Luke Getsy is no longer a Pitt Panther.

Or that's the way it seems.

John Beale, Post-Gazette Luke Getsy lost the battle with Tyler Palko to start. Now the Steel Valley graduate is considering a transfer. Click photo for larger image.

Getsy, the redshirt sophomore from Steel Valley who finished runner-up to Tyler Palko in Pitt's quarterback derby, has informed Pitt coach Walt Harris he is leaving the team and transferring to another school. Getsy's father, Don, said last night, however, that no decision has been made and they will not comment on it until one is made.

"Luke feels it is best for him to leave," Harris said yesterday afternoon. "You'd have to ask him to get all the reasons, but I think the setback of not [being] picked to be the starter had a huge part of it.

"I'm real disappointed, but he has to do what he thinks is best. There are a lot of people disappointed."

The coaching staff, however, has left the door open in hopes Getsy will change his mind.

"For sure, we didn't want to lose Luke Getsy," Harris said. "He is an excellent young man. We've been training him for three years, and [the quarterback competition] was close right to the very end.

"If we had more time [a starter would have been named]. They would have kept on competing because it was very, very close."

Speculation is that Getsy will head to Akron, where former Pitt offensive coordinator J.D. Brookhart is head coach. The move would make sense, but, in order for that to happen, Pitt must release Getsy from his scholarship and agree that Akron would be one of the schools to which he could transfer. So far Getsy hasn't been released from his scholarship, but Harris said that had more to do with the timing of the decision than anything else. He said Getsy informed him only a few hours before practice and that left him scrambling to figure out some temporary alternatives at quarterback.

Earlier this summer, Harris blocked a player from transferring to akron, and it is unclear if Harris has changed his mind on the issue or not. Yesterday he was non-committal when asked if he'd be willing to release Getsy to Akron.

"Right now, we haven't thought about all that stuff," he said.

One other snag would occur if Akron is being considered as a future Pitt opponent. Harris said he won't allow players to transfer to a school that the Panthers recruit against or play.

If Getsy transfers to Akron or another Division I-A school, he would have to sit out this season. He would have two years of eligibility remaining. If he transferred to a Division I-AA school or a Division II school, he would be eligible this season.

With Getsy out of the picture -- and the move of freshman Darrell Strong to tight end during camp -- the quarterback position went from being one of the team's deepest to one that is extremely thin.

Palko is the starter, and his backup will now be Joe Flacco, a 6-foot-6, strong-armed redshirt freshman from Audubon, N.J. Flacco has the tools to be a good quarterback, but he has never played in a game.

"This will give me an opportunity to show what I can do," Flacco said.

"Things happen, you never know and you have to be prepared. Backups are supposed to prepare like they are going to play, and that's what I intend to do. If I go into the game, I have to produce, so I need to continue to work hard and get ready."

Earlier, there had been some talk that Flacco would be the quarterback who would transfer since he would have to sit behind both Getsy and Palko for three seasons. He said he never thought about transferring.

"No, I'm young and I always believed I will get my opportunity so that thought never crossed my mind," Flacco said.

Behind Flacco are backup unter Nick Krut and freshman tight end Robbie Agnone, who played quarterback at Red Land [Pa.] High School, took some snaps during practice yesterday and walk-on quarterback Matt Flaus ran the scout team.

Harris said he wanted to try Krut and Agnone, and he might try others because Strong can help the team more at tight end than at third-string quarterback.

That would change if either Palko or Flacco is injured and not available for a period of time. In that case, Harris would probably be forced to use Strong as the backup because he spent much of camp learning the position.

"I don't believe [moving Strong back to quarterback] is what's best for our football team at this time," Harris said. "Of course, injuries always change everyone's outlook, but not at this time. We've auditioned a couple of other guys.

"We're going to do the best we can to scramble and at least get those other guys to the point where they can take a snap from center."

Getsy and Palko both signed with the class of 2002 and always were locked in an intense competition with each other.They battled until last week, when Harris chose Palko as his starter.

Once Palko got the nod, Getsy said he would take last weekend to talk with his family and think about his future before making any decisions.

Calls to Getsy were not returned.

NOTES -- Harris said junior defensive linemen Andy Alleman also has decided to transfer. He said he has granted Alleman his release, but wouldn't say to which schools. ... Sophomore walk-on tight end Dan Pickens has left the team and is reportedly transferring to IUP. Pickens was one of several players charged with assault in conjunction with a fight at a fraternity house last spring. ... Freshman Kelvin Chandler joins Greg Lee and Joe DelSardo in the Panthers' first-team three-receiver sets.