Texas vs. Alabama: Can Steve Sarkisian hit QB magic once again?

By RJ Young
FOX Sports College Football Writer

The fastest way to become “Coach Somebody” in college football is to become a championship offensive coordinator at the Power 5 level.

Lincoln Riley did it at Oklahoma. Ryan Day did it at Ohio State. And Steve Sarkisian? He’s done it twice.

First, Sarkisian made himself into a brand name as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at USC when Pete Carroll’s Trojans were damn near unstoppable. Later, he rehabilitated his career as an offensive analyst and then offensive coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama.

In Tuscaloosa, he developed Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones into championship quarterbacks, then laid the groundwork for reigning Heisman winner Bryce Young to potentially do the same. As a matter of fact, Young committed to USC before Sarkisian and Saban talked him into playing quarterback at Alabama.

When Sarkisian accepted the offer to become the head coach at Texas, the thought was that he would recruit and develop a quarterback capable of winning the Heisman Trophy and field a championship-winning offense to boot.

In 2021, though, Sarkisian’s Longhorns looked closer to a rebuild than making a push for the program’s first Big 12 crown in more than a decade. But fortunes changed thanks to a quarterback logjam at Ohio State, prompting two of the men backing up Heisman finalist C.J. Stroud to transfer.

The first, Jack Miller, opted to transfer to Florida. The second, Quinn Ewers, opted to head back home to Texas. In choosing the Longhorns, Ewers breathed new life into Sarkisian’s program.

Quinn Ewers to Texas, Jack Miller to Florida

RJ Young breaks down the latest quarterback transfer news, including Quinn Ewers heading to Texas.

Ewers is not just homegrown, having played his high school ball at Southlake Carroll — a suburb of Dallas. He’s also one of the most highly-recruited high school players of the last 20 years. He is one of six players — alongside Texas legend Vince Young — in the history of the 247 Sports Composite to achieve a 1.000 rating.

This is why Ewers was not only highly recruited but highly marketable. Last year, he signed a name, image and likeness deal worth $1.4 million over three years with GT Marketing, and he might be the most marketable athlete in Texas this side of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

It’s also the reason all eyes will be on Ewers, Sarkisian and the Longhorns as they host No. 1-ranked Alabama on Saturday (noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

At Big 12 Media Days in July, Sarkisian played coy with me when I asked him who his starting quarterback would be. At the time, Sarkisian was evaluating Hudson Card and Ewers for the job.

Sarkisian didn’t reveal much about the QB competition, but I did learn something about how he has developed quarterbacks.

“Well,” Sarkisian said, “what we tried to do is just essentially put them in a silo saying this is where you are as a player in our system. Both of you could be successful playing in our system. But here’s what you need to work on, Player A. And here’s how we’re going to work on it. Whether you’re the starter or not, we’re going to keep working on these aspects of your game. Here is Player B. He’s in a different silo. He’s got a different skill set. He’s got different things that he needs to work on.

“Ultimately, me as a coach, whether it’s Player A or Player B, I need to call the things that put those two guys, whichever one is on the field, in a position to be successful. So the offense might look one way under one quarterback and may look a little different under the other quarterback because of what they’re good at.”

Steve Sarkisian credits Nick Saban

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian explains his approach to coaching this year’s team, and describes his relationship with Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

It’s that mindset that has helped Sarkisian train quarterbacks capable of making plays. He’s certainly going to need Ewers to do so if the Longhorns — a three-TD underdog per FOX Bet — are going to have a chance to knock off the defending SEC champs.

He’ll face not just a legendary head coach in Nick Saban, whom he’s credited with saving his career, but a defensive coordinator in Pete Golding who has taken the measure of him in practice. The chess match between the two play-callers — Sarkisian and Golding — will be of utmost interest as they both have players who are capable of wrecking the game.

As for what to expect from Ewers, it’s difficult to glean much from his debut against Louisiana-Monroe. Ewers passed for a ho-hum 225 yards in that game, but the Longhorns didn’t look like they showed much of their offensive playbook — no doubt saving some punches for Bama.

However, there may have been an omen in Ewers having his vehicle towed during that Week 1 game. If the Longhorns can protect Ewers better than his truck against a Tide pass rush led by Heisman candidate Will Anderson, the Longhorns will have a puncher’s chance.

If not, it’s going to be a long day in Austin.