Pitt Offensive Coordinator Frank Cignetti Stays Firm in Phil Jurkovec as the Starting QB

Pitt offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. has had a close relationship with redshirt senior quarterback Phil Jurkovec for a few years at the collegiate level.

Cignetti served as the offensive coordinator at Boston College for two seasons in 2020 and 2021, with Jurkovec serving as his signal caller. The two had great success in the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season, with Jurkovec throwing for 2,558 yards, 17 touchdowns to just five interceptions, a 149.9 passer rating and a 61.0% pass completion. He also showed his ability as a duel threat quarterback running for 322 yards and five touchdowns.

The 2021 seasons didn’t end up as good, with Jurkovec only playing six games due to injury. Cignetti would leave for the same position at Pitt for the 2022 season and worked with Kedon Slovis as his quarterback.

Slovis’ time with the Panthers saw many poor moments, such as a streak of three games without a touchdown pass and only 10 touchdown throws to nine interceptions in 2022.

When Slovis chose to leave Pitt and Jurkovec also put his name in the transfer portal after last season, it wasn’t long before Cignetti reached out to him and convinced him to come back home.

The former WPIAL star out of Pine-Richland should be in the best position to finish out his collegiate career on top and go on to the NFL. His performance so far in two games this season, might show why this isn’t the case.

Jurkovec had a solid home opener against FCS opponent Wofford, throwing for 214 yards and touchdown, completing 17 of 23 passes, while also rushing for 41 yards and a touchdown in the 45-7 win.

This play did not translate into Week 2 against Cincinnati last Saturday, as he completed just 10 of his 32 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns. His 31.2% passes completed is the lowest of his career with that many throws. The only game that he had a lower percentage for completed passes was the 2021 regular season finale against Wake Forest, where he made just three of his 11 throws.

Many of those passes did not go anywhere near their intended target either. This resulted in horrendous throws and a lack of rhythm offensively between Jurkovec and his wide receivers. Redshirt senior Bub Means, the No. 1 wide receiver on the Panthers, had 11 targets in the game and had no catches at all.

Despite the poor performance, Cignetti still has great faith in his signal caller going forward and knows he’ll get it right soon.

“It’s not the first rough game that Phil and I have been through together,” Cignetti said. “So I know how he responds. He loves football, he loves his teammates, he is an unbelievable competitor. He always looks at himself first and I know he’s really looking forward to getting back out there and playing again. The guy loves to compete, loves to play.”

Jurkovec also didn’t endear himself to fans following the River City Rivalry loss, with his post game comments. It took Pitt fans some time to turn on Slovis, but many have voiced their displeasure, either last Saturday or on social media, or both, on Jurkovec.

Cignetti worked with Jurkovec Sunday morning in the film room to figure out what went wrong. Cignetti didn’t specify what exactly they discussed, but that Jurkovec took responsibility and is ready to lead the Panthers going forward.

“Phil is the ultimate competitor and he puts himself first,” Cignetti said. “First thing he said to me was, ‘Hey, I’m going to play better.’ And we know he will. Every quarterback has gone through that. But when I saw him the next morning, I could tell that after watching the tape, he was like, “Hey. We’re going to be good to go.” 

The Pitt offensive line didn’t have a great showing either in the loss, which hurt Jurkovec’s performance, to some extent. Cincinnati made five sacks on Jurkovec, some of which saw Pitt fail to block pass rushers on their way to demolishing their quarterback.

“When quarterbacks get hit early and often, it’s hard and it multiplies,” Cignetti said. “You put them in a tough situation. Our [pass-protection] must improve.”

Cignetti, like Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi, never had any thought of benching Jurkovec throughout his disappointing performance last weekend. There are many Panthers fans that want to see Penn State transfer redshirt sophomore Christian Veilleux, or even redshirt sophomore Nate Yarnell take charge of games if Jurkovec can’t be effective as a passer.

During that film session Sunday morning, Cignetti liked what he saw from Jurkovec against Cincinnati and said that people weren’t talking about the “great plays” that were made by Jurkovec throughout the game.

“Not one time did I think about changing quarterbacks,” Cignetti said. “We have a starting quarterback, a backup and a third and I treat them all the same. I love all three guys and as the course of the game went, there was no reason to change.”

Pitt takes on rival West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl this Saturday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Morgantown, with the game also televised on ABC in front of the entire nation. Jurkovec will need to play much better in this game if Pitt are to get an important victory and get their season back on track.