Key transfer quarterbacks for the 2026 college football season: Josh Hoover has huge shoes to fill at Indiana
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There are once again a lot of familiar quarterbacks in new places ahead of the 2026 college football season. Here are the most notable quarterbacks who changed schools during the offseason.
Jackson Arnold (Auburn to UNLV)
Arnold was Auburn's primary quarterback in 2025, but threw for just six touchdowns across 215 passing attempts in 10 games and transferred after Hugh Freeze's departure. The former highly touted Oklahoma recruit now heads west to play for former Florida coach Dan Mullen and hopes that his third school in four seasons will facilitate a breakout season.
Alonza Barnett III (James Madison to UCF)
With James Madison coach Bob Chesney now at UCLA, Barnett left for a power conference school too after leading the Dukes to the College Football Playoff in 2025. In two seasons as JMU's starter, Barnett threw for over 5,400 yards and 49 TDs to just 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 589 yards and 15 TDs in 2025.
Rocco Becht (Iowa State to Penn State)
The three-year starter at Iowa State will play his final season of college football in the Big Ten after following coach Matt Campbell to State College. Becht's stats dropped in 2025 as Iowa State won three fewer games than it did in 2024, but he tossed 64 career TDs and threw for 9,274 yards over 42 games with the Cyclones.
Cutter Boley (Kentucky to Arizona State)
Boley was Kentucky's main quarterback in 2025 as the Mark Stoops era came to an ignominious end. Boley threw for 15 TDs and 12 interceptions in 2025 and now heads to Tempe as the favorite to start for coach Kenny Dillingham.
Byrum Brown (South Florida to Auburn)
Brown was one of the most productive quarterbacks in college football a season ago and went to Auburn after ex-USF coach Alex Golesh joined the Tigers. Brown completed 66% of his passes for 3,158 yards and 28 TDs in 2025 while also rushing for 1,008 yards and 14 TDs in just 12 games.
Aidan Chiles (Michigan State to Northwestern)
Chiles came to Michigan State in 2024 after Oregon State coach Jonathan Smith was hired by the Spartans. The last two seasons did not go how both Smith and Chiles envisioned. As Smith was fired, Chiles is now at Northwestern after throwing for 23 TDs and 14 interceptions in 21 games in East Lansing.
Anthony Colandrea (UNLV to Nebraska)
Can Colandrea replicate his best season in Lincoln? After two seasons at Virginia, Colandrea transferred to UNLV for the 2025 season and threw for nearly 3,500 yards and rushed for almost 650. He scored 33 total touchdowns too.
Jaden Craig (Harvard to TCU)
Craig was a two-year starter for the Crimson and threw 48 TDs across 2024 and 2025. A season ago, Craig was 208-of-338 passing for 2,869 yards and 25 TDs with seven interceptions as Harvard made the FCS playoffs.
Ashton Daniels (Auburn to Florida State)
The Seminoles' hopes of a bounce-back season rest largely on Daniels, who played in just four games at Auburn in 2025. In those games, he threw for 797 yards and rushed for 280 while scoring five total touchdowns. In three seasons at Stanford, Daniels threw for 21 TDs and rushed for nine, but also threw 20 interceptions.
Billy Edwards (Wisconsin to North Carolina)
Edwards spent just one season at Wisconsin and played in just two games. An early-season knee injury sidelined Edwards for the rest of 2025 after he transferred from Maryland. Edwards has played just one full season of college football; in 2024 he threw for 2,881 yards and threw for 15 TDs with nine interceptions. Can he succeed for Bill Belichick?
Walker Eget (San Jose State to Duke)
Eget spent five years at San Jose State before transferring at the end of the 2025 season. He was the best quarterback available in the transfer portal after Darian Mensah's controversial transfer to Miami. Eget threw for 30 TDs and over 5,500 yards combined in his two seasons as the Spartans' starter.
Josh Hoover (TCU to Indiana)
All Hoover is doing is joining the defending national champions after a transfer quarterback led the Hoosiers to an undefeated season on the way to the Heisman Trophy. No pressure there at all.
Hoover emerged as TCU's starter in 2023 and completed 65% of his passes with the Horned Frogs. He's thrown for over 9,600 yards in his career along with 71 TDs. He's not afraid to go downfield, either. Hoover has a career average of 8.1 yards an attempt
Max Johnson (North Carolina to Georgia Southern)
The seventh-year quarterback is now at a non-power conference school. After two seasons at LSU and two seasons at Texas A&M, Johnson transferred to North Carolina before the 2024 season. A devastating knee injury in the season opener led to a grueling rehabilitation, but Johnson returned to play in four games in what was a lost season for the Tar Heels in 2025.
Colton Joseph (Old Dominion to Wisconsin)
Joseph nearly joined the 3,000-1,000 club in 2025. In 12 games, Joseph threw for 2,624 yards and 21 TDs while rushing 158 times for 1,007 yards and 13 scores. He's now tasked with revitalizing a Wisconsin offense that has scuffled and nearly cost coach Luke Fickell his job at the end of the 2025 season.
Lincoln Kienholz (Ohio State to Louisville)
After spending three seasons as a backup with the Buckeyes, Kienholz should take over as the Cardinals' starter. The former highly touted recruit appeared in just 12 games and his lone start came in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 2023 season. Across those dozen games, Kienholz threw for 250 yards on 36 pass attempts and rushed 17 times for 68 yards.
DJ Lagway (Florida to Baylor)
It became clear at the end of the 2025 season that Lagway needed a fresh start even with a coaching change in Gainesville. Lagway completed 63% of his passes but threw for just 2,264 yards across 12 games and also had 14 interceptions. He threw five picks in a 20-10 September loss to LSU, and then three more in a blowout loss to Kentucky. Can Baylor kickstart his career?
Sam Leavitt (Arizona State to LSU)
The former Sun Devils QB was Lane Kiffin's big acquisition of the offseason after the ex-Ole Miss coach came to Baton Rouge. Leavitt's breakout season came in 2024 as he helped lead ASU to the College Football Playoff. He played in just seven games in 2025 because of a foot injury. In 20 games at ASU, Leavitt completed just over 61% of his passes for 4,513 yards and 34 TDs to just nine interceptions.
Gio Lopez (North Carolina to Wake Forest)
Lopez didn't have to move very far from Chapel Hill. After two seasons at South Alabama — and a strong 2024 season — Lopez was a symptom of the UNC dysfunction in 2025. He threw for 1,747 yards and 10 TDs across 11 games and rushed for just 133 total yards after he had 463 with the Jaguars in 2024.
Alberto Mendoza (Indiana to Georgia Tech)
Fernando's younger brother is in line to start for the Yellow Jackets after attempting just 25 passes in two seasons with the Hoosiers. Mendoza appeared in nine games in 2025 and threw for five TDs on 24 pass attempts. He also rushed for 190 yards on 13 carries thanks to a few big garbage-time runs.
Darian Mensah (Duke to Miami)
Can Miami's offense be even better with Mensah at QB? The former Tulane QB threw for 3,973 yards and 34 TDs on 500 pass attempts in 2025 and completed over two-thirds of his passes. There's a reason Miami pushed so hard to get Mensah to replace Carson Beck. With RB Mark Fletcher and WR Malachi Toney back for 2026, Miami is a playoff favorite once again.
Drew Mestemaker (North Texas to Oklahoma State)
The former walk-on threw for nearly 4,400 yards with 34 TDs in 2025. He averaged 9.5 yards an attempt as North Texas had one of the most prolific offenses in college football. Now, with former UNT coach Eric Morris at Oklahoma State, we'll get a chance to see if Mestemaker can replicate his 2025 season at a power conference school.
Kenny Minchey (Notre Dame to Kentucky)
Minchey lost to CJ Carr in Notre Dame's preseason quarterback competition ahead of the 2025 season. Now he's the clear frontrunner to start in Lexington for new coach Will Stein. In three seasons in South Bend, Minchey only attempted 29 passes and had nine rushing attempts.
Aaron Philo (Georgia Tech to Florida)
Philo backed up Haynes King in 2025 and is now Florida's starter after former Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner took the same job in Gainesville. In eight games over two seasons in Atlanta, Philo was 59-of-102 passing for 938 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Beau Pribula (Missouri to Virginia)
After two years backing up Drew Allar at Penn State, Pribula got his shot to start in 2025 and played well at the start of the season. However, he struggled once conference play began and suffered a dislocated ankle in October. Pribula failed to throw a TD pass in each of his last four starts and finished with 11 TDs and nine interceptions.
Dylan Raiola (Nebraska to Oregon)
The Ducks hope that Raiola doesn't see many meaningful snaps in 2026 as potential NFL first-round pick Dante Moore returned to school for the 2026 season. After two seasons as Nebraska's starter, Raiola plans to take a redshirt this season and have two more years of eligibility remaining. In 22 games what the Huskers, Raiola threw for 4,819 yards and 31 TDs with 17 interceptions.
Jaylen Raynor (Arkansas State to Iowa State)
Raynor was a three-year starter at Arkansas State. Across 37 games, Raynor has thrown for 8,694 yards and 52 TDs. In 2025, he completed 67% of his passes for 3,361 yards and also rushed for seven touchdowns. He's part of a totally revamped Iowa State roster under new coach Jimmy Rogers.
Austin Simmons (Ole Miss to MIssouri)
Simmons' early-season ankle injury paved the way for Trinidad Chambliss' star turn. After backing up Jaxson Dart in 2024, Simmons beat Chambliss for the starting job in 2025 but suffered an ankle sprain in Week 2. Chambliss emerged as one of the best quarterbacks in the country, while Simmons has already been named Mizzou's starter.
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