Sam Ehlinger takes pride in earning status as face of Texas football
By Stewart Mandel Apr 12, 2019
24
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas coach Tom Herman calls Sam Ehlinger “Mister Austin.” He first got a taste of the homegrown quarterback’s local stardom during their first spring together two years ago, when UT celebrity fan Matthew McConaughey paid a visit to the quarterbacks’ meeting room.
Upon seeing Ehlinger, McConaughey said, “Hey, I know you,” recalled Herman. “And he goes, ‘Do well,’ or something like that. And then, ‘Oh, Lance (Armstrong) said to say hello.’ ”
“Who is this guy?!” Herman thought to himself.
Ehlinger, as he soon found out, is a mature and charismatic leader seemingly destined to become the savior quarterback for his childhood team. After a rocky freshman season in 2017 spent splitting time with Shane Buechele (now at SMU), the former Austin Westlake standout not only seized control of the job as a sophomore but quietly established himself as one of the nation’s top dual-threat QBs. In leading the Longhorns to their first 10-win season in nearly a decade, Ehlinger threw for 3,296 yards, 25 touchdowns and five interceptions, while rushing for an additional 16 TDs.
“Because we were rebuilding, because he had a pretty average freshman year by his and our standards, people don’t realize how well Ehlinger performed,” said Herman. “Statistically, that’s an unbelievable season.”
Herman can recite one particular stat by heart. Ehlinger became just the sixth Power 5 quarterback to both throw for at least 25 touchdowns and run for at least 15. The other five — Tim Tebow (2007), Cam Newton (2010), Johnny Manziel (2012), Marcus Mariota (2014) and Lamar Jackson (2016 and ’17) — all won the Heisman Trophy.
Ehlinger’s physical running style helped offset Texas’ still-limited backfield, while his Big 12-record 308 consecutive passes without an interception helped guide the Horns to six one-score victories during the regular season. His completion percentage jumped from 57.5 as a freshman to 64.7 as a sophomore.
“College football is a lot different than high school, and when you’re kind of thrown into the fire, it’s a really tough situation,” said Ehlinger. “A better understanding of the game and the speed of the game, and knowing what to expect from opposing teams, really helped me in my sophomore year develop into more of who I am as a quarterback.”
And so, this spring, Mr. Austin is fully embracing his newfound status as the face of the program, whether commanding his teammates in practice or needling Texas A&M on Twitter. He’ll surely draw the biggest cheers at Saturday night’s Texas spring game.
As a sixth-grader, Ehlinger attended former Horns star and childhood hero Colt McCoy’s youth camp in Austin. Eight years later, McCoy stopped by a recent Texas practice to watch and admire the Horns’ first true star quarterback since … well, himself.
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“It’s cool to see him grow up. It makes me feel old,” said McCoy, now an NFL veteran. “The thing I love the most about watching him from afar is he has an ability to fire them up. He just plays with that intensity, where he’ll run somebody over, then throw for a touchdown.”
The hallways in Texas’ football offices are already lined with framed pictures of the Longhorns’ Sugar Bowl upset of then-No. 5 Georgia. That 28-21 victory, coming on the heels of a Big 12 championship game appearance, was a cathartic moment for a fan base that’s suffered through a decade of unexpected mediocrity. But Ehlinger’s season-long ascension was arguably even more significant.
In the eight seasons following McCoy’s heartbreaking injury in the Horns’ 2009 national title game defeat against Alabama, the quarterback position at Texas become a national punchline. Its fans suffered through not just the struggles of Garrett Gilbert, Case McCoy and Tyrone Swoopes, but the indignity of watching a string of Mack Brown’s passed-over recruits (Andrew Luck, Manziel, J.T. Barrett) and homegrown exports (Nick Foles, Baker Mayfield) excel elsewhere.
Ehlinger finally broke the drought and became the source of pride Texas has so desperately craved. But it’s that much more special that the guy who did it spent his childhood Saturdays in the stands at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. He committed to play for former coach Charlie Strong more than two years before his first college game.
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Sam Ehlinger
✔@sehlinger3
https://twitter.com/sehlinger3/status/626170563417894912
Been a Longhorn since day one, I'm truly blessed to say I am committed to the University of Texas. #hookem
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“The only people who know about the pressures of playing at UT are the guys who’ve done it before,” said McCoy. “What he had to deal with that I didn’t have is he’s the hometown hero. He played at the local high school, now he’s playing at the big-time college. The expectations for him are crazy.”
One week into last season, there were understandable doubts whether Ehlinger would ever meet them. McCoy watched from a suite at Washington’s FedEx Field as Texas suffered its second consecutive season-opening defeat to Maryland, 34-29. Ehlinger went just 21-for-39 and threw two late interceptions.
“A lot of people, I’m sure, could have watched that game and said, ‘Oh, this is the same Sam, same Texas, same everything. What’s changed?’ ” said Herman. “And I think in years past, even the locker room might have turned on something like that. But they believed in him, we believed in him. You saw him get better.”
Ehlinger says he found his groove starting in Week 4 with a 31-16 win against TCU in which he sealed the game on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Herman said the quarterback, who initially looked to take off and run, likely would not have attempted the third-down throw as a freshman.
Two weeks later, Ehlinger had his true breakout performance: 24 of 35 for 314 yards and two TDs passing plus 19 rushes for 72 yards and three scores in the Horns’ 48-45 Red River upset of No. 7 Oklahoma. The Sooners got revenge in the Big 12 title game — with OU’s fourth-quarter sack of Ehlinger for a safety one of the turning points — but the quarterback ended the season rushing for three touchdowns and running away from Georgia.
“It was a huge momentum swing for our program, knowing that we can compete and beat the best teams in the country,” Ehlinger said of the Sugar Bowl triumph.
While Herman may be the $5 million-a-year coach charged with restoring Texas to glory, Ehlinger is the unquestioned leader in the locker room carrying out the coaches’ message.
“Sam’s a guy you want to listen to,” said senior receiver Collin Johnson. “He’s carried himself like a senior for the last two years. It’s just the way he’s wired. He kind of has that alpha male-like mentality.”
That swagger is also starting to show itself on social media. Last month, he went on a bit of a tweet storm in voicing his support for a proposal by North Carolina congressman Mark Walker to allow college athletes to be compensated for use of their name, image and likeness. In wading into the ever-polarizing pay-for-play debate, Ehlinger garnered no shortage of backlash for describing college athletics as a “full-time unpaid internship.”
Sam Ehlinger
✔@sehlinger3
· Mar 7, 2019
Consider a full-time unpaid internship that requires 1-4 years of participation, with a minimum 40-hour work week. This internship generates millions of dollars for your company, and billions of dollars for the broadcasting companies that cover your industry.
Sam Ehlinger
✔@sehlinger3
Within this internship, you risk your short-term and long-term health on a daily basis. You endure this internship with less than a 2% chance to advance in your industry and obtain a full-time paid job.
2,047
5:31 PM - Mar 7, 2019
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484 people are talking about this
Ehlinger says he was simply reacting to an article with no real agenda, but he does realize his message gets amplified thanks to his platform.
“I’m always going to voice my opinion,” he said. “I think that people take it into stronger consideration just because my platform has grown. But I’m not one to say, OK, now I have this platform and now I’m going to use the voice. I will always voice my opinion.”
As for the backlash: “I don’t really necessarily look at responses on Twitter. I don’t really care what homeboy with six followers has to say.”
Twitter was not yet a thing back when Ehlinger was watching Vince Young in the Rose Bowl and dreaming of one day following in his footsteps. But nearly everything else about 2019 — wearing the burnt orange jersey, representing Texas, playing at DKR and, of course, winning games — is exactly what he envisioned he’d one day be doing as a Longhorn quarterback.
“I don’t think I’ll ever capture the fact that I’m living my (childhood) dream,” said Ehlinger. “… I think it’ll be a couple years down the road before I look back and be like, wow, that was really cool. But obviously, we still have a lot to prove, and a lot to do here. So I’m not content yet.”
By Stewart Mandel Apr 12, 2019
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas coach Tom Herman calls Sam Ehlinger “Mister Austin.” He first got a taste of the homegrown quarterback’s local stardom during their first spring together two years ago, when UT celebrity fan Matthew McConaughey paid a visit to the quarterbacks’ meeting room.
Upon seeing Ehlinger, McConaughey said, “Hey, I know you,” recalled Herman. “And he goes, ‘Do well,’ or something like that. And then, ‘Oh, Lance (Armstrong) said to say hello.’ ”
“Who is this guy?!” Herman thought to himself.
Ehlinger, as he soon found out, is a mature and charismatic leader seemingly destined to become the savior quarterback for his childhood team. After a rocky freshman season in 2017 spent splitting time with Shane Buechele (now at SMU), the former Austin Westlake standout not only seized control of the job as a sophomore but quietly established himself as one of the nation’s top dual-threat QBs. In leading the Longhorns to their first 10-win season in nearly a decade, Ehlinger threw for 3,296 yards, 25 touchdowns and five interceptions, while rushing for an additional 16 TDs.
“Because we were rebuilding, because he had a pretty average freshman year by his and our standards, people don’t realize how well Ehlinger performed,” said Herman. “Statistically, that’s an unbelievable season.”
Herman can recite one particular stat by heart. Ehlinger became just the sixth Power 5 quarterback to both throw for at least 25 touchdowns and run for at least 15. The other five — Tim Tebow (2007), Cam Newton (2010), Johnny Manziel (2012), Marcus Mariota (2014) and Lamar Jackson (2016 and ’17) — all won the Heisman Trophy.
Ehlinger’s physical running style helped offset Texas’ still-limited backfield, while his Big 12-record 308 consecutive passes without an interception helped guide the Horns to six one-score victories during the regular season. His completion percentage jumped from 57.5 as a freshman to 64.7 as a sophomore.
“College football is a lot different than high school, and when you’re kind of thrown into the fire, it’s a really tough situation,” said Ehlinger. “A better understanding of the game and the speed of the game, and knowing what to expect from opposing teams, really helped me in my sophomore year develop into more of who I am as a quarterback.”
And so, this spring, Mr. Austin is fully embracing his newfound status as the face of the program, whether commanding his teammates in practice or needling Texas A&M on Twitter. He’ll surely draw the biggest cheers at Saturday night’s Texas spring game.
As a sixth-grader, Ehlinger attended former Horns star and childhood hero Colt McCoy’s youth camp in Austin. Eight years later, McCoy stopped by a recent Texas practice to watch and admire the Horns’ first true star quarterback since … well, himself.
View image on Twitter
Sam Ehlinger
✔@sehlinger3
https://twitter.com/sehlinger3/status/1116447453912412186
Childhood Hero
7,015
3:06 PM - Apr 11, 2019
921 people are talking about this
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“It’s cool to see him grow up. It makes me feel old,” said McCoy, now an NFL veteran. “The thing I love the most about watching him from afar is he has an ability to fire them up. He just plays with that intensity, where he’ll run somebody over, then throw for a touchdown.”
The hallways in Texas’ football offices are already lined with framed pictures of the Longhorns’ Sugar Bowl upset of then-No. 5 Georgia. That 28-21 victory, coming on the heels of a Big 12 championship game appearance, was a cathartic moment for a fan base that’s suffered through a decade of unexpected mediocrity. But Ehlinger’s season-long ascension was arguably even more significant.
In the eight seasons following McCoy’s heartbreaking injury in the Horns’ 2009 national title game defeat against Alabama, the quarterback position at Texas become a national punchline. Its fans suffered through not just the struggles of Garrett Gilbert, Case McCoy and Tyrone Swoopes, but the indignity of watching a string of Mack Brown’s passed-over recruits (Andrew Luck, Manziel, J.T. Barrett) and homegrown exports (Nick Foles, Baker Mayfield) excel elsewhere.
Ehlinger finally broke the drought and became the source of pride Texas has so desperately craved. But it’s that much more special that the guy who did it spent his childhood Saturdays in the stands at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. He committed to play for former coach Charlie Strong more than two years before his first college game.
View image on Twitter
Sam Ehlinger
✔@sehlinger3
https://twitter.com/sehlinger3/status/626170563417894912
Been a Longhorn since day one, I'm truly blessed to say I am committed to the University of Texas. #hookem
1,953
5:21 PM - Jul 28, 2015
973 people are talking about this
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“The only people who know about the pressures of playing at UT are the guys who’ve done it before,” said McCoy. “What he had to deal with that I didn’t have is he’s the hometown hero. He played at the local high school, now he’s playing at the big-time college. The expectations for him are crazy.”
One week into last season, there were understandable doubts whether Ehlinger would ever meet them. McCoy watched from a suite at Washington’s FedEx Field as Texas suffered its second consecutive season-opening defeat to Maryland, 34-29. Ehlinger went just 21-for-39 and threw two late interceptions.
“A lot of people, I’m sure, could have watched that game and said, ‘Oh, this is the same Sam, same Texas, same everything. What’s changed?’ ” said Herman. “And I think in years past, even the locker room might have turned on something like that. But they believed in him, we believed in him. You saw him get better.”
Ehlinger says he found his groove starting in Week 4 with a 31-16 win against TCU in which he sealed the game on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Herman said the quarterback, who initially looked to take off and run, likely would not have attempted the third-down throw as a freshman.
Two weeks later, Ehlinger had his true breakout performance: 24 of 35 for 314 yards and two TDs passing plus 19 rushes for 72 yards and three scores in the Horns’ 48-45 Red River upset of No. 7 Oklahoma. The Sooners got revenge in the Big 12 title game — with OU’s fourth-quarter sack of Ehlinger for a safety one of the turning points — but the quarterback ended the season rushing for three touchdowns and running away from Georgia.
“It was a huge momentum swing for our program, knowing that we can compete and beat the best teams in the country,” Ehlinger said of the Sugar Bowl triumph.
While Herman may be the $5 million-a-year coach charged with restoring Texas to glory, Ehlinger is the unquestioned leader in the locker room carrying out the coaches’ message.
“Sam’s a guy you want to listen to,” said senior receiver Collin Johnson. “He’s carried himself like a senior for the last two years. It’s just the way he’s wired. He kind of has that alpha male-like mentality.”
That swagger is also starting to show itself on social media. Last month, he went on a bit of a tweet storm in voicing his support for a proposal by North Carolina congressman Mark Walker to allow college athletes to be compensated for use of their name, image and likeness. In wading into the ever-polarizing pay-for-play debate, Ehlinger garnered no shortage of backlash for describing college athletics as a “full-time unpaid internship.”
Sam Ehlinger
✔@sehlinger3
· Mar 7, 2019
Consider a full-time unpaid internship that requires 1-4 years of participation, with a minimum 40-hour work week. This internship generates millions of dollars for your company, and billions of dollars for the broadcasting companies that cover your industry.
Sam Ehlinger
✔@sehlinger3
Within this internship, you risk your short-term and long-term health on a daily basis. You endure this internship with less than a 2% chance to advance in your industry and obtain a full-time paid job.
2,047
5:31 PM - Mar 7, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
484 people are talking about this
Ehlinger says he was simply reacting to an article with no real agenda, but he does realize his message gets amplified thanks to his platform.
“I’m always going to voice my opinion,” he said. “I think that people take it into stronger consideration just because my platform has grown. But I’m not one to say, OK, now I have this platform and now I’m going to use the voice. I will always voice my opinion.”
As for the backlash: “I don’t really necessarily look at responses on Twitter. I don’t really care what homeboy with six followers has to say.”
Twitter was not yet a thing back when Ehlinger was watching Vince Young in the Rose Bowl and dreaming of one day following in his footsteps. But nearly everything else about 2019 — wearing the burnt orange jersey, representing Texas, playing at DKR and, of course, winning games — is exactly what he envisioned he’d one day be doing as a Longhorn quarterback.
“I don’t think I’ll ever capture the fact that I’m living my (childhood) dream,” said Ehlinger. “… I think it’ll be a couple years down the road before I look back and be like, wow, that was really cool. But obviously, we still have a lot to prove, and a lot to do here. So I’m not content yet.”
