The Texas Longhorns and head coach Steve Sarkisian have a problem on the Forty Acres. It just isn’t exactly a bad one to have. Heading into the 2022 season, he has a plethora of quarterback talent on the roster.
Hudson Card and Charles Wright return from the 2021 roster. Card signed with the Longhorns in the 2020 recruiting class under Tom Herman and returns for his third season in Austin. He won the job in fall camp last season but Sark opted for Casey Thompson, who is now in Nebraska. Wright signed with Texas in the 2021 class after flipping from Iowa State prior to Herman being ousted in Austin.
Sarkisian added two quarterbacks to the equation this year with Maalik Murphy in the 2022 class and Quinn Ewers through the transfer portal. Three of the four quarterbacks in the room were rated as four-star or five-star prospects. The talent isn’t a question at all for the second-year head coach coming off the 5-7 campaign in 2021.
It is also no secret that Texas is targeting yet another top quarterback for the upcoming 2023 class with Arch Manning. The staff has extended just three offers with Manning, Malachi Nelson, and Tad Hudson. Nelson is committed to USC and Hudson has pledged to his hometown UNC Tar Heels. All the eggs are in the basket of Manning at this point in the process.
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While Sark is loading up with options at the most important position on the field, he doesn’t want his players to get caught up with who could be here or who is coming.
When addressing the media on Feb. 2, Sark had a message for that group.
“I think the biggest thing for all these guys is focusing on what they need to do individually”, Sark said. “Don’t get caught up in what the guy next to them is working on, or what we’re working on with him. But focus on what they need to do, and let us pour into them to develop them.”
It is an important message, not just for the quarterbacks on this team. Focus on what you can control and let everything else go. When you focus on what you actually have control over, it makes the process that much easier.
“Not everybody is going to develop at the same pace and the same rate, and everybody is at a different stage in their career,” Sarkisian says. “Trusting our history of developing quarterbacks to dive into you individually, and here’s what we want you to work on and make that happen.”
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