Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports
In news that should surprise few who follow the Texas Longhorns football program closely, reports have surfaced sophomore quarterback Connor Brewer has elected to transfer. According to reports, Brewer has already notified the Texas coaching staff of his intentions and a formal announcement will be made as soon as Wednesday by the program.
Brewer was lodged firmly behind incumbent starter David Ash, backup Case McCoy and phenom newcomer Tyrone Swoopes, who, with a dynamic spring game performance and outstanding set of practices in the spring should see time somewhere on the field in 2013. Things were not helped when Brewer was cited with a Minor In Possession ticket on the Texas campus back in February after being caught with alcohol in his dorm room.
In seeing Swoopes’ emergence this spring it was obvious to us that Brewer had one foot off the Forty Acres before the summer ever arrived. It has nothing much to do with Brewer’s talent level. By almost all accounts, he was dynamic, fluid and dominating during his time as one of the best high school quarterbacks in the history of the state of Arizona at Chaparral High in Paradise Valley.
Brewer was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and made a calculated risk to try and win a job at Texas that is always a challenge to win even when competition isn’t nearly as stiff as it is now with a three-deep pool of quarterbacks that is as good as any in the Big 12 Conference if not all of college football. Transfers are hardly a rarity at Texas and are just a part of the process. Attrition is built in to some extent to ensure the damage is minimal.
There’s no denying Brewer’s talent, and guys like him tend to land on their feet. Texas isn’t a program to play the withholding game as we’ve seen in other instances this off-season — most notably at Oklahoma State where Mike Gundy initially restricted the options for departing quarterback Wes Lunt. Brewer is Division I caliber, so it’s most likely he’ll take his year away from the game and land at a Division I program somewhere on the West Coast next season.
This is just a hunch, obviously, but guys that transfer rarely land too far from home at their second destinations. I’m sure either the Arizona Wildcats or Arizona State Sun Devils would complain much if they were Brewer’s new home in 2014.
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Kris Hughes is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. You can follow Kris on Twitter, Google and Facebook
