Athlon Sports names 15 college football teams that won 2026 offseason

With the start of the 2026 college football season a month away, Athlon Sports has named the 15 teams that have won the offseason. This comes as all 138 FBS teams gear up for fall practice in the next 10 days. There were a few teams that college football fans were paying close attention to during the offseason. One of them was LSU, bringing in Lane Kiffin as head coach. But did the Tigers make the list of college football teams that won the offseason? Here’s a look at the entire list from Athlon Sports senior editor Steven Lassan. [ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ] Florida Gators While Florida may not contend for an SEC championship this fall, the team seems to be heading in the right direction with new head coach Sumrall. He comes to the Gators after leading Tulane to the College Football Playoff last year. “Jon Sumrall was one of the offseason’s top coaching hires and made a quick impact on the ‘26 squad by landing a standout pair of coordinators in Buster Faulkner (offense) and Brad White (defense,” Lassan wrote.” Additionally, Sumrall tapped Faulkner’s old team (Georgia Tech) for a potential starting quarterback in Aaron Philo, along with starting center Harrison Moore.” Houston Cougars Houston looks like a team that could reach the playoffs this fall. In 2025, the Cougars went 10-3 under head coach Willie Fritz. During the offseason, Houston added running back Makhi Hughes (Oregon) and standout guard Shadre Hurst (Tulane) from the portal. The team also signed a five-star QB Keisean Henderson. Indiana Hoosiers There were a lot of questions surrounding Indiana after the team won the national championship. While it’s unlikely the Hoosiers will go undefeated again, they made some big additions to keep things rolling. One of the biggest moves the team made was adding TCU transfer Josh Hoover. He looks to replace Fernando Mendoza, who won the Heisman last year. LSU Tigers As it was mentioned earlier, Kiffin is the Tigers’ new head coach. And that led to LSU landing a very strong transfer portal class, anchored by quarterback Sam Leavitt (Arizona State). Another big move was that LSU retained defensive coordinator Blake Baker after he received head-coaching interest from Tulane. It will be interesting to see how much the Tigers will improve this upcoming season. Miami Hurricanes With Miami reaching the national championship game last year, the team did everything it could to keep the roster strong. The Hurricanes will likely improve on offense with the addition of Duke transfer QB Darian Mensah. With Mensah joining Miami, Duke transfer QB Cooper Barkate followed his teammate to Coral Gables. The Hurricanes also landed a top offensive lineman recruit, Jackson Cantwell, who could start this fall. Michigan Wolverines This is another team that added a new head coach during the offseason. Kyle Whittingham is the new man in charge after spending 21 seasons at Utah. “Whittingham and coordinators Jason Beck and Jay Hill should do a better job of maximizing the roster — which includes promising sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood and one of the Big Ten’s top offensive lines — than the previous staff did,” Lassan said. During his time at Utah, Whittingham won the Mountain West title in 2008 and the Pac-12 championship in 2021 and 2022. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Notre Dame didn’t add a lot of transfers but have 15 starters returning. One of them is quarterback CJ Carr, who threw for 2,741 yards and 24 touchdowns last year. When it comes to the transfers, Notre Dame added Ohio State wide receivers Quincy Porter and Mylan Graham. The team also added Colorado transfer cornerback DJ McKinney to bolster the secondary. Ohio State Buckeyes Ohio State didn’t need to add too much talent, but the team accomplished one big thing that could determine its 2026 season. The Buckeyes retained wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, who is arguably the best player in the country. For the coaching staff, head coach Ryan Day hired Arthur Smith to be the offensive coordinator. Smith was previously the OC for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Oklahoma State Cowboys After firing Mike Gundy during the 2025 season, Oklahoma State needed to start over. During the offseason, the Cowboys hired former North Texas head coach Eric Morris to lead the program. “In addition to Morris’ arrival, the Cowboys hit the portal hard for help to rebuild a roster that went 1-11 last year,” Lassan said. “Among a haul of more than 50 players from the portal were a handful of offensive standouts with Morris at North Texas, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and receiver Wyatt Young.” Ole Miss Rebels Hiring Pete Golding as head coach is a good move since he led Ole Miss to two playoff wins. And a big reason he won the college football offseason was keeping quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy. The Rebels also landed some top players in the transfer portal. Two of the players they added were Keaton Thomas (Baylor) and Luke Ferrelli (California/Clemson). Remaining college football teams that won 2026 offseason Oregon DucksTexas LonghornsTexas Tech Aggies USC Trojans Virginia Tech Hokies