San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
UT Heisman hopeful Ehlinger avoiding distractions.
Heisman hopeful Ehlinger dodging distractions at UT like an oncoming pass rush
AUSTIN — Every August, Jon Gordon crisscrosses the country, spreading lessons on leadership and teamwork to all manner of sports teams.
Prominent sports figures across the spectrum, from Clemson’s Dabo Swinney to Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers to seven-time NCAA women’s lacrosse champion Kelly Amonte Hiller, have been influenced by Gordon’s evangelizing.
So has Tom Herman.
Early in August, a few days after Texas opened fall camp, Gordon’s nationwide tour rolled through the Forty Acres. He spoke to the team about “being a craftsman, working your craft and kind of going along the line of being a pro,” Herman said.
One prominent passage from Gordon’s address stuck with the Longhorns’ third-year
coach more than anything else: “Distractions are the enemy of greatness.”
A fitting lesson considering junior quarterback Sam Ehlinger now resides in a mounting nest of distractions. Austin’s new favorite son and superstar is everywhere.
There is he gracing the front of Dave Campbell’s revered magazine, the “bible” of Lone Star State football. The cover of Austin Monthly’s August issue proclaims Ehlinger the “Sportsman of the Year” as he glares straight ahead, football clasped tight between both hands. And he was one of four quarterbacks selected for variant covers of Sports Illustrated’s college football preview mag.
The spotlight has drawn something more nefarious than universal acclaim, though.
Earlier this summer NFL Hall of Famer and Louisiana Tech alum Terry Bradshaw snuck in a shot at Ehlinger while addressing his former program, which just so happens to be the Longhorns’ Week 1 opponent.
“I never understood why players would want to go and stack up, like Texas,” Bradshaw said. “One year, they signed three (fivestar) quarterbacks. Two are now gone, and one is playing, and he ain’t that good.”
Then there was Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield stoking the flames not only of the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry but also the rivalry between Austin Lake Travis (where Mayfield starred) and Austin Westlake (Ellinger’s alma mater).
“He couldn’t even beat Lake Travis, so I don’t really care about his opinion on anything winning,” Mayfield said in June. “You know, Westlake’s a great program, but the two best quarterbacks to come out of there are Drew Brees and Nick Foles. Sam can stay down there in Texas.”
Cleveland’s resident rabblerouser added: “That’ll stir the pot. He doesn’t like me, and I hope he knows I don’t like him either.”
Ehlinger was peppered with dozens of questions about those comments last month at Big 12 Media Days. He sidestepped the flood of queries like an oncoming pass rush, eager to avoid wading into a potential minefield.
“I truly don’t care,” he said, stone-faced.
Maybe Ehlinger didn’t need Gordon’s wisdom after all. Seems he had it all along.
Taking the next step
Before Ehlinger committed to Texas in summer 2015, Westlake coach Todd Dodge issued a warning to his young protegee.
“There’s two people in the program that get way too much credit when a team wins: head coach and quarterback,” the former UT quarterback told Ehlinger. “And there’s two people who get way too much blame: head coach and quarterback. And that’s never going to change. That’s the way it is.”
Dodge added: “I was the toast of the town at times in my career and I was the biggest bum in three counties at other times. And that’s just the way it was. But if I wanted to stay away from it, I just didn’t pick up the Statesman. Now it’s a lot harder to stay away from.”
Impossible, some might say. But Ehlinger hasn’t nibbled on any of the bait this offseason after an electric sophomore campaign in which he led Texas to a Sugar Bowl title while completing 64.7 percent of his passes for 3,292 yards and 25 touchdowns. Add 482 yards and a Texas quarterback-record 16 touchdowns on the ground, and you have one of the most prolific individual seasons in program history.
It was a stunning turnaround after a 2017 season in which Ehlinger’s gunslinger mentality and rawness led to several crippling turnovers in late-game situations.
“There’s what, 80-something plays in a full football game, and what I’ve learned is to compartmentalize each and every play,” Ehlinger said. “It’s very easy to let the momentum or the crowd or the previous play influence what you do on the next play, but it shouldn’t. What I’ve learned is moving forward and focusing on the things you can control helps you play better.”
His evolution from wild stallion freshman to steely sophomore to Heisman candidate junior is one of the main reasons Texas has been tabbed by some as a dark-horse candidate for the College Football Playoff. At the very least, the Horns are expected to challenge Oklahoma for Big 12 supremacy.
And Ehlinger has some heavy artillery to aid on the quest.
The Collin Johnson-led receivers room is arguably the deepest in the conference, especially with dynamic senior Devin Duvernay back, the emergence of 6-foot-4, 225-pound sophomore Brennan Eagles, and the addition of Gatorade National Player of the Year Jake Smith.
Running backs Keonatay Ingram and Jordan Whittington are the key cogs in a “power run” game that should allow the oft-injured Ehlinger to absorb fewer blows. And the rapport between Ehlinger and junior tight Cade Brewer — he’s replacing All-Big 12 first-teamer Andrew Beck — has grown ever stronger since they arrived together.
The defense is tasked with replacing eight starters, but the offense should be able to mask some of that unit’s growing pains.
Ehlinger doesn’t seem all that worried.
“Our defense has a chance to be elite,” he said. “The speed that they have over there is unlike we’ve ever had before. Just because they’re younger, don’t underestimate them.”
If defensive coordinator Todd Orlando’s group can coalesce into even an above-average unit, Ehlinger and the Longhorns have a shot at claiming their first Big 12 title since 2009. That, they hope, will just be the beginning.
‘We’re back!’
Herman and Ehlinger have been asked about those words too many times to count.
That “We’re back!” proclamation, made in the wake of a 28-21 Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia and uttered by a native Austinite who spent his entire life dreaming of donning burnt orange, drew an avalanche of adoration from fans and ire from just about everyone else.
Texas’ coach, known for having some bravado as his own, cringed when he heard it. But he understood.
“I get where that came from for Sam, because considering his relationship with this university, both his parents being alums and him growing up in Austin and him literally dreaming of being the starting quarterback at the University of Texas, it was very personal for him to be the guy to lead the resurrection of this program, to be the guy to lead this next generation of this program,” Herman said. “Shoot, the guy played his tail off — he scored three touchdowns, threw a 2-point conversion, was the MVP. I’ll cut him some slack for saying two words. Two big words, but if there’s anybody who has earned it, it’s him.
“The one thing I do know is it’s very personal for him to be a part of this era of Texas football. And not just a part of it, but a main reason for it.”