On Sunday night, Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula said that he will use the transfer portal and would not be playing for the club in the College Football Playoffs.
Pribula said on social media that he was forced to make an impossible choice because of the conflicting schedules for the CFB playoffs and the transfer portal.
Days before Penn State hosts SMU in the CFP first round, James Franklin was questioned about Pribula’s selection at a press conference on Monday. Franklin praised Pribula as a great young guy and claimed that the college football schedule had left the former Central York standout in a losing position.
Franklin stated later in his news conference that Penn State was looking for ways to let Pribula stay on the team through the CFP even if he was portaling, but that nothing ideal materialized. According to Franklin, Pribula attended practice yesterday but was preoccupied with the demands of finalizing schoolwork, organizing visits, and other things.
This is Franklin’s response to the first query regarding Pribula.
Beau Pribula has been an outstanding teammate and a major contributor to our current success. Parents are amazing. Fantastic, high school coach. He never tackled the difficult task of being a backup quarterback in that manner. Based on his approach to his work and his readiness as a starter, he exuded confidence in our team—something we frequently discuss but find difficult to implement. He is a man’s man. He visited my office and discussed this procedure with me several times. We had no plans to leave when we spoke last week. However, there are issues with college football.
I promise you that Beau Pribula had no intention of leaving our program. He wanted to stay in our program until the season was over. However, he thought that he was placed in a no-win situation because of the portal’s design, its timing, the way our team is performing, and the fact that there is only one quarterback position and those positions are filling up. I agree with him.
First of all, I’m sorry for Beau Pribula. It’s not in the student-athlete’s best interest, in my opinion. It is not in college football’s best interests, in my opinion. However, I believe that is currently our difficulty. Who is actually in charge of college football and who is deciding what is best for the players and our sport overall? This is not the right place for Beau.
Whether we play fewer games during the season or skip conference championship games, it might have the same effect on teams that aren’t participating in them. Part of this pressure also includes finishing the season in a way that better fits the academic calendar for the majority of universities. There are simply too many factors that don’t make sense for a transfer site or free agency to be operating during the playoffs.
I think Beau Pribula is a great young man. And each year I would recruit him. With what I currently know, I would absolutely recruit Beau. Beau spent his entire childhood dreaming of attending Penn State. His ideal school is this one. And here, he had an incredible career. And over all, I just want everyone to know that. And why did we set up a structure that prevented this man from finishing this season with his team?
There will be many who claim that he could have. However, I always make an effort to take a deep breath and consider both sides of an issue, both personally and professionally. As Penn State’s head coach, I also believe that I have a duty to the university and our football program. However, I also believe that I owe Beau Pribula something. Therefore, I detest it. I despise Penn State and I despise him. However, I don’t believe it’s appropriate for collegiate football either.
Pribula’s choice to depart makes sense in light of Monday’s events. The starting quarterback for Penn State, Drew Allar, is anticipated to return for the 2025 campaign, according to news reports.
Pribula was a flexible option for offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki to switch up the tempo. This season, Pribula recorded 187 offensive snaps. He helped the Nittany Lions put opponents on their heels by rushing for 242 yards and five touchdowns.
Throughout the season, Franklin discussed how defenses needed to get ready for the versatile quarterback’s abilities. Against SMU, Kotelnicki will now have to omit the Pribula package from the playbook.
In the CFP, there is also the possibility that Allar will suffer harm. After Allar left, Pribula performed excellently, completing 11 of 13 passes, gaining 128 yards, and throwing a touchdown pass to lead Penn State to victory over Wisconsin.
Last week marked the start of the winter transfer portal window, which will run through December 28. Over 1,700 FBS players have already registered on the service. Many of them have already found new homes, and many are quarterbacks.
Pribula will now be among them.
Stories by
Johnny McGonigal
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