TCU’s Cumbie will look at more than numbers in quarterback race

The toughest job in TCU’s fall camp might belong to Sonny Cumbie.

He has to choose the next quarterback.

“I’m excited by the challenge of it,” the Horned Frogs co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach said Wednesday, a day before the team began practice. “Just because you’re stepping into something completely different than what you’ve had the last two years.”

Two years ago, Cumbie and co-offensive coordinator Doug Meacham went with Trevone Boykin in a competition over Matt Joeckel. Boykin rewarded them with two record-setting seasons in Fort Worth.

This year, the contenders are former Southlake Carroll state champion and Texas A&M transfer Kenny Hill and 6-foot-5 sophomore Foster Sawyer, a strong-armed passer.

Cumbie and Meacham must make the right call again if TCU is to live up to early expectations, which include being picked second in the Big 12 media poll and ranked No. 14 in the Amway USA Today Coaches Poll released Thursday.

Cumbie will crunch the numbers. He’ll watch tape, study footwork and notice demeanor. But some of the competition will come down to simply the eyeball test.

“In the scrimmages, how well do we move the ball? How do they battle back when they’ve thrown an interception? Do they stop the momentum when things are going against us? Do they have that ability?” Cumbie said. “Those are some of the things you can gauge through the course of a week and a half, two weeks. We’ll be able to figure that out.”

The quarterbacks have different skills. Hill is more mobile and was a skilled runner in high school. Sawyer is taller and has an arm as strong as advertised.

But those aren’t the only skills that matter. As the Horned Frogs operate Meacham’s Air Raid offense, the ability of the quarterbacks to function quickly play after play becomes just as important.

“One of the things that Foster did a really good job of is, they played in an uptempo offense in high school, and he does a great job of pushing tempo, communicating quickly and getting the ball snapped,” Cumbie said. “He does a really good job of that. And some of Kenny’s ad-libbing, he does a really nice job of that.”

Cumbie said he has been encouraged by Sawyer’s development since the Oklahoma game last season in which he threw three interceptions. It was his first career start, and he was pulled for Bram Kohlhausen.

“Very tough situation for a redshirt freshman to go in and start your first game on the road in Norman, and he really learned form that,” Cumbie said. “He challenged himself this off-season, spring and summer.”

In Hill, Cumbie sees a player with clear talent but who has had a long layoff from competition. It has been since October 2014 that Hill played in live action.

“For him, it’s a process, too, of knocking the rust off and for us as coaches to be patient,” Cumbie said. “It’s footwork and technique, cleaning that up. He’s all over the place with his footwork and hopping around. And that’s really the one thing that would get him in trouble, was his feet and his base. Still working on that.”

But there is no questioning the ability. There were times when it was obvious, Cumbie said.

“There’s a couple times in the spring where he could elude guys in the pocket and make some really exceptional throws,” Cumbie said.

Now the competition has to play out. Cumbie and Meacham will have to make their choice.

“What they do better than one another, probably at the end of the day is going to cancel out,” Cumbie said. “Just because we’ll still be able to run the quarterback if Foster’s the quarterback, and we’re still going to be able to throw vertical if Kenny’s the quarterback.

“Those are the things that, as the season goes on, will play themselves out a little bit. But really, I don’t think it will be an advantage one way or another.”

This story was originally published August 4, 2016 at 4:38 PM with the headline "TCU’s Cumbie will look at more than numbers in quarterback race."