Head Coach Tom Herman is settling in as the man in charge for the Houston Cougars. As spring practice gets underway he’s saying and doing all the things you’d expect a first-year coach to say and do.
Quotes like “we have no depth chart” and “we’re starting with a clean slate” have already been uttered. Whoever had those being said on spring practice day one wins the pool.
But let’s not fool ourselves here, it’s all about the quarterback. Herman likely wouldn’t have not gotten nearly as much hype coming out of Ohio State if he didn’t have the names Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, and Cardale Jones on his resume. Herman left behind what could be the all-time quarterback controversy in Columbus, but he stepped into another one in Houston: Greg Ward, Jr. vs. Adam Schulz.
Let’s take a look at the tale of the tape.
Ward is the returning starter for the Cougars. Ward, who started his Cougar career as a wide receiver, took over for the now-departed John O’Korn halfway through last season and led the Cougars to a mini-resurgence and a win in a bowl game. Ward is known as much, or more, for his ability to use his legs as his arm to create plays. If you are going to compare him to Herman’s former cavalcade of QBs, he’s more of a Braxton Miller-type.
Then there is Schulz. After spending years toiling as a signal caller at Utah, the Wisconsin native decided to take his talents to Texas for a shot at being a full-time starter. Let’s compare him more to Cardale Jones; he can run… if he has too… but is much more comfortable in the pocket. Like Jones, Schulz didn’t become the starter until the last part of the season started and put up big numbers; 1,091 yards passing and six touchdowns in just three games.
If Herman has a player and style in mind, he sure isn’t tipping his hand. Both Ward and Schulz have been getting plenty of reps with the first-team so far in spring practice. But what we do know about who will win the starting job is this: who will get the results. After practice number one Herman said he doesn’t care if he has to run it 60 times or throw it 60 times as long as his team is getting first downs and scoring points.
And Herman is not messing around. After Ward overslept and was late for a team workout a few weeks ago, he took practice reps with the second team. It’s all part of the message. But will we get the message about who is #1 after spring ball?
“Really, that’s up to each player”, Herman said after the first spring practice. “If that person is head and shoulders better, performs better, works harder than the guy behind him, then yeah he’s the clear-cut number one. If not, we’ll continue to battle it out through the summer and training camp.”
So there you have it… but really you don’t. This could go on another five months. That’s great for Houston fans, as long as this doesn’t become a “two-quarterback system”. That simply never works.
There are two things we know for sure: the first being neither of these guys are predicted to set the world on fire. And second, don’t assume this is Ward’s job to lose just because he is the incumbent. He’ll have to earn it with Herman at the helm.
Whoever wins the job it will be interesting to see what “the quarterback whisperer” can do with this crop of QBs.
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