After spending time at both Penn and Western Carolina University, Ryan Glover has chosen to continue his college football career at the University of California.
Through a graduate transfer, Glover will use his final year of eligibility to suit up for the Golden Bears this upcoming season. The expectation is that Glover will be competing for the starting quarterback job against Chase Garbers and some other players that Cal has on the roster.
Glover competed at Penn for three years before transferring to WCU. In 2017, his freshman year, he only appeared in one game and completed just two passes, but during his second season, Glover started all 10 games.
Through those 10 games, Glover racked up 1,482 yards, seven touchdowns, and six interceptions, while leading the Quakers to a 6-4 record. Additionally, Glover demonstrated his capability as a mobile quarterback by running for 300 yards and two touchdowns. That year, he was also the only Black Ivy League quarterback to start every game under center.
His junior year in 2019 consisted of him playing in half of Penn’s games, including a homecoming win against Cornell. During the game, he threw a 40-yard touchdown immediately after entering the game in place of the injured Nick Robinson. Despite the win, Glover wasn’t named the permanent starter afterwards.
Glover’s senior season was supposed to be the one where he took the reins of starting quarterback yet again, but the Ivy League chose not to play football in either the fall or spring.
As a result of the Ivy League’s halt on play, Glover transferred to WCU to have any chance to play his senior year.
“It was a pretty complex process I went through,” he said. “I graduated a semester early and traditionally, Penn doesn’t allow grad students to play football. That’s one of the main reasons I needed to transfer from Penn after the Ivy League canceled their season in the fall as well as spring.
“I transferred to WCU for the spring and started the season in February. There were only eight games scheduled and we only played six, with the last two games dropping off due to COVID. So a lot has happened pretty fast.”
While at WCU, Glover played in six games, completing 86 of 147 passes for 832 yards, three touchdowns, and four interceptions.
Now, Glover’s heading to his most premier football program yet, given the Golden Bears’ membership in the Pac-12. This fact is not one that’s lost on him amidst the transition.
“Everything was super nice,” Glover said. “Obviously it's a step up from what I'm used to with Cal being a Power-5 school. Everything seemed very new and organized and I liked how they had all the football facilities in one place.”
Ryan Glover will begin his career with the Golden Bears this fall, as he prepares for the final season of his college career.
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