James Franklin on Christian Veilleux: 'I Hope He Stays at Penn State'
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A year ago, quarterback Christian Veilleux shepherded Penn State through a trying day against Rutgers, demonstrating how he might contend for a larger role in 2022.
Instead, Veilleux is shifting between the varsity and scout teams uncertain when, or if, he'll play again for the Lions. The redshirt freshman is behind Sean Clifford and Drew Allar on the depth chart and likely considering his future at Penn State.
"I hope he stays at Penn State," coach James Franklin said this week while acknowledging the reality of how quarterbacks operate in the transfer-portal era. However, Franklin was quick to praise Veilleux for making the most of his situation this season.
"He's been phenomenal. He really has," Franklin said. "I think that whole quarterback room has been great. I think Sean has kind of set the tone for that whole room. But Christian has been phenomenal. Those are tough conversations and tough decisions that have to be made."
Franklin made his first tough decision in the preseason, naming Allar as the No. 2 behind Clifford. Since then, Allar has played in seven of Penn State's nine games. Veilleux has played in two: blowout wins over Ohio and Auburn.
Veilleux has not played since the Auburn game, ceding time to the freshman whom Penn State coaches said has the "it" factor. Veilleux had much bigger plans for this season, particularly after the sacrifices he made to play the game.
Veilleux, who is from Ottawa, left Canada when he was 16 to play football in the U.S. He lost his senior season at Maryland's Bullis School to COVID and went two years between live snaps. When he finally returned to the field, against Rutgers in November 2021, he did so in a game marked primarily by the flu.
Penn State played Rutgers last year without 21 sick players and with another 14 going despite symptoms unrelated to COVID. Veilleux was among those who received IVs the night before the game. He was cleared to play Saturday morning, then entered after Clifford couldn't continue through his symptoms.
"I had to make it work," Veilleux said over the summer. "I was the only guy who could go in that day, because everybody else was sick. I wouldn’t say it really affected my confidence, because I wasn’t really thinking about it on the field or during the game until afterward. ... I just forgot I was sick."
Veilleux threw for 235 yards and became Penn State's first true freshman quarterback to throw a touchdown pass since Christian Hackenberg in 2013. He also rushed for 36 yards despite his fatigue.
That sent Veilleux into a confident offseason, where he earned praise from current and former teammates. Receiver Jahan Dotson said last year that Veilleux "was ready for the moment." However, this season he was caught between the veteran in Clifford and the future in Allar and Beau Pribula.
"There's a lot of twists and turns along these journeys, but I think Veilleux has been phenomenal," Franklin said. "His attitude has been great. He's been great in meetings. He's totally engaged. We've been rotating those guys [Veilleux and Pribula] down to the scout team. They've been awesome down there.
"... His body language, his demeanor, his leadership, his attention to detail, the way he's preparing as if he was the starter has been really good. Those types of things, specifically at those positions, I think are really important."
Making things more challenging has been NIL. While his fellow quarterbacks sign NIL deals, Veilleux largely is ineligible as a Canadian attending Penn State on an F-1 student visa. So the Penn State collective Success With Honor has launched an advertising campaign in Canada to promote Penn State's Canadian players.
Quarterbacks have become common players in the transfer portal. Indiana's Jack Tuttle, who started against Penn State last week, entered his name into the portal in October. Like so many others, Veilleux has a decision to make.
"We'll see how this all plays out, but I hope he stays at Penn State and continues to chase his dream and gets his degree, because again, there's a lot of twists and turns along these journeys," Franklin said. "There's part of me that, it breaks my heart a little bit about the conversations and the things that you're having now in college football that you didn't used to have. But I also understand this is where we're at."
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