Slovis: “Looking at the opportunity, it was kind of a no-brainer.”
Pitt landed one of the top quarterbacks from the transfer portal in December, as former USC star and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Kedon Slovis announced he would move across the country to continue his college career in Pittsburgh, and this week, Slovis laid out the rationale behind his decision to transfer.
“I think the main thing was you saw the talent last year, and everyone had a great year,” Slovis said. “From afar, I kind of assumed that it was an older team and that everyone would be leaving. But when I got the call, I kind of realized everyone was staying except for Kenny [Pickett]. Looking at the opportunity, it was kind of a no-brainer, and [Pitt] jumped to the top of my list immediately.”
As Slovis alluded to, 2021 was a banner year for the program, as Pitt went 11-3 and won its first ACC title. But players also reached new heights at the individual level, as former Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett was one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy and Pitt wide receiver Jordan Addison won the Biletnikoff Award. In addition, Pitt long snapper Cal Adomitis made history by becoming the first long snapper to earn All-America honors.
But beyond that, the Pitt offense was a well-oiled machine, as it ranked third in the nation in output, with 41.4 points per game. And with Pickett set to move onto the NFL, leaving behind Addison and an entire starting offensive line that is set to return in 2022, the situation proved too tempting for Slovis to pass up.
The already beneficial situation also improved shortly after Slovis announced that he would transfer to Pitt, as the program landed former Akron wide receiver Konata B. Mumpfield just two weeks later. In 2021, Mumpfield had 751 yards and eight touchdowns as a freshman, and those figures compare favorably to the first-year stats of Addison, who had 666 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman in 2020. So Slovis may well have two elite receivers at his disposal in the upcoming season.
Given all that, it seems the decision has a high likelihood of paying off for Slovis as well as for Pitt in the coming year. And with the team set to kick off its season with high-profile matchups against West Virginia and Tennessee, Slovis will also have the benefit of kicking off his Pitt career in the national spotlight.