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Tyrone Swoopes or Jerrod Heard. Or does it even matter?
Texas coach Charlie Strong doesn't have great options under center in his second season, assuming we're not about to see one of the great breakout seasons by a quarterback in recent memory. The junior Swoopes was rushed into action last season and with each step forward he seemed to take two backward.
Jerrod Heard watched it all from the sidelines last season as the Longhorns finished the season with two horrific offensive showings to go 6-7. Unable to land a transfer quarterback or lure a recruit with the potential to start right away (incoming Kai Locksley will at least get the chance to compete in fall camp), Strong has Swoopes leading the two-man race following spring practices.
To juice the offense, Strong is implementing an up-tempo scheme that could ultimately play into Heard's strengths.
The coach also maintains that he doesn't need a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback to win big. He needs a leader who can operate the offense, make the right play and keep the ball away from the other team. He cites Chris Leak from his days at Florida and former Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, now with the Minnesota Vikings, when Strong led that program to wild success two seasons ago.
Strong hasn't sounded too concerned about his quarterback situation. Of course who knows what he might be thinking privately as he studies films of his two unproven quarterbacks.
So can Strong start to turnaround this Texas program without a heavy hitter under center?
In all likelihood, we're five months from starting to find out the answer.
