James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions are preparing for a College Football Playoff matchup against SMU, but they will have to do so with their backup quarterback Beau Pribula in the transfer portal.

With how the transfer portal is currently set up, many players are being forced to transfer even before their season is over. Pribula himself called out how the transfer portal is set up. Franklin was asked about this on Monday, and he had nothing but positive things to say regarding how the quarterback handled a no-win situation.

“Beau Pribula has been a phenomenal teammate, has been a big reason why we are where we are right now,” Franklin said. “Parents, awesome. High school coach, awesome. Being a backup QB is not an easy thing to do and he never approached it that way. Had so much confidence on our team based on how he went about his business and prepared as a starter. He also, in my opinion, he’s a man’s man. Came into my office, had multiple conversations with me about this process, we talked last week, had no intentions of leaving.”

The status of Pribula leaving may have been affected by Drew Allar announcing that he would be back next season in Happy Valley. That, alongside the transfer portal timing, put the quarterback in a tough spot.

“We’ve got problems in college football, 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,” Franklin said. “But the way the portal is and the timing of it and the way our team is playing and you play the position of QB and those spots are filling up… he felt he was put in a no-win situation, and I agree with him.”

There are many college coaches across the country who would echo Franklin’s statement. The transfer portal is a huge part of college football now, but Franklin thinks the current schedule is unfair to the players.

“No. 1, I hate for it… I don’t think it’s in the best interests of the student-athlete, I don’t think it’s in the best interest of college football,” criticized Franklin of the current infrastructure. “But I think that’s our challenge right now. Who is really running college football and making the best decisions for the student-athlete and for our sport as a whole? Beau should not be put in this position.”