Texas QB Competition: Coach Sark Reveals His 4 Keys
Steve Sarkisian played quarterback. He's been a QB coach. He's been an offensive coordinator at the college and NFL level.
Steve Sarkisian knows what he's looking for in a Texans Longhorns quarterback. And it seems to come down to four keys.
1) COMPETITOR
“The first is he has to be an innate competitor,” new UT head coach Sarkisian said in a visit with 104.9 The Horn (via SBNation). “If he’s not, I just think you struggle ... I’ve been fortunate to coach some great ones who have been in a competitors over the year.”
2) LEADERSHIP
“Trying to force leadership on someone is very difficult to do,” Sarkisian said. “I think we can foster it, but I think there has to be some natural leadership in there.”
3) HANDS
“We look for really fast hands, really quick hands,” Sarkisian said. “The game today, with all of the advantage throws in the RPOs and the Aaron Rogers-type deliveries from awkward angles, I think you need really good hands, almost like a shortstop or a second baseman.”
4) ACCURACY
“You can call it accuracy, you can call it whatever ...,'' Sark said. "The goal is to complete the pass and so we need to make sure we’re giving our guys around us the best opportunity to make plays for you at quarterback. So to do that we need to be really accurate.''
Outgoing QB Sam Ehlinger, who is NFL-bound, established those traits as a Longhorn. The competition going forward includes Casey Thompson and Hudson Card, while incoming freshman Charles Wright could also get a look.
"It’s very early,' Sark said. "We've got a long way to go with the position.”
The search - via the four keys - is on.
CONTINUE READING: Sarkisian Speaks On New Texas Longhorns Staff: 'I'm Pumped'