ACC Loaded With New Transfer Portal Quarterbacks Ahead Of 2024

The ACC will have a ton of new faces at quarterback thanks to the college football transfer portal

Things are going to be looking a bit different in 2024 following the latest wave of conference realignment.

Unlike in years past when a couple of schools would switch conferences, we ended up seeing 12 Power 5 schools join a new conference. This also led to the aforementioned Power 5 becoming a Power 4, as the historic conference that is or was the Pac-12, is no more. The conference's future barring any major landscape changes again projects to be a heightened version of the Mountain West.

Two of the schools that are joining a new conference are Stanford and Cal, who are now a part of the ACC.

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They along with SMU now help form what is a 17-team conference, which has seen some massive changes over the past couple of months, specifically at the quarterback position. Five of the top 20 quarterbacks in the transfer portal landed at ACC programs, which is very reminiscent of the Pac-12 this past season which saw every team in the conference except for Utah start a transfer quarterback at some point. 

With the transfer portal movement somewhat settling down, let's take a look at the new quarterbacks in the ACC and which program they landed with.

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Chandler Rogers (Cal)

Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: North Texas

The Skinny: The Golden Bears brought in two transfer quarterbacks last season and ended up losing Sam Jackson V to Auburn as a receiver and Ben Finley to Akron. They did find a promising starter in Fernando Mendoza, but clearly wanted more experience and depth in the quarterback room by adding Rogers. He ended up having the best season of his career for North Texas, and will look to take over at Cal.

Maalik Murphy (Duke)

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: Texas

The Skinny: Duke is seeing a regime change after Mike Elko left for Texas A&M, which brings in Manny Diaz. The Blue Devils also lost Riley Leonard who transferred to Notre Dame, making way for Maalik Murphy to come in and start. He won two games this past season for Texas in Quinn Ewers' absence, but with Ewers' return it just didn't make sense to sit another year. 

DJ Uiagalelei (Florida State)

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: Oregon State 

The Skinny: DJ Uiagalelei is making a return to the ACC as he started his career at Clemson before transferring to Oregon State. This past season he was much more consistent, and will now have a chance to lead a playoff-contending team who had some major issues at quarterback once Jordan Travis went down. 

Tyler Shough (Louisville)

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Previous Program: Texas Tech 

The Skinny: After starting his career at Oregon, Tyler Shough will have played in 3/4 of the Power 4 conferences by the time things are all said and done. When it comes to him, he is extremely dangerous when he is healthy, but has had bad injury luck. Louisville was a win away from winning the ACC last season, and has upgraded at quarterback. 

Cam Ward (Miami)

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: Washington State

The Skinny: Cam Ward was viewed by many as the best quarterback in the portal this past cycle, and as of a couple of weeks ago was headed to the NFL. He ended up changing his mind, and will either get Miami over the hump or show that playing for Mario Christobal is a horrible idea for elite quarterbacks. 

Grayson McCall (NC State)

David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: Coastal Carolina

The Skinny: After an extremely successful tenure at Coastal Carolina, Grayson McCall entered the portal and transferred for real this time unlike before 2023. The Wolfpack had some inconsistency at the quarterback position between Brennan Armstrong and MJ Morris who left mid-season to redshirt and transfer. Even despite the issues at quarterback, they finished 9-4. If McCall can return to his form of a couple of years ago and the offense plays to his strengths, they could surprise some people. 

Max Johnson (North Carolina)

Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: Texas A&M 

The Skinny: Johnson had a phenomenal season in 2021 at LSU, and couldn't replicate that success in College Station. He was one of the first players to enter the portal and decide where he was going back in November, and will be tasked with replacing likely top-five pick Drake Maye.

Eli Holstein (Pitt)

Gary Cosby-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: Alabama

The Skinny: Alabama had an absolutely jam-packed quarterback room in Nick Saban's final year, so he didn't see the field. He is an athletic quarterback who is looking for an opportunity to showcase his skillset.

Kyle McCord (Syracuse)

Adam Cairns / USA TODAY NETWORK

Previous Program: Ohio State

The Skinny: Kyle McCord's first season as the starter saw him lead the Buckeyes to an 11-1 record, but that lone loss essentially got him chased out of town. After the loss to Michigan, the fanbase and even head coach Ryan Day turned on him. McCord will now have a chance to play for a coach in Fran Brown who will back him up, and a program with much lower expectations. 

Hank Bachmeier (Wake Forest)

Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

Previous Program: Lousiana Tech 

The Skinny: A veteran quarterback who has struggled with some injuries, Hank Bachmeier has a chance to provide a steady hand for the Demon Deacons if he can stay healthy. He shined at Boise State at times during his four years there, and is looking to return to that form.