Hotshot qb from a powerhouse high school, recruited to be the heir apparent to another great college quarterback, but had issues with accuracy and interceptions and eventually lost his starting job and is looking to transfer. Am I talking about Max Wittek or Garrett Gilbert? So why should I be excited about Wittek coming to Texas (as SMU fans were with Gilbert's arrival)? Correct me if I'm wrong but, I can't think of ONE quarterback who sucked at his previous school, transfered to a different school and became a star.
Texas needs to have 4 -5 QB's on the roster at all times Ash is a wild card health wise and the other two have virtually no FSB experience. Strong/Wickline/Watson will have to beat out Patrino for him. He seems like a good fit for Texas.
Doesn't seem like a good fit at all. He left USC because he wasn't the starter. Either he isn't good enough to be the starter or he wants it handed to him or he doesn't like competition and didn't want to fight for the job. Or all 3. We are over-scholar-shipped already. Unless the coaches know Ash will not be back, I bet the let Wittek go and don't offer.
desert, the probability is even if Ash is physically able to play, by the end of fall camp he will hang it up (and for good reason). Neither Swoops or Heard are not ready to lead Texas to a 9 - 10 win season so an experienced QB who is a threat to throw is needed. That win total is needed for the new staff to gain creditability with the fans, recruits and the media. Anything less than 9 wins and real issues are going to come out of the woodwork.
Who says that Swoopes or Heard could not lead the team to a 9 or 10 win season? I think either "could" do that. It remains to be seen. Next year's team will have a tough D to back them up for the entire season, unlike 2013. Both will have a better O line in front with Wickline coaching the line up. Ash had multiply concussions , coming back before he was ready. I wouldn't bet on him being able to withstand the hits he will take for an entire season. His courage and ability are unquestioned, but concussions are tricky, and once a player has had one, the brain is more vulnerable in to shock/injury in the future. At any rate, I think our team will be positioned to win at least 9 games next year. And after that, with Heard or Swoopes more experienced, 11 wins and top ten is on tap.
As I understand, Ash had one concussion. The symptoms would reappear and linger and that is why he wasn't cleared to play and eventually was benched for the year. He has now been cleared and the doctors have said there is no reason he should be any more susceptible to more concussions than before this one. I don't think he is near as fragile as some would think.
I am as optimistic as carryhorn (above) for the same reasons. However, it takes time to coach up the team and to rough out the edges in a new culture. Things will not be running smoothly for the first half of the year. To win near 10 games, you need both the defense and offfense running on all cylinders ASAP. Ash has proven that he can get the offense moving. BUT even if he is back to normal, there will not be any kind of risk put on him if there is even a little dizziness after a "soft" blow to the head. He has proven vulnerable to concussions, and he will be pulled more readily now after last year's episodes. Inexperienced QBs will make mistakes and lose some initial games. There should be a solid attempt to redshirt a raw freshman with no spring camp experience. So it is really up to Swoopes to perform if Ash goes down. There is no evidence in 2013 to indicate that he can start winning right off the bat when he starts. CS has said that he needs 4-5 QB candidates. So it will be Wittek or someone who was not such a blue chip out of high school.
In my opinion, the qb competition should be wide open. Ash should NOT be handed the position even if he's 100%. Even when healthy he has never proven to be consistent as a passer or as a leader of this team from game to game.. He's "adequate". He's not even Chance Mock. I may be one of the few who believe we may not have done much better with him than we did with Case last year. In fact we may have fared worse. We need to take a serious look at ALL the other options. That includes Swoopes, Heard, Wittek if he comes and the walk-on if he comes. If Ash turns out to be the best, so be it. But we may have already seen the best Ash has to offer. And in my opinion, that's not good enough to be the starting quarterback at The University of Texas.
Ash improved each season and stats prior to going out with a concussion in 2013 were decent. Behind a good OL, I believe he would have done well. Ash's experience gives him a definite edge on the others, even Wittek who would not be available until summer. Wittek barely has more experience than Swoopes with only 95 passes attempted (only 26 in 2013) and started just two games (losing both, 2 passing TDs total) which was in 2012 when Barkley was hurt. I'd like to have Wittek as an option but let's not fool ourselves into thinking he is a seasoned starter.
^^ Yes. Ash has far too much of experience compared to any of the others including Wittek. Nobody is "handing" Ash the job, but he will quite easily win the job in fall if he is healthy. I don't know why people don't see that Ash had continued to improve during his time here. I was just beginning to feel that he might be hitting a stride to become very good, when he went down last year. If Ash is not there next year for some reason, I will add an extra 2 to 3 games to the loss column. But we need a Wittek (or even a Bram) to have 3 QBs out there, and be able to redshirt Heard. As Wittek will hardly get a few weeks at Texas before the season starts, it would be pretty hard for him to immediately win the job, but he has the right tools to push Ash, or even win the job if Ash somehow regresses. Also remember that Wittek will be a grad student and will have a bit more time to devote to learning the playbook and being prepared during the season. He himself mentioned this aspect about being a grad student. I think he got a little too much into making sure that he could graduate in 3 years from USC and get the hell out of there ... There was a report yesterday that Pittsburgh also might get into his list, but there is also a 247 report today about a source close to him saying that it won't be surprising if he just decides on us at the visit itself, this weekend, and called off the other places (UL, UH, Pitt). Hope that happens, so that we can go into the next season with one less worry.
His visit went "awesome" and "exceeded his expectations". He seems to be wondering if he should visit other places at all... As of now. The Link (DMN) It looks like all news reports so far are based on the following OB report (obligatory warning - Chip Brown ) The Link
My take was a little different from this quote: "While Wittek said he wouldn't say he's leaning toward Texas, he said he wasn't sure what his plans were for taking visits to Louisville, Hawaii or TCU (other schools he has listed as being under consideration)." Wittek had said earlier that he would probably take a month for his decision. The only thing that he said is: he has no other travel itinerary set yet. He is a psychology major who graduated in 3 years from a major Cal university. His comments show he is "cagey", Although Ash's experience level is above what Wittek has as a green QB and after only looking at his HS highlights, I think that Wittek can beat Ash out for the depth chart. Whether Wittek comes to UT will be based on his ego as to whether he can beat Ash for the starting job and whether there is a degree program not offered by USC that attracts him to UT. My recollection is that the NCAA will allow him to play immediately only if the degree program as a grad student is not available at USC. That is one advantage that UT has over TCU, which seems to be his second choice right now.
I'm predicting that Jerrod Heard will win the starters job for the 2014 season. He's THAT good in all phases of the game. Here's some highlights against the second best HS team in Texas a few weeks ago: The Link
^^^ I would say that EVEN IF he looks capable of winning the starting job, there should be NO THOUGHT of not red-shirting him. There is just no point in letting a true freshman start, as it is simply asking for 3 to 4 losses caused by just that, however good they are. It has been the case with every true freshman, including some of the great ones. The QB position needs a year of red-shirting, and it is an entirely different story after that. This is one thing on which there is a lot of historical data and it is pretty much irrefutable. Why do we even bother to think about throwing Heard out there?
I think you are painting with too broad a brush. I don't agree that your college classification means you lose ANY games automatically. The point at this point is to win the first game, then the second. I have 100% confidence that young Mr. Heard already plays at least a year ahead of other true freshmen. He makes all the throws needed to win every game and his decision making in the games I've watched has been near perfect. I've been saying the same thing for a year and a half now and nothing's changed my mind so far, certainly not your "absolutes" that have no factual evidence to support them. Check back in 192 days.
I've always thought Jerrod sounded and acted like he was older than 17 or 18 and I can't find when his birthday is anywhere. Maybe he repeated a grade or 2 and is sophomore age already. Something's up with that.
I read that UT was the first school to contact him. Makes you wonder what the new coaches think of Ash and Swoops.
Trying to get a 4th QB on the roster does not necessarily reflect negatively on Ash or Swoopes. It reflects more on a concern that Ash might go down (or miss some games), and UT might then stand a little bit better chance of red-shirting Heard. It is more a positive reflection on Heard's abilities and the need to have him around one more year after Ash disappears. I think that CS has already said the he would easily take a conservative Ash (meaning mistake-free over having a flashy QB throwing INTs along with the TDs). If that 4th QB has it in him to compete with Ash, then that just might push Ash to be more conservative to keep his job. Remember that in the class of 2011 as a Pro QB, Ash was ranked #6 and Wittek #3. Trying to get someone like Wittek does not say anything bad about Ash. It just means we will be in a much better shape than what Brown left the team at QB when he left after December.
The new coaching staff most certainly isn't going to hang their hats on Ash and Swoopes. They've watched the tapes by now and they're nervous.
Wittek is on a visit this weekend to U of Hawaii. Unless he does not care about making stats that the NFL will look at, it would seem that they are not a strong candidate. TxTech transfer Michael Brewer is visiting the Hokies this weekend also. It is interesting that VT decided to offer Brewer a visit first before Wittek, who has also been talking to VT now for over 2 weeks. Brewer is Wittek's competition outside of the Big12 because of the TxTech decision for him to sit out a year if he goes to a school in this conference. With the Longhorns in his back pocket, there is no hurry by Wittek. No buzz exists except for TCU and Louisville being the Stronghorns' competition.
He may be deciding between an outside chance at starting at a big time football school and reaching the NFL versus being a sure starter at QB at a smaller school like Hawaii and having an optimal college experience.
If my chances of getting drafted were slim and my choices were probably sitting the bench in Austin or starting in Hawaii.......well, I'd be enjoying some hotties on the beaches in between practices and school.
