Beau Pribula shouldn’t receive scorn for putting his name in the NCAA transfer portal and leaving Penn State before its first-round College Football Playoff game.
He should receive sympathy for being backed into a corner by the college football calendar.
Pribula was torn. He wanted to stay with the Nittany Lions through the end of their season and continue to contribute.
Yet the former Central York star also wanted a chance to start at quarterback somewhere with his two years of eligibility. He knew that wasn’t going to happen at Penn State once Drew Allar decided in the last few days to return in 2025.
With coaches across the country wooing quarterbacks to transfer to their schools, Pribula couldn’t wait.
“I can give you my word that Beau Pribula did not want to leave our program until the end of the season,” Penn State coach James Franklin said during an impassioned response to a question. “The way the portal is, the timing of it and with quarterback spots filling up, he felt like he was put in a no-win situation. I agree with him.
“I hate it for Beau Pribula. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the student-athlete. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of college football.”
The transfer portal for football opened last Monday, Dec. 9, the day after the Lions formally received a berth in the first 12-team playoff against SMU, and will close Dec. 28, a 19-day period that runs through the first-round games and preparation for quarterfinals.
Imagine NFL free agency beginning a week before the playoffs and continuing for almost three weeks during the playoffs. That’s what’s going on now in college football. It’s nuts.
“It’s unfortunate that it has to be this way,” Allar said. “I know Beau didn’t necessarily want it to be this way. Unfortunately, that’s the landscape of college football right now.
“He’s been a part of our offense throughout the year. He’s one of the reasons why we’re here. It sucks that he’s not able to go out there and play with us on Saturday.”
Franklin said he and Pribula met several times to try to find a way for him to stay with the team once he expressed interest in transferring.
Why wouldn’t Franklin want Pribula to stay? His role increased this season with new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki.
He completed 26-of-35 passes for 275 yards and five touchdowns with one interception and rushed 38 times for 242 yards and four touchdowns. When Allar sustained a knee injury in the first half at Wisconsin in October, Pribula helped lead Penn State to a 28-13 comeback win.
“We talked about a ton of different scenarios,” Franklin said. “The more we talked about and the more we went through it, Beau felt like he was going to have a hard time finishing school, finding a new place and still preparing like a starter like he had been doing all year.
“He was out at practice Sunday and I could tell he was distracted by all of this. We were open to different solutions and coming up with scenarios that could work for everybody. We just couldn’t get to a point where everybody felt like it was going to work out in everybody’s best interests.”
Pribula’s absence leaves the Lions without a backup quarterback who has played even one snap in college. The No. 2 guy most likely will be freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer.
“As the head coach, I have a responsibility for Penn State and our football program but I also have a responsibility for Beau Pribula,” Franklin said. “I hate it. I hate it for him. I hate it for Penn State. I also don’t think it’s the right thing for college football.”
Franklin again pleaded for the sport to have a commissioner with no vested interest in a particular conference. He pleaded for the calendar to be changed either by shortening the regular season, starting it earlier or pushing the transfer portal back.
That doesn’t help Beau Pribula, who is one of the most popular guys among his Penn State teammates.
“He’s a wonderful young man,” Franklin said. “I would recruit him every year. Knowing everything I know right now, I’d go back and recruit the heck out of Beau. Beau grew up wanting to come to Penn State his whole life. This is his dream school. He had a phenomenal career here.
“I want everybody to understand that and why we created a system in which this guy couldn’t finish this season with his team.”