Pitt Football: Can Panthers repeat as ACC Coastal champs in 2019?

Despite a 7-5 regular season, Pitt football won the ACC Coastal division a year ago. Can it add more to the wins column in the 2019 season?

The Pitt Panthers enter their fifth season under head coach Pat Narduzzi. A year ago, they shocked everyone by winning the ACC Coastal division at 6-2, winning 5-of-6 conference games down the stretch to do it.

However, on an unexpected note, the Panthers were smacked around by Clemson in the ACC Championship Game and then followed up with a dud of a performance against Stanford in the Sun Bowl to finish the season 7-7.

While giving credit where credit is due, the Panthers division championship seemed to be more of a byproduct of a down ACC, especially the Coastal. Miami and Virginia Tech were mediocre. When it seemed like Virginia was going to take advantage, they flopped.

Can Pitt return to their glory days? The days of Dan Marino and the 1980s are long gone, however the Panthers will bring back nostalgia this year with the colors royal blue and gold and script Pitt making a return permanently.

At least they will look good even in defeat.

All jokes aside, the Panthers need to develop more consistency under Narduzzi and his staff. Read on for this season’s outlook on the Panthers.