QB Jake Retzlaff to reportedly withdraw from BYU, seek new school for 2025 as ‘free agent’
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Jake Retzlaff is looking to join a new team for the 2025 college football season, but it won’t be through the typical transfer process.
On June 29, news broke that Retzlaff, the starting QB who led BYU to an 11-2 season in 2024, planned to transfer before the 2025 season. The standout QB was facing a sexual assault accusation in a civil lawsuit and a reported multi-game suspension from BYU.
The suit was dismissed on June 30. A legal response by Retzlaff filed before dismissal, however, had stated that the sex was consensual. Because Retzlaff admitted to having premarital sex as a BYU student, the school had planned to suspend him for 7 games as punishment for violating the honor code.
Retzlaff originally planned to depart BYU via the transfer portal, as he does not want to sit out for 7 games in 2025. Per Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports, BYU did not grant Retzlaff the necessary release to enter the portal outside the designated windows. Though he cannot enter the portal, Retzlaff still plans to withdraw from BYU and enroll at a new school.
While withdrawing and enrolling is a way for an athlete to join a new school outside the designated portal windows, don’t expect many to follow Retzlaff’s lead. According to Zenitz, because Retzlaff is not in the portal, programs are not allowed to have direct contact with him. Others, such as representatives for Retzlaff, can talk to programs about joining the football team and relay information to the quarterback.
The original belief was that the Cougars would grant Retzlaff his release as a designated student-athlete, which would have allowed him to enter the transfer portal,” writes Zenitz. “That didn’t happen however, which led to him having to withdraw from school in order to move on to another team.
“Retzlaff plans to simply enroll at a new school rather than take the transfer portal path.
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“While teams haven’t been able to have direct communication with Retzlaff because he’s not in the transfer portal, it is legal for them to have contact with members of Retzlaff’s camp.
Retzlaff has completed his redshirt junior year of eligibility. He played 2 seasons of JUCO football in 2021 and ’22 before joining BYU in 2023. Last season, Retzlaff threw for 2,947 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, adding 6 rushing scores.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
