College football’s spring transfer portal opened this week, which means the latest edition of the quarterback carousel is underway for teams across the country.
Former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava is the biggest name in the portal this spring. Iamaleava, after helping the Vols earn a spot in the College Football Playoff, reportedly tried to renegotiate his NIL deal, overplayed his hand and is now searching for a new team.
Iamaleava isn’t alone. Plenty of quarterbacks will be looking for landing spots over the next week or so, and teams will be interested.
If history serves, one team that won’t be in the QB market is Penn State.
That seems fairly obvious given the current state of affairs. Drew Allar is back for one more season while younger quarterbacks Ethan Grunkemeyer and Jaxon Smolik are champing at the bit to earn the No. 2 job and possibly start in 2026.
But we mentioned history. Amid all the craziness of the portal, which dates back to 2018, the only team from a power conference — Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12 and old Pac-12 — that hasn’t added a scholarship transfer quarterback is Penn State.
That’s not necessarily a positive or a negative. But it is unique.
“I think it’s a couple of things,” PSU coach James Franklin said Tuesday night. “We’re a developmental program across the board. We believe in that. I also think early on, we kind of had to be that way. But I think it also is kind of ingrained in who we are and our DNA. We’re upfront and transparent with people, and I think we’ve done a good job of developing that position. So the next guy up has had an opportunity to compete and win the starting job. For the most part, that’s gone pretty, pretty well.
“We’re not opposed to doing it if we have to. But I’m a big believer that, when you can promote from within, you know what you have and what you’re getting. And although the portal sometimes seems sexy, you don’t always know what you’re getting until they show up on campus. So I think so far, it’s been good to us.”
There’s a lot to unpack there. But the primary takeaway? Penn State hasn’t really needed to push hard in the transfer portal for a quarterback — especially when most players in that situation are looking for the opportunity to start elsewhere.
Franklin’s tenure at Penn State has been buoyed by relatively clean succession planning. Trace McSorley started three years from 2016-18. Sean Clifford beat out Will Levis and took over from 2019-22. Then, it was time to shine for Allar, the five-star 2022 signee. All three were (and in Allar’s case, continue to be) successful in their own ways.
In that span, plenty of QBs have transferred out. Levis (Kentucky), Tommy Stevens (Mississippi State), Christian Veilleux (Pitt) and, most recently, Beau Pribula (Missouri) were the high-profile exits. TaQuan Roberson left after a turbulent 2021 season. Michael Johnson Jr. and Micah Bowens, a pair of four-star prospects, hit the portal one year after signing. The common thread among those departures was the obvious ceiling with starters in place.
But there was a time when Penn State was openly pursuing quarterbacks in the portal. Back in March 2021, the Nittany Lions had only three scholarship QBs on the roster: Clifford, Veilleux and Roberson. And at the time, Franklin said that was “a little dicey.”
“Whether it’s transfer portal or whatever it may be, do we feel like we need to go out and bring another guy in?” Franklin said. “Because you’d like to be at five scholarship quarterbacks all the time. I think you can get away with four.”
The Nittany Lions weren’t able to add a transfer QB ahead of the 2021 season, and you can make the case that it burned them. Clifford’s injury at Iowa forced Roberson into action, and the young backup wasn’t prepared to see out a road win in a top-five matchup.
But generally, the Nittany Lions have done a good enough job recruiting and developing QBs that it hasn’t had to wade into the portal waters. They’ve had at least four scholarship QBs on the roster every year since the portal opened, except for 2021 and 2023 (Allar, Pribula, Smolik). And Penn State shouldn’t feel any pressure to go after a QB this spring.
Allar will be a third-year starter before leaving for the 2026 NFL draft. Unless Grunkemeyer or Smolik unexpectedly bolt, the backup situation will be stable. Bekkem Kritza, a bit of a project but a talented prospect nonetheless, signed in the 2025 recruiting class. Looking ahead, Franklin has two QBs committed in the 2026 class: Peyton Falzone and Troy Huhn.
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The present — barring a surprise portal entry — is taken care of. The future is, as well. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if Penn State’s run as the only power conference team that hasn’t brought in a transfer quarterback continues for some time.
Or maybe the portal madness at quarterback finally changes that.