Last year’s Heisman Trophy winner. The past three quarterbacks to win the Heisman. Both quarterbacks in last year’s national championship game. The starters in the previous national championship game. The past three players to go first overall in the NFL Draft.
While quarterbacks have always stood at the center of attention, a new type has taken the Bowl Subdivision by storm and upended long-established theories on how to identify and develop a starting passer: the immediately eligible transfer.
One example of note is former Indiana star Fernando Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to an unexpected national championship in 2025 after transferring from California. At least 15 teams in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll will open the year with a transfer under center.
For decades, programs would look to steadily develop starting quarterbacks over the course of years, reluctant to hand the keys to the offense over to any option lacking a certain level of experience and comfort in the system.
Several factors have led to a wholesale shift. Now, many of these same programs no longer have to devote time and resources to developing an in-house quarterback — they can let another program do the work for them.
That’s never been the case more so than in 2026.
Who has the best helmet in college football? Here’s a look at the 25 best the sport has to offer heading into the 2026 season.
1 / 26Who has the best helmet in college football? Here’s a look at the 25 best the sport has to offer heading into the 2026 season.
2 / 26NO. 25 OKLAHOMA. Oklahoma’s interlocking “OU” is synonymous with one of the most successful programs in college football history, a logo worn by the likes of Billy Sims, Lee Roy Selmon, Brian Bosworth and, more recently, Adrian Peterson and Baker Mayfield. When paired with a shiny crimson helmet, it’s one of the best looks in the sport.
3 / 26NO. 24 ALABAMA. A look synonymous with college football, Alabama has a simple yet beautifully done design with player numbers. Adorning Alabama helmets since the 1950s, the Crimson Tide haven’t changed their look much since then, and don’t need to. It makes every player stand out while not messing with tradition. A major flex is using the helmet as a logo and the number representing the total national championships, which is at 18 claimed titles. Some teams have done their own versions of adding player numbers to helmets, but it’s a design you always associate with the Crimson Tide.
4 / 26NO. 23 WYOMING. The flagship university in the Cowboy State, fittingly, has a cowboy as its mascot and with it, an incredible, distinct logo — a silhouette of a cowboy riding a bucking horse. The image, Bucking Horse and Rider, is actually a registered trademark of the state of Wyoming. The university says it represents “the toughness, and the never-say-die spirit that is Wyoming” and, just as important, it looks awfully good on a helmet.
5 / 26NO. 22 BOISE STATE. The non-Power darling does a great job of using a great logo with an oversized look of the Bronco. Oversized logos on helmets usually look good, but this one stands out with how intense it is, especially how Boise State does a nice touch of really making the eye stand out. It could use it on both sides, but it still comes across perfectly on one. No matter what color the helmet or decal is, it works every single time. It’s intense and fierce, matching the tenacity that comes with the blue turf.
6 / 26NO. 21 WASHINGTON STATE. Wazzu has one of the best logos in college sports, a cougar head created by Randall Johnson in 1936 that spells out the school’s initials, “WSU.” It has become an iconic symbol for the university and in the broader college football world, thanks in some part to Ol’ Crimson, a Washington State flag that has been in the background of every episode of “College GameDay” since 2003.
7 / 26NO. 20 NEBRASKA. The Cornhuskers became a powerhouse when it added the block “N,” and while there’s nothing special about it, the helmet still is among the most recognizable. Nebraska has tried different variations with black that have mostly looked decent, but it further proves there is no need to mess with good ol’ reliable.
8 / 26NO. 19 PENN STATE. The Nittany Lions’ lids are proudly plain, with a dark blue stripe down the middle marking the only feature other than white on the helmet itself. For years, they defined Penn State’s no-frills approach under Joe Paterno. As part of the team’s overall uniform, they work exceptionally well, but by itself as a helmet, it’s not as remarkable. There’s a fine line between iconic and boring and these lean just a little too close to the latter.
9 / 26NO. 18 UTAH. When you have two primary logos, it’s important to choose the best looking one for the helmet. Luckily, you can’t go wrong with both the feather and retro “UU” logos, allowing Utah to go a plethora of ways with combinations that always come out clean. Plus, the Rose Bowl helmets with the rose interlocked with the logo is one of the best special editions ever seen. Outside of that, the Utes haven’t been afraid to try out bold designs, and they are executed to a tee each time.
10 / 26NO. 17 ARIZONA STATE. The Sun Devils already have one of the more distinct color combinations in college athletics, with maroon and gold, and while their partnership with Adidas has occasionally made their uniforms a bit all-over-the-place at times, their best looks are some of the best in the country. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with their trident helmets, they’d be much higher on this list if they made a full-time move back to Sparky the Sun Devil gracing their lids.
11 / 26NO. 16 PITT. The Panthers have undergone a series of cosmetic changes over the past 30 years, with their helmets going from the underappreciated “DinoCat” of the Larry Fitzgerald years to the wholly forgettable and uninspired block “PITT” logo. In 2015, the program wisely switched back to the Pitt script that was associated with some of the school’s best teams and players. Pairing it with the traditional blue-and-yellow color scheme makes it that much nicer.
12 / 26NO. 15 HAWAII. While many schools incorporate the shape of their state, it’s hard to beat Hawai’i. The Rainbow Warriors proudly display their home with all eight Hawaiian islands adorning one side of the helmet, standing out regardless of the color. The stripe is also unique with feathers that pay homage to the islands’ long legacy of chiefs and warriors. There is no state like the Aloha State, and Hawai’i uses it to its advantage.
13 / 26NO. 14 COLORADO. Colorado’s black-and-gold color scheme absolutely pops, especially on the team’s gold helmets on characteristically sunny days in Boulder. The mascot silhouette with an interlocking CU imposed over it is a clean look. It’s enough to make you forgive that the Buffs’ mascot is a bison, not a buffalo.
14 / 26NO. 13 SAN DIEGO STATE. After decades of putting the school’s logo or nickname onto its helmets, San Diego State fully leaned into its identity as the Aztecs and produced one of the most memorable lids in the sport. San Diego State’s shiny red helmets feature the unmistakable design of the Aztec sun stone, which blends in just enough with the rest of the helmet that it’s not too distracting or obnoxious.
15 / 26NO. 12 MIAMI. Let Miami show you how a simple touch can turn into a cultural phenomenon. The distinctive green and orange “U” logo took off as the Hurricanes became a powerhouse, so much so Miami can also be referred to as just “The U” with the hand signal to go along with it. There have been some interesting modern designs Miami has done with it, but the classic look with the white helmet reigns supreme.
16 / 26NO. 11 FLORIDA. Unlike other SEC powerhouses, the Gators haven’t had a consistent helmet design over the past 70 years, going from numbers on the side of the helmet to a basic F (which was worn during Steve Spurrier’s Heisman Trophy winning 1966 season) to some more, um, regrettable choices. In 1979, though, coach Charley Pell introduced a helmet ahead of his first season that has stood the test of time: an orange lid with a white-and-blue stripe down the middle and “Gators” spelled out in script on the sides. Despite the program’s recent struggles, it’s a look that has become synonymous with some of the best teams and most explosive offenses in the sport’s history.
17 / 26NO. 10 UCLA. The Bruins struck literal gold in the 1970s when it introduced the script UCLA logo that has gotten some updates over time, but has never faded in beauty. It was so good it wasn’t even the same shade as the school’s official colors. Now it’s more aligned, and the switch to Jordan Brand introduced some really golden shells that shine no matter the time of the day. It perfectly aligns with the stunning views of the Rose Bowl.
18 / 26NO. 9 TULANE. In their history, the Green Wave have never stuck with one design too terribly long. If they’re wise, they won’t veer away from what they’ve got now. In 2017, and after wearing it on their helmet much of the 2016 season, the university adopted the “Angry Wave” as the primary athletic mark. Since then, Tulane has had one of the more unique and eye-popping helmets in the sport, a mark that pops that much more with the school’s color scheme of green, sky blue and white. Though with those colors, the Green Wave have seldom had a bad-looking uniform.
19 / 26NO. 8 USC. The Trojan warriors don the Trojan head, a logo that technically isn’t an official one but so perfectly done that it would be impossible to remove. The details of the Trojan headpiece are great on a small scale, making great harmony with the cardinal helmet. Even when USC updated its Trojan logo, it still kept this one that’s been around since the 1970s. It holds such high regard that coach Lincoln Riley mandates “the decal should be earned, not just given.”
20 / 26NO. 7 LSU. If this were a ranking of college football uniforms, the Tigers would quite possibly be at the very top. Still, their helmet by itself isn’t too bad, either. Though LSU had some variation of a tiger head and the school’s name on their helmets for years, it added a purple facemask in 1980 and smartly hasn’t deviated since. Though the two things are unrelated, the helmet has been worn for the Tigers’ national championships in 2003, 2007 and 2019.
21 / 26NO. 6 OREGON. The uniform pioneers, there is no true primary helmet for Oregon, but that’s fine because just about every innovate design Nike gives them hits hard. The Ducks have found a good blend of tradition (the classic “O”) and modernization with the wings, a look that has been so stunning other teams have tried to copy it since then. Whether it’s marble, chrome, an eggshell or a shiny green, Oregon has proved there is no such thing as too many helmets.
22 / 26NO. 5 TEXAS. Everything’s bigger in Texas — except the logo gracing the helmet of the football team at the state’s flagship university. It’s for the better, too. Texas’ white helmets with an understated silhouette of a longhorn cattle in burnt orange is a beautiful ode to simplicity. There’s a reason why one of the most recognizable programs in the sport has been wearing some variation of these since the early 1960s.
23 / 26NO. 4 FLORIDA STATE. Bobby Bowden is a legend in Tallahassee, and one of the lasting impacts was him putting the Seminole spear on the helmet. It truly encapsulates the Seminole nickname, while being an outstanding and innovative design that easily recognizable in college football, perhaps even more than the Chief Osceola logo. Mix that with the tomahawk stickers and you easily have of the best helmets in the sport.
24 / 26NO. 3 OHIO STATE. The Buckeyes’ helmet on its own is perfectly fine — a silver lid with a white, black and scarlet stripe down the middle. What truly separates these, though, are what go with the helmet. As the story goes, in 1968, Ohio State trainer Ernie Biggs devised a system to award players helmet stickers that resembled buckeye leaves. That year, the Buckeyes went undefeated and won the national championship. The tradition, like the stickers, stuck and in the decades since, programs around the country have been copying them. None of them look better than the original, though.
25 / 26NO. 2 NOTRE DAME. No decal, no problem. Let the gold shine for Notre Dame with their golden domes that pay homage to the administration building on campus. Is it plain? Yes, but they stand out above so many other programs, and they went up a notch in 2011 when they literally became gold, shining gorgeously in the sun or the stadium lights. The Fighting Irish use the Shamrock Series to get some fun looks, but you really cannot go wrong with the sensational gold helmets.
26 / 26NO. 1 MICHIGAN. Shortly after Fritz Crisler was hired as Michigan’s head coach in 1938, he left a mark that would be as lasting as the two Big Ten championships and one national championship he’d help the Wolverines win over the course of his tenure. The newly arrived coach introduced a winged helmet, similar to one he had designed and put into place at his previous stop, Princeton. As he saw it, the winged design would allow halfbacks to find open receivers down the field. Not only did it work — Michigan went 71-16-3 under Crisler — but he birthed what remains the best-looking helmet in the country nearly 90 years later.
Three recent developments have created a dramatic shift in how teams and coaches approach recruiting and developing quarterbacks.
- NIL offerings have led to wide gaps in spending between Power Four programs, giving deeper-pocketed programs the wherewithal to outspend much of the market for an established starter.
- At the same time, the transfer portal gives every quarterback the opportunity to test their value and earning potential. The ability to be eligible immediately allows passers to crisscross the map to find the best spot, as in the case of current Nebraska and former Virginia and UNLV starter Anthony Colandrea.
And even before arriving on campus, a heightened level of readiness and the intense expectations heaped on Power Four prospects can send quarterbacks into the portal amid any early taste of adversity.
NIL offerings have led to wide gaps in spending between Power Four programs, giving deeper-pocketed programs the wherewithal to outspend much of the market for an established starter.
At the same time, the transfer portal gives every quarterback the opportunity to test their value and earning potential. The ability to be eligible immediately allows passers to crisscross the map to find the best spot, as in the case of current Nebraska and former Virginia and UNLV starter Anthony Colandrea.
And even before arriving on campus, a heightened level of readiness and the intense expectations heaped on Power Four prospects can send quarterbacks into the portal amid any early taste of adversity.
The end result is an NFL-like feeder system where teams in the Group of Six and the lower tiers of the Power Four consistently lose their starting quarterbacks to programs dangling two hard-to-refuse enticements: more money and a bigger platform.
“I’m concerned,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said at Big Ten Media Days. “I kind of prefer to work with boundaries with a system, a system in place. Spent six years in the NFL. I really don’t have any aspirations of ever going back there, haven’t since I left.”
Of the 68 programs in the Power Four, only Iowa has yet to name a single starting quarterback. (Ferentz listed Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski as co-starters for Saturday’s opener against Northern Illinois.)
Twenty-seven starters transferred to their current programs from another team in the Power Four, including Ohio State’s Julian Sayin (Alabama) and Oregon’s Dante Moore (UCLA). No conference is more reliant on such transfers than the ACC, where 11 of the 16 starters arrived from elsewhere in the Power Four.
In many cases, the quarterback entered the portal in search of playing time. One prime example for this season is new Louisville starter Lincoln Kienholz, who played in 12 games over three years as the backup at Ohio State.
“He was highly recruited. He went to a good program,” said Louisville coach Jeff Brohm. “He had to sit for some years. That’s not a lot of fun doing that. At the same time, you learn. Sometimes it’s good for you.
“But I think he knows it’s his time now to step up and show what he can do. That’s what he wanted to do. He wanted to go somewhere and get on the field and showcase what he’s all about.”
Another 17 starters transferred up from the Group of Six or a lower level of NCAA competition, including Oklahoma’s John Mateer (Washington State), Southern California’s Jayden Maiava (UNLV) and Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker (North Texas).
Sixteen of these Power Four quarterbacks began starting at their original school as a true or redshirt freshman, such as Michigan’s Bryce Underwood, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr.
And the rarest Power Four starter of all is the quarterback who spent at least two full seasons as a backup at his original school before climbing into the starting lineup. There are only seven such passers in 2026, led by Texas redshirt junior Arch Manning.
As we’ll see, these numbers represent a dramatic change from the quarterback landscape as recently as 2021, before the advent of NIL and the transfer portal led to a seismic shift.
The 2021 season marked the last iteration of college football’s more traditional market for quarterbacks, when the wide majority of Power Four starters were recruited and developed by their original programs.
In that season, just 12 starters transferred from another Power Four school and four from the Group of Six. Another dozen were at least redshirt sophomores before ascending into a starting role. Thirty-seven quarterbacks made their starting debuts as true or redshirt freshmen.
This was roughly in line with the quarterback environment over the previous five seasons.
In 2020, for example, Power Four starters were comprised of 12 Power Four transfers, three Group of Six transfers, 13 waited until at least their third season at their original school and 37 started as true or redshirt freshmen.
And as recently as 2017, there were only six Power Four transfers starting at another Power Four program and a combined 52 starters playing at their original school — 14 who spent at least two years in a backup role and 38 who started as freshmen.
Splitting the past decade into two chunks — from 2016-21 and 2022-26 — reveals how radically the atmosphere has changed for quarterbacks and Power Four programs:
- From 2016-21, the starting landscape featured an average of:
- 10.3 Power Four transfers
5 Group of Six transfers
12.6 who waited at their original school until at least their third year
37.7 who started as true or redshirt freshmen
Since 2022, and including the starting quarterbacks heading into the 2026 season, the average has been:
- 26.8 Power Four transfers
9.8 Group of Six transfers
9 who waited at their original school until at least their third year
22 who started as true or redshirt freshmen
From 2016-21, the starting landscape featured an average of:
- 10.3 Power Four transfers
5 Group of Six transfers
12.6 who waited at their original school until at least their third year
37.7 who started as true or redshirt freshmen
12.6 who waited at their original school until at least their third year
37.7 who started as true or redshirt freshmen
Since 2022, and including the starting quarterbacks heading into the 2026 season, the average has been:
- 26.8 Power Four transfers
9.8 Group of Six transfers
9 who waited at their original school until at least their third year
22 who started as true or redshirt freshmen
9 who waited at their original school until at least their third year
22 who started as true or redshirt freshmen
While NIL and the portal have changed virtually everything about the way coaches and teams approach roster management, no position has been more impacted by college football’s new normal than quarterback.
“I do feel fortunate to maybe have only been a head coach since 2022,” said first-year Florida coach Jon Sumrall, who previously held the same positions at Troy and Tulane, “and so the transfer portal and NIL and all the chaos that has ensued is all I know. It’s not like I’ve been doing it forever and had to shift mid-stream. It’s all I’ve known.”
Several schools embody the transfer-heavy way the Power Four has come to approach quarterbacks.
One is Florida State, which has leaned on a Power Four transfer in every year since 2020, with mixed results. Illinois has started a transfer in every season during the same span, though a Group of Six transfer, Katin Houser (East Carolina), will start in 2026.
Oregon has been remarkably successful with a recent run of Power Four transfers in Moore, Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma) and Bo Nix (Auburn). Brigham Young has started a transfer quarterback in every season since joining the Power Four in 2023, including second-year starter Bear Bachmeier (Stanford).
“I think our approach to the transfer portal has always been the same from the beginning,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake. “Most of the guys that we have brought in from the transfer portal are guys that fit our program already, guys that we knew from before and maybe missed out on.”
But other Power Four schools have bucked this trend, including two that rank among the most successful of the decade.
One is Georgia, which has started one true transfer quarterback (JT Daniels for seven games across two seasons) since Kirby Smart was hired in 2016. Since 2019, the Bulldogs have developed full-time starters in Stetson Bennett III, Carson Beck and Gunner Stockton. All three waited until at least three seasons before winning the job. (Bennett began his career at Georgia in 2017 and spent the 2018 season on the junior college level before returning to the Bulldogs in 2019.)
“You recruit guys that know what they’ve signed up for,” said Smart. “They want to be the guy who waited. Carson waited because he saw Jake Fromm and others do it. Saw Stetson win two. You only get kids that fit your protocol. We’re going to have exodus out of our quarterback room eventually because we have a really good quarterback room now.”
Nor has Alabama across the combined coaching tenures of Nick Saban and Kalen DeBoer. While recent starters Ty Simpson and Jalen Milroe waited until their fourth and third seasons on campus, respectively, to be named the starter, the Crimson Tide are scheduled to start sophomore Keelon Russell in their opener against East Carolina.
The records of these SEC powers during this decade span — Georgia is 117-21 and Alabama is 121-19 since 2016, with a combined four national championships — suggests that a developmental, in-house approach to quarterbacks is an asset compared to the constant reshuffling of the depth chart at most Power Four programs.
But the way college football has unfolded since 2022 paints a different picture. Alabama is 20-8 over the past two seasons amid the transition from Saban to DeBoer. The Bulldogs have been bounced in their College Football Playoff opener in each of the past two seasons.
Meanwhile, Miami has returned to prominence thanks to transfers in Cam Ward and Carson Beck; the Hurricanes have another high-profile addition for 2026 in Darian Mensah (Duke). Jaxson Dart (USC) and Trinidad Chambliss (Ferris State) helped turn Mississippi into a national player under Lane Kiffin, now at LSU.
And then there’s Indiana, which has gone from the weakest program in the Power Four to a juggernaut under third-year coach Curt Cignetti and his transfers: Kurtis Rourke (Ohio), Mendoza and now Josh Hoover (TCU).
“Do the study on it, it makes you question everything you’re doing,” Smart said. “The two (quarterbacks) who played for it all last year, what were they? Transfers. Two before that? Transfers. One before that was a transfer. It’s crazy that has become the model. Go out and get the best. We’ve been fortunate that we feel like we’ve had the guys under our own roof. I don’t know if it will be that way forever, but it’s that way now.”
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