A long list of successful quarterbacks
As Brett Sallee of CBS Sports points out, the lack of an elite college quarterback in Austin since Colt McCoy is “baffling”. Luckily, Sarkisian has a long list, dating back to his days as the offensive coordinator at USC of developing successful quarterbacks.
More recently, he has produced two of the top college quarterbacks of the past couple of years in Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones. Tagovailoa ended up getting drafted No. 5 overall by the Miami Dolphins while Jones is throwing for 4,000 yards while completing 77% of his passes and having a 9:1 TD:INT ratio.
Going back to the west coast, he was the QB coach during the Pete Carroll era at USC, working with Matt Lienert. At Washington, Jake Locker was selected No. 8 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft after two full seasons with Sarkisian as his head coach.
History with former elite quarterbacks mixed with two during his time at Alabama should excite Longhorn fans. Whether Casey Thompson or Hudson Card ends up winning the starting job next season, both should get a huge boost from Sarkisian’s coaching.