Two things of note will happen on Jan. 20, 2025. In the afternoon, the newly-elected president will be inaugurated at the steps of the capitol; in the evening, college football will crown a new national champion.
These events, ordinarily operating in separate universes, are connected in one way: there's a good chance one or both starting quarterbacks that night started his college football career before Joe Biden's soon-to-be-completed 4-year presidential term began.
The combination of new rules allowing unlimited player movement, NIL, and the free covid year of 2020 have transformed the way college football teams are built at every position. I'll give two examples. One: Marcel Brooks, a member of LSU's 2019 national championship team, is still playing at TCU. Two: Cam McCormick, who committed to Oregon on Feb. 28, 2015, caught a touchdown for Miami on Saturday.
Experience has never been a more abundant, and more valuable, quantity, and nowhere is that more apparent than at the quarterback position. Take a look at how last season ended:
-- In one College Football Playoff semifinal at the conclusion of the 2023 season, a quarterback making his 27th career start beat a quarterback making his 13th.
-- In the other, a quarterback starting for the 44th time beat a quarterback starting for the 22nd.
-- A month prior, a quarterback with 55 career starts won the Heisman Trophy.
A FootballScoop study of QB1s in the Power 4 conferences has shown that 72 percent of opening-day starters are in their fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh year of college football, compared to only 12 percent in their first or second year. Thirty-one of the 68 began their careers during the Trump administration. There are more QB1s in their seventh season (3) than their first (1).
Power 4 QBs by High School Class
2024 (1): Dylan Raiola, Nebraska
2023 (7): Jackson Arnold, Oklahoma; Aidan Chiles, Michigan State; Anthony Colandrea, Virginia; Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee; Avery Johnson, Kansas State; Sam Leavitt, Arizona State; LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
2022 (11): Drew Allar, Penn State; Rocco Becht, Iowa State; Thomas Castellanos, Boston College; Ashton Daniels, Stanford; Noah Fifita, Arizona; Josh Hoover, TCU; Cade Klubnik, Clemson; Fernando Mendoza, Cal; Maalik Murphy, Duke; Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati; Conner Weigman, Texas A&M
2021 (18): Luke Altmyer, Illinois; Taylen Green, Arkansas; Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss; Kyron Drones, Virginia Tech; Billy Edwards, Jr., Maryland; Quinn Ewers, Texas; Athan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers; Riley Leonard, Notre Dame; Kyle McCord, Syracuse; Jalen Milroe, Alabama; Behren Morton, Texas Tech; Miller Moss, USC; Jake Retzlaff, BYU; Shedeur Sanders, Colorado; Preston Stone, SMU; Brock Vandagriff, Kentucky; Davis Warren, Michigan; Nate Yarnell, Pitt
2020 (18): Carson Beck, Georgia; Hudson Card, Purdue; Brady Cook, Missouri; Jalon Daniels, Kansas; Ethan Garbers, UCLA; Garrett Greene, West Virginia; Will Howard, Ohio State; Max Johnson, North Carolina; Haynes King, Georgia Tech; Garrett Nussmeier, LSU; Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt; Will Rogers, Washington; Blake Shapen, Mississippi State; Donovan Smith, Houston; DJ Uiagaleilei, Florida State; Tyler Van Dyke, Wisconsin; Cam Ward, Miami; Mike Wright, Northwestern
2019 (10): Hank Bachmeier, Wake Forest; Max Brosmer, Minnesota; Dequan Finn, Baylor; Dillon Gabriel, Oregon; KJ Jefferson, UCF; Grayson McCall, NC State; Cade McNamara, Iowa; Graham Mertz, Florida; Kurtis Rourke, Indiana; Payton Thorne, Auburn
2018 (3): Alan Bowman, Oklahoma State; Cameron Rising, Utah; Tyler Shough, Louisville
Furthermore, the data shows that players and schools alike have taken advantage of the freedom-of-movement era at the quarterback position.
Of the 68 Power 4 schools, 42 (62 percent) start quarterbacks that did not sign with them out of high school. That number is highest in the Big Ten, where 14 of the 18 QB1s signed elsewhere out of high school; the most "homegrown" conference is the SEC, but even still only eight of the 16 signed with their current program out of high school.
Even in an era of free movement, the data shows the importance of a Power 4 quarterback offer. Only nine of the 68 did not sign with a P4 school out of high school, and two of those come with asterisks: Dillon Gabriel signed with a school (UCF) that was not P4 at the time but is today, and Shedeur Sanders plays for his father.
Of the remaining seven, many had full careers before transferring to the Power 4: Kurtis Rourke started 33 games over five seasons at Ohio before transferring to Indiana; Baylor QB Dequann Finn won a MAC Offensive Player of the Year award at Toledo; and Diego Pavia won a juco national championship and a Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year award before arriving at Vanderbilt.
ACC/Notre Dame (11 transfer, 7 homegrown)
-- Boston College: Thomas Castellanos, transfer (UCF)
-- Cal: Fernando Mendoza, homegrown (first-time starter as a RS sophomore)
-- Clemson: Cade Klubnik, homegrown (originally started as a true sophomore)
-- Duke: Maalik Murphy, homegrown (Texas)
-- Florida State: DJ Uiagaleilei, transfer (Oregon State via Clemson)
-- Georgia Tech: Haynes King, transfer (Texas A&M)
-- Louisville: Tyler Shough, transfer (Texas Tech via Oregon)
-- Miami: Cam Ward, transfer (Washington State via Incarnate Word)
-- North Carolina: Max Johnson, transfer (Texas A&M via LSU)
-- NC State: Grayson McCall, transfer (Coastal Carolina)
-- Pitt: Nate Yarnell, homegrown (first-time starter as a RS junior)
-- SMU: Preston Stone, homegrown (originally started as a RS sophomore)
-- Stanford: Ashton Daniels, homegrown (originally started as a true sophomore)
-- Syracuse: Kyle McCord, transfer (Ohio State)
-- Virginia: Anthony Colandrea, homegrown (originally started as a true freshman)
-- Virginia Tech: Kyron Drones, transfer (Baylor)
-- Wake Forest: Hank Bachmeier, transfer (Louisiana Tech via Boise State)
-- Notre Dame: Riley Leonard, transfer (Duke)
Big Ten (14 transfer, 4 homegrown)
-- Illinois: Luke Altmyer, transfer (Ole Miss)
-- Indiana: Kurtis Rourke, transfer (Ohio)
-- Iowa: Cade McNamara, transfer (Michigan)
-- Maryland: Billy Edwards, Jr., transfer (Wake Forest)
-- Michigan: Davis Warren, homegrown (former walk-on; first-time starter as fourth-year player)
-- Michigan State: Aidan Chiles, transfer (Oregon State)
-- Minnesota: Max Brosmer, transfer (New Hampshire)
-- Nebraska: Dylan Raoila, homegrown (true freshman)
-- Northwestern: Mike Wright, transfer (Mississippi State via Vanderbilt)
-- Ohio State: Will Howard, transfer (Kansas State)
-- Oregon: Dillon Gabriel, transfer (Oklahoma via UCLA via UCF)
-- Penn State: Drew Allar, homegrown (originally started as a true sophomore)
-- Purdue: Hudson Card, transfer (Texas)
-- Rutgers: Athan Kaliakmanis, transfer (Minnesota)
-- UCLA: Ethan Garbers, transfer (Washington)
-- USC: Miller Moss, homegrown (first-time starter as a RS junior)
-- Washington: Will Rogers, transfer (Mississippi State)
-- Wisconsin: Tyler Van Dyke, transfer (Miami)
Big 12 (9 transfers, 7 homegrown)
-- Arizona: Noah Fifita, homegrown (originally started as a RS freshman)
-- Arizona State: Sam Leavitt, transfer (Michigan State)
-- Baylor: Dequan Finn, transfer (Toledo)
-- BYU: Jake Retzlaff, transfer (Riverside City College)
-- Cincinnati: Brendan Sorsby, transfer (Baylor)
-- Colorado: Shedeur Sanders, transfer (Jackson State)
-- Houston: Donovan Smith, transfer (Texas Tech)
-- Iowa State: Rocco Becht, homegrown (originally started as a RS freshman)
-- Kansas: Jalon Daniels, homegrown (originally joined starting lineup as true freshman)
-- Kansas State: Avery Johnson, homegrown (true sophomore)
-- Oklahoma State: Alan Bowman, transfer (Michigan via Texas Tech)
-- TCU: Josh Hoover, homegrown (first started as a redshirt freshman)
-- Texas Tech: Behren Morton, homegrown (solidified staring role as RS sophomore)
-- UCF: KJ Jefferson, transfer (Arkansas)
-- Utah: Cameron Rising, transfer (Texas)
-- West Virginia: Garrett Greene, homegrown (joined starting lineup as RS junior)
SEC (8 transfers, 8 homegrown)
-- Alabama: Jalen Milroe, homegrown (originally started as a RS sophomore)
-- Arkansas: Taylen Green, transfer (Boise State)
-- Auburn: Payton Thorne, transfer (Michigan State)
-- Florida: Graham Mertz, transfer (Wisconsin)
-- Georgia: Carson Beck, homegrown (originally started as a RS junior)
-- Kentucky: Brock Vandagriff, transfer (Georgia)
-- LSU: Garrett Nussmeier, homegrown (first-year starter as a RS junior)
-- Ole Miss: Jaxson Dart, transfer (USC)
-- Mississippi State: Blake Shapen, transfer (Baylor)
-- Missouri: Brady Cook, homegrown (originally started as a RS junior)
-- Oklahoma: Jackson Arnold, homegrown (first-time starter as a true sophomore)
-- South Carolina: LaNorris Sellers, homegrown (redshirt freshman)
-- Tennessee: Nico Iamaleava, homegrown (redshirt freshman)
-- Texas: Quinn Ewers, transfer (Ohio State)
-- Texas A&M: Conner Weigman, homegrown (true junior with eight career starts)
-- Vanderbilt: Diego Pavia, transfer (New Mexico State)