While Garrett Nussmeier’s college football reign ended after four years in the Southeastern Conference, it’s now time for little brother Colton Nussmeier to step into the spotlight. After his weekend recruiting trip to Lexington, little Nussmeier may have found the perfect place to develop and play ball.

“I had a great visit. I really like the staff and what they are gonna do over there.” Colton Nussmeier said of his recruiting visit to Will Stein’s Kentucky Wildcats. “I think it’s only up for the program, and I think they do a great job developing quarterbacks. I like the atmosphere and Kentucky’s culture.”

The big reason everyone thinks he’s leaning toward Kentucky is his connection to Joe Sloan, the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator. Sloan used to be at LSU, where he spent a ton of time coaching Colton’s older brother, Garrett. Sloan is the reason Nussmeier stayed patient at LSU for three years, riding the bench behind Jayden Daniels instead of jumping into the transfer portal.

Garrett Nussmeier even said their similar emotional and high-intensity personalities made Sloan “the best coach in the country” to push him toward his NFL. His track record for developing QBs precedes him. Under Sloan’s reign, the former QB coach helped Jayden Daniels double his touchdowns (from 19 to 40) in his final year and win the first LSU Heisman since Joe Burrow.

You can cut some slack for Nussmeier’s 2025 season because of his abdominal injury and instead look at his 2024 season to see Sloan’s magic. Despite being a starter for the very first time, Garrett Nussmeier became the only QB in the SEC to throw for 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns in the 2024 season.

Then again, like they say, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Because of that, the Nussmeier family already knows and trusts him. What gives more assurance here is that Colton has even said his relationship with Sloan hasn’t skipped a beat since the coach moved to Lexington. Plus, who wouldn’t want to play for a head coach who loves a high-scoring offense?

The Kentucky Wildcats and Will Stein are already in the market for quarterbacks. Since their OC already knows the family and him, why not? Colton is already bigger than Garrett was at this point. He’s a 6-foot-3, 200-pound, and arguably the top 6 QB in the Class of 2027. Over the last two seasons, he’s racked up 3,284 passing yards and 28 touchdowns with only 4 interceptions at Marcus High in Texas. Now, Colton got to see this vision firsthand during his visit, and it sounds like he’s a big fan of how Stein wants to play.

Even though the visit went great, Colton is keeping his options open for now. Every big school in the SEC, like Georgia Bulldogs football, Arkansas Razorbacks football, and Florida Gators football, is after him. Since he’s only a junior, he’s got plenty of time to take more trips and see what other teams have to offer before he makes a final call.

However, there’s one factor Will Stein needs to acknowledge. Lane Kiffin and LSU are also on his radar.

Can Lane Kiffin keep the Nussmeier legacy at Baton Rouge, Louisiana?

One of the first things Lane Kiffin did after he took over as the head coach at LSU in late 2025 was make sure the “Nussmeier legacy” stayed in Baton Rouge. On3’s recruiting prediction model (RPM) gives Lane Kiffin’s LSU Tigers a 98.7% chance of landing him. Maybe that was from before Joe Sloan left. Since then, too much has changed.

Lane Kiffin isn’t backing down easily, though. He has been personally recruiting Colton since taking the job, having pitched the chance to shatter the passing record of his brother in a hyper-aggressive SEC scheme.

Meanwhile, LSU has already locked in hometown prospect Peyton Houston, the No. 2 QB in Louisiana, and is also keeping a close eye on Elijah Haven, the currently ranked No. 1 player in the entire country in that class. However, this doesn’t mean that Colton Nussmeier is off the board, but it explains that Lane Kiffin requires urgent roster additions.

At the end of the day, it’s basically a battle between the coach who helped his brother break records (Sloan) and the coach who runs one of the most exciting offenses in college football (Kiffin).