Beau Pribula assumed he would land at Virginia Tech out of the transfer portal, before learning that James Franklin, his former coach at Penn State, had decided to go with Ethan Grunkemeyer, because Grunkemeyer, another former Penn State backup, has three years of eligibility left, to Pribula’s one.
Virginia Tech, see, is in rebuilding mode; one-year rentals are win-now guys.
Pribula, now the starter at Virginia, didn’t go straight from meeting with Franklin in Blacksburg to signing with UVA.
According to a piece reported by ESPN.com this week, it took Pribula, the starter at Missouri last season, and his agent, Joe Gazza, 6,000 miles and six campus visits to end up in Charlottesville.
“I had no idea it was going to turn into what it did,” Pribula told ESPN.com, detailing his dalliances with Nebraska, where he crossed paths – literally – with former UVA QB1 Anthony Colandrea, who committed to Nebraska after missing out on a chance with Florida State; then Washington, Georgia Tech, Tennessee.
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“I don’t think people fully understand just how crazy and cutthroat it is. You’re taking everything into consideration with just such little amount of time,” Pribula said.
Justin Speros, the GM at Virginia, was in talks with Eli Holstein from Pitt and Tre Guerra, a JUCO transfer who ended up at Coastal Carolina.
Speros was also still trying to wait out whatever was going to happen with last year’s starter, Chandler Morris, who was petitioning the NCAA for a seventh year that he didn’t end up getting.
“I was hitting up Speros constantly like, Dude, Chandler Morris isn’t coming back. And if he doesn’t, what do you have?” Gazza told ESPN.com.
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The visit was brief – the ESPN.com piece said Pribula and Gazza were only on Grounds for six hours on a Sunday; Speros called it a “meat and potatoes visit.”
Pribula left without making a decision, saying he wanted to talk things over at home with his family in Pennsylvania.
Tony Elliott, per the piece, texted Pribula and encouraged him to take his time, but the clock was ticking.
The staff was hoping to get a final answer by noon on Monday; that deadline came and went with no word.
Gazza contacted Speros around 5 p.m. to set up a Zoom meeting, and they had the deal done by 8:30.
And then, icing on the cake, Virginia still landed Holstein, who made it clear that he didn’t mind sitting for a year behind Pribula.
“Besides my wedding, that might’ve been the best night of my life,” Speros told ESPN.com. “I was so relieved. I’m telling you, if you ask anybody on our staff, they were like, Dude, I’ve never seen you happier than that.”
On the other side of the equation, it was more relief for Pribula and Gazza.
“There was nothing happening we could predict,” Gazza told ESPN.com. “A lot of it wasn’t even in our hands. It was a constant war. But it kind of worked out perfectly.”
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Chris Graham
