Pat Narduzzi did not holler or raise any kind of celebratory racket when quarterback Eli Holstein announced he was returning to Pitt for the 2025 season.

“I never really told him I was coming back,” Holstein told TribLive on Sunday when he was a guest server at the Beth Shalom Men’s Club sports luncheon in Squirrel Hill. “I made an announcement on social media for everybody else because you have to do that nowadays.”

But it wasn’t necessary, he said.

“Everybody on the team knew I was coming back. There was never a question. I never wanted it to be a question.”

Yet he said some other schools he didn’t name circumvented the rules by inquiring through a third party about his interest in transferring. Holstein’s name never was in the transfer portal, and he said those prohibited inquires were a waste of time.

It was a similar situation to a few years ago when some schools reached out to linebacker Sir Vocea Dennis and quarterback Kenny Pickett to gauge their interest in transferring and were rebuffed. Likewise, their names never were in the portal.

“I never paid too much attention,” Holstein said. “I knew what I wanted to do and stuck with it. The culture, the city. It’s a place that I wanted to be, wanted to stay in.”

He said his relationship with Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Kade Bell was the main reason he wanted to come back for his redshirt sophomore season.

“Pitt gave me a chance when I was coming out of the portal when I was the fifth-string quarterback at Alabama,” Holstein said. “I felt like I owed it to them to stay here and finish it out here. I have to show the same loyalty.”

Of Narduzzi’s coaching style he said, “He wants things done a certain way, which I respect. He’s been a very successful coach here and a guy that you want to play for and fight for.”

Holstein, who missed three of 13 games last season with a concussion and ankle injury, said he will be ready for the start of spring ball next month.

Holstein said NIL had less to do with his desire to return than just wanting to resume what he started at Pitt.

“Definitely different,” he said of the new world of NIL. “Something we’re going to have to get used to and get more comfortable with. I feel like there’s a lot of good that comes with it, but there’s also some bad that comes with it. Once we figure it all out and iron out all the details, it’s going to be great for the sport.”

Holstein was one of six Pitt football players who served 250 special needs children at the luncheon Sunday. He was joined by teammates Nick Lapi, Nate Temple, David Lynch, Cade Dowd and Jake Renda and others from Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne, Carlow and members of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds and Pitt’s nationally ranked women’s volleyball team.

Pitt will have an interesting quarterback depth chart this spring with Lynch and Julian Dugger (Penn Hills) backing up Holstein. Both played in the GameAbove Sports Bowl on Dec. 26 in Holstein’s absence. Dugger threw for two touchdowns and ran for another in the six-overtime loss to Toledo.

“(Dugger) did exactly what I thought he was going to do,” Holstein said. “He’s a guy who has a lot of physical attributes that are going to help him out. He’s a really, really physical guy, can make a lot of plays with his legs. He’s got a great arm.”

To punctuate the event, master of ceremonies Andrew Stockey, longtime news anchor at WTAE-TV, asked for volunteers in an arm wrestling competition. Holstein wisely kept his hand down.

The last news Narduzzi wanted to hear Sunday was his quarterback arm wrestling. Women’s volleyball player Bre Kelly, a second-team All-American at Pitt, was among athletes who did participate in what turned into an entertaining exhibition. She lost to Carlow men’s volleyball player Luke Campana, a Baldwin graduate.

Holstein, who brought his 9-year-old sister Mary Grace to the luncheon, was content to wait until March to feed his competitive juices.

“Very, very eager (to get started),” he said, noting he expects “big things” next season.

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“Better than last year. That’s the plan.”