With three different champions in three years, the American is quickly building a reputation as one of the most balanced conferences in the FBS. This year should be no different. Many of the perceived best programs in the league will roll out completely new teams while some of the league’s bottom-feeders return substantial experience. Maybe this is just life in the transfer portal era. However, the degree of fluidity in the American seems unique.
Let’s go Around the American to preview the coming season. We’ll start this week with the conference’s best teams from a year ago.
Tulane Green Wave
Defending champion Tulane has questions at quarterback, but their tradition of excellent running backs should continue, and that should minimize the loss of QB Jake Retzlaff. Houston transfer QB Zeon Chriss-Gremillion looks to be Tulane’s fourth starting quarterback in as many seasons. Chriss-Gremillion brings 2263 passing yards and 17 touchdowns in stops at Louisiana and Houston.
Chriss-Gremillion should replicate Jake Retzlaff’s contributions on the ground. He has 992 rushing yards on nearly five yards per carry in his collegiate career. Retzlaff ran for 634 yards and 16 touchdowns last season for Tulane. While the touchdown total is lofty, Chriss-Gremillion could exceed Retzlaff’s yardage this season.
Speaking of the ground game, RB Jamari McClure showed flashes of his predecessors’ Makhi Hughes and Tyjae Spears’ brilliance with 540 yards last season. The Green Wave also added Johnnie Daniels to the backfield after he ran for 540 yards at Mississippi State last season. WRs Anthony Brown-Stephens and Zycarl Lewis, Jr. look to anchor the receiving corps after combining for 65 catches and 753 yards last season
The Green Wave have arguably the best defensive continuity of any of the 2025 conference contenders. Their top two leading tacklers, S Jack Tchienchou and LB Chris Rodgers, return after making a combined 163 stops last year. DB E’Zaiah Shine should steady the secondary after breaking up seven passes in 2025. S Kevin Adams also returns to the secondary after making 53 tackles and intercepting two passes last year.
A couple of Tulane Guys on the @ShrinersBowl 1000! #UptownFootball | #AIE pic.twitter.com/lcU78EoPqG
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) July 28, 2026
Memphis Tigers
Memphis brings in polarizing turnaround architect Charles Huff to replace former Head Coach Ryan Silverfield after Silverfield took the Arkansas job. Huff brought Marshall its first conference title since 2014 back in 2024 then bolted to Southern Mississippi the following season. The Golden Eagles went on to win seven games after a dismal 1-11 campaign in 2024.
However, controversy accompanied this success. The mass transfer exodus that followed his departure from Marshall forced the Thundering Herd to pull out of the 2024 Independence Bowl. And once again, many of his former players have followed him to Memphis. The Tigers will feature 18 players who played for Huff at Southern Mississippi, including six who played for him at Marshall.
Notable names in this group include WR Tychaun Chapman, who caught 25 passes for 448 yards last year, S Ahmere Foster, who intercepted three passes in 2025, and most notably LB Michael Montgomery, a 3rd-team All-Sun Belt linebacker with 105 tackles last season.
On offense, the quarterback room may upgrade from Brendon Lewis. Former 4-star prospect and South Carolina transfer Prentiss “Air” Noland III will compete with West Florida transfer Marcus Stokes for the starting quarterback position. Stokes threw for 3,297 yards last year, ran for 367 more, and accumulated 40 total touchdowns.
Cincinnati transfer RB Manny Covey and Colorado transfer RB Dallas Hayden look to replace the prolific running back tandem of Sutton Smith and Greg Desrosiers, who combined for over 1100 rushing yards last year. Covey averaged seven yards per carry on 28 carries last season. Dallas Hayden has upside, notching 1185 yards at Colorado and Ohio State, including 553 yards at Ohio State in 2022.
Where the work gets done #CloseTheGap | @FirstHorizonBnk pic.twitter.com/RELj2XCA0c
— Memphis Football (@MemphisFB) August 3, 2026
South Florida Bulls
USF’s story looks similar to Memphis’s. While new Head Coach Brian Hartline brings credibility from mentoring several star receivers at Ohio State, the Bulls have to replace a lot as well. QB Byrum Brown departed for Auburn after throwing for over 3,000 yards and rushing for 1,000 last season to cap a legendary career in Tampa.
Former Mississippi State and LSU QB Michael Van Buren and Florida State and Southern Mississippi transfer QB Luke Kromenhoek have the unenviable task of replacing Brown. Van Buren threw for 2896 yards and 19 touchdowns in two years in the SEC while Luke Kromenhoek had 502 yards and three touchdowns in a brief stint with Florida State in 2024.
The Bulls also lost a dynamic running back duo like Memphis. Nykahi Davenport and Sam Franklin departed after combining for over 1000 yards in 2025. A pair of exciting FCS transfers, RBs DJ Crocker and Jason Collins Jr., look to replace them.
First-Team All-Ivy League honoree DJ Crocker ran for 929 yards and 10 touchdowns for Dartmouth in 2025 and 2026 MEAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Jason Collins Jr. ran for 634 yards on 5.6 yards per carry for Morgan State. WR Kenny Odom, who caught 108 passes over the last two seasons at UTEP, looks to lead a receiving corps filled with new faces.
Bottom line: USF has talent, but none of it has played together. Maybe they can make that work. We’ll see.
Insert Coin 🕹️
— South Florida Football (@USFFootball) February 26, 2026
→ Press Start to Play Season 30 pic.twitter.com/cInvzyqDiQ
North Texas Mean Green
While the turnover at Memphis and USF seems daunting, hardly any team in the country will be as unrecognizable as North Texas. Most of the core that brought North Texas to the American Conference Championship Game has gone, with several following outgoing Head Coach Eric Morris to Oklahoma State.
QB Drew Mestemaker (4379 passing yards and 34 touchdowns), RB Caleb Hawkins (1804 all-purpose yards and 29 touchdowns), WR Wyatt Young (70 receptions for 1264 yards), and WR Miles Coleman (47 receptions for 550 yards) all followed Morris to Stillwater.
Nonetheless, new Head Coach Neal Brown should have plenty of talent to replace them. WR TJ Chukwurah looks like arguably the most interesting addition, arriving after notching 66 receptions for 1100 yards and 16 touchdowns at Division II Black Hills State last season. Dartmouth transfer WR Grayson O’Bara (44 catches for 590 yards in 2025) and Western Carolina transfer WR James Trye (68 receptions for 831 yards and 11 touchdowns last year) give new QB Tayven Jackson multiple weapons.
Jackson has plenty of experience, throwing for 3451 yards and 16 touchdowns in stops at Tennessee, Indiana, and UCF. 2151 of those yards and 10 touchdowns came last season. Indiana State transfer RB Nick Osho should replicate Caleb Hawkins’ explosiveness. Osho ran for 134 yards on five carries against FCS semifinalist Montana last year and ran for 211 yards against Southern Illinois.
The defense also will have plenty of transfers with significant upside starting this year. CB Peyton Taylor broke up 12 passes at Emporia State last year, while his counterpart Zach Johnson broke up 19 in three years at Southeastern Louisiana and West Florida. LBs Aaron Alexander (103 tackles last year at Arkansas State) and Cedric Roberts (72 tackles and nine tackles for loss last season at Alcorn State) provide some reinforcements up the middle.
It’s hard to know what to expect from the Mean Green this year. But that, at least, feels normal.
✅ 2026 American Kickoff
— UNT Football (@MeanGreenFB) July 26, 2026
Football Season 🔜#GMG🦅 pic.twitter.com/FjR93bZpWk
Navy Midshipmen
Navy does not have to deal with the transfer portal much — and not at all for incoming players — but the Mids still experienced their greatest loss of talent since the 2020 offseason. Among other things, the Mids have a completely new backfield. Snipe (slotback) Eli Heidenreich departed after breaking Rob Taylor’s 58-year-old career receiving mark with a 941-yard season last year. His fellow snipe Brandon Chatman graduated as well after totaling 590 yards from scrimmage last year. FB Alex Tecza is also gone after running for 902 yards last season and 2236 over the last three years. Finally, QB Blake Horvath is gone after throwing for 1580 yards and running for 1200 with 28 total touchdowns last season.
QB Braxton Woodson is more than capable of leading the offense, averaging nearly 10 yards/carry on 44 rushes last year. However, he must do so with a set of unproven backs and receivers. Fortunately, the offensive line has plenty of experience to open holes for the Midshipmen’s new faces. G Hoke Smith, C Cam Nichols, and T Sean Crowley combined for 33 starts last year on the line.
The defense also returns plenty of experience. The Midshipmen return their top three tacklers in LB MarcAnthony Parker, S Giuseppe Sessi, and LB Coleman Cauley. CB Phillip Hamilton also returns after intercepting three passes last year. That’s good given that Navy may have to depend more on their defense early in the season while the offense works out the kinks.
Long @AmericanConf media day with @BraxtonWoodson pic.twitter.com/qvgX3xEjzb
— Giuseppe Sessi (@GiuseppeSessi) July 24, 2026
Next Week
We’ll talk about UTSA and the American’s Owls at Temple, Rice, and Florida Atlantic.
Go Army! Beat Bryant!!!
