Giger: Veilleux to Pitt good outcome for both sides

Note: This story has been updated at the bottom.

ALTOONA, Pa. -- What you hope for in the transfer portal is a good fit for both sides -- the school and the player -- and in all honesty, a lot of times where guys end up can be kind of head scratching because it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense for one of the parties.

With Christian Vellieux transferring from Penn State to Pitt, we have what appears to be a good marriage -- and good opportunity -- that equally benefits player and school.

Penn State fans know the Veilleux story well. He was expected to be the backup this season to Sean Clifford, but instead lost the No. 2 job in preseason camp to prized freshman Drew Allar.

Here's what I think happened there: I have serious doubts that Allar was actually better than Veilleux at that particular point in late August, because Veilleux had a full year more experience and, one would think, still would have had a little bit of a leg up on a true freshman.

But ... 

The competition was probably already really close -- maybe Veilleux led like 52-48 percent or whatever -- and the Penn State coaches knew there would be so many more benefits to naming Allar the backup that they went ahead and pulled the trigger, knowing he could surpass and blow way past Veilleux in a short period of time.

Which, we can all assume, is exactly what happened. Allar was named the backup and wound up getting a whole lot of experience in mop-up duty of big wins, and James Franklin didn't have to worry about alienating the phenom by having him sit behind Veilleux, as well.

When Allar was named the backup, it was pretty obvious at that specific moment that Veilleux probably would end up transferring. Because there was really no reason for him to stay at Penn State and never see the field with Allar starting the next 2-3 years.

At Pitt, meanwhile, the Panthers brought in USC transfer Kedon Slovis to play quarterback, and that didn't work out as planned. Despite a late push to finish 8-4, Slovis entered the transfer portal, and it was an absolutely natural marriage that Pine-Richland High School product Phil Jurkovec would transfer from Boston College back home and finish his college career as Pitt's starter next year.

The Panthers also have Nick Patti back for one more year in 2023, and he likely will be the backup, with Veilleux competing for that spot.

Veilleux wanted out of Penn State, and understandably so. There also have been rumblings that he had fallen behind freshman Beau Pribula on the Lions' depth chart, but since they don't release a depth chart, we cannot know that for sure.

There's no reason to believe Veilleux would be the starting quarterback next year no matter where he ended up. At best, all he could be promised by any coach in the portal would be a chance to come in and compete for a job, and at worst, he could have ended up going somewhere that already had a plan at quarterback for multiple years.

At Pitt, there is a clear path to becoming the starter in two years, which is probably the best thing and about the only guarantee someone like Veilleux probably could have hoped for at a power program.

Jurkovec will start in 2023, he and Patti will be gone in 2024, and Veilleux -- as long as he progresses well during the season -- should be in good position to start in 2024.

Now, if Veilleux struggles or fails to impress the coaches in practice at Pitt next year, then all bets are off, and he may never be the starter there. But he and the Panther coaches have a full year to learn all about one another.

What should Pitt fans know about Veilleux? Well, obviously, they want to know if he's very good.

The best answer I can give you is this: I don't know.

Nobody knows, not for sure.

An Ottawa native, he played at Bullis School in Maryland and was a 3-star recruit out of high school. He had a lot offers, including from Pitt, Michigan, Clemson, LSU, Tennessee, West Virginia and others.

Veilleux looked poised and ready to play when he took over for a flu-stricken Clifford against Rutgers in 2021 and led the Nittany Lions to a 28-0 win at Beaver Stadium. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 235 yards and three TDs that day, and drew praise from everyone for his performance.

But it was against Rutgers. And Rutgers was terrible. So, we cannot glean too much from that game when, in the big picture, trying to examine Veilleux's potential. His strength was that he managed the offense well and made some nice throws, and for a freshman, that was more than expected.

Again, based solely on that game and the fact that he only saw the field for a handful of snaps this season, there was no reason for Veilleux to believe he could land any situation better than the one he seems to walking into at Pitt.

As for the Panthers, they've landed an intelligent, hard-working, respectable young man with three years of eligibility who they will get to learn all about next year and then maybe start for two seasons. That's as much as you can ask for when searching for a quarterback in the transfer portal.

All in all, this looks like a win-win for everybody involved.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

OK, this is just kooky!

Veilleux is going to leave Penn State the same way he arrived -- with nobody knowing how to pronounce his name.

We thought we had gotten to the bottom of this over the summer, but apparently not.

This is what Veilleux's father tweeted Sunday about the name pronunciation, after the quarterback announced he's transferring to Pitt:

Alright now.

So, his freshman season, everybody called him Vay-you. But over the summer, when asked, he said his last name actually has an "R" sound in it. I know, I was there, and I asked him to repeat how he said it for the record. There was clearly an "R" sound, as in Vay-your.

I asked him if anyone at Penn State had ever pronounced it correctly.

"Not if I haven't told them," Veilleux said. "So I've had to tell people. That would not be people's first guess."

Unfortunately, I have since deleted my audio recording of him pronouncing his name. I actually just went and deleted dozens of old interviews last week, thinking I wouldn't need them any longer. Wouldn't you know it, now this name thing comes up.

Luckily, Audrey Snyder of The Athletic had this audio on record from a tweet in May. It's clear what he says.

So, he was called Vay-your all season at Penn State, including in all broadcasts by the school.

It'll be interesting, therefore, to see how he wants his name pronounced at Pitt.

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