Cal Poly’s starting quarterback, Sam Huard, announced via social media on Monday he is entering the NCAA Transfer Portal.
The window to officially enter the transfer portal ends on Tuesday, April 30.
The redshirt junior started nine games in his first season as a Mustang and threw 18 touchdowns and 2,247 yards passing. His total passing yards mark ranks the seventh-best in program history for a single season.
The Mustangs finished the 2023 season with a 3-8 overall record and 1-7 in the Big Sky Conference.
On Saturday, Huard suited up for the Mustangs in the Spring Game. The Bellevue, WA native completed 13 passes on 24 attempts for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
Two days later, Huard entered his name into the portal.
Before Cal Poly, Huard played at the University of Washington for two seasons. Huard was a five-star ranked quarterback out of high school, according to 247 Sports.
Huard’s high school coach, Sheldon Cross, was hired as Cal Poly’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach before the 2023 season on Jan. 18. Within two weeks, Huard announced he would transfer to Cal Poly to join his former high school coach on Jan. 30.
However, Cross accepted the offensive coordinator position at Stetson University after the conclusion of the 2023 season.
As a Mustang, Huard set the program single-game completions record with 38 passes completed against Sacramento State and tied the program record with six touchdown passes against Lincoln University.
In his sole season as a Mustang, Huard finished second in yards per game (249.7) and passing touchdowns (18) in the Big Sky.
Huard has yet to announce his next destination.
Who will be the next starting quarterback for Cal Poly?
The Mustangs will turn to backups redshirt sophomore Bo Kelly and redshirt junior Jaden Jones.
Kelly started two games last season and played in seven, completing 62 of 112 passes for 630 yards and four touchdowns. In the spring game, Kelly was 14 of 20 for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Jones started the first three games of the 2022 season before suffering a season-ending knee injury. In those three games, Jones completed 50 of 88 passes for 655 yards and five touchdowns and rushed 26 times for 95 yards.
Last season, Jones played in four games on limited snaps as he still recovered from injury.
Redshirt freshmen Dieter Barr and Colby White will also compete for the starting position moving forward.