This time last year, Ethan Grunkemeyer had one FBS offer: Miami (Ohio). On Wednesday, he signed with Penn State as one of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 recruiting class.
It’s been a rapid rise for Grunkemeyer, the Olentangy (Ohio) standout who committed to Penn State in May as a three-star recruit. Now, he’s a consensus four-star prospect who’s ranked as high as the No. 5 quarterback and No. 84 overall player in the 2024 cycle by ESPN.
“We’re pleased with him,” coach James Franklin said of Grunkemeyer at his early signing period press conference Wednesday. “We’re really happy he’s in the fold. And his development over the last year and a half has been really cool.”
Franklin likened Grunkemeyer’s rise to that of Drew Allar — a fellow Ohio native who was an under-the-radar three-star prospect when he committed to the Nittany Lions back in March 2021. Allar developed into a five-star and the No. 1 quarterback in the 2022 class.
Franklin said Grunkemeyer’s and Allar’s recruiting trajectories are “very similar in a lot of ways.” It helps that the two share a personal quarterback trainer, QB Excelerate’s Brad Maendler.
Maendler told PennLive in May that “the mindset, the intentionality and the thoughtfulness” of Grunkemeyer is “dead-on similar” to Allar. “Ethan didn’t progress the way Drew did. The way Drew progressed in a six-month span was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. But Ethan kept getting better and better.”
Franklin said that Grunkemeyer took his play “to a different level” over the last year and a half.
Without an offer going into his junior season, Grunkemeyer had something to prove. He threw for 2,649 yards and 25 touchdowns. Bowling Green offered in January. Western Michigan, Akron, Ball State, Marshall and UConn followed suit in February.
But it wasn’t until Northwestern offered April 3 that his recruitment took off. Indiana, Minnesota and Cincinnati offered days later. A week after that, former Penn State offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich came out to Ohio for a second time to watch Grunkemeyer. After the session, Yurcich called Grunkemeyer to offer him a scholarship.
Grunkemeyer, after committing to Penn State, continued to shine. He was an Elite 11 finalist and received an invitation to the Under Armour All-America Game. As a senior, he led Olentangy to an 11-2 record, throwing for 3,517 yards and 39 touchdowns.
Franklin gave props to Maendler and Olentangy coach Wade Bartholomew for their roles in Grunkemeyer’s development. And he credited his parents, Heather and Megan.
“This kid is wired right,” Franklin said. “He’s raised right.”
Grunkemeyer understands that he’s not going to be a starter as a freshman. He enters a quarterback room with not only Allar but Beau Pribula and Jaxon Smolik. He’s going to have an opportunity to sit and learn behind Allar — just as Allar did with Sean Clifford in 2022. Franklin sees “a ton of value” in that for Grunkemeyer and young quarterbacks, in general.
But the future is bright for Grunkemeyer.
“We recruited Ethan because we’ve seen over time that he’s got a chance to be a really talented player in the Big Ten and nationally,” Franklin said. “He’s proved that over his entire career and really over the last year and a half.”