PITTSBURGH – The final college season is always tough for any football player, but senior tight end Gavin Bartholomew is looking forward to getting back on the field and finishing first.

Bartholomew came out of Blue Mountain High School in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, without much fanfare, and Pitt was his only Power Five offer.

As a freshman, he got the chance to showcase his talent in 2021. He played in all 14 games and was a starter as Pitt won the ACC championship.

Bartholomew caught 27 balls for 317 yards and scored four touchdowns this season. He partnered with Heisman Award-nominated quarterback Kenny Pickett. For his efforts, he earned honorable mention All-ACC honors and Freshman All-American Second Team honors from The Athletic and Pro Football Network.

The last two seasons should have shown an improvement in Bartholomew’s performance, but his statistics have remained either similar or worse than his first season at Pitt.

Former Panthers offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. didn’t place much emphasis on passing the ball to Bartholomew, and the struggles of quarterbacks like Kedon Slovis, Phil Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux led to a stagnation in Bartholomew’s overall numbers.

Bartholomew had 21 catches for 283 yards and two touchdowns as a sophomore in 2022 and then just 18 catches for 326 yards and a touchdown as a third-year sophomore last season, doing most of his work with few targets.

Many fans speculated that Bartholomew might leave after the 2023 season and look for a better opportunity, but he decided to stay and spend his final year with the team that believed in him from day one.

Bartholomew and fellow running back Rodney Hammond both returned to help improve the offense in their final season, something Bartholomew is ready to do in the fall.

“This university has given me everything I never thought possible. And to have a coach who believes in you and trusts you is incredible,” Bartholomew said. “The sky is the limit for what we can accomplish together.”

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi praised both of them at the beginning of the entire training camp for their leadership qualities and loyalty to the program.

“There’s no question,” Narduzzi said of the leadership qualities of Bartolomew and Hammond. “They’re both better leaders than they were a year ago. I think both Gavin and Rodney have stepped up and are doing a good job out there. That’s called loyalty and I think these guys all know that. I also think if we won eight or nine games last season, those guys are going to be at Pitt. That’s just the way they are. I have a lot of them.”

Bartholomew will have a chance to play more this fall compared to the last two seasons as new offensive coordinator Kade Bell implements his system, which operates faster and distributes the ball to more options.

“Yeah, it just gives us more space and frees us up,” Bartholomew said of the new offense. “Yesterday in the two-minute period, I think we had a great day. As far as the two-minute period goes, we looked the best we’ve looked in a long time. It’s just great. Everything is running smoothly and everyone knows what they’re doing. It looks really good.”

The most important part of this new offense is the quarterback, with redshirt junior Nate Yarnell most likely starting as the signal caller for the opening game.

Bartholomew likes Yarnell’s leadership of the team on the field and the work he does off the field. He has made great strides in just a few months.

“Nate is always hard on himself,” Bartholomew said. “He’s a perfectionist. He wants to be perfect in everything he does. If it’s not right, we’ll do it again. He’s just like Coach Bell, Coach (Jacob) Bro(nowski) and all the other coaches we have. Everything has to be perfect. That’s how you win on game days.”

The speed of the offense is the hard part for anyone learning it, and it was a big adjustment for Bartholomew and the players from last season. Despite some hiccups during spring ball, nearly two weeks into fall camp, the team is looking much better and ready to start the season.

“Now? We’re really comfortable now,” Bartholomew said. “At first it was definitely a struggle to get used to it, but now that we’re, I don’t even know what day it is. Day eight of camp? Or nine? I don’t even know. We’re feeling great. Everything is going really smoothly and we’re definitely used to it.”

Bartholomew also has a new tight ends coach in Jacob Bronowski, who takes over from Tim Salem. Bronowski also handles special teams, but his relationship with Bartholomew has made him a better player and keeps him in check when needed.

“It’s been great,” Bartholomew said of Bronwoski. “You know, Coach Bro, he always comes in with a smile on his face and holds us accountable, which I love. If we’re not doing something right, he lets us know. Then we can fix it. He does a great job. He definitely brings a good vibe to the tight end room.”

Jake Overman, a redshirt senior tight end who transferred from Oregon State, has built a great friendship with Bartholomew on the field, but also off the field as they spend time together watching film and outside of football.

In this new system, they probably won’t play together often, but the tight end duo pushes each other every day for better results that will soon show up on the field.

“It’s great, Gavin is one of my buddies now,” Overman said. “So it’s fun to work with your buddy and not just a fellow. So I was able to learn from him and I think I was able to hopefully help him as well. Just that whole tight end room. We bounce ideas off each other. We get to play with each other and I think we all bring different skills to the table. I think it’s been cool for all of us to be able to learn from each other.”

Bartholomew isn’t the only player who wants the season to start. The players returning from last season feel the same way.

The Panthers finished the 2023 season 3-9, their worst finish in 25 years (1998: 2-9). Bartholomew and his teammates want to put that behind them and get back on track immediately.

“I just feel like everyone’s done this, almost like a comeback, it’s like a comeback tour,” Bartholomew said. “Last year obviously wasn’t our year. This year we’re hungry. We’ve got a lot of veterans, a lot of guys who have experience and know what to do in tough situations. We’ve been through ups and downs together and then we’ve got a lot of great newcomers coming up as well.”

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