Finding a quarterback in the transfer portal is not a priority, TCU football coach says
TCU football is expected to take its quarterback competition into fall camp. Not the transfer portal.
Coach Sonny Dykes said he hasn’t seen much separation between Max Duggan and Chandler Morris through 13 of 15 spring practices, but he’s seen enough to believe the program’s starting quarterback is already on the roster. Landing a quarterback in the transfer portal is not a priority, Dykes said.
“The biggest takeaway for me is that we have some people who are capable of doing it. That’s the good thing,” Dykes said on Tuesday. “Overall, we feel like we have a good group. That was the big thing for us, come in and look at it and go, ‘OK, do we need to go find somebody? Do we need to look in the portal and try to find somebody? Is the guy that we want not here?’ The good thing is we feel like they’re here. We just have to develop them, get them better, keep working and we’ll see where they take us.”
That doesn’t mean Dykes and his staff won’t continue monitoring the portal for quarterbacks. It’s just not a pressing need given what they’ve seen this spring.
“We’re trying to always get better as a football team,” Dykes said. “If someone can make us better, we’ll take them. I don’t know if that (quarterback position) is necessarily a huge priority at this point.”
Asked jokingly if Tom Brady became available in the portal, Dykes smiled and said: “If Tom Brady enters the portal, we’ll certainly have a conversation with him.”
All joking aside, the QB battle remains open. Tuesday provided another opportunity in which neither quarterback pulled away. Duggan and Morris continue to split first-team reps evenly.
Morris opened the team portion with the first-team, going 3-of-3 passing on the opening series. But he finished his day 5-of-9 passing. Duggan, meanwhile, was 5-of-5 in his first two series and finished 8-of-11 passing.
Third-string quarterback Sam Jackson went 3-of-6, while true freshman Josh Hoover went 2-of-3 passing in his two series.
Dykes had positive things to say about every quarterback afterward.
Duggan has shown an ability to learn the new offense and brings the most experience. He’s started 29 games over the last three seasons, throwing for 2,048 yards with 16 touchdowns to six interceptions last season.
Morris flashed potential in leading TCU to an upset of then-No. 12 Baylor last season. Jackson and Hoover have shown glimpses throughout the spring. At some point, you’d think, one of them will pull away.
“Our goal is to find the best quarterback,” Dykes said. “If it’s two quarterbacks, then great. If it’s three quarterbacks, then great. We’ll try to figure that out. I’ve always been a believer that two quarterbacks means you don’t have one quarterback. At the same time, we’ll see how it plays out.
“We’ve got to try to get it figured out. Reps are really important for that position. The goal is to have a starting quarterback just so you can get them enough reps so they can maximize their abilities and execute the offense at a high level. Are we there yet? I think not. We’ll see how it plays out over the summer.”
Dykes recalled his tenure at Cal and how a true freshman named Jared Goff ended spring ball as the fourth-string quarterback. Goff eventually played his way into becoming the team’s opening day starter as a true freshman, went on to start 37 consecutive games and become the top overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.
“You just don’t know,” Dykes said. “You think you do then there’ll be somebody who has a really good summer, who works really hard, who’s very dedicated, that will gain an advantage. The same thing will happen during fall camp. There’ll be somebody who maximizes their opportunities and somebody who doesn’t. It’ll play out.
“Our job is to figure it out. Like I’ve said, most of the time the players know and I think if you ask the guys right now, they probably don’t know. That’s where we’re at right now.”
Dykes is right. Not even the players know who will become the starter.
Senior wide receiver Taye Barber didn’t name an early favorite following Tuesday’s practice, saying the receiving corps only cares about having a quarterback that throws a ball where “we can get two hands on it.”
“I like all of the quarterbacks,” Barber said. “They all bring something different to the game.”
Eventually, it’ll be narrowed down to one.
HBCU game in Arlington
The Texas Rangers announced this week that Southern University will play Texas Southern University in the Arlington Football Showdown on Sept. 17 at Choctaw Stadium (formerly Globe Life Park). It will be the first Historical Black College and University (HBCU) football classic of the year in North Texas.
Tickets start at $17 and can be purchased at TexasRangers.com/AFS.
This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 10:26 AM.
