Tag: Eli Holstein

Former Alabama QB Eli Holstein wins Pittsburgh Panthers starting job

Pittsburgh Panthers name former Crimson Tide signal-caller named as QB1.

The 2023 recruiting class will go down as one of the best in Alabama Crimson Tide history with eight members ranked as top 50 players in the country, including guys like Kadyn Proctor, Keon Keeley and Caleb Downs. The class is also of notice because Saban brought in two quarterbacks, Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan, which he doesn’t typically do.

Alabama’s quarterback room was loaded in 2023 with Jalen Milroe, Ty Simpson, Tyler Buchner and Lonergan all seeing playing time. After seeing Lonergan get reps ahead of him, I think Holstein read the writing on the wall as he entered the transfer portal just two days following Alabama’s Rose Bowl loss. Four days later he transferred to join the Pittsburgh Panthers – a few days before Nick Saban’s shocking retirement.

Today, Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi announced that the redshirt freshman will be the starter for Pittsburgh this weekend as they open the season against Kent State.

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Competition continues as Pitt set to play two quarterbacks in season opener

Pat Narduzzi and the Pitt Panthers will play two quarterbacks against Kent State in Week 1 as the competition continues.

Pittsburgh Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi reportedly plans to play two quarterbacks in the season opener against Kent State. Both Nate Yarnell and Eli Holstein have been battling for the past eight months for the job, and it does not appear there is a winner yet.

Yarnell is a redshirt junior, while Holstein is a redshirt freshman who came over from Alabama. Yarnell tossed for nearly 600 yards last season in four games, including four touchdowns. He was who many felt was going to get the job. Holstein has done great work in the off-season, and as Narduzzi told the media Monday:

Eli has made some major, major improvements.It’s like he caught up. To me, they need to be put into a game-like situation and let it go from there. Both those guys are going to play on Saturday, and let the competition begin.

Both players have “OR” next to their name on the depth chart. Following the home game against Kent State, the Panthers’ 2024 season gets much tougher. They will head to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats, and then come back home and welcome West Virginia to town. Pittsburgh starts Atlantic Coast Conference play on October 5th at North Carolina.

Narduzzi has been the head coach at Pittsburgh since the 2015 season, going 65-50 in his career with the Panthers. He is also 2-4 in bowl games.

Before his time with Pittsburgh, he was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati and then Michigan State.

Former Alabama QB Eli Holstein commits to Pittsburgh

Eli Holstein makes his transfer decision

Former Alabama quarterback and four-star recruit Eli Holstein announced his commitment to the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday. Holstein entered the portal last week after spending just one season in Tuscaloosa and not seeing any game action as a true freshman.

Holstein will be heading to the ACC where Pitt’s quarterback position is basically up for grabs with no true experienced starter returning in 2024.

The 6-foot-4 240-pound quarterback hails from Louisiana and has tremendous upside with his mix of size and athleticism but with the Crimson Tide’s loaded QB room, playing time was highly unlikely for Holstein.

Holstein announced his transfer destination on his X account (formerly Twitter).

Holstein will have four years of eligibility remaining.

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Alabama football countdown to kickoff: 10 days

With 10 days remaining until kickoff, Roll Tide Wire remembers one of the best ever to wear No. 10 for the Crimson Tide!

The Alabama Crimson Tide will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 10 days, as Middle Tennessee State visits Bryant Denny Stadium on Sept. 2.

Here at Roll Tide Wire, we will be counting down the days until Nick Saban and his team take the field.

With 10 days remaining, we take a trip down memory lane and remember one of the best quarterbacks in Alabama football history, [autotag]AJ McCarron[/autotag].

McCarron wore the No. 10 for the Crimson Tide from 2009-13 where he set multiple Alabama passing records. McCarron was also the starting QB for the Tide during their national championship seasons in 2011 and 2012.

Freshman QB [autotag]Eli Holstein[/autotag] currently wears No. 10 for Alabama.

AJ McCarron’s Photo Gallery

Post-spring depth chart projections for Alabama’s quarterbacks

Projecting Alabama’s quarterback depth chart post-spring!

Now that spring football has officially wrapped up and the 2023 NFL draft is complete, it is time to shift our focus to the offseason.

Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have a ton of questions marks exiting spring and fans are chomping at the bit for answers.

So as we dive into the dog days of summer, I thought we could take a look, position by position, and project the possible depth chart for the 2023 Alabama football team post-spring.

We will start with the position group with the biggest question mark, the quarterbacks. Will it be Jalen Milore, Ty Simpson, or Notre Dame transfer Tyler Buchner?

Let’s take our best shot at projecting the post-spring depth chart!

CFB analyst gives scouting opinion on Alabama’s two freshman QBs

Alabama’s two first-year QBs aren’t likely to see the field, but that doesn’t mean 2023 will be easy for them.

Alabama’s 2023 recruiting class had two quarterbacks that are now on campus and working with the team in spring practice: Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan. The two of the join an Alabama QB room that has depth, but lacks clarity in how each player is ranked.

Currently, the starting job appears to be up for grabs between Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson. As for Holstein and Lonergan, they are battling for the third-string quarterback position.

Holstein joins the program as a four-star prospect ranked as the No. 8 quarterback in the nation. Lonergan is not too far behind Holstein, as the Georgia native also has four stars and ranked No. 13 out of all quarterback prospects in the 2023 class.

ESPN’s Tom Luginbill recently shared his opinion on freshman quarterbacks from competitive programs all across the country. When it came to Alabama, he decided to highlight both Holstein and Lonergan.

While discussing whether Holstein will see the field at all in 2023, he writes, “The Crimson Tide have a logjam of talented quarterbacks on the roster. Unless disaster strikes, we would not see Holstein playing this fall. His goal this year is to beat out Lonergan and win on the scout team each day.”

He holds a similar opinion of Lonergan. “Lonergan will likely redshirt, run the scout team and battle with Holstein for the third spot. There is no pressure to play. Nick Saban hasn’t had to rush quarterbacks over the past few years (see: Mac Jones, Young).”

Luginbill believes the two of them can develop in the exact same fashion: use this freshman season to learn from those above them, get to know the system and be the best they can possibly be in their respective roles.

The QB room will likely be the top storyline for Alabama throughout the 2023 offseason with most eyes set on Milroe and Simpson. However, fans should also pay attention to what’s going on beneath those two on the depth chart, because either Holstein or Lonergan (potentially both) will one day be at the helm of the Crimson Tide offense.

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Alabama QB battle labeled one of the most interesting of 2023 offseason

Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson are expected to battle for the starting job, but don’t forget about the two incoming freshmen.

With Heisman-winning quarterback Bryce Young off to the NFL, Nick Saban is left with a vacancy at the quarterback position; and for the first time in five years, there’s not a clear answer.

The starting job is expected to be up for grabs between Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson.

Of the two, only Milroe saw truly meaningful playing time, which was a start against Texas A&M at home when Young was sidelined with a shoulder injury. In the win, he had 12 completions on 19 attempts for 111 yards, three touchdowns and a single interception. He also ran for 83 yards.

The Crimson Tide also added highly-coveted recruits from the 2023 class Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan.

At this point, the position might as well be wide open and nobody should be ruled out as spring practice nears.

Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire recently listed the most intriguing quarterback battles of the offseason and kicked things off with the Tide.

“We start out in Tuscaloosa where Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson are looking to replace the potential No. 1 selection in the NFL draft. Bryce Young led Alabama to a national championship appearance and a Sugar Bowl victory. The Tide was 23-4 in his starts over two seasons. Milroe won the only start he made in 2022 when he played in Young’s place due to injury.

Simpson is a former five-star signee and looks to unseat Milroe as the Tide’s next starting quarterback. Alabama also has Eli Holstein and Dylan Lonergan on the roster.”

With the offseason real just getting started, Saban and his staff will have plenty of time to evaluate the roster and see which player deserves the title of QB1 for the Crimson Tide.

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Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on Twitter @SpurrFM.

Position Breakdown: Alabama QB’s ahead of spring practice

A deep dive into the Alabama quarterback room as spring football approaches.

We are now just a few weeks out from Nick Saban and the Alabama football team taking the practice field to begin spring ball.

As is the case each offseason, there are many questions that need to be answered before the Tide hit the field to start the 2023 season.

As spring practice creeps closer, we are going to break down each position group on both sides of the ball and we are going to start with the quarterbacks.

The quarterback competition this spring will surely be one of the hottest topics of conversation for Alabama fans this offseason.

Let’s dive right in!

Where did the top quarterbacks sign in the 2023 recruiting class?

Jackson Arnold to Oklahoma and Arch Manning to Texas, but where did the rest of the top quarterback sign to play college ball in 2023?

From the high school level to the NFL, quarterback play has become the greatest contributor to winning in the game of football. Teams can certainly win without great quarterback play, but they must have an elite defense and running game to do so.

So when a team lands one of the top quarterbacks in a recruiting class, it’s a big deal.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had their fair share of great quarterbacks over the last 20 years. Sooner quarterbacks have won four Heisman trophies and earned more trips to New York as a finalist as well.

In the 2023 cycle, the Sooners signed [autotag]Jackson Arnold[/autotag]. A four-star player at the time of his commitment last January, he has skyrocketed over the last 11 months. From earning Elite 11 MVP honors in the summer to becoming a consensus five-star player, Arnold’s stock has seen incredible growth. He backed that up with an incredible senior season, during which he accounted for 4,400 total yards and 57 touchdowns to help Denton Guyer reach the Texas 6A state semifinals.

He’s the highest-ranked player in the Oklahoma Sooners recruiting class, according to 247Sports. Arnold was the second-longest tenured commitment in the class before signing with Oklahoma on the first day of the early signing period. Pulling the No. 1 player in the state of Texas and the No. 7 player in the class is a huge win for [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] and [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag].

Arnold’s addition helped ease the loss of Malachi Nelson, who flipped to USC to follow Lincoln Riley last December. Signing Arnold also helped the Sooners answer the Arch Manning signing by Texas.

There are a lot of good quarterbacks out there going to a lot of different places. Let’s take a look at where the top signal-callers landed.

Everything Nick Saban said on Wednesday of early signing period

Everything Alabama football coach Nick Saban said on Wednesday of the early signing period.

[autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide once again dominate the recruiting trail and have hauled in the nation’s top class for the 2023 cycle.

Coach Saban doesn’t have time to bask in the glow of his recruiting prowess at the moment though as his team is currently in the midst of its preparation for Kansas State and the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Following practice on Wednesday, coach Saban would step behind the podium at the Mal Moore Athletic Center to discuss how practice is going and his thoughts on the signing class.

Here is everything coach Saban had to say earlier this afternoon: