Penn State Football: Paul Jones Intends to Transfer At End of Semester

Paul Jones’ quest to become a starting quarterback will resume away from Penn State, as he intends to seek a transfer at the end of the semester, coach Bill O’Brien said on his weekly radio show Thursday night.

Because of special transfer rules for Penn State players in conjunction with the NCAA sanctions, Jones can immediately be eligible next season, provided he meets standard eligibility requirements. He would have two years of eligibility remaining.

O’Brien announced Wednesday that Jones left the team for personal reasons. The highly regarded quarterback prospect never threw a pass at Penn State and switched to tight end earlier this month as a means to see the field in some capacity. Jones finished his PSU career with one catch and one rushing attempt.

“It was a tough decision for Paul and for us,” O’Brien said. “Paul just felt at the end of the day he wanted a fresh start . . . He’s a great kid and his dream is to be a starting quarterback.”

Jones was rated the No. 8 quarterback prospect coming out of high school in 2010, according to Rivals.com, but he never met that level of expectation. He was redshirted his freshman season and was academically ineligible last season. After Matt McGloin won the starting quarterback job in the spring, Jones was surpassed by freshman Steven Bench, who enrolled in June.

O’Brien said Bench, who ran a similar offensive system in high school in Georgia, picked up the offense “at a rapid pace.”

“He certainly has a future to be our quarterback at Penn State,” O’Brien said of Bench.