At Big Ten Media Days on Thursday, new Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien said that he had not yet spoken to kicker Anthony Fera, whom rumors have linked to a transfer to the University of Texas.
It might be time for O'Brien to pick up the phone.
ESPN is reporting that the All-Big Ten punter - who also made 14 of his 17 field goal attempts and all 20 extra points he kicked last season - will return home this weekend to consider his options.
In handing down its sanctions against Penn State on Monday, the NCAA announced that all current Penn State players will have the opportunity to transfer to another NCAA institution with immediate eligibility, a suspension of the normal rule that transfer students must sit out a year before being eligible to compete.
Fera hails from Cypress, Texas (less than 150 miles from Austin), and his two older sisters, Deanna and Melissa, both graduated from Texas, but he also has family ties to Penn State, where an uncle and three aunts attended. A kinesiology major, Fera is the first Penn State player to start at both punter and place kicker in more than 35 years.
That experience would serve him well at Texas, which graduated Justin Tucker last year and has a crop of inexperienced kickers on the roster behind Alex King, who transferred to Texas from Duke as a graduate student. The school also has at least one scholarship to offer with the departure of offensive lineman Paden Kelley, who quit in June.
Fera's father, Tony, told ESPN.com that the younger Fera has contacted Texas about a transfer, and will consider making the 2.5-drive to Austin while he's home this weekend.
