If there is one thing Texas head coach Charlie Strong needs at Texas, it is probably Teddy Bridgewater. Unfortunately for Strong, that is not an option. Strong is looking to find the next best thing at Texas. Whether or not that turns out to be Tyrone Swoopes remains to be seen, but he is currently the number one quarterback for Strong heading out of the spring.
“Ty is still the No. 1 guy at this moment,” Strong said after the Texas spring game Saturday afternoon in Austin. Swoopes is in a quarterback competition with redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard. If Strong’s comments carry weight, the thought of opening the season on the road at Notre Dame for a primetime game with Heard is not something that will allow him to feel comfortable.
“I hope I don’t have to go into that game starting a redshirt freshman,” Strong said. So there you have it. This is where the Texas quarterback situation stands as spring comes to a close.
Swoopes was the top passer for Texas last season, but the consistency was always a bit of a concern. While passing for 2,409 yards and 13 touchdowns, Swoopes did so while completing just 58.3 percent of his passes and being picked off 11 times. Heard could eventually take over the offense if things start slowly for Swoopes and Texas in the fall, but it sure seems as though Strong is not ready to hand the offense over to him at this point in time.
At one point during the spring game Saturday afternoon Swoopes got a little too much air under a pass that went out of play. The football hit a kid, which led Strong to send Swoopes over to apologize. It should also be noted that Strong does feel Heard has started to give Swoopes a run for the job.
“It’s going to be fun going into the summer with those two guys battling it out.”