At least one good QB was going to sign with Texas. Steve Sarkisian nabbed two.
Looking back on his track record with the quarterback position, it was a safe bet that Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was going to sign a quality quarterback prospect in Texas’ 2022 class. He sought after two in order to create competition in AJ Milwee’s position group after no current Longhorn signal-caller took firm hold of the position during the 2021 season.
[Subscribe to Inside Texas right now and get a 7-day FREE trial!]
He signed one in Maalik Murphy, one of the earliest commitments he gained while on the job in Austin. Murphy had an up-and-down spring season in California before leading the Junipero Serra Cavaliers to a CIF State 1-A championship in the fall. Murphy was 202-for-321 passing for 2973 yards in 14 games with a 22-to-9 TD-to-INT ratio. He also added six scores on the ground on the way to the state title.
Even with Murphy’s commitment, Sarkisian wanted to add a another quarterback to his roster. Nobody he believed to be worth pursuing was in the transfer portal during the season, nor was there an option in the junior college ranks. He recruited Utah prep prospect and one-time USC commit Devin Brown, but Brown ultimately elected to sign with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Oh, the Buckeyes.
That’s where former Southlake Carroll quarterback Quinn Ewers enters the picture. Ewers, who enrolled early at Ohio State and stayed with the Buckeyes for the 2021 regular season, put his name in the transfer portal on December 3rd. Sarkisian and Milwee won Ewers’ second recruitment over Texas Tech and announced the addition of the No. 1 player in On3’s 2021 rankings on the first day of the early signing period.
How did these two passers end up at Texas? Both took unique paths to end up in Austin. Both also believed in Sarkisian’s almost two-decade track record in developing signal-callers, from his time at USC to his two years at Alabama.
During his signing day press conference on Wednesday, Sarkisian referenced his experience with the position he calls the most important in the game. He mentioned his time at USC when Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Matt Cassell were under his tutelage. He also referred to his years spent at Alabama with Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones, who he coached during his two years in Tuscaloosa.
That track record was used on the recruiting trail with a number of quarterbacks, Murphy and Ewers included.
When asked specifically about the unique recruitment of Ewers, Sarkisian mentioned he re-started conversations similar to those he had with the mullet-ed passer when he was still a high school prospect.
“We just tried to present what the opportunity was here for him and the relationship based and development based process which we’ve done historically,” Sarkisian said Wednesday. “We’ve all got our kind of history of coaching players at a position. I’ve been fortunate to have coached some pretty good quarterbacks in my time that have gone on to have good success not only in college but in the NFL.
“Clearly, those are some of his aspirations, so I think that worked well for him.”
Ewers’ transfer is a huge get for the Longhorns, who didn’t get what they wanted out of either Casey Thompson or Hudson Card during a 5-7 2021 season. As a result, Sarkisian informed both he would attempt to bring in two quarterbacks during the offseason, with one likely being a transfer.
In addition, he mentioned the job would be open.
Ewers arrives in January with a good chance to gain experience in Sarkisian’s offense during spring practices and put himself in position to become Texas’ starter ahead of the 2022 season.
Sarkisian tried not to mention one quarterback without talking about the other, but a specific question about Ewers’ ability allowed the Longhorns head coach to speak about what makes the former Buckeye such a special talent, and why he ended up in Austin.
“Quinn is a gifted guy who has put in a lot of work in at his craft to get to his point, and hopefully we can do a good job of continuing to develop him to get him to where he wants to go,” Sarkisian said.
Similarly, the pitch of Sarkisian’s expertise and an open competition worked with Murphy, who carried a sterling reputation for his on-field play and off-field demeanor on the West Coast. Sarkisian credited Murphy on Wednesday for sticking with his commitment to Texas even after he pursued other quarterbacks and Ewers’ transfer late in the process.
“On the same token, I give a lot of credit to Maalik for being committed for an extended period of time, having a tremendous senior season and winning a state championship, and them him believing in why he chose Texas and him sticking with us,” Sarkisian said.
From the very beginning of his tenure in Austin, Sarkisian sought after highly-rated quarterbacks on the recruiting trail. He landed two, including one of the top rated quarterback prospects in recruiting ranking history, for an open competition to be Texas’ starting quarterback job in the 2022 season.
