Is 5-Star 2022 QB Quinn Ewers Decommitment a Sign of Trouble for Texas
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
The sun still rose Thursday morning and the Longhorns are still set to play No. 6 Oklahoma State (4-0) on Saturday, but the future in Austin for head coach Tom Herman got murkier Wednesday night. In a surprise announcement, the No. 1 rated quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class, Quinn Ewers, decommitted from the Texas Longhorns.
In the middle of his fourth season in Austin, at 3-2 with losses to unranked TCU (33-31) and Oklahoma (53-45), Tom Herman is struggling to keep the fanbase happy. The former Houston Cougars head coach (2015-16) gave the outward appearance of turning the Longhorns’ program around in 2018 with a 10-4 season that included a 28-21 Sugar Bowl win over No. 6 Georgia. But an 8-5 finish last season ending third in the Big 12 was a setback.
The future of any program can be sold via recruiting classes, an area where Herman has done well. The 2020 recruiting class ranked eighth nationally, and was the top-rated grouping in-conference. The 2021 class, set to begin the early signing period on Wednesday, Dec. 16, is solid with room to ascend the rankings. Ranked 17th in the country with 17 attached, the Longhorns have a verbal commitment from five-star Ryan High School athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders with seven four-star prospects supporting the haul.
But there is time for current seniors to have a change of heart, like Ewers, and even more time until National Signing Day on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, when those who do not sign early put ink to national letters of intent.
With Ewers, he gained national attention during his sophomore season earning MaxPreps National Sophomore of the Year and Fort Worth Star-Telegram Male Athlete of the Year after leading Southlake Carroll to a 13-1 record against 6A Texas competition. Along the way, the 6-3, 195-pound, dual-threat threw for 4,003 yards with 45 touchdowns against just three interceptions and rushed for 568 yards off 84 carries with nine more scores. The offers piled in for Ewers, 30 in total, until a commit to the Longhorns on Aug. 14. Off a 2-1 start this season, the five-star has completed 70 percent of his pass attempts for 937 yards with 11 TDs verses two interceptions tacking on two rushing scores.
Softening the blow for Texas fans, the Longhorns signed two elite quarterbacks in the 2020 class landing four-star dual-threats Hudson Clark (Lake Travis, TX) and Ja’Quinden Jackson (Duncanville, TX). With Sam Ehlinger graduating at the end of the season, Texas has room under center for the next rising collegiate star. Besides Clark, sophomore Casey Thompson is the only other Longhorns player to take a snap at quarterback this season. With Class of 2019 four-star QB Roschon Johnson making the move to running back, there is a lack of depth on the roster.
With more than a year to rebuild the connection Texas lost with Ewer, there is still hope on the horizon he may recommit to the Longhorns instead of opting for another top program that has offered like Alabama, Ohio State, Florida, Georgia, LSU, or worse, Oklahoma.
Photo credit: USA Today; Tom Herman on the Texas sidelines