When former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava hit the transfer portal earlier this spring, it unexpectedly made one of the top-ranked players from the 2023 recruiting cycle available. Iamaleava was the No. 1 overall player in the 247Sports transfer rankings, and on paper, it seemed like a good fit for him to get a fresh start close to home at UCLA.
Through the first month and change of the 2025 college football season, that decision hasn’t paid dividends for either side in hindsight. The Bruins fired their (former) coach DeShuan Foster after a disastrous loss to New Mexico and Iamaleava has been one of the most pressured quarterbacks in the FBS.
UCLA is 0-4 ahead of a matchup against No. 7 Penn State on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET on CBS), and the outlook for the remainder of the season looks bleak when trying to find a surefire win on the schedule. Iamaleava, obviously, hasn’t been the sole reason for the slow start, but UCLA had high hopes that the former blue-chip quarterback would bring new life to a program that was starving for success.
While Iamaleava is a cautionary tale of the grass not always being greener on the other side, in-state rival and former Pac-12 foe Cal has found success at the quarterback position via the transfer portal despite Heisman hopeful Fernando Mendoza transferring to Indiana. Despite a rollercoaster journey to get to Cal, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele has been one of the best stories of the season and looks primed to be one of the top quarterbacks taken in the NFL Draft as early as 2028.
With that said, here are three transfer quarterbacks who have found immediate success at their new stop and three others who need to improve throughout the remainder of the season. Transfer rankings from Cooper Petagna of…
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