Buechele on the QB competition, improving leadership
Shane Buechele (Justin Wells/IT)
Last season, Shane Buechele was involved in a quarterback battle that kept fans guessing the winner up until the very first play of the Notre Dame game, when he jogged out to take the first snaps over senior Tyrone Swoopes.
Even after winning that quarterback battle, Buechele was put in the middle of another quarterback battle in his second year on campus. This time, Buechele has a younger opponent in freshman Sam Ehlinger.
Buechele threw for almost 3,000 yards last year, but that did not guarantee him the Texas starting job in 2017. He’s been involved in a competition all camp with Ehlinger.
“I think a lot of people think it’s just straight competition all the time, which it is, but you know it’s been fun,” Buechele said. “It’s been competitively fun. We enjoy competing with each other every day. We make each other a lot better. We’re always competing no matter what we do, and always hanging out outside of football as well. It’s a lot of fun being able to compete with him, and we make each other a lot better.”
For the sophomore, the news is already somewhat overdue. Texas head coach Tom Herman mentioned he wanted to name a starter before the team got into preparation for Maryland.
Now, with a scout team in place, the Longhorns are in the middle of prep for the Terrapins. While scout is in place, the starter isn’t.
Buechele was asked if the two quarterbacks were in the dark on the competition.
“I don’t know,” Buechele said. “You have to go out every day and compete for it. That’s what me and Sam have been doing. That’s all we can do is just go out and compete every day. Just try and get better every day.”
Since spring ball, the coaching staff has challenged Buechele to become more of a vocal leader on and off the field.
As a sophomore, it’s come a lot easier to Buechele.
“Last year, it was difficult just being a young guy and trying to be a vocal leader,” Buechele said. “Getting guys behind me, that’s hard being a young guy. This year, I’ve gotten a lot more comfortable being a vocal leader, which I think is really important for our offense and our team.”
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Shane Buechele and Sam Ehlinger (Justin Wells/IT)
Buechele explained what he had done in order to improve his leadership ability.
“It’s a lot more than just yelling on a football field,” Buechele said. “You have to do things off the field as well to gain relationships and gain trust with those guys. You have to spend time with them. With time, you can gain trust. That’s where the leadership role comes in.”
There is good news and bad news for Buechele. The good news is he started 12 games last season, giving him valuable experience in the college game.
The bad news is he’s coming off a year not only where the team went 5-7, but also nursing injuries he sustained at the end of the season.
“Toward the end of the season, maybe a little bit,” Buechele said on being dinged up. “Being a quarterback, you have to fight through it. Once you get a little adrenaline going in your body, you don’t really feel it that much.”
5-7 is one reason why Herman is now in control. The team has an eye to the future, but they know what happened last year.
“We don’t want to look back at it, but it is in our brain,” Buechele said. “We don’t want to go back to that. I think this team this year is really motivated. We’re really excited for what’s going to come this year. If we continue our energy that we have out on the practice field, that we’ve been having, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun this year.”
