Comfortable and confident, Quinn Ewers looks ready as Texas preseason football camp kicks off

Whether it’s the bleached hair that Quinn Ewers sported at Southlake Carroll High School, the mullet he brought to Austin in 2022 after a year at Ohio State, or the viral weight-room photo earlier this summer, it seems no one can stop talking about the way Texas' starting quarterback looks.

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But on the opening day of preseason practice Wednesday at the blistering Frank Denius Fields on the UT campus, coaches — and, for 20 minutes or so, the media — finally got a chance to see how Ewers, well, looks alongside all his 2023 teammates.

And head coach Steve Sarkisian wasn’t paying attention to the new buzz cut that seems to fit with Ewers’ slimmed-down physique.

“I didn't mind the mullet,” Sarkisian said with a shrug after the practice. “Quinn played really, really well (today). One of the better practices he's had since I've been here.”

Talent, expectations both raised for Texas

Playing well means different things for each player in Texas’ quarterback room. Presumed backup Maalik Murphy enters his second season on campus but has yet to throw a collegiate pass after recovering from an injury incurred as a senior at his California high school. True freshman and prized recruit Arch Manning just turned 18 in April and still has the biggest learning curve among all of the Longhorns' signal callers. Austin High graduate Charles Wright has carved out his niche as a savvy veteran who may lack the blue-chip talent of his teammates but boasts an elite understanding of the game.

But Ewers enters the preseason with a different set of expectations, since Sarkisian declared him the unquestioned starter in the spring. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound sophomore threw for 2,177 yards and 15 touchdowns in 10 starts a year ago, including 369 yards and a touchdown on 31-of-47 passing in a 27-20 loss to Washington in the Alamo Bowl.

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Even more is expected this season for a quarterback named to the preseason watch list for the Maxwell Award, which honors the nation’s top player. And those highest of expectations extend to the rest of the team, which is favored to win its first Big 12 title since 2009.

But Sarkisian knows achieving those big goals begins with the little things — including the first drills of the 2023 season at Wednesday’s practice.

“I just think the ball was coming out timely,” said Sarkisian, who himself was a star quarterback at BYU. “When we got a little off schedule, (Ewers) moved really well in the pocket and kept his vision up downfield and was able to make throws kind of off platform on the move, which is something that we've really been working on in the offseason coming off of last year.

“And when things weren't there, he was finding completions, he was finding check-downs. So, it was just a clean practice for him. There weren't forced throws, he wasn't throwing into coverage. He didn't get stuck holding the ball because he didn't know where to go with it. It just felt like he operated at a high level.”

Comfort level evident for Ewers

Ewers may lack the physical presence of the 6-5, 240-pound Murphy, and he’s not an NFL prototype like the 6-4, 215-pound Manning. But on Wednesday, he flashed the quick release and golden arm that made him the nation’s top quarterback recruit coming out of Southlake Carroll, even after he reclassified as a high school senior in 2020 to graduate early and enroll at Ohio State.

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It’s been a year-and-a-half since Ewers transferred to Texas, and offensive coordinator Kyle Flood says the quarterback’s performance on the field and in the locker room reflects his familiarity with his teammates, coaches and campus.

“I think he’s really just his comfort level with everything around him,” Flood said. “You know, it's hard to go from being a high school junior to being a college freshman in the blink of an eye at a place where maybe you don't really know as many people as you'd like to know. And then a semester later, he's at Texas and meets a whole other new group of people with a new system. And then, all of a sudden, now he's in his first year, he's the starting quarterback, and he's got to do all that.

“I think everything's just more comfortable from a football standpoint, from a personal standpoint. And now we're starting to see his real leadership qualities come out. And that's exciting for us as an offense and as a team. When the offense has a focal point leader like Quinn, I think he can drive the coaches’ message on a daily basis and in the locker room when we're not with him, and we'll be better because of that.”

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Back to the much-discussed variety of looks that Ewers has donned during his short time at Texas. When Ewers joined the other quarterbacks in that weight-room photo, Sarkisian couldn't have cared less about pectoral muscles, defined abs or hairstyles. Instead, he immediately noticed the grins on his quarterbacks’ faces.

“You see those types of pictures and you don't feel like guys are like this,” he said, bumping his fists together.

Sarkisian then spread his arms out, as if he wanted to hug the reporters crowded into an interview room at the Moncrief Athletic Complex adjacent to Royal-Memorial Stadium.

“You want to see them like this,” Sarkisian said. “And, inevitably, that's the strength of that room and that ultimately starts to permeate amongst your team. Your team is playing as one, as ‘we’ not as ‘me.’ And I think that picture kind of signifies that.

“Maalik’s got a great personality. You know, he's a very personable guy. The guys really enjoy him. I think he's brought out a lot of personality in Quinn. Archie has a great personality as well, and Charles. And so I think the guys have a lot of fun working together. And that's kind of what it's all about.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: QB Quinn Ewers off to fast start at Texas preseason football camp