Tyrone Swoopes will finish the 2014 season as the starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, but there are no guarantees come next year. Throughout the season, Swoopes has been the epitome of inconsistent.
He was nothing special in his first few starts and a signature win against UCLA may have helped his case but fell short. However, the coaching staff was quick to write off those wins as just getting acclimated to the system. He then showed up in a big way in the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma with 384 total yards and 3 touchdowns. But again, the efforts just were not enough. In his last three games though, his inconsistency has been put in the spotlight averaging 153 ypg and a 47% completion rate. The inconsistency and struggles of Tyrone Swoopes have led to the conversation of who may be the signal caller for the Longhorns in the coming year.
He will have a year of experience under his belt, but Jerrod Heard will be coming off his redshirt and highly touted recruit Zach Gentry will also be entering the mix. This cluster of quarterbacks will set the stage for Swoopes to compete for the job again and that is exactly the way quarterback coach Shawn Watson likes it.
"In our program, the way it always well be, is we'll compete every spring, every winter, every position there will be a job open for somebody,” Watson said. “So Ty will have to continue to work and grow himself."
Watson made it clear in his Tuesday interview that the Longhorns are on a journey to find a championship quarterback. Whether it is Swoopes or Heard or Gentry, Watson wants the best available talent under center.
“You're looking for the best and what you need in your room – every room, but quarterback obviously most importantly I think in this business – you've got to have competition,” Watson said. “You've got to have guys competing and we've gotten the hand dealt us, but as we grow the program it's our job to improve the hand dealt us and that's our No. 1 task right now is to make sure that room has a lot of competition in it and I'd like to have guys in there who are after each other.”
Right now the focus for Texas is to have Swoopes lead them to a bowl game, but it is clear that the quest to find their signal caller is a process in the making.
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