Beau Pribula did not want to leave Penn State. At least not before the Nittany Lions made their run through the College Football Playoff following an appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game against Oregon. He dreamed about playing a postseason game in front of a packed Beaver Stadium. He wanted to help the Nittany Lions make their first playoff appearance a memorable one.
But then a phone call with his family changed everything. His brother, Cade, and other close mentors reminded him that the transfer portal was only open for a limited time, and that the process would go quickly.
“I was instantly pretty emotional,” Pribula said on a recent appearance on the “Next Up with Adam Breneman” podcast. “I hadn’t thought about it at all and it’s kind of becoming a reality.”
Pribula met with Penn State coach James Franklin and the two hammered out a plan: Franklin would reach out to coaches at schools where Pribula held interest. And Pribula would stay with Penn State through the College Football Playoff. Then the two realized that that playoff run may extend until January — well after the winter transfer window closed, and after the enrollment deadline for the spring semester at some schools.
At the same time, Power Four schools around the country secured commitments from transfer quarterbacks. Spots filled quickly, especially at such an important position.
So, on Dec. 16, one week after the winter transfer window opened, six days before Penn State’s first College Football Playoff game against SMU and mere moments after Nittany Lions starting quarterback Drew Allar announced his 2025 return, Pribula made his decision.
Because of a team rule, that meant he could not participate in the playoff with Penn State.
“It was rough,” Pribula said It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, making that decision and leaving the team before the playoffs. It was not something I wanted to do. … It was just, like, horrible timing. I hope it’s getting fixed. It was like free agency during the playoffs.
“It’s insane. It was just a really difficult spot that I had to be in.”
Fortunately for Pribula, both Franklin and his teammates offered support. He recalled a moment when, after he told the team he would be leaving, defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton approached him in the showers and expressed excitement about Pribula’s future.
“They don’t realize how much that meant to me in that moment,” Pribula said. “Just couldn’t mean more to me.”
Pribula immediately set to scheduling visits. He initially planned a trip to Wisconsin, but called that off after the Badgers took a commitment from Maryland transfer quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. He checked out Ole Miss, Iowa, UCF and, of course, Missouri. The whole time, he kept tabs on his former team.
In fact, he was on his visit to Ole Miss at the same time Penn State played its first-round game against SMU. He stole away from a quarterback meeting with former Rebels star Jaxson Dart to catch glimpses of the Nittany Lions’ win against the Mustangs.
“I had to step out of the meeting,” Pribula said. “I can’t just sit in here while my guys are playing. (Linebacker) Dom DeLuca got a pick-six and I was like, ‘Let’s go.'”
Pribula is adamant that he didn’t personally care about money while he was in the transfer portal. Instead, his conversations with schools focused on fit in both scheme and culture.
That’s how he landed at Missouri. He only had surface level knowledge of the Tigers. He knew about former quarterback Brady Cook. He knew about the program’s recent success under coach Eli Drinkwitz, which included a win against Ohio State in the 2023 Cotton Bowl.
But he didn’t know much beyond that, and didn’t know what to expect from his visit. Meetings with Drinkwitz and offensive coordinator Kirby Moore answered any lingering questions he may have had.
“It was really just those two things — my good fit and I met with the offensive coordinator for a while, an hour or two hour meeting just talking about scheme and stuff like that and I was like, ‘That’s kind of what I want right here.'” Pribula said. “This OC is dialed, they have a really good football team and they have a really good football program going on an upward trajectory.”
Now he’s stepping in for a departing Cook, at the helm of a Missouri team that has won at least 10 games in each of the last two seasons.
“Success for me would just be seeing myself being at my full potential,” Pribula said. “I know right now, in my head, I can see what that is. I know what that looks like and I think just meeting that, just being my true, authentic self and playing loosely, playing confident and having no regret, I think that’s what would make it successful.”
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