USF's 2026 Quarterback Race

When Brian Hartline took over the USF Bulls program in December 2025, he inherited a roster in transition and, at the most important position on the field, almost a blank slate. Longtime starter Byrum Brown followed former head coach Alex Golesh out the door to Auburn, leaving Hartline, fresh off three years calling plays for Ohio State's offense, to completely rebuild the quarterback room from scratch. What followed was one of the more fascinating QB derbies in the Group of Five: four transfers, all with power-conference pedigrees, all looking for a fresh start in Tampa.

With fall camp approaching and the Bulls' season opener against Florida International set for September 5 at Raymond James Stadium, the competition remains unresolved. Here's a look at where it stands, who's involved, and how each player got here.

A Program in Transition

Golesh left USF after a 9-3 season that established the Bulls as one of the most explosive offenses in the country. They finished as the No. 4 scoring offense nationally in 2025. Hartline, a former Ohio State receiver who spent eight years on the Buckeyes' staff and was the architect of an offense that helped Ohio State win the 2024 College Football Playoff, was hired on a six-year deal to keep that momentum going.

With Brown transferring to Auburn after the 2025 season, USF entered 2026 without a single quarterback on the roster who had Power Five starting experience. Hartline's response was to lean on the transfer portal, bringing in a transfer class that's been ranked among the best in the Group of Five. Four quarterbacks arrived in January 2026, each carrying a different story of unfulfilled potential at a Power Four program and a chance to write a new chapter at USF.

The Contenders

Van Buren arrived at USF as arguably the most experienced and accomplished of the group. A four-star recruit out of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, he was ranked among the top overall prospects in the 2024 class and originally committed to Oregon before signing with Mississippi State under new coach Jeff Lebby.

As a true freshman in 2024, Van Buren was thrust into the starting role after Mississippi State's veteran quarterback Blake Shapen suffered a season-ending injury. He started the final eight games, throwing for 1,886 yards with 11 touchdowns and 7 interceptions while adding 5 rushing scores, including a pair of 300-yard passing performances. That body of work was enough to earn him a spot at LSU, where he spent the 2025 season as Garrett Nussmeier's backup before getting extended action late in the year, including starts down the stretch.

Across his two seasons at Mississippi State and LSU, Van Buren threw for 2,896 yards and 19 touchdowns with a 57.5 percent completion rate, and added 117 rushing yards and six touchdowns. At 6-foot, 195 pounds, he's known as a strong-armed passer who is also dangerous extending plays with his legs, a trait that stood out throughout USF's spring practices.

Kromenhoek's path has followed a similar arc to Van Buren's, with both starting their careers at Power Four programs before landing at USF via the portal, though the two were never actually teammates. Van Buren had already left Mississippi State for LSU by the time Kromenhoek arrived there for the 2025 season. A consensus four-star prospect out of Benedictine Military School in Savannah, Georgia, and a top-100 recruit in the 2024 class, Kromenhoek signed with Florida State and was thrust into action as a true freshman after starter DJ Uiagalelei went down with a season-ending injury.

Kromenhoek made history as the only true freshman in Florida State history to throw for three touchdowns in his first career start, finishing that season 44-of-84 for 502 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions, and 113 rushing yards across six appearances. After a coaching change at FSU, he transferred to Mississippi State for the 2025 season, where he played sparingly behind Shapen, appearing in three games and completing 5 of 9 passes for 73 yards while adding 25 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

At 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, Kromenhoek brings a different physical profile than Van Buren, a classic pocket-passer frame with mobility to extend plays. He committed to USF in early January 2026, reuniting him with the Tampa Bay area where Florida State is a short drive away.

Cooper's road to USF runs through junior college and the FCS ranks. The El Paso, Texas, native began his career at Minnesota State Community and Technical College, where in 2023 he completed 57 of 98 passes for 935 yards and seven touchdowns. He then transferred to Texas Southern, where he emerged as the team's starting quarterback.

After playing sparingly in 2024, Cooper took over as Texas Southern's starter in 2025 and helped the Tigers to a 6-5 record. He completed 158 of 261 passes for 1,626 yards, 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, while also rushing for 292 yards and 4 scores, including a memorable performance that helped end an eight-game losing streak to rival Prairie View A&M. At 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, Cooper is the biggest of the group and brings legitimate dual-threat ability, having totaled nearly 1,800 career passing yards and 344 rushing yards across his college career before arriving at USF in January 2026.

Bradford's story is the longest shot of the group, but also one of the more talented arms on paper. A three-star recruit out of Chapin High School in South Carolina who finished his prep career at IMG Academy, Bradford was rated among the top 60 quarterbacks nationally and committed to Liberty as what Outkick once called the highest-rated recruit in program history.

Things didn't go as planned in Lynchburg. Bradford redshirted in 2024, underwent surgery for an undisclosed injury, and fell behind on the depth chart, appearing in just one game across two seasons and completing his only pass attempt for 18 yards in 2025. He committed to USF in January 2026, giving Hartline a fourth arm in the room and, at minimum, a developmental piece for the future even if he's a long shot to win the job in year one.

By the Numbers: Career Stats at a Glance

Putting the four resumes side by side shows why Van Buren and Kromenhoek emerged as the front-runners and why Cooper and Bradford have more ground to make up. A word of caution on context: these numbers come from very different levels of competition (SEC starts vs. FCS vs. one season of JUCO ball vs. essentially no game action), so raw totals only tell part of the story.

A few things jump out:

• Van Buren has the most volume against the highest level of competition: his 12 starts came entirely in the SEC, and his 2,896 career passing yards are nearly 1,100 more than anyone else in the room.
• Kromenhoek's sample size is the smallest of the "big two," but his lone extended look, a six-game stretch as a true freshman at Florida State, included a historic three-touchdown debut and a pair of 200-yard games.
• Cooper's completion percentage (61.0%) is actually the best of the group, and his 4 rushing touchdowns at Texas Southern in 2025 led all four quarterbacks in that category. The gap is the level of competition: FCS and JUCO ball versus SEC starts.
• Bradford is the wild card with almost no data to work with: in two years at Liberty, he's appeared in just one game and attempted exactly one pass, which he completed for 18 yards. For context on his ceiling, his final two high school seasons at Chapin/IMG produced 2,504 passing yards, 37 touchdowns, and a 68% completion rate, which is part of why he was such a highly rated recruit in the first place.

A Two-Horse Race Through the Spring

By the time USF's spring practice wrapped up with the program's spring game in April, the four-man competition had clearly narrowed. Head coach Brian Hartline said directly that the battle had become a "two-horse race" between Van Buren and Kromenhoek, with Cooper and Bradford working behind them on the depth chart (Bradford did see fourth-quarter snaps in the spring game).

Both Van Buren and Kromenhoek threw touchdown passes and moved the offense in the spring game, and both also turned the ball over: Kromenhoek was intercepted, while Van Buren lost a fumble on a zone-read exchange. Van Buren's mobility stood out as he extended plays outside the pocket, while Kromenhoek showed off his big frame and arm strength. Quarterbacks coach Mike Hartline, the head coach's brother, praised both players' growth, noting that Van Buren in particular has been focused on maturing off the field as much as on it.

Hartline was careful not to crown a winner. "There will be a quarterback battle for a while," he said after the spring game, adding that nothing had been decided and that the two would continue competing into preseason camp.

What's at Stake

The timing adds extra weight to the competition. The 2026 season is being billed as a farewell tour of sorts for Raymond James Stadium, with USF set to play a program-record seven home games there as construction continues on the Bulls' new $340 million on-campus stadium, slated to open in 2027. USF went a perfect 6-0 at home in 2025, and there's pressure to build on that momentum, as well as on the No. 4 scoring offense the program produced a year ago, even with a new coaching staff and a completely new quarterback room.

Whichever player wins the job inherits an offense that, under Hartline's track record at Ohio State, has every reason to be aggressive and pass-heavy. Both Van Buren and Kromenhoek have shown they can be effective dual-threat playmakers when given the keys, and both have had to watch and wait behind veteran starters at their previous stops. Now, for the first time in either of their careers, one of them will get the chance to lead a team from day one.

Fans won't have to wait much longer for an answer. With fall camp on the horizon and the September 5 opener against FIU fast approaching, Hartline has made clear he intends to settle the competition "before Game One," even if he isn't ready to tip his hand just yet.