Texas has been searching for Colt McCoy's replacement for years. The current hope in Austin is that David Ash is the answer. He’s an above average starter and in his season-opener, he carved up New Mexico State for 343 yards, four touchdowns. He also chipped in another 91 yards on the ground.
However, there’s a perception nationally that Jameis Winston is on a whole ‘nother level. Bo Jackson on Tecmo Bowl greatness could be in his future. Interestingly enough, Winston’s debut shed some light on Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns. Why? Because despite that fact that Winston expressed a desire to play for Texas over his in-state Cimson Tide or Florida State back in high school, Brown opted to look the other way. According to CBS Sports' Bruce Feldman, the transition from Greg Davis To Bryan Harsin offensive coordinators may have affected their potential recruitment of Winston.
Via CBS Sports:
About an hour after I heard from the Texas source, I spoke to Matt Scott, who was Winston's head coach in high school. He told me he called the UT football staff "four or five" times, and one time even spoke to a woman at UT after he tried the main line to the Longhorns football office.
"I said, 'I know you get this call every single day. But lemme tell you, I've got a guy some think is the No. 1 quarterback in the nation. Let me help you. You're gonna want to get this message to the right folks. He's interested in your school,' " Scott recalled telling her.
"She said, 'O.K., I've got it.' "
But Winston nor Scott ever heard from Texas. Scott said it's possible Winston's recruitment got muddled in the transition of Texas going from Greg Davis as UT's outgoing offensive coordinator to Bryan Harsin, who was hired from Boise State in January, 2011.
On Wednesday, Brown explained his reasoning. The ultimate takeaway was that Winston was from Alabama, which isn’t a pipeline state for the Longhorns. That would be understandable if Winston was a three-star recruit, but this is the most hyped prospect since Tim Tebow or Jadeveon Clowney we're talking about. That just sounds lazy.
After missing out on Andrew Luck, Johnny Manziel and RGIII in recent years, Brown better hope that Ash stays hot this season or his hot seat could be vacant by season’s end.
