It’s not exactly a state -- or national -- secret that Texas has been mired in uncertainty and mediocrity at the quarterback position since Vince Young led them to their last national championship in 2005 and Colt McCoy used up his eligibility following the 2009 season. Conversely, Ohio State has an embarrassment of riches at the position, with three quarterbacks who are of Heisman-caliber.
One of of those three, J.T. Barrett, played his high school football in the state of Texas. Barrett’s coach in Wichita Falls (Tex.), Marc Bindel, discussed the recruitment of his former player with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and didn’t hold back in criticizing the flagship football program in his state.“I was, at the time, a big Texas fan,” Bindel said. “I wasn’t really happy with the way (Barrett) got treated. I felt like they mislead him a little bit and they chose to go Tyrone Swoopes and not offer J.T. I don’t know if J.T. would have gone there had he not gotten offered, but Texas, I don’t feel like handled the situation the right way.
“They don’t have a quarterback and Ohio State has three.”
One, ouch. Two, there are a couple of caveats to the criticism.
First, it was Mack Brown and his offensive coaching staff that were in charge of the Longhorns during Barrett’s recruitment leading up to National Signing Day in 2013. It was Brown, not the new regime, that opted for Swoopes (No. 13 dual-threat QB, No. 36 player in the state of Texas) over Barrett (No. 7 dual-threat QB, No. 20 player in the state).
Secondly, Brown’s replacement, Charlie Strong, is looking to change the outlook at the position. While it remains to be seen whether Swoopes is the answer, Strong signed four-star prospect Jerrod Heard (No. 7 dual-threat QB) in his first UT class and has a second four-star commitment, Zach Gentry (No. 3 pro-style QB), for this year’s class.
That said, “they don’t have a quarterback and Ohio State has three” has got to leave a big ol’ Texas-sized mark on the storied program, regardless of the circumstances that played into UT’s present reality.