Quinn Ewers has a new tone ahead of his second season as starter, and other Longhorns have taken notice

ARLINGTON — Quinn Ewers’ presence at Big 12 Media Days is notable in its own right. It signals Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian not only trusts Ewers to run his offense as the starting quarterback, but also be the face of the program inside the halls of Moncrief and away from the Forty Acres during the Longhorns’ final season in the Big 12.

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Speaking, and speaking boldly, is not something Ewers is accustomed to despite it being a regular responsibility for someone in his position. He arrived at Texas as more of a quiet type, trying to let his accomplishments on the field do most of the talking.

But he understands modern starting quarterbacks, especially quarterbacks on teams with expectations as lofty as can be in college football, can’t fall back to being that type of signal-caller.

“As a quarterback, you’re kind of expected to be that person, whether you like it or not,” Ewers said Wednesday. “It’s been fun for me because that’s a new area I’m not used to, but it’s been fun for me.”

Just ask Jordan Whittington.

“He’s definitely way more comfortable being a vocal leader in front of the whole team,” Whittington said Wednesday. “He’s the guy that talks after workouts and practice and when you have a quarterback who does that, it just makes you build more trust in him. We all have a lot of respect for him, he carries himself in a way that shows hes a dominant one.

“We had some guys that were talking while he was talking and he said… some things. Basically saying, you don’t talk when I’m talking. Y’all listen to me and follow my lead. Nobody talked back. That’s when I knew Quinn Ewers was that guy.”

Fellow wideout Xavier Worthy put it this way: “Quinn’s leadership, I feel like he’s the head of the snake. He’s accepting that role. He has to be the head of the snake. The quarterback is the head of the snake. Everybody is going to go with him. If he says something, everybody’s going to go. If he says that’s not allowed, then everybody is going to listen.”

Sometimes, that delves into the preposterous. Ewers has made a significant effort to earn respect as a team leader. He explained the work he’s put into being a leader despite not making a specific reference to himself.

“The theme that we’re focusing on is, even if that person is wrong in that point in time — if the leader says the wall is blue, and the wall is not blue, at that point in time the wall is blue,” Ewers said. “You can go talk to them after the fact, but at that point in time the wall is blue even if it’s green.”

Ewers had a leadership example to follow last season in running back Roschon Johnson. The UT quarterback explained Wednesday he saw ”the way it’s supposed to look” from Johnson. He admitted hasn’t been a carbon copy of Johnson and has done some things differently, but he’s worked to be like the respected alpha Johnson was.

The off-field aspect is important, but what about on the field?

Ewers was named the starting quarterback by Sarkisian at the end of Texas’ spring practices. Ewers worked over the course of the offseason to ensure performances like the ones versus Oklahoma State and Baylor would not be repeated in his second year in Austin, while outings like those versus Oklahoma and briefly versus Alabama become the norm.

[NAHLIN: Quinn Ewers continues to grow in his vocal leadership role]

That day-to-day emphasis was an adjustment for Ewers. He admitted multiple times, and again on Wednesday, how much time and energy being a Power 5 quarterback requires. He said it’s a lot more than “just going out there and playing football.”

“I learned a whole lot about myself last year and really how much this sport means to me,” Ewers said. “It was definitely tough going through what we went through last year. I’m not going to say I’m glad I went through it, but it’s good that I did because it showed me what I need to be for this team and for myself, and how I need to approach thing.”

Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron is one of the players who has to try to stop Ewers over the course of the week during practice and in the current summer workouts. Even he had to begrudgingly admit the progress he’s seen from Ewers versus his side of the ball.

“Quinn, he’s been amazing,” Barron said. “His confidence has been key. I feel like when a player has confidence, they really can’t lack anything. At that point, you’re against yourself. You’re not even thinking about opponents. Quinn, he’s going to make that offense amazing.”

How amazing?

“I think Quinn is a championship level quarterback and I think he’s a first-round level quarterback,” Sarkisian said.

Some of that has been learning about the right moves to make when under center. He’s aware of the needed improvement on deep passing, specifically deep passing targeting Worthy. That said, Ewers said Sarkisian has told him hitting a home run at every opportunity isn’t a feasible goal.

”You can’t go broke taking a profit,” Ewers said he’s heard from Sarkisian. ”Sometimes the downfield shot is not there, so you’ve just got to check it down and live to play another down.”

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That’s a critical part of a process that Ewers and company hope includes a return trip to Arlington where the Horns will compete for and win the Big 12 championship. Ewers, with help from Sarkisian, quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee, other coaches, teammates, and the entire program, wants to make it happen. They aren’t ignorant to the fact others are hunting them. Ewers knows it, welcomes it, and wants to be the quarterback who leads the team past those hunters and to those aspirations.

“I think there’s always a target on our back, but there’s also a target on the opponents we’re playing,” Ewers said. “We put a target on them. It’s kind of like John Wick. He’s being hunted, but at the same time he’s hunting those guys as well.”