Urban Meyer Says He's 'Sick' That Beau Pribula Had to Leave Penn State During a Playoff Run

Pribula, the former Penn State quarterback, is transferring to Missouri. "What's going through his heart right now?" Meyer asks as the Nittany Lions prepare to play Notre Dame.

Former Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Beau Pribula rushes the ball against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. / Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As he previewed the Penn State-Notre Dame matchup in the Orange Bowl, Urban Meyer took a brief detour and brought up a story unique to the Nittany Lions' postseason. "I'm going to throw a name at you," Meyer said on The Triple Option podcast. "Beau Pribula. What’s going through his heart right now?"

Interesting question. Pribula, of course, is the former Penn State quarterback who left the team and entered the NCAA Transfer Portal after the Big Ten championship game. Following a whirlwind re-recruiting process, Pribula announced in late December that he will play for Missouri next season. The downside: Pribula was not part of Penn State's first two College Football Playoff wins over SMU and Boise State and is not with the team this week for the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame.

Missouri begins spring registration Jan. 13 and classes Jan. 21, meaning Pribula conceivably could spend time with the Nittany Lions in south Florida. However, as Meyer noted, he won't be part of the team trying to win its first national championship since the 1986 season. Meyer still sounded pained by the situation.

"Because Penn State’s got a chance to go play for a national title, that changes who you are," Meyer said on the podcast. "That changes your makeup. That changes [you] for the rest of your life. Your children your grandchildren will talk about, their father would have played for a national championship. I’m sick that that had to happen. I know we’ve got to move on, but that will change you. He can look around his house, and ... you’ve got family pictures, and you know what else you’ve got pictures of? That. When you and a team go find a way to compete and go play for a championship and find a way to win that thing."

In his only public comments regarding his decision, Pribula released a statement in December saying he entered the portal with a "heavy heart." Quarterback Drew Allar has announced that he will return to Penn State next season, so Pribula chose to transfer for an opportunity to start elsewhere. However, the NCAA Transfer Portal's December window meant that Pribula had to leave Penn State to find the right opportunity and proper fit.

"The current NCAA post-season model creates a challenge for student-athletes," Pribula said in a statement on social media. "The overlapping CFP playoff & transfer portal timeline has forced me into an impossible decision. After speaking at length with my family and coaches, it is with a heavy heart that I announce my intentions to enter the transfer portal and depart from the team to explore opportunities elsewhere."

Like Meyer, Penn State coach James Franklin was "sick" about the situation as well. Franklin said that he, Pribula, the quarterback's family and his agent tried to finesse a solution that would allow Pribula to transfer and remain with the team through the postseason. But Franklin said that the NCAA calendar "made that almost impossible to do."

"Number one, I hate it, most importantly, for Beau Pribula. I don't think it's in the best interests of the student-athlete. I don't think it's in the best interests of college football," Franklin said. "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. Whether we don't play as many games during the season, whether we don't play conference championship games — which could equal things out for teams not playing them anyway — [we could] finish this 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/free agency going on right in the middle of the playoffs, there's just a lot of things that don't really make sense."

Teammates supported Pribula's decision but also miss his presence. "I love him," running back Nicholas Singleton said. "He'll be my brother for life."

"Beau grew up wanting to come to Penn State his whole life," Franklin added. "This is his dream school, and [he] had a phenomenal career here. And I just want everybody to understand that, most importantly. And why have we created a system where this guy couldn't finish this season with his team?"

Penn State meets Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl on Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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