Pitt OC Frank Cignetti Promises New Offensive Approach

The Pitt Panthers expect to play radically different on offense this season.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers lost their leading receiver, rusher, passer and three of their top four offensive linemen from last year's nine-win, Sun Bowl Champion squad, which averaged north of 30 points per contest. 

Swap out Kedon Slovis for Phil Jurkovec at quarterback, Israel Abanikanda for Rodney Hammond at running back, and Jared Wayne for Bub Means, Konata Mumpfield and a host of unknown commodities at wide receiver. Those major changes in personnel have led offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti to rethink the run-first approach that drove last year's offense.

"You look at us last year and we had a new quarterback, we were developing the perimeter, but we had an offensive line and a backfield that we felt was elite," Cignetti said. "This year is a little different because those wide receivers are back, we’re developing some young wide receivers, the tight ends group has gotten better, the running backs know the system and we have quarterbacks that can not only stand in the pocket but now they can extend plays."

That all adds up to one thing - Pitt letting it rip in 2023. 

Throughout training camp, both players and coaches have noticed an uptick in the frequency with which their quarterbacks are letting deep passes fly and the success rate on those deep shots. 

There was good reason why Pitt ran the ball on 57% of it's plays last season. Abanikanda was the best running back in the ACC and one of the elite at his position nationally, amassing 1,577 total yards and 21 total touchdowns. But with his home run-hitting ability and much of the offensive line he ran behind gone, Pitt will turn to Jurkovec, Means, Mumpfield and others, plus what those inside the program have called a drastically improving tight end room to drive the offense. 

“Last year, our offense wasn’t as vertical," Means said. "This year, we’ve been connecting on the deep balls so this year is going to be a lot more vertical, pressing and looking forward to seeing what we can do with it.”

The dramatic improvements Means and Mumpfield have made since last season, when they both entered late in the process as transfers are part of the reason why Pitt is so collectively optimistic about the state of the passing game. 

But they also feel Jurkovec is a better fit for such an attack than Slovis was. Cignetti and the receivers like his pocket presence, mobility and creativity. At 6'5 and 235 pounds, he has the athletic ability to escape tackles and extend plays, which will feed the vertical passing game as well. Cignetti, who worked with Jurkovec when the two were at Boston College, has noticed him grow immensely as a player since then. 

"He understands the play designs, he understands all three phases - the run game, the protection game and the passing game - running the offense, the checks that might need to be made at the line of scrimmage," Cignetti said. "And I’ve been really impressed with his accuracy.”

Cignetti insists he hasn't changed much about the actual schematics of the offense. Many of the designs and terminology that his unit used last season will carry over into this year. The changes will come from up in the box at Acrisure Stadium, where he calls the plays. 

“Every great coach I’ve been around, they’re going to play to the strengths of their players," Cignetti said. "So when you look at the makeup of our offense, the scheme hasn’t necessarily changed a lot but probably how you’re going to call the games is going to.”

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