Some of this season’s top college football transfers simply followed their coaches from one school to another.
For instance, former North Texas coach Eric Morris took over Oklahoma State’s program and now has 21 of his former Mean Green players, including 18 who were with him last season. That list includes Drew Mestemaker, who threw for a Bowl Subdivision-leading 4,379 yards a year ago.
“I knew the whole time, Coach Morris was going to be a huge factor,”
Mestemaker told reporters regarding the choice of his new school. “Wherever he went, that was probably going to be where I was going.”
Mestemaker’s process wasn’t unusual.
John Henry Daley, who recorded 11 ½ sacks at Utah last season, accompanied coach Kyle Whittingham to Michigan. New Penn State coach Matt Campbell’s roster features about two dozen of his former Iowa State players, including quarterback Rocco Becht.
“At the end of the day, I think my main decision was just to come in to play for Matt Campbell my final year, just because I had built relationships with a bunchy of the guys here already,” Becht said. “I didn’t want to ruin any of those. A great coaching staff was brought here, and I wanted to be a part of that at a great university.”
Becht arrives at Penn State after throwing for 9,274 yards and 64 touchdowns with 27 interceptions at Iowa State as a three-year starter.
It’s no surprise that so many transfers are making this type of choice. They only need to look at Indiana’s remarkable turnaround for evidence this can work.
Curt Cignetti brought 13 of his former James Madison players with him after taking over at Indiana. They helped set the tone for Indiana’s extraordinary turnaround that included earning a College Football Playoff berth in 2024 and winning a national title last season.
These transfers believe familiarity with their longtime coaches will help them in their new situations.
“You know what you get with Coach Whittingham,” Daley said. “You know that you get discipline. You know that you get hard work. We expect to win games. That’s something that I love. He’s got a very old-school mindset in that, we’re going to come in, we’re going to attack every single day and we’re going to be tough. It’s not always going to be easy, but it’s going to be worth it. That’s something I love that you don’t find everywhere. And that’s something I wanted to be a part of.”
Here’s a rundown of some other transfers who should make a major impact this season (former schools in parentheses).
Coleman was rated as the nation’s No. 3 overall prospect in his high school class by 247Sports. He caught 93 passes for 1,306 yards and 13 touchdowns in two seasons at Auburn without getting the chance to play for a quarterback the caliber of Texas’ Arch Manning. Coleman gained attention on social media last weekend when Texas posted a video of him making a phenomenal catch in practice.
Hoover takes over for Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, who led Indiana to a national title before going to the Las Vegas Raiders with the first overall pick in the draft. Hoover, a three-year starter at TCU, has thrown for 9,629 yards and 71 touchdowns with 33 interceptions. Hoover headlines a noteworthy Indiana transfer portal class, as he will be throwing to former Michigan State receiver Nick Marsh and will be handing the ball off to ex-Boston College running back Turbo Richard.
Leavitt helped Arizona State earn a playoff berth in 2024 before a foot injury limited him to seven games last season. Leavitt, who began his career at Michigan State, has completed 61.4% of his career passes for 4,652 yards with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also has rushed for 816 yards and 10 touchdowns. Leavitt will be working behind a line that includes Jordan Seaton, a former five-star recruit who started 22 games at left tackle for Colorado the last two seasons.
After leading Duke to an Atlantic Coast Conference title, Mensah entered the portal and joined a conference rival that played for the national championship last season. This is Mensah’s third school in as many years, as he played for Tulane in 2024. Mensah has been productive at each of his stops and has completed 66.5% of his career passes. He threw for 3,973 yards with 34 touchdowns and just six interceptions at Duke after accumulating 2,723 yards passing with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions at Tulane.
Perich was an Associated Press first-team all-Big Ten selection in 2024 and a second-team pick last season. He had 82 tackles for Minnesota a year ago. He’s also versatile enough to contribute on offense and special teams. During the 2024 season, Perich became the first Bowl Subdivision freshman since 1976 to intercept five passes while also collecting over 100 punt return yards and 100 kick return yards.
Uluave comes to BYU after compiling 100 tackles – 12 for loss – at Cal last season. He earned second-team AP all-ACC honors and was a first-team selection on the all-ACC team put together by the league itself. Uluave totaled 237 tackles – 21 ½ for loss – to go along with six sacks and three interceptions in three seasons at Cal.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
