On Friday night, Texas will take on Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, with an appearance in the College Football Playoff championship game on the line.
If the Longhorns lose, it may very well be the final game of their starting quarterback’s college career.
In an interview with ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers said he doesn’t expect to play college football next year, offering some clarity to rampant speculation over the highest-profile position at one of the sport’s marquee programs.
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Ewers has been the Longhorns’ starter each of the past three seasons and has another season of eligibility remaining, should he choose to use it.
This season, he has completed 66.5% of his passes for 3,189 yards, 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while leading his team to a 13-2 record and a semifinal appearance. Many of his most important statistics are worse than they were in 2023, when he completed 69% of his passes for 3,479 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions and helped guide the Longhorns to a Big 12 championship and their first College Football Playoff appearance.
Interest in Ewers’ future comes from a number of different angles.
Should he enter the 2025 NFL draft, as he seemingly indicated to ESPN he would, he’s widely regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in the class. If he remains in college, though, there’s a question of whether he would hold on to the starting job at Texas, where redshirt freshman and former five-star recruit Arch Manning has served as his backup the past two seasons, or whether he would enter the transfer portal, where he would immediately become one of the most sought-after quarterbacks available.
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On Dec. 31, On3 Sports reported that Ewers had been offered a $6 million name, image and likeness deal to transfer. The report, which cited unnamed sources, did not name specific schools courting Ewers.
“I think that’s selfish of me to be even thinking about it or looking at that,” Ewers said earlier this week ahead of the Cotton Bowl. “I owe my teammates the best version of me right now. I can’t be looking forward or I’ll trip on the rock that’s sitting right in front of me. I’ve got to be locked in on what’s right here.”
Ewers entered the college game with no shortage of hype. He was the No. 1 overall recruit nationally in the 2021 recruiting class, according to 247 Sports, and is one of the highest-graded quarterback prospects in the history of recruiting websites.
The Southlake, Texas, native began his college career at Ohio State, where he became one of the first college athletes with a known NIL deal. He spent one season serving as a backup to C.J. Stroud with the Buckeyes before transferring after the 2021 season and committing to Texas.
