Steve Sarkisian Wants Longhorns QBs Ewers and Card to Learn From Colts Matt Ryan

Steve Sarkisian thinks that Longhorns quarterbacks Quinn Ewers and Hudson Card can learn from something critical from a current NFL star

Matt Galatzan | Apr 17, 2022

If nothing else, Texas Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian is an expert on quarterbacks.

Since his days as the USC quarterbacks coach nearly two decades ago, Sark was always known as a quarterback guy.

The results have shown as well, with Sarkisian helping the likes of Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Tua Tagovailoa to win Heisman Trophies. He also coached Leinart, Tagovailoa, and Mac Jones to win national titles and reach NFL Draft lottery aspirations along with Mark Sanchez and Jake Locker.

To put it simply, when Sark talks quarterbacks, people listen.

As it happens, the Longhorns' current quarterbacks, Quinn Ewers and Hudson Card, are locked into a tight battle for the starting position, with each player trying to pick up anything they can that might give them the edge.

And recently, Sarkisian gave each of them a current NFL player he thought they could benefit from, former Atlanta Falcons and current Indianapolis Colts QB, Matt Ryan.

Ryan, who played under Sarkisian for two seasons when he was the offensive coordinator of the Falcons, and had arguably his best season as a professional, throwing for 4,924 yards and a career-high 35 touchdowns with just seven interceptions, the lowest of his career.

He also completed a career-best 69.4 percent of his passes and had the lowest interception percentage in his 14 seasons.

However, it is not the statistical accomplishments that Sarkisian is trying to bestow on his new quarterbacks, but rather his command in the huddle, and at the line of scrimmage.

“I think that he was kind of trying to try to light a fire under us. Julio Jones is one of the best receivers in the NFL," Ewers said this week. "And when he showed us that Matt Ryan still yells at Julio Jones after all the time they've spent together, I think he's trying to show us that it's okay for us to be vocal because the receivers don't care if you yell at them at the end of the day. I feel like they almost want that.”

As it happens, both quarterbacks lack that experience at the college level.

While Card does have two starts, and few games of experience under his belt, one of the few real knocks against him over the last year has been his propensity to be timid and soft spoken.

Ewers meanwhile, has never taken a snap at the college level. Before leaving Ohio State, Ewers lost the battle for the starting job with eventual Heisman Trophy finalist CJ Stroud, and never saw the field.

In other words, his last live snap came in his junior season at Southlake Carroll.

Either way, Sarkisian believes in his guys.

“I think both of those guys have natural ability to throw the ball," Sarkisian said earlier this spring. "They've got a good feel for coverages and kind of trajectory on balls and where to throw them. I always tell them one play doesn't define your practice. Naturally, things happen — you miss a throw or you miss a read and sometimes that can wear on you as a quarterback. One throw is not going to define who the starter is. We're a work in progress, but they're doing some nice things."

Though both quarterbacks seem to be developing a good rapport with the rest of the offensive personnel through spring football, having command of the offense in-game is a different animal.

And while Sarkisian has yet to make a decision as to which quarterback will ultimately take the opening snap in Week 1 next season, developing that sort of command that he is trying to instill in both players could end up be the tipping point in the competition.

"I think the one thing that I appreciate about both of them is they're both really coachable guys," Sarkisian said. "You guys know I coach that position hard. It's most important position in sports and we need them to operate at a certain level. Both guys have taken to the coaching and are really trying to apply the things that we're coaching them to do."

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Longhorns? Click Here

Want to join in on the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Longhorns Country message board community today!

Follow Longhorns Country on Twitter and Facebook.

Published Apr 17, 2022

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.