Top 8 College Football Transfer QBs who led their teams to a National Championship ft. Justin Fields, Joe Burrow 

College Football’s Transfer Portal is increasing in viability every season. Here are the successful quarterbacks who led their team to elite seasons after transferring.

College Football Transfer QBs National Championship Appearances

#8 Nick Marshall

Nick Marshall's story is a unique one. After starting at the University of Georgia as a cornerback in 2011, he was dismissed with two other teammates for “unspecified team violations." This led a young Marshall to Garden City Community College, where he changed positions to quarterback. His talent as a dual-threat quarterback showed enough promise that he was able to transfer to Auburn in 2013. Marshall is SEC-famous for his 73-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass in revenge against the Georgia Bulldogs. He then set up his team for victory in the Iron Bowl against Alabama by tying the game, which allowed Auburn to return a missed field goal for a touchdown. Marshall’s magic with Auburn ran out in the National Championship game, where they lost to Jameis Winston’s Florida State Seminoles.

#7 Josh Heupel

Josh Heaupel's career could have ended in obscurity, but his story is what the transfer portal is all about. He started at Weber State in 1996 as a redshirt freshman but injured his ACL in the Spring of 1998. Heaupel then transferred to Snow College. Even though he split snaps with another quarterback, he played a strong enough resume to transfer to Head Coach Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma Sooners. There Heaupel cemented his legacy as a Heisman runner-up, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, and winning the 2001 Orange Bowl National Championship 13-2 against Florida St.

#6 Justin Fields

Justin Fields came to the Georgia Bulldogs with unlimited potential. After one year of backing up Jake Fromm in 2018, Fields transferred to Ohio State. This set in motion events that would surround Georgia Football, Stetson Bennet, and Fields himself. Fields was able to play in the 2019 season and led Ohio State to a BIG Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff, where they lost to Clemson in the semifinal round. Fields would turn things around in the 2020 playoff, defeating Clemson in a rematch and posting 6 touchdowns. The Buckeyes and Fields were a dominant team but couldn't overcome Alabama in the 2021 College Football National Championship.

#5 Scott Frost

Scott Frost started his collegiate career at Stanford, where he learned under the great Coach Bill Walsh for 2 years. He then transferred to Nebraska to play under Coach Tom Osborne. He redshirted the 1995 season, where Nebraska won the National Championship. He started in the 1996 season but popped off in the 1997 season, becoming the 10th player to throw and run for over 1,000 yards, respectively, in a single season. Frost and the Cornhuskers defeated Peyton Manning’s Tennessee Volunteers in the 1998 Orange Bowl to share the National Championship Title.

#4 Jake Coker

Jake Coker persevered after losing the starting Florida State Quarterback job to Jameis Winston in 2013 after backing up the prior two years. He transferred to Alabama for the 2014 season as a Graduate Transfer, but lost the competition again and became Blake Sim's backup. In 2015, Coker won the starting job and led the Alabama Crimson Tide to the College Football National Championship against the Clemson Tigers. Coker had over 300 yards and two 50+ touchdowns to O.J. Howard, securing the victory 45-40.

#3 Stetson Bennett

College Football transferring usually means players traveling far distances to start anew, but Stetson Bennett is the exception. Bennett walked on to the Georgia Bulldogs in 2017, but did not play a snap. Justin Fields then commits to Georgia the following year, and Bennett decides to transfer to Jones College, just two states over in Mississippi. Fields then transferred to Ohio State, so Bennett headed back to Georgia to be the backup quarterback. It would take two more years before Bennett became a 5th and 6th-year senior quarterback (Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, all NCAA collegiate athletes received an extra year of eligibility). In his two full-time starting years, Bennett helped Georgia win back-to-back National Championships in 2021 and 2022. In the latter season, he finished with 4,127 passing yards, breaking the Georgia single-season passing record.

#2 Cam Newton

Cam Newton’s tale is that of second chances. He started as a backup to Tim Tebow at the University of Florida. He was injured in 2008 and redshirted the rest of that season. His days at Florida ended with a minor arrest after Newton stole a classmate's laptop. The charges were dropped, but Newton was suspended from the team and transferred to Blinn College in Texas. He led Blinn College to the NJCAA National Championship, where he showcased his dual-threat ability. Newton then transferred to the Auburn Tigers, coached by Gus Malzahn, in 2010, where he posted over 2,000 yards passing and over 1,000 yards rushing, leading to a Heisman victory. Newton led his team to win the College National Championship against the Oregon Ducks with a 22-19 victory.

#1 Joe Burrow

A quarterback who knows patience leads to victory, as Joe Burrow started his collegiate career by redshirting for Ohio State. As an Ohio native, it was a dream come true, and this kept a talented Burrow to back up J.T. Barrett for two years. Burrow graduate transferred to LSU in 2018 when it was clear Dwayne Haskins would be named the Ohio State starter. After a strong 2018 season, where in one game against Texas A&M there were 7 overtime periods, Burrow and LSU under Ed Orgeron were fired up for the 2019 season. Burrow won the Heisman Trophy with the highest share of votes in the award's history, and his team entered the playoffs. The LSU Tigers housed the Oklahoma Sooners 63-28 in the 2019 Peach Bowl semifinal, where Burrow threw for 8 touchdowns. In the 2020 National Championship Game against Clemson, Burrow threw for over 400 yards and 6 Touchdowns, securing a 42-25 victory and going down as one of the greatest college football seasons of all time.