Davis Warren is living every kid's dream.
Now the starting quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines , Warren's road to the top of the depth chart was far from that of the prized recruit.
Unranked as a recruit, Warren's high school journey included overcoming cancer and a 2020 season wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. He joined Michigan as a preferred walk-on in 2021 and threw only 14 passes in reserve duty over his first three years in Ann Arbor.
Then came this offseason.
J.J. McCarthy , who quarterbacked the Wolverines to a national title in 2023, opted to forgo his remaining eligibility and declare for the NFL draft. Suddenly, the veteran Warren was right in the thick of the battle to start under center for the reigning national champions come Aug. 31.
Warren was considered to be an underdog in the fight to take over. But he never wavered , and when it came time for Michigan's season opener against Fresno State, it was the senior who walked out with the first-team offense under the Big House lights.
Rising from walk-on to starting quarterback is a rare path. But Warren isn't the first to walk it.
Here are some other notable signal-callers who ascended to starting roles from unheralded starts in recent history.
Stetson Bennett, Georgia
It wasn't a blue-chip recruit or star transfer starting at quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs' back-to-back national title squads.
It was a transfer ... from Jones College, a junior college in Ellisville, Mississippi.
Bennett started his college career at Georgia in 2017, walking on to the in-state school after a productive high school career at Pierce County High School. He redshirted his freshman season, and then opted to transfer to Jones College. After a year with the Bobcats though, the Bulldogs once again came calling -- they needed a quarterback depth, and this time they had a scholarship.
Bennett paid his dues as a backup and eventually, in the middle of the 2021 season, took over as Georgia's starter. "The Mailman" finished his run under center for the Bulldogs with a pair of national titles to his name.
Aidan O'Connell, Purdue
Now a quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders, for a brief period O'Connell was destined to play his college ball at Division III Wheaton College in northeast Illinois. O'Connell was committed there as a high school senior for a month before deciding he'd rather take a chance and accept a walk-on spot with the Purdue Boilermakers .
The choice paid off. O'Connell had to play the long game, sitting for his first two years before compiling a handful of starts across his junior and senior seasons. But his initial redshirt and the injury redshirt he received during his senior season allowed him to play two more seasons.
He broke out for the Boilermakers during that time. O'Connell threw for more than 7,000 total yards in his fifth and sixth years and led Purdue to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 14 years.
Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma
Becoming a power conference starting quarterback as a walk-on is an impressive feat. But doing it twice is unheard of. Unless you're Baker Mayfield.
He first spurned a few scholarship offers to join Kliff Kingsbury's Texas Tech Red Raiders squad as a walk-on out of high school, where an injury allowed him to start the season opener as a freshman. But Mayfield himself battled injury in his first year, and Kingsbury liked enough of what he saw from replacement Davis Webb to declare an open competition heading into bowl season.
Mayfield again opted to bet on himself, leaving Lubbock and walking on again 300 miles northeast with the Oklahoma Sooners .
He first sat out for a year due to a Big 12 rule. Then he set the conference ablaze with a torrid three-season run that included three conference championships and an overall 25-2 record in Big 12 play. Mayfield concluded his tenure with the Sooners by becoming the first and only walk-on to win a Heisman Trophy.
Luke Falk, Washington State
Mike Leach has a long résumé of turning under-the-radar quarterbacks into college standouts, and Falk ranks among his most unconventional success stories.
Falk initially committed to Cornell University in the Ivy League but ended up with the Washington State Cougars ... and paying his own way.
A redshirt freshman year helped Falk build up experience in Leach's Air Raid offense, which came in handy when starting quarterback Connor Halliday was injured the next year. Falk took over for Halliday midgame and didn't look back. He threw five touchdown passes in his first career start the next week and would later lead the Cougars to 26 wins in his three full seasons as starter.
Matt McGloin, Penn State
McGloin ended his tenure with the Penn State Nittany Lions as the school's all-time leader in passing touchdowns, but his start was far more inconspicuous. The in-state prospect arrived in State College without a scholarship.
After a redshirt debut campaign and an additional year spent backing up all-Big Ten signal-caller Daryll Clark, McGloin got his chance with the starting unit midway through his junior year. He became the first former walk-on to start for longtime Penn State coach Joe Paterno.
He'd continue sharing starting duties as a senior before breaking out in his fifth year. McGloin threw 24 touchdowns and only five interceptions, helping the Nittany Lions to an eight-win season in Bill O'Brien's first year as head coach.
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