Quinn Ewers hands over a program in a state of inertia, not a baton
Immediately after he declared for the NFL Draft, Wednesday justifiably turned into Quinn Ewers Appreciation Day within Texas Longhorns fandom. What’s sad, however, today is surely one of the few times he’s felt the widespread appreciation he properly deserves. At least he didn’t have to wait as long as Van Gogh, Monet, and so many others did.
[BOOKMARK: Check Inside Texas daily for FREE Texas Longhorns content]
Ewers as a polarizing figure has been maddening to observe. It shows a lack of gratitude for what he signed up for and an understanding of who he was as a player and teammate. When the highest rated recruit of all time signs up for your team after it just went 5-7, perhaps gratitude is in order. Or at least extend him the benefit of the doubt when he doesn’t quite live up to that impossibly high rating. Answer this, who else was beating down the door to come help save your program?
What I’ll remember most about Ewers is how along with Steve Sarkisian, his staff, and a number of key talent acquisitions, he led the Texas program to the point it was unequivocally back.
Flashback: December of 2021 was the most important month of the Sarkisian tenure. Just before the month started, Texas won its final game of the season to snap a six-game losing streak on its way to a 5-7 record that included a home loss to 2-10 Kansas. Many already considered Sark a failure. Knowing they couldn’t call for Sark’s head in year-1, those same emotionally stunted fans were calling for defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s.
The season laid plain the program was not in need of a renovation but a complete rebuild. Fan sentiment was through the floor.
Unwavering, Sark, with the help of new NIL rules, went on a high school recruiting tear that included Texas offensive linemen Kelvin Banks, Cameron Williams, and DJ Campbell. Cole Hutson was already in the class after committing during the summer. That recruiting flourish restored hope to the program but offensive linemen and high school players are not an immediate solve. Well, other than Banks.
Sark needed a face for the program but more importantly he needed a quarterback.
Ewers entered the transfer portal after spending a semester at Ohio State. The combination of his high school rating and Texas fan’s insatiable need for a savior put way too much undue pressure on him, especially with the added context of UT being a complete program rebuild. He was never going to be able to do it alone.
Texas went 8-5 in Ewers’ first year, which was right in line with what expectations should have been. That was actually a fun year to cover because program improvement was even more obvious than the three-game win improvement indicated. Texas, with Ewers as basically an inexperienced true freshman, flashed at times but was not on the type of roster cycle that leads to a big season.
That changed heading into the 2023 campaign. Year-2 demonstrated clear maturity in Ewers the person and player at the same time the program was surrounding him with good perimeter weapons and more experienced infrastructure. Ewers improved as a quarterback and leader, but again in a show of maturity, elected to return for one more year to gain further seasoning.
Entering his third year Ewers was fully established and expectations for the team were high. Rather than helping Texas defend its Bon Voyage Brett Yormark Big 12 title, the program was on to bigger and better challenges in the SEC. Ewers started September on an absolute rip before injuries short-circuited his season. It turned into a year of adversity, particularly during a rough stretch in October, when he clearly wasn’t 100%. Texas had to have a strong November to remain in the National Championship hunt and that’s exactly what it did.
Ewers joined a program that went 5-7 and led it to 8-5, then 12-2, and finally 13-3 and two CFB semi-finals appearances. Texas Football developed considerably during Ewers’ time in Austin. It learned how to win in stages, eventually winning big games in hostile environments, perhaps the greatest sign of a properly led and fully functioning program.
When Arch Manning committed to Texas I mentioned he was fortunate to follow Ewers rather than vice versa. All the slings and arrows Ewers endured on and off the field as the face of the program make success for Manning that much more likely. The infrastructure to win is largely in place. The program knows how to respond to tight games and lofty expectations.
It’s much easier to keep something moving than to get it moving to begin with. That’s why what Steve Sarkisian has done at Texas is more impressive than what Ryan Day has done at Ohio State.
Nobody was at the center of the ‘initial push’ to get the ball rolling more so than Ewers. Each year he became more experienced, was surrounded by just a little more talent, and the ball rolled just a little bit easier.
[Join Inside Texas TODAY and get 7 days for just ONE DOLLAR!]
Now, Manning takes over a program in a state of inertia.
The post Quinn Ewers hands over a program in a state of inertia, not a baton appeared first on On3.
