How the lack of a QB battle helped Quinn Ewers and the entire Texas program

In 2020, Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian had to determine whether Bryce Young or Mac Jones would be the Crimson Tide’s starting quarterback. Upon his arrival in Austin in 2021 to be head coach of the Longhorns, a competition between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card ensued. Even in 2022, he had to oversee a battle between Card and Quinn Ewers for the Longhorns’ starting quarterback role.

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This preseason, there was no battle. Ewers was named the starting quarterback for the 2023 season following April’s Orange-White game, leaving Maalik Murphy and Arch Manning to compete for the backup quarterback role.

Not having to face consistent prodding about the starting QB has been one positive for Sarkisian. “It feels great not to have all these questions about it,” he joked Monday.

There are other positives for Sarkisian in having a starter named entering camp related to how he interacts with Ewers and how he fulfills his duties as head coach of the entire football program.

Sarkisian naming Ewers as the starter in the spring undoubtedly boosted the sophomore’s confidence. It allowed for the former Southlake (Texas) Carroll standout to narrow his focus on improving his own game rather than having to worry too much about another player passing him.

Because of Ewers’ status, it also allowed for Sarkisian to further develop the coach-player relationship that remains in a state of growth. With that growth comes more trust, and with more trust there exists an open dialogue allowing for constructive criticism to be viewed as such and not as nit-picking.

“I think it’s allowed me to coach him differently to where he’s feeling when I’m coaching him, it’s coaching him to be the best he can be and not feel like sometimes I’m pointing things out that he’s doing wrong, and ‘why is he thinking I’m doing something wrong,’ and maybe can get defensive,” Sarkisian said Monday. “That’s anybody. That’s human nature. In reality, the whole time, we’re always coaching everybody to be the best that they can be and do it right.”

That constructive criticism has led Ewers to develop his game as well as his approach to it. Sarkisian said he and Ewers are able to get into more of the “minutiae” of offensive play-calls and opposing defenses, helping No. 3 to see and accomplish more on the field.

“I feel like we’re in a really good spot with the passing game, but couldn’t be more excited to put it all on display,” Ewers said Monday.

That’s a change even his teammates have noticed. Texas wideout Xavier Worthy mentioned Monday that Ewers’ QB1 status has allowed for he and other receivers to build better rapport with Ewers. Worthy’s position group can know where to expect balls to be placed, how hard they’ll be thrown, and other minor facets that can vary at times from signal-caller to signal-caller.

“It’s a different quarterback,” Worthy said. “I felt like that was the biggest thing.”

Ewers’ own words back that up: “I feel like I’m a lot more comfortable in the system, which ultimately leads to confidence. I feel a lot more confident in myself.”

The benefits weren’t limited to the quarterback position. Because Sarkisian knew who would be the starter, that allowed for him to, in his own words, focus on the entirety of the team.

“This year, knowing what Quinn was going to be and knowing we had a battle there at the backup spot, (A.J.) Milwee and (Kyle) Flood, that group was able to take a little bit more of the reins there,” Sarkisian said. “I was really able to stay connected to the defensive side of the ball and special teams.”

Turning over some quantity of individual instruction to his assistants is noteworthy. Based off Ewers’ words on Monday, that decision is noteworthy for the right reasons with how Milwee, a former Division II standout, utilized those reins given to him by Sarkisian.

“Just the way he harps on small details, because how you do small things is how you do all things ultimately,” Ewers said of Milwee’s instruction. “Sometimes, you think it’s ‘gosh, he’s saying the same thing,’ but it makes sense. He installs it in your mind and you think about it. I think we’ve all grown together and it’s pretty cool to see.”

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As far as the team? Key members of the defense were able to see how Sarkisian really was able to stay connected to the other two phases of the game.

“I think for Sark, he got to establish what our identity was as a team more than having to worry about all the stuff that comes with not having a starting QB or not having a QB who already has his feet on the ground,” linebacker Jaylan Ford said. “I think he’s definitely been able to form our identity to what our team is going to be this year, and focusing on that.”

The fact that the program had a starting quarterback named in the spring allowed for Sarkisian to better connect to the entirety of the team over the summer and preseason. Come Saturday, how much it was able to help will be on display when the Longhorns take the field versus the Rice Owls.