Skip to main content
Texas

Why Steve Sarkisian added Matthew Caldwell to his QB room

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•05/27/25•

josephcook89

Matthew Caldwell

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — Texas has the current betting favorite to win the 2025 Heisman Trophy in Arch Manning. Yet earlier in May, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian brought in a transfer at quarterback to join Manning, Trey Owens, and KJ Lacey.

[Sign up for Inside Texas TODAY and get the BEST Longhorns scoop!]

It wasn’t to bring in competition for the starting job. So why make the move to add Matthew Caldwell?

The answer is depth.

“I just think at the end of the day, assessing last season, the idea that we played 16 games and if we would have won that we would have had to play 17 football games,” Sarkisian said. “Across the board on our roster, we really try to assess the depth and do we have the right amount of depth to be able to overcome injuries. You play 17 games, injuries are going to occur.”

Sarkisian is all too familiar with this during his time as head coach of the Longhorns. In 2021, the end of the year finished with a memorable performance by Roschon Johnson. But Johnson was turned into the do-it-all Wildcat weapon because Casey Thompson and Hudson Card were consistently banged up throughout the season.

In 2022, 2023, and 2024, starter Quinn Ewers missed multiple games in each year due to a variety of upper body injuries, pushing Card, Manning, and Maalik Murphy into starting games.

Texas has had to utilize the backup quarterback for significant moments in nearly every season since the turn of the century. While there’s hope in Manning’s durability, to not consider the possibility of No. 16 missing a single competitive snap would be a mistake by Sarkisian and company.

So they brought in Caldwell. Coming in from Troy after stints at Jacksonville State and Gardner-Webb, Caldwell was 141-for-223 for 1608 yards and 13 touchdowns with eight interceptions for the Trojans. He also added five rushing touchdowns.

Part of the reason was to put Texas at four scholarship quarterbacks, but it was also to make sure there was an experienced and likely ready option available should something happen to Manning.

“We’ve got two really young, talented players in Trey and KJ that we’re excited about,” Sarkisian said. “But surely, we go to Ohio State week one. Arch’s shoe comes off. If those two guys aren’t ready, to put a player in who has a little bit of experience and played in some games I think is beneficial for us. I think it’s good for the room.”

[Order THE LONGHORN ALPHABET today and teach your little ones the A to Z’s of Texas Football!]

“I think (it) just behooves us on a lot of levels to put ourselves in the best position for the journey of now a long football season,” Sarkisian said.

You may also like