The transfer portal in NCAAF has certainly sparked a flurry of moves, and the Penn State Nittany Lions were no exception. The problem for James Franklin is that, ahead of crucial games, he lost one of his quarterbacks, Beau Pribula, and regarding this controversial situation, he made an impressive confession.
The talented quarterback ultimately left Penn State because his spot was already filled by Drew Allar. The player who now holds the starting QB role for the Nittany Lions announced his final decision on his future, and it is to play the 2025 season.
This is why Franklin, when asked by the press about his thoughts on Pribula’s sudden departure, did not hesitate to express his discontent: “In my opinion, he’s a man’s man,” the head coach stated.
“Like came into my office, had multiple conversations with me about this process. We talked last week, had no intentions of leaving, but we’ve got problems in college football,” he also added.
Franklin finally concluded: “And I can give you my word: Beau Pribula did not want to leave our program. And he did not want to leave our program until the end of the season. But the way the portal is, and the timing of it, and the way our team is playing, and when you play the position of quarterback and there’s only one spot and those spots are filling up, he felt like he was put in a no-win situation. And I agree with him.”
Franklin shared a reflection following Pribula’s departure
The early departure of Pribula due to the transfer portal was somewhat unexpected, not only for his coach but also for his teammates. Once his departure was finalized, Franklin expressed his dissatisfaction to the press.
“I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the student-athlete,” Franklin said. “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of college football. But I think that’s our challenge right now, right? Who is really running college football and making the best decisions for the student-athletes and for our sport as a whole?”
“Beau should not be put in this position,” the HC also added. “Whether we don’t play as many games during the season, whether we don’t play conference championship games, which could actually equal things out to some of the teams that aren’t playing them anyway, finish the season so it aligns more with the academic calendar for most institutions, because that’s part of this pressure, as well. To have a transfer portal slash free agency going on right in the middle of the playoffs, there’s just a lot of things that don’t really make sense.”
Kirk Herbstreit’s criticism of Pribula’s decision
Opinions quickly surfaced regarding Beau Pribula’s decision to leave the Penn State program and seek a new team for the upcoming season. Kirk Herbstreit, the College Football commentator, was one of those who criticized the player’s decision.
“We’ve been talking about this for so long, you know, how nutty this is,” Herbstreit started. “I’s easy to blame the players. I think it’s easy to look at it like, ‘How selfish are these guys?’ But I think, if you put yourself in their shoes, I think the calendar and the way it’s set up is difficult. I don’t know Beau’s case, because I know Preston Stone and there’s some other guys that have entered the portal, but they’re staying with their team in the Playoff, like at SMU, getting ready.”
Herbstreit also added: “I don’t know why he felt the need to be able to enter the portal, but then leave. Maybe you guys can help me with that. I don’t understand that aspect of his specific story on why he’s leaving the team. I guess maybe he felt he had to go visit these schools to be able to really get a good handle on where he wanted to go. I have no idea.”
The former college football player finally concluded: “I know it’s a little bit of a revolving door, especially at that position, when it comes to the portal. Some of these guys are trying to kind of be re-recruited, like they’re high school seniors again, to try to figure out where’s the best fit for them. So maybe he felt, before someone else takes the spot that he wants, he needs to go visit while his team’s playing in these Playoff games. He needs to go visit these schools. That’s the only thing I can think of why he left the team.”