By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The transfer portal is sort of like recruiting on steroids.

It just seems to have more of everything.

More hype.

More speculation.

More guess work.

More crystals balls.

More short lists, long lists, early lists and late lists.

More self-promotion.

More pandering.

More name dropping.

More tampering.

Time and time again you’ll learn that a player has entered the transfer portal because multiple recruiting websites will treat it as the first moon landing on social media, often times under the title of breaking news in massive all caps.

What usually happens next is that reports will surface about which schools have emerged as early contenders.

Like for example, Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula entered the portal on Monday and then On3 reported Tuesday that Iowa was among three early contenders, along with Missouri, Ole Miss and Central Florida.

Pribula reportedly took his first visit to Missouri on Tuesday according to cbssports/247sports.

Pribula’s situation shows what is wrong with the portal in that he would prefer to still be playing for Penn State as it prepares for the college playoff, but the timing of the open window in the portal just doesn’t allow for it.

Pribula would risk losing opportunities to play elsewhere if he were to compete in the playoff for Penn State.

“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,” said Penn State head coach James Franklin. “But the way the portal is, and the timing of it, and the way our team is playing, ad when you play the position of quarterback and there’s only spot and those spots are filling up, he felt like he was put in a no-win situation.

“And I agree with him. Number one, I hate for it, most importantly for Beau Pribula. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the student-athlete. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of college football. But I think that’s our challenge right now.

“Who is really running college football and making the best decisions for the student-athletes and for our sport as a whole? Beau should not be put in this position.”

The answer to Franklin’s question about who’s running college football is hard to come up with right now, but one thing seems certain, it isn’t the NCAA.

The NCAA lost its influence and most of its credibility when it failed to prepare for the launching of name, image and likeness and when it allowed the transfer portal to basically become a form of free agency with hardly any structure.

The NCAA has gone from punishing student-athletes for petty little things like posing for photos with a celebrity to now hardly having any checks and balances with the portal or NIL.

It would make more sense for the the portal to open once the football season ends, but even that setup would have problems, including a tiny window for student-athletes to find a new school.

As for Iowa’s chances to land Pribula, the next step will be learning the schools he plans to visit. The speculation, hype, guess work and self-promotion already has started.

Former USC quarterback Miller Moss reportedly had Iowa on his early list, but he recently committed to Louisville without having visited Iowa City.

Pribula played 187 snaps this season for Penn State. He rushed for 242 yards and five touchdowns and provided a nice change of pace to starter Drew Allar due to Pribula’s running ability.

Pribula entered in relief of an injured Allar in two games as a Nittany Lion: last year against Rutgers and this season at Wisconsin. Pribula rushed for 71 yards and a touchdown against the Scarlet Knights. At Wisconsin, Pribula completed 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown, leading Penn State to a second-half comeback win.

Iowa already has added one quarterback from the portal in Auburn redshirt freshman Hank Brown, who has three seasons of eligibility.

The Hawkeyes also have lost three quarterbacks to the portal since the end of the 2024 regular season as Cade McNamara, Marco Lainez and James Resar all have chosen to move on.

Resar switched to receiver midway through this season, but he was recruited from Florida as a quarterback.

The transfer portal has turned into a revolving door with players constantly coming and going and there is no end in sight.

Sadly, it doesn’t always work out as some student-athletes enter the portal looking for a better opportunity only to lose whatever opportunity they had.

In Iowa’s case, there is something to be gained even if Pribula were to follow Miller Moss by committing to another school.

Just to be mentioned as a possible contender for both Power 4 quarterbacks shows that Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester is being aggressive in the portal and doing whatever he can to fix Iowa’s struggling passing attack.

But if Iowa were to land Pribula from the portal, how would that impact Brendan Sullivan’s future?

Sullivan didn’t transfer from Northwestern last summer just to be a backup quarterback for Iowa.

He played behind Cade McNamara for the first eight games this season before starting against Wisconsin and UCLA when McNamara was injured.

Sullivan then injured his ankle in the third quarter against UCLA and he hasn’t played since, though Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said recently that if he had to guess, Sullivan would start against Missouri in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The other option would be sophomore walk-on Jackson Stratton, who started the final two regular-season games against Maryland and Nebraska.

Iowa won both games despite Stratton throwing for fewer than 100 yards in both games.

Sullivan and Pribula both have similar playing styles in that they rely on their mobility to make plays.

So, if Tim Lester could convince both Sullivan and Pribula to play for Iowa next season, then Tim Lester has a gift for salesmanship.

But right now, that’s a big if.