Pitt QB Eli Holstein, offensive coordinator Kade Bell are on the same wavelength entering year 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kade Bell's first spring as Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator was chaotic. And crowded. Way too crowded.

The Panthers had more than a half-dozen quarterbacks on the roster this time last year, far too many to get any real sense of who could do what and who could be what.

“How (was) I supposed to get everybody reps ... and then try and develop them (at the same time)," Bell said.

Things are far calmer now. Eli Holstein emerged from the masses to eventually become the starter and was putting together one of the finest freshman seasons in recent memory before injuries set in as the Panthers saw a 7-0 start fade to a 7-6 finish.

Holstein is healthy now, and there's a little more space in Pitt's quarterback room, which now just consists of Holstein, Julian Duggar (who started the Panthers' bowl game loss in place of Holstein), David Lynch and Mason Heintschel heading into Saturday's annual Blue-Gold spring game.

The upshot is that Bell had a chance to teach more this time around rather than focus on getting everyone's name right, as was the case a year ago. Bell estimates Holstein and company have thrown 900 passes over the last month, plenty of opportunities for them to learn, Bell to guide, and confidence to build.

Holstein certainly sounds eager to get moving after being forced to sit out bowl prep while he recovered from a leg injury. Bell made it a point to praise Holstein for the way he remained mentally engaged even as he rehabbed. The proof that Holstein has been listening comes during meetings, when Holstein sometimes knows the questions before Bell even asks.

“As a QB, when you can answer the questions before the OC tells you something, we’re going to be in a lot better situation,” Bell said.

Bell's up-tempo attack requires quarterbacks to think and move quickly. Holstein still wants to be a threat with his legs, even though he took a fair number of shots last season playing behind a line that at times had trouble protecting him.

While Bell doesn't have a problem with that, he's also just fine if Holstein takes the snap, makes the right read and gets rid of it to a group of playmakers that Bell believes could be better than what the Panthers had a year ago. Outside of running back Desmond Reid and the occasional big play from wide receiver Konata Mumpfield, there weren't a lot of big plays to go around.

“Last year, it felt like we only had 4-5 guys that could play that we trusted,” Bell said. “This year I think we’re going to be in the 7-8 range. ... The goal is to stretch the defense vertically as opposed to 13-play drives.”

Holstein needed to beat out Nate Yarnell to win the starting job last summer, a decision that wasn't made official until the start of the season. There are no questions this time around, making Holstein more comfortable trying to be a leader, though he noted getting people in line has rarely been a problem.

It wasn't uncommon during Holstein's childhood for his father, Scott, a strength and conditioning coach, to ask his preteen-aged son to go tell much bigger, much older college athletes where to go and what to do. All that practice has paid off.

“I’ve had the guys (here) tell me, ‘Hey, I need you to be on me this year,’” Holstein said. “And I told them, 'I’m going to be honest with you, but you’re not going to like me sometimes.”

Holstein isn't interested in winning any popularity contests. He wants to prove that the Panthers are much closer to the team that ripped off seven straight wins to start 2024 than the one that limped to the finish.

It seems that Holstein is in for the long(er) haul. The Alabama transfer insists he enjoys Pittsburgh, and after Bell signed a three-year contract extension during the offseason, Holstein jokingly told Bell he thinks he deserves one too.

“I respect (Bell) a lot,” Holstein said. “He respects me a lot. It’s another guy that I can talk to about stuff other than football. We have a really close relationship now, which I’m really, really grateful for. Now we’re able to go out there and make a lot of plays. I’m excited for it.”

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FILE - Pittsburgh quarterback Eli Holstein (10) looks to throw during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed, File)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died Monday. He was 74.

Ahn, who had suffered blood cancer for years, was pronounced dead at Seoul's Soonchunhyang University Hospital, his agency, the Artist Company, and hospital officials said.

“We feel deep sorrow at the sudden, sad news, pray for the eternal rest of the deceased and offer our heartfelt condolences to his bereaved family members," the Artist Company said in a statement.

President Lee Jae Myung issued a condolence message saying Ahn provided many people with comfort, joy and time for reflection. “I already miss his warm smile and gentle voice,” Lee wrote on Facebook.

Born to a filmmaker in the southeastern city of Daegu in 1952, Ahn made his debut as a child actor in the movie “The Twilight Train” in 1957. He subsequently appeared in about 70 movies as a child actor before he left the film industry to live an ordinary life.

In 1970, Ahn entered Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a Vietnamese major. Ahn said he graduated with top honors but failed to land jobs at big companies, who likely saw his Vietnamese major largely useless after a communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975.

Ahn returned to the film industry in 1977 believing he could still excel in acting. In 1980, he rose to fame for his lead role in Lee Jang-ho’s “Good, Windy Days,” a hit coming-of-age movie about the struggle of working-class men from rural areas during the country’s rapid rise. Ahn won the best new actor award in the prestigious Grand Bell Awards, the Korean version of the Academy Awards.

He later starred in a series of highly successful and critically acclaimed movies, sweeping best actor awards and becoming arguably the country’s most popular actor in much of the 1980-90s.

Some of his memorable roles included a Buddhist monk in 1981’s “Mandara,” a beggar in 1984’s “Whale Hunting,” a Vietnam War veteran-turned-novelist in 1992’s “White Badge,” a corrupt police officer in 1993’s “Two Cops,” a murderer in 1999’s “No Where To Hide,” a special forces trainer in 2003’s “Silmido” and a devoted celebrity manager in 2006’s “Radio Star.”

Ahn had collected dozens of trophies in major movie awards in South Korea, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times, an achievement no other South Korean actors have matched yet.

Ahn built up an image as a humble, trustworthy and family-oriented celebrity who avoided major scandals and maintained a quiet, stable personal life. Past public surveys chose Ahn as South Korea’s most beloved actor and deserving of the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.”

Ahn said he earlier felt confined with his “The Nation's Actor” labeling but eventually thought that led him down the right path. In recent years, local media has given other stars similar honorable nicknames, but Ahn was apparently the first South Korean actor who was dubbed “The Nation's Actor.”

“I felt I should do something that could match that title. But I think that has eventually guided me on a good direction,” Ahn said in an interview with Yonhap news agency in 2023.

In media interviews, Ahn couldn’t choose what his favorite movie was, but said that his role as a dedicated, hardworking manger for a washed-up rock singer played by Park Jung-hoon resembled himself in real life the most.

Ahn was also known for his reluctance to do love scenes. He said said he was too shy to act romantic scenes and sometimes asked directors to skip steamy scenes if they were only meant to add spice to movies.

“I don’t do well on acting like looking at someone who I don’t love with loving eyes and kissing really romantically. I feel shy and can’t express such emotions well,” Ahn said in an interview with the Shindonga magazine in 2007. “Simply, I’m clumsy on that. So I couldn’t star in such movies a lot. But ultimately, that was a right choice for me.”

Ahn is survived by his wife and their two sons. A mourning station at a Seoul hospital was to run until Friday.

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki smiles for a photo on the red carpet at the 56th Daejong Film Awards ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki attends an event as part of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)