Pitt Coaches Are Handling Kedon Slovis Struggles (Too) Delicately
PITTSBURGH -- It was no secret that Pitt Panthers quarterback Kedon Slovis did not play well against Louisville. He threw 29 passes, completed 16 of them for 158 yards and committed three turnovers. Slovis would probably be the first person to tell you his play was not good enough, if head coach Pat Narduzzi had let him face the media.
But Narduzzi didn't let Slovis face questions following the Louisville loss like he did after falling to Tennessee or Georgia Tech or like his predecessor, Kenny Pickett, did after countless ugly losses and subpar performances.
The point is not to compare Slovis to Pickett, constantly berate him or draw attention away from the other obvious flaws this Pitt team has. The point is that Slovis has been handled more delicately this season than any other player on the roster.
In the days following the Louisville loss, Narduzzi has gone out of his way to illustrate first that the offense's recent struggles don't fall on Slovis' shoulders. He had a positive evaluation of the quarterback's outing against the Cardinals this week.
"I think he's done a great job," Narduzzi said. "It's like we talked as an offense yesterday, last night. Kedon played above average, ... He played really good in the first half. I'm not just talking throwing the ball. If you just go back and watch the first half, watch how he's making great decisions in the run game, as well, and getting the right checks. Second half didn't play very good. Why is that? I don't know. At the end of the half he took a couple shots. Not to the point where he had a concussion, but they're still shots, and we've got to protect our quarterback."
Slovis doesn't deserve to be crucified for his play but he certainly does deserve criticism, something Narduzzi hasn't been willing to offer about his quarterback in the evaluations of this team that he shares publicly.
Narduzzi's right to a certain degree - Slovis has not been the most well-protected quarterback in the country, the offense has not been at full strength since opening night and the receivers' play has been underwhelming. But when Narduzzi says "it's more than one guy" when talking about the offense's struggles, it is always in defense of Slovis. Slovis is rarely, if ever, painted as part of the problem and his play is the result of other problems instead.
Coaches have gone to great lengths to explain away his struggles. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti cited the concussion Slovis suffered in the Tennessee game. Both he and Narduzzi reminded everyone that playing quarterback is very hard and that those players have "a lot of stuff on their mind".
Pitt's head coach has also referenced protection issues, the hits he's sustained and even claimed that Slovis is struggling to catch up with the new system Cignetti installed over the offseason (something Cignetti himself said the unit as a whole has had no trouble picking up).
"Again, it's a new offense, too, guys. Don't forget Kenny Pickett wasn't where he was a year ago compared to the year before, compared to the year before, compared to the year before, so it takes time."
The issue isn't that Slovis is human and makes mistakes that any other quarterback could. The problem is his coaches have not offered the kind of criticism those mistakes have warranted. He doesn't have to be perfect and Narduzzi doesn't have to spring for Nate Yarnell or Nick Patti at every sight of trouble but at the very least, Slovis does have to be accountable.
Pitt has not lived up to expectations and there are a lot of reasons for that. Slovis is one of them and unless his own coaches acknowledge that, this team won't get better.
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