In immediately’s age of participant mobility and prolific offenses, a powerful head coach-quarterback pairing is invaluable in faculty soccer.
Final season, Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh and QB J.J. McCarthy rose above the pack en path to successful a nationwide title whereas HC Kalen DeBoer and QB Michael Penix Jr. parlayed Washington’s massive season into thrilling new jobs.
What HC-QB duos might be distinctive this season? Ranked in inverse order, listed below are the very best pairings main into the 2024 season:
10. Washington | HC Jedd Fisch | QB Will Rogers
That is the one duo on our record with a head coach and quarterback of their first season with a program.
Two seasons after going 1-11, Fisch led a turnaround at Arizona in 2023, ending 10-3. Rogers, a switch from Mississippi State, threw for 12,315 yards and 94 TDs in 4 seasons on the SEC college.
After shedding a coach (DeBoer to Alabama) and QB (Penix Jr. to Falcons in NFL) who got here a win away from a nationwide title, Washington has excessive hopes for this reload.
9. USC | HC Lincoln Riley | QB Miller Moss
Moss, who succeeds Caleb Williams as starter, has three seasons in this system, however a restricted stat sheet (914 yards passing, 9 TD passes). He received his first actual shot throughout the 2023 Vacation Bowl, throwing for six TDs in a win over Louisville.
Riley has a powerful observe document with quarterbacks. Along with Williams, he has guided Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray to Heisman trophies and one other, Jalen Hurts, to a second-place end.
Moss is not as proficient as any of the aforementioned QBs, however he is a well-respected recruit who ought to be as much as the duty of creating USC a Huge Ten contender.
8. Alabama | HC Kalen DeBoer | QB Jalen Milroe
This duo was swiftly thrown collectively after the legendary Nick Saban’s retirement, nevertheless it has a lot of promise. Curiously, these two made final season’s School Soccer Playoff, each shedding to Michigan.
Though he averaged a whopping 10 yards per try and threw for 23 TDs final season, Milroe should grow to be a extra refined passer. DeBoer might be the proper coach for the job after unlocking Penix Jr.’s expertise.
7. Oregon | HC Dan Lanning | QB Dillon Gabriel
This pairing is made much more attention-grabbing by the truth that one other switch QB, former UCLA Bruin Dante Moore, is a powerful backup for Oregon. However let’s give attention to the passer we’re anticipating to start out, Gabriel, who previously performed for Oklahoma and Central Florida.
Oregon might be the very best match but for Gabriel, who has 125 TD passes throughout a five-year faculty profession, together with 55 up to now two seasons at Oklahoma.
Lanning’s Geese did an exceptional job in two seasons getting probably the most out of Bo Nix, a switch who by no means performed exceptionally at Auburn. Nix set effectivity information at Oregon (74.9 p.c completions), so there is no purpose Gabriel cannot do the identical.
6. Kansas | HC Lance Leipold | QB Jalon Daniels
After going 2-10 in his first season at Kansas, Leipold has put collectively seasons of 6-7 and 9-4, solidifying himself as a consummate program builder.
Due to accidents, Daniels (31 TD passes in 4 seasons at KU) solely performed three video games final season after his 2022 breakout.
Can Daniels keep wholesome whereas sustaining his electrifying enjoying fashion? If he can, Kansas might rise to the highest of a Huge 12 that misplaced two perennial contenders Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.
5. Missouri | HC Eliah Drinkwitz | QB Brady Cook dinner
These two have been at Missouri for 4 years and are in search of a supreme efficiency to place an exclamation level with their pairing.
After 4 consecutive seasons at or beneath .500, the Tigers went 11-2 final season, capped by a Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State. It was this system’s most wins since 2014, the final time Missouri gained a bowl.
Cook dinner’s on-field reference to star wideout Luther Burden (86 catches, 1,212 receiving yards in 2023) was the first driving drive of the offense final season. It ought to be in 2024, too.
4. Ole Miss | HC Lane Kiffin | QB Jaxson Dart
The Kiffin mission at Mississippi is in full swing after a pair of double-digit win seasons up to now three years. Dart, a USC castoff identical to his head coach, seems to be the quarterback to take Ole Miss (11-2 final season) into the expanded 12-team School Soccer Playoff.
Dart, who threw for 3,364 yards and 23 TDs in 2023, will once more be on the helm of an outrageously proficient offense. The massive distinction in comparison with final season for Mississippi ought to be on protection, the place it’s going to lean on a unit fortified by way of the switch portal.
Dart might not must be the hero each week, which might enable him to be extra environment friendly and win extra video games.
3. Texas | HC Steve Sarkisian | QB Quinn Ewers
This duo, which has the potential to rise to No. 1 on this rating, most likely had the very best 2023 of any pairing. Sarkisian and Ewers linked as much as win a recreation at Alabama, earned Texas its first convention title since 2009 and have been a couple of performs from getting a nationwide title recreation berth.
There are few soccer minds within the nation higher than Sarkisian (25-14 at Texas) and few arm abilities higher than Ewers (37 TD passes), however consistency is a matter for each. At their greatest, there’s nothing this pairing cannot do, even within the hyper-competitive, new-look SEC.
2. Utah | HC Kyle Whittingham | QB Cameron Rising
Whittingham has an argument to be the very best head coach within the nation. In 20 years at Utah, he has a 162-79 document whereas working with fewer sources than most SEC and Huge Ten coaches. Now, he is charged with taking the Utes from the Pac-12 to a much less aggressive Huge 12.
This pairing has been shut out of the playoff dialog because of the parity within the Pac-12 and accidents to Rising, a former first-team All-Pac-12 choice.
Now that the QB is seemingly wholesome, the Utes will not be on the mercy of the CFP committee. If Utah can win the wide-open Huge 12, it’s going to get a top-four seed and a shot at a nationwide title.
1. Georgia | HC Kirby Good | QB Carson Beck
No coach-QB pairing has larger expectations in 2024 than this one, and for good purpose.
Good, a two-time nationwide champion at Georgia, might simply have two extra rings if not for a couple of robust breaks in opposition to Alabama. Beck, final yr’s SEC passing yardage chief (3,941), is a possible first-rounder in a QB-barren 2025 NFL Draft. Something in need of SEC and nationwide titles might be thought-about a disappointment for the Bulldogs.
Beck, together with Ewers and Dart, may be within the working for a Heisman, one other layer of expectations this duo should shoulder this season.
