His dad had a fairly well-traveled NFL career, and Jeff George Jr. is getting a nice head start as a college player.
Jeff George Jr. played two seasons at Illinois, starting nine games total in 2016 and 2017 for his namesake father’s alma mater. But he departed as a grad transfer in January, and headed for another Big Ten school at Michigan. After Shea Patterson gained immediate eligibility to play for Jim Harbaugh, and eventually officially rendered any quarterback competition moot, George Jr. announced his intention to move on late last week.
A report George Jr. intended to move on to Pitt was followed with confirmation on Monday. Head coach Pat Narduzzi spoke about the addition.
“We’re happy to have Jeff. We’re happy to have his family involved in the program,” Narduzzi said. “We’re still waiting to find out if he’s eligible (this season) or not.”
George Jr. visited Pitt in the spring, before deciding to head to Michigan. Narduzzi spoke about that decision too.
“I felt like he got there and felt like maybe he made a mistake and decided to come here,”
The Panthers will now have eight quarterbacks on the roster, including five walk-ons. Even if George Jr. is declared eligible for this year, he’ll have another year of eligibility to burn in 2019.
George’s father (Jeff George of course) had a pretty well-traveled NFL career after being drafted No. 1 overall in 1990. He played for five teams (felt like more, didn’t it?) over 12 seasons (1990-2001), and openly offering his services for a comeback after that.
The elder George also transferred as a college player, from Purdue to Illinois with a brief commitment to Miami (FL) in between before playing two years for the Illini. So his son is on a similar track, even with a future as an NFL prospect is at best unclear.