The first thing to know about Georgia’s four-star quarterback commit Colton Nussmeier is the family tree.
Nussmeier is a 2027 prospect rated the No. 17 QB and No. 216 overall in the 247Sports Composite, with the Rivals Industry Ranking slotting him at No. 17 QB and No. 215 overall. He’s a lefty — one for the David Greene fans out there — standing just under 6-foot-4 and weighing 210 pounds.
His background isn’t the typical path for a future Georgia signal-caller. His father, Doug Nussmeier, is the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints and has spent 11 years as an NFL assistant. This fall marks his 12th season calling plays at either the college or pro level. He’s run offenses at Florida and Michigan, but the detail that matters most here is his stint at Alabama from 2012 to 2013 — where he was on staff with a young Kirby Smart, and the two won a national title together under Nick Saban.
It’s rare to find a future Georgia player who knew Smart and his family before Smart ever got to Athens, especially a connection that has nothing to do with Smart’s playing days at UGA.
“He was with him at Alabama,” Nussmeier said. “I’ve known Kirby for a while. It is kind of a full-circle moment. I grew up with his kids. I know his kids. Growing up with someone that my Dad knows. My mom is friends with his wife. Just knowing what I’m getting from who is going to be my head coach and just knowing he’s a great guy and I’ve known a lot about him.”
The Nussmeier family business is quarterbacking. Doug played five years in the NFL after a huge career at Idaho, where he won the Walter Payton Award — given annually to the top player in what was then Division I-AA — and threw for 10,824 yards with the Vandals. Colton’s older brother, Garrett, was just picked by the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh round of the NFL Draft after starting 23 of the 40 games he played at LSU.
Garrett came along on Colton’s official visit to UGA last month, and one photo captured the moment perfectly — the former LSU Tiger standing there in a Georgia polo. Colton insists no bribe was involved.
“He just did it to support me,” Colton said. “We went to the store to get some gear and then we went back to the hotel. We were coming down to the lobby for dinner. I’m down there, and he comes down in a Georgia polo, and I was pretty surprised, but yeah, it was pretty funny.”
And no, wearing the Power G didn’t hurt too badly. “He said it felt weird,” Colton said with a laugh.
A big month, for better and worse
Nussmeier made two sets of headlines in June. The first was the commitment itself.
“It is everything,” he said. “I get to go to school at Georgia. Play football at Georgia. The whole staff. Get to play for Kirby Smart. Coach [Mike] Bobo. All of them. Just growing up. Watching them on TV. Seeing a big program winning games. Winning national championships. It is just very exciting for me to be a Georgia Bulldog.”
The second was tougher. Nussmeier transferred from a Marcus High program that won five games last season to Denton Ryan, an annual state-title contender in Texas. The UIL, which governs Texas high school athletics, reviewed the move, and after a lengthy process and an appeal, ruled that he’d transferred for athletic reasons — making him ineligible for his senior season.
That leaves him searching for a place to play this fall, and the stakes are higher than usual: an injury-plagued junior year limited him to eight games. Options could include a new school in Texas or Georgia, or the New Orleans metro area given his father’s job with the Saints. He just wants to get on the field.
“I’m just trusting God,” Nussmeier said. “I know he’s got a plan. You know stuff happens for a reason. I’m just going to trust him and keep praying and good things will happen.”
In the meantime, he’s thrown himself into recruiting for the class. He worked on the flip of four-star receiver Jamir Dean from Penn State and made a push for five-star wideout Eric McFarland III, who ultimately chose Texas A&M.
“I’m part of the staff now recruiting-wise,” Nussmeier said. “I’ve got to recruit the best to get people around me to go win a national championship.”
Why he fits at Georgia
Nussmeier gets what the position demands at the highest level. His brother Garrett waited two seasons at LSU behind future first-round pick Jayden Daniels, so patience isn’t a foreign concept in the family.
He also arrived at an unusual moment for Georgia’s quarterback recruiting. With five-star Jared Curtis long committed for the 2026 cycle, the Dawgs weren’t chasing an elite 2027 arm. When Curtis flipped to Vanderbilt at the last minute last December, it put Georgia roughly six months behind on the top 2027 quarterbacks. Nussmeier wasn’t the staff’s first choice once serious evaluations began in January, either — no surprise given he’s ranked around the No. 15 to 17 range at the position. When it came time to decide, he weighed schools like Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia and UCLA, a path that mirrors what redshirt freshman Ryan Montgomery went through waiting for his shot in the 2025 class.
Through all of it, Georgia stayed near the top.
“My whole process, Georgia was one of my top schools the whole time,” Nussmeier said. “I’ve always liked them and their whole staff. Their staff has been there for a while, and I’m sure they are going to stay there for a while. I hope they do.”
Georgia offered him back during his sophomore year, in basketball season, but he had to wait for the Dawgs to signal he was the guy for this cycle.
“They are going to recruit, too,” he said. “They are going to find the guys that they like and try to get them. [I] just waited my turn and knowing I was the guy, I pulled the trigger.”
His reasons for playing run deeper than the family business. He actually started out at receiver before moving to quarterback in fifth grade, and he also played baseball, basketball and soccer growing up.
“The love for the game of football was just different than the others,” he said. “Playing the game brings me joy. It is my happy place. I think God has a plan for me and that’s my reason. That’s my why.”
Per MaxPreps, Nussmeier completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,390 yards, 12 touchdowns and just one interception, adding 278 yards and three scores on the ground with a long run of 51 yards — a sign he brings a little more mobility than Garrett showed at LSU.
He describes his own game simply.
“I’m a pocket passer, but I wouldn’t even say that,” Nussmeier said. “I have legs. I’m pretty fast. I’m physical. I can extend plays really well, I feel like. I process very well in my ability to extend plays and run the ball. I can throw the ball. I can do it all.”
