Pitt Assembling Largest Transfer Class of Pat Narduzzi's Tenure

Pitt's 2022 class is more transfer-heavy than any other that Pat Narduzzi has brought in during his tenure.

PITTSBURGH -- College athletics is in a new era of player movement that allows athletes to transfer at least once without penalty and the introduction of NIL opportunities to the transfer calculus has players seeking greener pastures with greater frequency. The Pitt Panthers made national headlines this offseason for losing players to the transfer portal, but they've insured against that loss by bringing in the largest transfer class of Pat Narduzzi's tenure, one that still has room to grow.

Pitt's 2022 class, which currently sits at 65th in 247 Sports' national team rankings, is bolstered by the largest share of transfer players of any Narduzzi-recruited class. Notre Dame running back C'Bo Flemister committed over the weekend, making it a eight-man strong transfer class that could still grow by the offseason's end. 

This year's recruiting features not just the biggest crop of transfers that Narduzzi has amassed, but the most talented too. Among the 2022 class, Kedon Slovis, Konata Mumpfield, Shayne Simon, Jerrod "Bub" Means and even Ryan Jacoby, who joined the Panthers during the 2021 offseason but didn't play until the last game of the regular season, are all in position to make an impact with the Coastal Division-favorite Panthers this fall. 

Slovis, the talented former-USC quarterback, is battling with Nick Patti for the starting job. Mumpfield and Means have earned high praise from their teammates through spring and summer practices. Simons figures to be an immediate factor at linebacker given how much Pitt lost from that group and former all-conference Missouri State Bear Tylar Wiltz can compete for snaps. The former four-star recruit Jacoby, who started the Peach Bowl vs. Michigan State, is expected to rotate in along a veteran offensive line. Even Flemister, who joins a deep and experienced running back group, can benefit from an offense that players and coaches expect to be more run-heavy this fall. 

It's not as if Narduzzi has failed to bring in productive players via transfer during the early stages of his tenure at Pitt - Dewayne Hendrix, Dontez Ford, Nathan Peterman and others were all key members of his first few teams. But on the whole, transfer recruiting has been more miss than hit. 

Of the 27 Narduzzi-era transfers that have played a down for the Panthers, six have made an All-ACC team and half came last season, when Pitt won 11 games and a conference title. Exploring the ranks of Narduzzi's transfer hauls, you're more likely to find a player that didn't live up to expectations, like Max Browne, Will Gragg or Nakia Griffin-Stewart than you are a player that met or exceeded them, like Taysir Mack or Kylan Johnson. 

Over the past two years, players like D.J. Turner, Marcus Minor, Lucas Krull, John Petrishen have played well enough to begin reversing that trend. Now this transfer class, because of its size, remaining eligibility and depth, is poised to markedly improve Narduzzi's credentials as a transfer portal savant. 

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