There are far fewer true quarterback competitions in college football nowadays simply because in the NIL/transfer portal era it might as well be a slap in the face to dare ask any high-profile QB to compete with another.
Not after they paid a noted quarterbacks coach the last three years to get on the fast track to stardom and received a five-star or high four-star rating from the recruiting sites.
Either show the love (and more importantly the direct deposit) or another school surely will.
It’s impressive college coaches can even assemble an actual QB depth chart anymore.
If this sounds like “old man shaking fist at cloud about the good old days” — cue the Simpsons meme — well, it’s more just an acknowledgement of the times.
Looking Back At Recent College Football QB Rankings
For reference, let’s look at the 2023 QB recruiting rankings, per the 247Sports Composite, where seven of the top eight players in the position rankings have transferred (some already multiple times). We’ll run through it quickly with the schools each has attended so far …
1. Arch Manning (Texas), 2. Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee and UCLA), 3. Dante Moore (UCLA and Oregon), 4. Jackson Arnold (Oklahoma, Auburn and UNLV), 5. Malachi Nelson (USC, Boise State, UTEP and Syracuse), 6. Jaden Rashada (Arizona State, Georgia, Sacramento State and Mississippi State), 7. Aidan Chiles (Oregon State, Michigan State and Northwestern) and 8. Austin Mack (Washington and Alabama).
Seven out of the top eight quarterbacks in the 2023 class transferred — half of them transferred more than once. So far.
How about the 2024 QB recruiting class?
1. DJ Lagway (Florida and Baylor), 2. Dylan Raiola (Nebraska and Oregon), 3. Julian Sayin (Alabama and Ohio State), 4. Luke Kromenhoek (Florida State, Mississippi State and South Florida), 5. Walker White (Auburn, Baylor and Central Arkansas), 6. CJ Carr (Notre Dame), 7. Air Noland (Ohio State and South Carolina), 8. Ethan Grunkemeyer (Penn State and Virginia Tech).
Again, seven of the top eight QBs in that recruiting class have transferred.
And every transfer has their reasons. Coaching change, playing time, in need of a fresh start, etc.
To be clear, we’re not even being critical. It’s just reality. And with so much at stake financially now at that position especially, where only one quarterback truly plays in an ideal season, it’s understandable why there’s so much movement.
That was all just to state that it’s rare these days to get a true, genuine, open quarterback competition.
Either the expensive highly rated recruit is pre-anointed as QB1 immediately or for his second season, or the even more expensive transfer is brought in with one clear intention, etc.
So let’s appreciate the few actual quarterback competitions taking place around college football this spring, with most teams either already practicing or set to start this week.
5 Most Compelling College Football QB Competitions
Here are the five most compelling and significant.
1. Alabama: Keelon Russell vs. Austin Mack
We’ll say it out loud — it would be stunning if Russell isn’t Alabama’s starting quarterback in 2026.
He was a five-star prospect and the No. 2-ranked overall national recruit in the 2025 class behind Michigan QB Bryce Underwood. He sat behind Ty Simpson last season and yet didn’t transfer out. He’s surely getting paid a substantial NIL package.
He has to be the guy, right?
Well, that’s not how Alabama is treating it publicly. It has been framed as a true competition between Russell and Mack, himself a former highly rated recruit who signed with coach Kalen DeBoer at Washington and then followed him to Alabama, spending the last two seasons on the Crimson Tide’s bench while throwing for 228 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs plus a rushing TD in limited relief work last fall.
We’ll stick to our instincts here and assume that Russell wins out because so much has been invested in him.
Also, it’s notable that there is no post-spring transfer portal window this year, so it was even more in coaches’ best interest to promote open competition in retaining players over the winter. We’re not alleging anything insincere — but we’re just saying, now the quarterback who loses this competition is still going to be on the roster as the backup in the fall unless, of course, they hire a good lawyer and challenge the NCAA (like everyone else does).
Ultimately, though, there’s no learning on the job at Alabama. There’s no margin for error and understanding. So maybe this one isn’t so clear-cut as it seems.
2. Tennessee: George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon and Ryan Staub
The fact that Tennessee very clearly wanted Joey Aguilar to return at quarterback, supporting his petition to the NCAA and court challenge for an extra year of eligibility, and also pursued the transfer market makes it clear the Vols don’t feel they have a sure thing ready to take over.
MacIntyre was a four-star prospect ranked the No. 13 QB in the 2025 class and is from Brentwood, Tennessee. He completed 7 of 9 passes for 69 yards while seeing brief action against East Tennessee State and New Mexico State.
Brandon is a five-star freshman who was ranked the No. 3 QB (and No. 3 overall prospect) in this 2026 recruiting class.
And Staub is a transfer from Colorado who completed 30 of 55 passes for 427 yards, 3 TDs and 4 INTs plus a rushing TD in four games last season as a redshirt sophomore.
This one truly seems undecided and up for grabs.
“I don’t think we’ll be in a position where we’re naming a guy here at the end of spring ball. I think it’s important that those guys get a chance to go through it, digest it and come back in summer and by training camp and be a much different player than they were during the course of the 15 days in spring ball,” Vols coach Josh Heupel said in an interview on the program’s official YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, everyone who follows the program has an opinion about how it should turn out, of course.
3. Florida: Aaron Philo vs. Tramell Jones Jr.
It’s a new era in Gainesville with coach Jon Sumrall taking over and former five-star QB DJ Lagway off to Baylor for a fresh start himself.
And the Gators have an intriguing QB battle underway this spring.
Sumrall hired offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner away from Georgia Tech, and not coincidentally the Gators also landed Philo as a transfer from the Yellow Jackets.
Faulkner surely knows Philo’s game better than anyone and wouldn’t have brought him to Florida if he didn’t believe he could succeed there and run the offense he plans to install, so one would presume he’s the favorite for the job.
But Philo isn’t exactly a proven commodity just yet. He was a backup to star Georgia Tech QB Haynes King the last two seasons. He got into three games last year, completing 21 of 28 passes for 373 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT with all of those stats coming against FCS-level Gardner-Webb.
Philo was a three-star recruit and the No. 55-ranked QB prospect in the 2024 class, so it’s not as if he’s been a high-profile backup on everyone’s radar this whole time.
Jones, meanwhile, was also a three-star recruit from down the road in Jacksonville. He won the Gators’ backup job last year and completed 21 of 35 passes for 191 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs.
4. Virginia: Beau Pribula vs. Eli Holstein
This is an interesting situation on several levels.
First, 2025 starter Chandler Morris, who led Virginia to a breakout 11-3 finish, is presently suing the NCAA for a seventh year of eligibility while citing mental health struggles. And given the NCAA’s failure rate in the courts, it can’t be ruled out that Morris is back.
But it also can’t be counted on either, so the Cavaliers went out and already got Morris’ replacement — it seemed — when they landed Pribula, who was Missouri’s starting QB last season.
UVA wasn’t done, though, also bringing in Holstein, the former Pitt starter. Early reports indicated that Holstein was recruited as the No. 2 to Pribula with the opportunity to take over in 2027, but there’s a reason Pribula isn’t still at Missouri.
He passed for just 1,941 yards, 11 TDs and 9 INTs in 10 games while missing a month of the season with a dislocated ankle. He also rushed for 297 yards and 6 TDs. Make no mistake, Missouri upgraded the position by bringing in Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons.
So to assume that Pribula, who started his college career at Penn State, is going to be unchallenged here is probably premature.
Holstein, meanwhile, lost his starting job four games into last season at Pitt, getting replaced by impressive freshman Mason Heintschel. He nonetheless averaged 262.5 passing yards in those four starts with 11 TDs (plus 1 rushing) and 5 INTs, but the Panthers were 2-2 and took off after the QB change.
Holstein, who initially transferred there from Alabama, also started most of the 2024 season for Pitt, throwing for 2,228 yards, 17 TDs and 7 INTs.
5. North Carolina: Billy Edwards Jr., Taron Dickens and Miles O’Neill
The Bill Belichick Era at North Carolina has been captivating mostly in that it’s been a sideshow of absurdity — arguably the greatest coach in NFL history looking totally out of place in stumbling through a 4-8 debut season in the ACC while his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson generated more headlines than the team itself.
Whatever happens at quarterback for the Tar Heels in 2026 likely has no impact on the national college football picture, but if the team isn’t significantly better this coming season it could well be the end of the Belichick experiment. So that earns the North Carolina three-way QB battle a spot on this list.
South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez wasn’t the answer at the position last year and has since transferred to Wake Forest. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, brought in three QB transfers to compete for the job.
Edwards spent three seasons at Maryland and was the starter there in 2024, passing for 2,881 yards, 15 TDs and 9 INTs (plus 5 rushing TDs). He then transferred to Wisconsin but sustained a season-ending PCL strain in his knee in the first game. Now, he’s looking for another fresh start.
Dickens put up incredible stats last season as a redshirt sophomore — 3,508 passing yards, 38 TDs and 2 INTs — but it was at FCS-level Western Carolina.
And O’Neill spent two seasons on the bench at Texas A&M, but new Tar Heels offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was the Aggies’ OC in 2023 when O’Neill was being recruited. So he clearly knew what kind of player he was bringing to Chapel Hill.
North Carolina opens spring practice March 24.
Other Notable QB Competitions This Spring
Arkansas: New head coach Ryan Silverfield says he may not settle on a starting QB until the end of August with redshirt sophomore KJ Jackson (33-of-54 passing for 441 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs plus 2 rushing TDs off the bench for the Razorbacks last year) and Memphis transfer AJ Hill (19 of 32 for 223 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT), who followed Silverfield to Arkansas.
Iowa: The competition is between two returning QBs — Jeremy Hecklinski, who attempted just 2 passes for the Hawkeyes last year after transferring in from Wake Forest, and Hank Brown, who threw for 107 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT for Iowa after transferring in from Auburn.
Kansas: Two returning QBs with minimal experience battle to replace Jalon Daniels. Redshirt junior Cole Ballard completed 10 of 22 passes for 108 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT last season, while redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall attempted just 3 passes but rushed 15 times for 160 yards.
Rutgers: Redshirt sophomore AJ Surace attempted just 9 passes last season but has generated some intrigue within the fan base. Meanwhile, Boston College transfer Dylan Lonergan passed for 2,025 yards, 12 TDs and 5 INTs in his lone season there after two years on the bench at Alabama. Lonergan’s best game came vs. Georgia Tech, passing for 362 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs in a competitive 36-34 loss.
Vanderbilt: It sure seems like five-star freshman Jared Curtis, the No. 2-ranked QB recruit in this 2026 class, will step right in as Diego Pavia’s replacement. But before Curtis flipped his commitment from Georgia in December, there was thought that Pavia’s backup Blaze Berlowitz (131 passing yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 81 rushing yards and a TD on just 7 carries) could get a real shot at the job.
West Virginia: This is an interesting one as coach Rich Rodriguez looks to elevate the program in his second year back in charge. Incumbent Scotty Fox started five games as a true freshman last year, passing for 1,276 yards, 7 TDs and 6 INTs. But the Mountaineers brought in Oklahoma transfer Michael Hawkins Jr., who totaled 950 passing yards, 6 TDs and 2 INTs with 262 rushing yards and 2 scores over the last two seasons.
(Clemson is promoting an open quarterback competition, but anyone paying attention knows redshirt junior Christopher Vizzina, who has waited his turn there, will claim the job.)
