Even in land of plenty, top QBs can get away

If Steve Sarkisian gets a few free hours Sunday afternoon, he might turn on the television and marvel at where he’s landed.

Three of the day’s four NFL playoff starting quarterbacks hail from his new home state, just like more than a quarter of the top 30 passers in pro football this season. For a coach who loves drawing up plays for big arms, moving to Texas is like an omelet chef moving into a henhouse.

If he can’t find anything to work with after a day or two, he ought to find another line of work.

The catch, of course, is that even in a land of plenty there are no guarantees that the best of the bunch won’t slip away, and Sarki

sian’s new employer is all too familiar with this truth. Yes, Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield and Drew Brees all grew up here, but none attended the state’s flagship university, and neither did the other five Texans who started at least seven games in 2020.

To be fair, it’s not like the Longhorns have been the only big-name program to miss out. Of the aforementioned eight quarterbacks, only Ryan Tannehill ended his college career at Texas A&M, and that was nine years ago (before Kyler Murray made a one-year stop in College Station).

So the challenge for Sarkisian, the offensive guru hired by UT this month to replace the offensive guru fired by UT, is a similar one faced by the coaches who preceded him, as well as the one faced by Jimbo Fisher at A&M.

During an age of college football when the quarterback position is more important than it’s ever been, in a state that produces great ones like no other place does?

Make sure you find the next one destined to be playing on a Sunday evening in late January.

This is not a revolutionary thought, especially at UT. Ever since Colt McCoy hurt his shoulder in the national championship game against Alabama 11 years ago, the Longhorns have been trying to find their next elite quarterback, even as the high schools around the state keep producing them.

You’ve heard the list. Since McCoy left, Robert Griffin won a Heisman at Baylor, Johnny Manziel won one at A&M, and Mayfield and Murray each won one at Oklahoma. Mahomes went to Texas Tech and won a Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts helped Alabama win a national title, and he now might be the quarterback of the future in Philadelphia.

The Longhorns finally stopped the bleeding with Sam Ehlinger, who produced big numbers and won 29 games in four years but never made first-team all-conference and made the second team just once. Ehlinger, like his A&M

contemporary Kellen Mond, was a strong leader, a credit to his program, and a player who will

at least get a look in the NFL.

But neither approached the level of College Football Playoff

starters Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields or Mac Jones, and that’s the caliber of quarterback Sarkisian and Fisher are seeking.

On Saturday night, the state’s two most heralded high-school juniors — Southlake Carroll’s Quinn Ewers and Austin Westlake’s Cade Klubnik — faced off for the Class 6A Division I championship. And it is no coincidence that Tom Herman was fired as UT’s head coach after Ewers — the consensus top 2022 recruit in the country — switched his commitment from the Longhorns to Ohio State.

Whether Sarkisian can persuade him to change his mind again remains to be seen, but he hopes to make some headway on the quarterback front before the time comes for Ewers to sign. Next year, he’ll have two former blue-chip recruits battling to replace Ehlinger, and Sarkisian presumably won’t hold it against Casey Thompson that he’s from Oklahoma.

Thompson or Hudson Card might turn into a star. So, too, might recent A&M signee Eli Stowers. If the Longhorns and Aggies both keep signing highly regarded quarterbacks from the land of plenty, one is bound to become the next Mahomes, or the next Mayfield, or the next Brees, right?

Maybe, but don’t expect either Sarkisian or Fisher to take that for granted. Even if the state of Texas keeps supplying the NFL with a quarter of its starting quarterbacks, and even if the two biggest programs in the state can choose just about whoever they want, they still have to choose correctly.

And if they do?

Like an omelet chef in a henhouse, Sarkisian and Fisher both probably can find a recipe that will work.

Dave Einsel / Associated Press Since Colt McCoy was knocked out of the national title game 11 years go, Texas has seemed cursed at quarterback, whiffing on the homegrown likes of Robert Griffin, Johnny Manziel, Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts.

Tim Fischer / Midland Reporter-Telegram When Southlake Carroll QB Quinn Ewers switched his commitment from UT to Ohio State, it might have sealed Tom Herman’s fate.