(Inside Lacrosse Photo: Dave Anderson)

Maryland senior attackman Jared Bernhardt is expected to enter the NCAA’s transfer portal to play football with his fifth year of eligibility, multiple sources tell Inside Lacrosse.

Named a first-team All-American this season with 51 goals and 27 assists, Bernhardt will finish out his lacrosse eligibility with the Terps in 2020 while looking for a place to play quarterback for a program that runs an option offense. The NCAA's "five to play four" rule allows athletes who've exhausted their eligibility in one sport to pursue a final year in a different sport. Loyola's Pat Spencer is using the same rule to spend this season playing basketball at Northwestern.

In high school, he led Lake Brantley (Fla.) and its triple-option system to a Class 8A playoff run, accounting for over 4,000 all-purpose yards of offense and 30 touchdowns during his final two years. As a senior, Bernhardt apparently contemplated accepting an offer from Navy to run the same offense, electing to remain loyal to the Terps' lacrosse program.

Bernhardt's family background is steeped in both sports. His late father, Jim, tragically lost his battle with cancer in June and worked in football for most of his life, most recently as the Houston Texans' director of football research and a longtime right-hand man to head coach Bill O'Brien.

Older brother Jesse was a former Maryland All-American defenseman who is now the Terps' defensive coordinator, while Jake is the offensive coordinator at Vermont. Both were members of gold medal-winning Team USA and currently play professionally, with Jake suiting up for the PLL's Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club and Jesse for the MLL's Chesapeake Bayhawks.