Anonymous Big Ten Coach Takes Shot At Penn State's Development

Penn State's Drew Allar was selected by the Steelers with the 76th overall pick in this year's draft, but Pittsburgh's decision wasn't without criticism.

Allar was a five-star recruit coming into Happy Valley with prototype size and all of the arm strength in the world. However, his four seasons with the Nittany Lions were mostly a disappointment.

Allar never truly dominated at the college level, and once the offense was opened up after his promising sophomore season his play heavily regressed. But at least one anonymous Big Ten coach believes that was more on the program he played for than the QB himself.

Anonymous B1G coach takes shot at James Franklin, Penn State

In a recent piece by ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, several anonymous college coaches gave their takes on the draft. With one coach within Allar's conference shading how PSU handled it's 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback.

"Hopefully [Pittsburgh] will be a coaching staff that can maximize what he's good at," a Big Ten coach told Rittenberg. Adding, "I'm not really sure that was the case [at Penn State]."

The ESPN.com writer noted that most B1G coaches were "lukewarm" on Allar's potential at the next level but admitted that he wasn't helped by the multiple systems he was asked to play in - calling Penn State an environment where the blue-chip signal-caller wasn't set up to succeed.

Power 4 coach says Carson Beck won't be 'special' NFL player

The Arizona Cardinals selected Miami's Carson Beck slightly ahead of Allar. And while coaches were more positive about Beck and his accomplishments translating to the NFL, they still didn't give a ringing endorsement of the former four-star prospect.

"... I think what you see is what you get," a Power 4 defensive coordinator said (via ESPN.com). "I think he'll be solid. I don't think he'll be special. Whether it's poise or accuracy at key moments, he just seems to have too many misses. But he's a good, solid player."

2026 was admittedly a weak QB draft compared to next year's class. But perhaps with some good NFL coaching both players can realize their full potential as professionals.

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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 8:45 AM.