Necessary strides were made by Quinn Ewers ahead of a spring where he'll have to compete

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian knows how much improvement can be made for a quarterback between his first and second years on campus. All he has to do is look in the mirror.

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As the starting quarterback for BYU in 1995, Sarkisian led the Cougars to a 7-4 record. Though there had been other seasons with inferior records for LaVell Edwards’ program, Sarkisian was the starting quarterback for the team that snapped the BYU program’s streak of 17 straight seasons with a bowl appearance.

The following year with Sarkisian at the helm, BYU went 14-1, defeated Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, and finished with a No. 5 ranking in the final AP poll. Sarkisian was named WAC offensive player of the year and a second-team All-American.

How much did the game slow down for Sarkisian between those two seasons?

“A lot,” he said Monday.

Now, as head coach of the Longhorn football program, Sarkisian’s task is to help the game slow down for Quinn Ewers. Sarkisian and company refer to last season, Ewers’ first in the program after a year spent way down the depth chart at Ohio State, as effectively being his first in college football.

It was up and down to say the least. There were high highs, like the first quarter of Alabama and his evisceration of the Oklahoma pass defense in the Cotton Bowl. There were low lows, like the injury suffered versus Alabama and some of his performances down the stretch.

It all ended up with a quintessential talented freshman performance in the Alamo Bowl versus Washington. He was neither good nor bad, neither great nor dismal in a game where the Husky defense forced him to be the one who won the game for the Longhorns. Though it was a fine cap to a year where he played in 10 games, completed 172-of-296 passes for 2177 yards, 15 touchdowns, and six interceptions, it was not enough to win the game versus Washington. His ability to do so was not at the level required to leave San Antonio with a win.

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Since then, Sarkisian has noted a significant amount of development from Ewers as he heads into his redshirt sophomore campaign joined by a very talented teammate in the quarterback room.

“From a quarterback standpoint, Quinn had a really good winter,” Sarkisian said. “It’s like anything, he was essentially a true freshman this time last year for us. There was a lot on his mind. Like when the gears are moving but there’s no WD-40 in there? Those gears were grinding. It felt that way for him pretty much all year long.”

“This winter, it just feels natural,” Sarkisian continued. “I think he’s throwing the ball. I think he’s emerging as a leader. I’m watching him break the team down. I’m watching him do those things, which is positive.”

Ewers often claimed during his first year in Austin he was more of a lead-by-example type, but he had the wherewithal to admit in the latter portions of the season he was not setting the right example.

Whether right or wrong, his dip in play and his outward appearance that featured a gnarly beard and a blonde mullet made it easy for critics to think he wasn’t taking the game all too seriously. If that happened for those outside the locker room, there’s a decent chance that was taking place in the locker room, too.

So, he made a change.

How it started ➡️ How it's going pic.twitter.com/XzNTD9K6ci

— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) February 10, 2023

From Sarkisian’s words, that change in hairstyle didn’t alter who Ewers was. It’s not the thing that spurred his reported dive into development over the winter of 2023. But it wasn’t a bad alteration, at least as it pertains to stepping up as a leader and gaining the respect of those around him.

“One thing we talked about is sometimes, your appearance/perception proceeds you and you almost have to overcome yourself,” Sarkisian said. “All of a sudden, the guy gets a haircut and cleans his beard up a little bit and everyone thinks Quinn’s real serious right now. That’s human nature, right?

“I give him a lot of credit for recognizing what he needs to do from a developmental standpoint, but it’s never been a question of him taking this serious. He wants to be really good. He wants to be a leader on this team. He wants to win a championship with these guys. That doesn’t change what he does on a day-to-day. Appearance is what it is. I do think him recognizing that does show some maturity of kind of his approach to what he’s doing.”

The timing of that change may be no coincidence, as the previously mentioned talented teammate joining him in the quarterback room is fellow Five-Star Plus+ Arch Manning.

Manning, the subject of one of the highest-profile recruitments of the century, arrives at Texas with an advanced passing skill set that garnered him the status of No. 1 overall prospect according to the On3 Industry Ranking. Those skills were evident during Texas’ first spring practice on Monday, when Manning took second-string snaps.

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Sarkisian was pleased with Manning’s performance on Monday, but made sure to explain it wouldn’t be a surprise if early struggles were a part of his first semester on a college football team.

“There’s growing pains,” Sarkisian said. “We make a big deal out of the guy losing his ID twice the first couple of weeks of school. He’s a freshman in college, but he does take it serious and he wants to be really good.”

So, with 10 stars worth of quarterbacks as the current top two, and considering Sarkisian often harps on how important competition is, does a competition exist at quarterback?

He made sure to note in his answer that there there is competition at every position.

“I’m not worried about who’s going to be on the cover of what magazine next week,” Sarkisian said. “I’m more focused on is each guy focusing on what they need to do to develop to be the best player that they can be? Quinn has an entire year of a head start, but I don’t want to hold Arch back. I want to see how far he can take this thing and what it could look like.”

That last line is telling with regards to Manning, but so too is this one about the true freshman as it relates to Ewers.

“The beauty of it is one of the guy’s (Manning) is competing with is taking it really serious and wants to be really good,” Sarkisian said. “That competition should ultimately drive the best out of both of them, and that’s what we’re trying to create in our program at every position.”

Texas hits the practice field again on Wednesday. Ewers will likely take the first snaps again, and barring a potential return of Maalik Murphy to a full workload in a few days time, Manning will likely receive the second snaps.

Ewers has worked plenty over the course of the offseason to maintain his hold on the No. 1 spot on the depth chart. He’s made efforts to develop on and off the field and become more of a leader in the program that now lacks Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson.

A year ago, Ewers may not have been willing to do all of that. As his haircut shows, he’s made some changes in how he operates.

Ahead of his second spring at Texas, everything that Ewers has done makes it clear he understands the challenge he faces in order to start the 2023 season as the Longhorns’ starting quarterback yet again.