Freshman quarterback Rob Bolden will return to Penn State and expects to compete for the starting job, Bolden’s high school quarterbacks coach, Don Buchanan, said.
“He’ll be back at Penn State Sunday and in school Monday,” Buchanan said in a telephone interview. “He expects to compete for the starting quarterback job and will go through spring practices and everything.”
Buchanan met with Bolden on Thursday, and though Bolden was denied his release by Penn State on Tuesday, Buchanan said Bolden made it very clear his intentions are to return to Penn State.
The quarterbacks coach, who regularly keeps in contact with Bolden, said Rob told him during his meeting Tuesday coach Joe Paterno asked Bolden if he was a competitor and wanted to find out if Bolden would stay and compete for the job.
“I said, ‘That’s great,’ " Buchanan said. "And I told him to keep your faith, keep your guidance and make sure that whatever he does, he goes at it at full speed.”
Calls made to the Bolden family were not returned as of 6 Friday night.
Though Bolden seemed dead set on a transfer after the Lions’ loss to Florida in the Outback Bowl, Buchanan said the quarterback’s desire to leave might have been the result of frustrations boiling over after Bolden wasn’t given a shot in the game.
Redshirt sophomore Matt McGloin, who started the final four games of the season after replacing Bolden against Northwestern, threw five interceptions in the Lions’ loss to Florida.
While Bolden didn’t see the field against the Gators, and his father spoke about a transfer following the game, Buchanan said he’s not completely sure where Rob would've ended up if his transfer would’ve been granted.
“He thought that was his best option at the time and now who knows,” Buchanan said. “The only thing for certain is he’s coming back to Penn State, going to spring ball and will compete for the job.”
Said Buchanan: “One thing I do know about Rob is that he’s a very passionate young man. He’s not going to go and have distractions get in his way. If he’s out there to compete, he’s out there to give Coach Paterno and the rest of the team his best effort, and I know he will do that.”
To e-mail reporter: aas5220@psu.edu
