, way more vocal," Johnson said. "Last year he seemed a little timid. He didn't want to step up and really be as vocal as he is now, and now people are seeing that he's being vocal and trying to take real charge."
After that same Duke game when Yarnell professed his continued loyalty to Pitt, Narduzzi noted he has "a lot of faith" in Yarnell. This offseason brought the continued endorsement from Narduzzi and Bell for Yarnell to lead Pitt, and his first steps as the unquestioned leader will come Saturday.
As Narduzzi would say, Yarnell showed that game-like confidence in the 14 practices Pitt went through this spring to lead into Saturday's game.
"You always like a guy that's a 'game-day' guy, right?" Narduzzi said. "I think those guys are great in practice (and) they go out there on game day when the lights turn on and kind of fall apart. I think we know what he does on game day but I've been happy with how he picks up the practices. He likes to take chances but he knows when he can take chances in practices and when he can't."
