Recapping college football’s busy offseason of quarterback transfers

It’s been a long offseason, but we’re inching closer to the start of the 2023 college football season.

A lot has happened since Georgia demolished TCU to win another national title. And in the era of the transfer portal and one-time transfer exception, player movement is more prevalent than ever.

That’s especially true at quarterback, where the search for playing time moves QBs from one school to another. As players like Joe Burrow have shown us, these quarterback transfers can have a major say in the College Football Playoff race.

With the season less than two months away, it seemed like an appropriate time to recap a busy offseason of quarterback movement.

ACC

Georgia Tech: Haynes King (Texas A&M)

After three seasons at Texas A&M, Haynes King is now at Georgia Tech. King opened the 2021 and 2022 seasons as A&M’s starter. A serious injury ended his first stint as starter after just two games. Last season, he was benched early in the year and later injured his shoulder. At Georgia Tech, he won’t be assured the starting job over Zach Pyron, who showed flashes as a freshman before going down with an injury of his own.

Louisville: Jack Plummer (Cal)

Jeff Brohm needed a quarterback once he left Purdue to take the Louisville job. Reuniting with Jack Plummer was a natural fit. Plummer threw for 3,405 yards in three seasons under Brohm at Purdue but ended up in a backup role behind Aidan O’Connell. Instead of being QB2, he transferred to Cal and was the starter in 2022. Now he’s back with Brohm, this time as the likely starter at Louisville.

NC State: Brennan Armstrong (Virginia)

Brennan Armstrong threw for more than 9,000 yards at Virginia, but was pummeled behind a porous offensive line in 2022, Virginia’s first season with Tony Elliott as head coach. Rather than return to Charlottesville for his final season, Armstrong decided to transfer within the ACC to NC State. At NC State, he will reunite with offensive coordinator Robert Anae. Anae was Virginia’s OC during the bulk of Armstrong’s time with the Cavaliers.

Pitt: Phil Jurkovec (Boston College)

A Pittsburgh native, Phil Jurkovec was a top 100 recruit who signed with Notre Dame out of high school. He spent two seasons with the Irish before transferring to Boston College. Jurkovec played well in 2020 but dealt with injuries over the last two seasons. With his COVID year remaining, Jurkovec decided to transfer to Pitt to play in his hometown while reuniting with Panthers’ offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti, his OC for two years at BC.

Virginia: Tony Muskett (Monmouth)

Virginia had a big hole at QB when Brennan Armstrong decided to transfer, so second-year head coach Tony Elliott went after Virginia native Tony Muskett. He started 23 games at Monmouth, an FCS program in New Jersey….