College Football

Brandon Mitchell transfers to N.C. State

The ex-Razorbacks quarterback will finish his college career at N.C. State, where he may end up starting this fall.

By Steven Muma@akulawolf May 20, 2013, 7:44pm EDT

Former Arkansas quarterback Brandon Mitchell announced Monday that he will enroll at N.C. State, according to Joe Schad. As a graduate transfer, he is eligible to play in 2013 and he has one year of eligibility remaining. Mitchell found himself stuck behind Ryan Mallett and Tyler Wilson on the depth chart during his three seasons with the Razorbacks. After losing Arkansas' quarterback competition this spring, he decided to move on.

More: Visit NC State blog Backing The Pack for additional coverage of this story.

New Razorbacks head coach Bret Bielema suggested that Mitchell should play wide receiver, but he wasn't interested. Mitchell actually spent most of his time at receiver in 2012 and finished the year with 17 grabs for 272 yards, but he wants to play quarterback this year, which clearly wasn't going to happen in Fayetteville. Over the course of his Arkansas career, he appeared in 21 games but threw just 43 passes.

He walks into an advantageous situation at N.C. State. The Wolfpack is thin at the position and new head coach Dave Doeren has been seeking additional options throughout the offseason, which says plenty about how the two guys already on hand -- Colorado State transfer Pete Thomas and true sophomore Manny Stocker -- performed this spring.

Thomas came to Raleigh expecting to run Tom O'Brien's pro-style offense; Doeren is going to run a spread offense, and that adjustment could be a tough one for him. Stocker has minimal experience, as he only played in garbage time as freshman, and while he possesses the mobility that Doeren wants, he is completely unproven. Mitchell doesn't have a ton of experience himself, of course, but at the point N.C. State needs all the additional help it can get.

Mitchell had this to say about his decision:

"I like the culture, coaches, expectations within the program all the way at the top, and most importantly chemistry," BMitchell said.
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) May 20, 2013

Mitchell: "Bottom line is I want to win, and I want to win now. They have the best opportunity for success and just had one missing piece."
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) May 20, 2013

This move almost certainly takes N.C. State out of the running for Penn State transfer quarterback Steven Bench, who recently visited the school. Bench is also considering Mississippi State and South Florida.