Max Johnson is getting another chance to run an offense, and Georgia Southern is the team handing him the keys.
According to college football insider Pete Thamel, the former Texas A&M quarterback has been named the Eagles’ starter for the 2026 season. It will be Johnson’s fourth collegiate start, and his debut is set for the opener against Charleston Southern.
Johnson’s path to this point has been anything but smooth. He transferred from Texas A&M to North Carolina before the 2024 season, but a fractured femur derailed much of his time with the Tar Heels. Last year, he threw for 432 yards and two touchdowns for Bill Belichick’s squad.
Even with North Carolina dealing with its own recent struggles, the quarterback room there had enough depth to push Johnson toward another move. Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr. and Miles O’Neill, a former Aggie gunslinger, were both in the mix, and Johnson eventually went looking for a fresh start in his seventh season of college football.
His Texas A&M stop came after a 2022 transfer from LSU, and it dropped him into the middle of a three-quarterback battle in College Station under former head coach Jimbo Fisher. Haynes King, who has become an elite playmaker at Georgia Tech over the last two seasons, and Houston quarterback Connor Weigman were also in that room four years ago.
Johnson did get more run in 2023, doubling his starts and finishing with 1,452 passing yards and nine touchdowns in what was both his and Fisher’s final season in Aggieland.
Since then, injuries have kept him from building any real momentum. He appeared only once for the Tar Heels in 2024 before the femur injury, and over the last two years he has missed 19 games. For his career, Johnson has thrown for 6,355 yards, 49 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
In Other News...
Texas A&M Backfield Battle Just Took Shape Before Opening Day
Texas A&Ms 14th preseason practice doubled as its final media-accessible scrimmage before the 2026 opener against Missouri State, and the backfield picture finally started to come into focus. Redshirt junior quarterback Marcel Reed looked sharper pushing the ball downfield, highlighted by a 50-yard touchdown strike to junior wide receiver Mario Craver, while the wide receiver and cornerback groups also had their moments in a live setting that gave a better sense of where the roster stands.
The clearest takeaway came in the run game, where redshirt junior Rueben Owens flashed the kind of speed and agility that can change a depth chart in a hurry and looks positioned as the likely starter. Behind him, sophomore Jamarion Morrow and freshmen KJ Edwards and Carsyn Baker all chipped in, giving the Aggies a reason to believe this could be more than a one-man backfield once the season begins. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M May Have Found The Ideal Safety Net Behind Marcel Reed
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Hart did not play much in 2025, but the staff views him as capable of steering the offense if the need ever arises, which is exactly the kind of insurance a program wants behind an established starter. The preference, of course, is to keep him in reserve rather than testing that safety net, but Texas A&M at least looks like it has a dependable option if the season takes an unexpected turn. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Enters Matt Campbell's First Season With One Clear Perception
The APs 2026 preseason All-American teams offered an early snapshot of how the national media views college footballs top talent, and Texas A&M was among the ranked programs left out entirely. That omission does not necessarily say much about what the Aggies can become this season, but it does underline the reality that preseason recognition often lands as much on established stars as on the teams trying to force their way into the conversation.
For A&M, the lack of an All-American selection simply adds another layer to a season that will be judged on more than reputation alone. Plenty of ranked teams were overlooked in the APs lists, and the Aggies will spend the fall trying to prove they belong among the sports most complete groups even without much preseason individual spotlight. [Read more 🡒]