Texas Football: Key walk-on QB depth added with 3-Star Cole Lourd

On the afternoon of Feb. 3, newly hired head coach Steve Sarkisian put the finishing touches on a largely inherited 2021 Texas football recruiting class to officially round out a roller coaster ride of a cycle on the recruiting trail. Texas rode that roller coaster on the recruiting trail largely under the direction of now former fourth-year head coach Tom Herman.

The Longhorns announced they were parting ways with Herman last month, leading to his replacement in the form of the former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and Broyles Award winner Sark. The hiring of Sark looked to make an immediate big splash on the recruiting trail for the Longhorns, but it didn’t look like it would really take effect until the 2022 class hit center stage.

Nonetheless, National Signing Day went pretty well for Sark and the Longhorns. They were able to pick up a commitment and signing from the former Notre Dame Fighting Irish pledge and blue chip strong-side defensive end David Abiara on the morning of Feb. 3.

And more good news arrived for the Longhorns 2021 signing class in the form of four solid preferred walk on additions to the program. Of those four preferred walk ons Texas landed this week, the most notable was likely the unheralded three-star 6-foot-2 and 220 pound Brentwood School pro-style quarterback Cole Lourd.

What Texas football is getting out of QB Cole Lourd

Texas landed the commitment from the California product Lourd to get a nice depth boost in the quarterback room. Despite a rough run at things in terms of recruiting the quarterback position in the 2021 class, getting a preferred walk on like Lourd could be big for this group on the Forty Acres.

Lourd announced he would be taking his talents to join Sark and the Longhorns on his Twitter timeline on the late afternoon of Feb. 3. Joining Texas was a move that likely surprised some, as Lourd held scholarship offers from 15 different schools.

Some of the highlighting schools on Lourd’s offer sheet included the LSU Tigers, Florida Atlantic Owls, Liberty Flames, Louisiana Ragin-Cajuns, Ole Miss Rebels, Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

It is really incredible that Texas was able to get Lourd as a preferred walk-on over a strong Power Five offer like the one he had from head coach Ed Orgeron and the Tigers.

What Texas is getting out of Lourd is the nation’s No. 1,471 2021 high school prospect, No. 51 pro-style quarterback, and No. 126 prospect out of California (247Sports Composite). And the Top247 ranks him as the No. 45 pro-style quarterback and No. 115 prospect out of California.

Lourd brings a big arm to the table and an underrated elusiveness to evade the pocket when he comes under pressure. He’ll be joining the Longhorns football program along with the former Iowa State Cyclones commit and three-star Austin High pro-style quarterback Charlie Wright.

All in all, Texas didn’t have the worst run at things on National Signing Day. It could’ve been a lot worse given the coaching staff turnover and the inconsistent results that Herman gave Texas on the recruiting trail in the last few months prior to his departure.

According to the 247Sports Team Composite Rankings, the 2021 Texas recruiting class ranks at No. 17 in the nation and remains in the second spot in the Big 12 behind the Oklahoma Sooners. This was the first Texas signing class that ranked outside of the top 10 in the nation since Herman’s first year on campus, back in 2017.