Depth at quarterback is always a priority for a college team, and Penn State made some interesting decisions to solve that. QB coach Jake Waters made it known the program views its newest addition as far more than an emergency option, even if he’s coming from the Division III ranks.
Speaking about Division III transfer Connor Barry, Waters said that the staff’s pitch during the recruiting process centered on opportunity, one that could even see him start if Rocco Becht were to get hurt.
“I just told him that he’s gonna get a fair shot, and whether you’re one play away or two plays away, there’s gonna be a ton of opportunity,” Waters said, per PennLive. “We’re not just coming in to fill a depth role.”
“He was all about it, and that’s what fired me up. He knows what the situation is. I’m just really excited that we have that in our room, because we want unselfish guys in the quarterback room, and he embodies that.”
While outside critics have looked at the jump in competition when a player transfers from Division III to the Big Ten, Waters pushed back on that narrative, highlighting Barry’s experience and production as something he loved about him in the recruiting process.
“I don’t care what division it was,” Waters said. “He played a lot of football, won a lot of games and took care of the football.”
Experience, especially behind Becht, can be the difference between saving a season or not winning any games. Penn State had that issue a year ago, though Ethan Grunkemeyer played pretty well when Drew Allar went down.
Waters added that Barry’s presence also serves a developmental purpose for the younger quarterbacks on the roster.
“We wanted a guy who’s played a lot of football. With our younger guys, they still need to grow and develop,” Waters said. “Really excited about the maturity that he’s going to bring – that he’s been through college, worked through a lot of hard stuff – to kind of round off the experience in the room.”
It’s unlikely that he’ll see the field much, but we can never be certain in college football.