Make-or-break seasons for six elite college football QBs starting over
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
There’s no way to hide it, or disguise it as something it’s not. Just soak in the unimaginable.
Bryce Underwood didn’t have a position specific coach in 2025. As the starting quarterback at Michigan.
As a freshman. As the highest-paid player on the team.
“He was thrown into a pretty rough situation,” Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham told me this spring. “There was very little development that took place with Bryce. It was bizarre, and so yeah, we got that fixed.”
Underwood, the No.1 quarterback recruit in the 2025 high school recruiting class, is one of six elite-level quarterbacks at Power conference programs restarting with new coaches and/or offensive coordinators.
Three play for legitimate College Football Playoff contenders, and three are in position to make a unique run to the CFP if everything falls in place. All six are in make-or-break moments of their careers.
A look at the six quarterback/coach combinations, ranked in order of potential for team success:
1. Indiana
QB Josh Hoover and HC Curt Cignetti/OC Mike Shanahan
Indiana has quickly become the place for transfer quarterbacks. Cignetti is hands-on with his quarterbacks and the offense, but Shanahan also deserves credit for the development of Kurtis Rourke and Fernando Mendoza over the past two seasons.
Both were transfers in a new system, and both produced record seasons. The key for both: ball security and limiting turnovers, leading to a combined 70 touchdowns and 11 INTs.
Hoover spent three seasons as the TCU starter, and had 42 turnovers in 31 career starts. He was 19-13 as a starter, and 1-3 vs. ranked teams.
Until a transfer quarterback struggles, Cignetti and Shanahan have position capital. Expect Hoover to have a big season.
2. LSU
QB Sam Leavitt and OC Charlie Weis Jr.
Leavitt missed half of last season with a foot injury, but led Arizona State to the CFP in 2024. He’s accurate and athletic, and has a flair for the big moment. Which fits perfectly with all things Lane Kiffin.
Leavitt is on his third team (he began his career at Michigan State), and has 39 career touchdown passes in 21 starts. But his career-high completion percentage as a starter is 61%, a number that won’t cut it against SEC defenses.
Weis and his quarterback development and play calling was the secret sauce to the Ole Miss offense. He recruited Trinidad Chambliss, and got him ready to play when starter Austin Simmons was injured in Week 1. By the end of the season, Chambliss was the best offensive player in the SEC.
Weis was also critical in Jaxson Dart’s development, and his even temperament and meticulous game-planning fits perfectly with Leavitt.
3. Michigan
QB Bryce Underwood and OC Jason Beck
Underwood looked lost much of last season, forced into a one-read and go philosophy without any hands-on coaching. If the first read wasn’t there, he ran.
The numbers showed the struggles: 11 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and a completion percentage of 60.
Beck and the offensive staff have essentially rebuilt Underwood from the ground up, and Whittingham says Underwood made great strides — despite uneven play in the spring game. He has a greater understanding of the position, and passing game concepts.
The goal is to run the ball with physicality (a Utah trademark under Whittingham), and put Underwood in position to have success with play action throws.
4. Baylor
QB DJ Lagway and OC Jake Spavital
Lagway looked like the next big star in the game after the 2024 season, leading Florida to big wins over LSU and Ole Miss and setting up a breakout season in 2025. Injuries in the offseason crushed those hopes, and the big step in 2025 never materialized.
Spavital has a history of quarterback development and production everywhere he has coached (Geno Smith, Johnny Manziel, Davis Webb, Mendoza). He also has experience with reclamation projects, turning Will Grier into one of the game’s top quarterbacks after his drama-filled exit from Florida.
The offense is a better fit, and Lagway will be coached differently than he ever has. He could have a huge season.
5. Kansas State
QB Avery Jonson and HC Collin Klein
We’ve waited two years for Johnson to become a consistent, dangerous threat. He has all the tools and athleticism, but hasn’t developed into an accurate thrower.
K-State essentially chose Johnson over Will Howard after the 2023 season, and Howard left for Ohio State and won a national title. Johnson has one season left, and if Klein — who will be directly involved with the quarterbacks and offense — can reach Johnson, the Wildcats can return to the top of the Big 12.
Klein worked a nearly identical job with Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed, who last year developed into a dependable, accurate thrower — and the Aggies surged offensively and earned a spot in the CFP.
6. UCLA
QB Nico Iamaleava and OC Dean Kennedy
Who knows where Iamaleava would be had he not left Tennessee in the spring of 2025, and spent another season under Vols coach Josh Heupel. More than likely, in an NFL camp.
But here we are, and Iamaleava gets one more shot at reaching his five-star potential. His average yards per attempt dipped all the way to 6 in 2025, and he hit career-lows in nearly every significant passing metric.
Kennedy’s offenses in two seasons at James Madison were impressive, but UCLA still has questions on the offensive line. Iamaleava has been sacked 57 times over the past two seasons at Tennessee and UCLA, a number that has clearly impacted his development.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Make-or-break seasons for six elite college football QBs starting over
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos