Why Michigan State Could Land Transfer QB Beau Pribula
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Heading into the upcoming January transfer portal window, Michigan State and new head coach Pat Fitzgerald have plenty of needs. One of the Spartans' biggest needs is a quarterback, as Aidan Chiles announced his intention to transfer earlier this month, leaving the program with limited options at the position.
The good news for Michigan State is that several talented signal-callers have already entered the portal, including Missouri's Beau Pribula, who has ties to the new Spartans staff and could be a perfect fit in East Lansing.
Can Michigan State Land Beau Pribula Out of the Portal?
Long before he became the starting quarterback for the Missouri Tigers, Pribula was a three-star recruit in the 2022 class from Central York High School in York, Pennsylvania. He wasn't the most highly touted prospect in his class and received only eight Power Four offers.
However, one of those offers came from Northwestern when Fitzgerald was the program's head coach. Pribula shared on X that the Wildcats offered him in 2020 and thanked Mike Bajakian for the opportunity. At the time, Bajakian was Northwestern's quarterbacks coach, but was recently hired by Fitzgerald to serve as the Spartans' quarterbacks coach.
While Pribula would ultimately commit to Penn State over Northwestern, he is familiar with both Fitzgerald and Bajakian, which could give Michigan State a leg up in his recruitment if the Spartans decide to pursue him when the portal opens.
Pribula spent two seasons backing up Drew Allar in Happy Valley before entering the portal at the end of the 2024 season and transferring to Missouri. In his first year as a college football starter, he showed flashes, throwing for 1,941 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions, while adding 297 yards and six scores on the ground.
247Sports' transfer portal rankings list him as a three-star prospect, the No. 59 overall player in the portal, and the No. 10 quarterback. With Chiles' departure, Pribula would be a plug-and-play starter for the Spartans next season and an upgrade over any quarterback currently on the Michigan State roster.
As of right now, there haven't been any rumors linking Pribula to the Spartans. Still, Michigan State will likely be in the market for a transfer quarterback.
Given Pribula's past ties to Fitzgerald and Bajakian, as well as the hiring of Nick Sheridan, one of the best quarterback recruiters in the country, as the program's new offensive coordinator, there's a strong chance he will be interested in Michigan State.
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Max Doresy serves as the Western United States College Recruiting Beat Writer On SI. He graduated from the prestigious Syracuse University – S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Before that, he worked for the Pro Football Network and was part of the recruiting department for Syracuse University's football program.