After a busy offseason filled with transfers, courtroom drama, and eligibility fights, one of the most anticipated college football seasons in recent memory is upon us.
Keeping up with everything these days can feel like a whirlwind, so we're here to get you up to speed as kickoff looms this weekend.
Here are the 25 most important people you need to know for the 2026 season.
1. Lane Kiffin - After hijacking the sport for the final two months of 2025 with his dramatic move to LSU, Kiffin will again be the headliner in 2026. His return to Tennessee in 2021 already proved the emotions the man can elicit, with fans pelting him with golf balls and mustard bottles. Who knows what Ole Miss fans will have in store for Kiffin's trip back to Oxford in late September. And his Tigers should be one of the top squads in the country, because he's more than just the drama king of college football; he's a damn good coach.
2. Arch Manning - Manning might as well go into politics for the amount of scrutiny and attention his collegiate career has received. His start to last season was underwhelming, but his final month of the campaign showed why he's more than just a famous name on the back of the jersey. With Texas boasting another loaded roster, the Longhorns have a real shot at winning the national title if Manning can build on his impressive finish to 2025.
3. Trinidad Chambliss - Chambliss tried his luck on a Mississippi version of eligibility roulette and cashed in when a local judge ruled he was clear for a sixth season of college football. The decision instantly propelled him into Heisman contention and will make Pete Golding's first year as Ole Miss' head coach much easier.
4. CJ Carr - Notre Dame took its ball and went home after missing the playoffs last year, but the Irish being absent from the postseason this time around would be an absolute stunner. One of the biggest reasons is star quarterback Carr, who shined in his first year as the starter and now gets to fully drive the offense following Jeremiyah Love's departure.
5. Dan Lanning - Lanning might win the games he's supposed to win better than any coach in the country, with Oregon losing only three times over the past two years. The problem? All three defeats were against the team that eventually won the national championship that year. The Ducks have been very, very good under Lanning, but with Dante Moore back and an elite defensive unit in Eugene, it's time to be great.
6. Josh Hoover - No pressure, Hoover - just replace last year's Heisman winner after he led Indiana to a perfect 16-0 record and one of the most improbable national championships in college football history. The TCU transfer has the skills to keep Indiana's offense cooking without Fernando Mendoza, but he must significantly reduce the 30-plus interceptions he's thrown over the last three seasons.
7. Savion Hiter - The nation's top running back recruit playing for Kyle Whittingham behind a standout offensive line? Michigan might just have its next superstar. Whittingham brought Jason Beck with him from Utah last season after the Utes led the entire country in rushing at 6.1 yards per attempt. Hiter's flashed so much potential during fall camp that Beck has hinted at rolling out two-RB sets with the freshman alongside Jordan Marshall. Good luck to the rest of the Big Ten at stopping that.
8. Jeremiah Smith - Judges across the country are granting extra years of eligibility like it's candy on Halloween, but somehow we still have a rule requiring players to be out of high school for three years before playing in the NFL. The pro delay on Smith is the college game's gain, as the Ohio State superstar has been NFL-ready since the day he committed to the Buckeyes. Expect the final chapter in Columbus to be explosive.
9. Will Hammond - Some might look at Texas Tech's vigorous defense of Brendan Sorsby's eligibility as an indictment of how it feels about Will Hammond. However, that didn't seem to be the message from Joey McGuire at Big 12 Media Days. The Red Raiders were a quarterback away from being a serious College Football Playoff threat last year and need Hammond to shine to avoid a repeat performance.
10. Hunter Yurachek - Yurachek isn't the one making all the CFP decisions, but as selection committee chair, he's the one facing the music every week. That didn't go great last year when he tried to explain why Miami jumped Notre Dame in the final rankings before the field was set. This season, expect Yurachek and the committee to be under an even brighter light.
11. John Mateer - Mateer was a legit Heisman contender last year before breaking a bone in his hand, averaging 303 passing yards per game across four starts. But his performance after the injury was dreadful following a prompt return, posting 208 yards per contest over eight appearances. Oklahoma's defense promises to dominate again, and if healthy Mateer is here for a whole season, the Sooners will be a problem for everyone.
12-13. Bill Belichick/Deion Sanders - Two NFL legends making plenty of headlines without many wins. This could be the last season for both Belichick and Sanders, and you can bet the coverage will be intense the entire time.
14. Keelon Russell - Scrutiny on Kalen DeBoer at Alabama has been intensified following the program's worst-ever bowl loss to Indiana last season. Now the third-year Crimson Tide coach is turning to redshirt freshman quarterback Russell to fix an offense that dropped from 29th to 55th in 2025.
15. Arthur Smith - Can Ohio State even start a season without a new offensive coordinator at this point? For the third straight season, the Buckeyes will have a new man in charge of the attack, dipping into the NFL waters again to hire the former Atlanta Falcons head coach Smith. Expect an improved running game and an electric play-action passing attack from the Buckeyes. An explosive offense will ease the pressure in Columbus on a defense that suffered significant turnover with NFL departures.
16. Buster Faulkner - You can be damn sure Jon Sumrall knows that Florida's offense was dreadful last season, ranking 118th out of 136 FBS teams in scoring. His first move after taking the Gators job was to hire Georgia Tech's Faulkner to be his offensive coordinator. Sumrall should have Florida's talented defense cooking immediately, and Faulkner's offense might be the difference between battling for bowl eligibility and being a sneaky playoff contender.
17. Gary Patterson - The legendary TCU coach is back on the sidelines but moved west to grab the defensive coordinator job at USC. Filling that position on Lincoln Riley's staff has been one of the more difficult jobs in the Big Ten, but Patterson's resume should bring renewed hope to Los Angeles. If he can turn back the clock and get the Trojans playing some form of defense, USC might finally make the playoff under Riley.
18. Darian Mensah - Mensah is firmly in the 'rent, don't buy' camp as he's now at his third program in three seasons. This time it's a big fish, with national runner-up Miami acquiring his services - after a very public battle - from Duke. Mensah didn't need to look too far back to see what a top-flight quarterback can do with the Hurricanes after Cam Ward led the nation in touchdown passes and went No. 1 overall in the draft two years ago. If Mensah matches Ward's output in south Florida, Miami might as well book that spot in the title game once again.
19-20. Leonard Moore/Christian Gray - It's rare for a program to have one dominant star corner, yet Notre Dame is blessed with two in Moore and Gray, who anchor both sides of the field. Last year, the duo combined for seven interceptions and broke up 20 passes. With the Fighting Irish expected to blow through their schedule, they'll likely be holding a lot of leads, forcing opposing quarterbacks to test Moore and Gray.
21. Christopher Vizzina - Vizzina was 6 years old the last time Clemson entered a season not ranked in the AP Top 25. There are numerous reasons why the Tigers weren't on the list this year, but Vizzina would be near the top. We just don't know what he'll look like as the starting quarterback of an offense run by Chad Morris.
22. Cam Coleman - Arch Manning should be a cheat code as your quarterback in the red zone, but Texas actually struggled in that area last year, barely topping 60% for touchdowns inside the 20. Enter the human pogo stick known as Cam Coleman from Auburn. Jeremiah Smith deservedly gets most of the hype as the nation's WR1, but Coleman isn't far behind despite playing with a revolving door of quarterbacks who struggled to throw for the Tigers. That changes with Manning in Austin, and we've already seen what is possible with those two in fall camp.
The catch radius is insane
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) August 8, 2026
Cam Coleman 🤯 pic.twitter.com/yyKGbWetBP
23. James Franklin - Good, bad, or ugly - the Franklin revenge tour at Virginia Tech will be must-see TV. Despite consistently posting double-digit win seasons, Franklin was run out of Penn State largely due to his inability to beat top-10 opponents. If he regularly wins 10 games in Blacksburg, he might get a statue.
24. Nyck Harbor - Men who are 6-foot-6 and 243 pounds aren't supposed to run the 100-meter dash in 10.1 seconds, but that's what Harbor clocked. His otherworldly burst was enough to put him No. 1 on Bruce Feldman's annual Freaks List for The Athletic. The big question now: Can he actually play receiver? If so, South Carolina could be a surprise in the SEC.
25. Chris Cole - There are plenty of weird things in today's world, but Georgia finishing last in the SEC in sacks in 2025 is up near the top. The Bulldogs' inability to pressure the quarterback played a big role in Chambliss effectively marching up and down the field throughout Georgia's playoff matchup last year against Ole Miss. The player with the best chance to change that narrative is linebacker Cole, who's set for a larger pass-rushing role.
26. Maddux Madsen - As long as the Group of 6 is getting an automatic bid into the CFP, Boise State will be an important team in the college football landscape. Nobody plays a more significant role for the Broncos than Madsen. He was outstanding in conference play last year but dreadful against power-conference opponents. The good news for Boise State is that it has only one Power 4 game in 2026 - the opener against Oregon.
