University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Football
- Title:
- Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks
- Season at Pitt:
- First
Calling him “one of college football’s most dynamic and aggressive offensive minds,” Pitt head football coach Pat Narduzzi announced the hiring of Kade Bell as the Panthers’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in December 2023.
In 2025, Bell directed an aggressive and quarterback-friendly passing attack that helped Pitt finish 8-5 overall (6-2 ACC) while continuing the program’s offensive success. The Panthers threw for 3,553 yards as a team (273.3 yards per game) with 29 passing touchdowns.
Bell’s offense was highlighted by the emergence of true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel, who quickly established himself as one of the nation’s most impressive young signal-callers. After enrolling at Pitt in January 2025 following his early graduation from Clay High School, Heintschel started nine games and led the Panthers to a 6-3 record as a starter. A semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award, he also earned ACC Quarterback of the Week honors (Week 7) and was a two-time ACC Rookie of the Week selection.
Heintschel completed 201 of 316 passes for 2,354 yards and 16 touchdowns while adding two rushing scores. He threw at least three touchdown passes in three games and eclipsed the 300-yard mark four times, including a 400-yard performance against NC State that marked the first 400-yard passing game by a Pitt quarterback since Kenny Pickett in 2021.
His breakout season produced several notable milestones. Heintschel became the first ACC freshman in the last 30 seasons to throw for 400 yards and three touchdowns in a game and the first Power Four freshman quarterback to reach the 400-yard mark during the 2025 season. He also became the first true freshman since Jameis Winston in 2013 to record at least three touchdown passes and 300 passing yards in three of his first six career games. His 84-yard touchdown pass to Hicks tied the longest scoring pass by a Pitt player in Acrisure Stadium history and ranks tied for the fourth longest in school history.
In his first season with Pitt in 2024, Bell directed a dramatic improvement in the Panthers’ passing attack. Pitt averaged 277.8 passing yards per game during the regular season, ranking 15th nationally and third in the ACC. Bell also helped redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein emerge as one of college football’s top newcomers as a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award.
Holstein completed 180 of 291 passes (62%) for 2,228 yards and 17 touchdowns with seven interceptions. His 17 touchdown passes tied Alex Van Pelt (1989) for the most by a Pitt freshman quarterback.
Among all FBS freshmen, Holstein ranked third in passing yards per game (222.8 avg.) and total offense per game (255.6 avg.) while finishing fifth in touchdown passes. Among Power 4 freshmen, he ranked first in passing yards per game and total offense per game and third in touchdown passes.
Bell earned his Pitt appointment after directing one of the country’s most explosive offenses at Western Carolina the three seasons prior to Pitt (2021-23).
In 2023, the Catamounts led the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in total offense with an average of 504.1 yards per game. Additionally, Western Carolina ranked third in passing offense (321.1 yards per game) and fourth in scoring (37.5 points per game).
Western Carolina paced the Southern Conference in eight offensive categories while setting school records for total yards (5,545) and passing touchdowns (33). Bell’s quarterback, Cole Gonzales, a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, finished the regular season with an FCS-best 28 touchdown passes and a 166.40 efficiency rating.
In 52 career games as Western Carolina’s offensive coordinator, Bell’s teams produced more than 500 yards of offense 31 times (60%).
Prior to Western Carolina, Bell was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Tusculum University, where during the 2021 spring season his offense averaged 533.4 yards and 37.6 points per game en route to the South Atlantic Conference title.
Bell worked three seasons at Valdosta State (2016-18), elevating to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. In his final season, the Blazers went 14-0 and captured the NCAA Division II national championship.
Valdosta State averaged a national-best 52 points per game and broke the NCAA Division II record for points in a season (728). The Blazers led the nation in touchdown passes (50), yards per play (7.9), yards per rush (7.2) and points per play (0.78). Their average of 524 yards per game ranked fourth nationally.
Under Bell’s tutelage, quarterback Rogan Wells was the 2018 Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a two-time runner-up for the Harlon Hill Trophy, presented to the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. Wells threw for 3,078 yards and 38 touchdowns during Valdosta State’s national championship run.
Bell’s additional experience includes one season (2019) at the University of South Florida as an offensive analyst.
Bell is the son of Kerwin Bell, the former Florida Gators quarterback and professional football player who is currently the head coach at Western Carolina. The elder Bell previously served as head coach at Valdosta State (2016-18) and Jacksonville University (2007-15).
Kade was a four-year starting quarterback under his father at Jacksonville from 2011-15, producing 9,613 total yards and accounting for 93 touchdowns. He earned his bachelor’s degree in sports management from Jacksonville and a master’s degree in public administration from Valdosta State in 2018.
Bell and his wife, Charlotte, have a daughter, Palmer, and a son, Beckett.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
Alma Mater: Jacksonville, 2015
Family: Bell and his wife, Charlotte, have a daughter, Palmer, and a son, Beckett.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
College
Valdosta State, 2016, offensive graduate assistant; 2017, offensive passing game coordinator and wide receivers; 2018, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks.
USF, 2019, offensive analyst.
Tusculum University, 2021 (spring season), associate head coach and offensive coordinator.
Western Carolina, 2021-23, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks.
Pitt, 2024, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks.
