Why Texas football didn’t offer Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts

The Super Bowl will feature two quarterbacks that formerly played for Big 12 foes of Texas football within the last half-decade. Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Jalen Hurts is leading the Philadelphia Eagles into a battle against former Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hurts and Mahomes both found a lot of success in the Big 12, at least statistically speaking. Both quarterbacks also played in the Big 12 while the Longhorns were going through a down period at the position.

The quarterback position was largely a revolving door on the Forty Acres throughout the 2010s, at least until Sam Ehlinger started to find more success leading this program from 2018-2020.

Why didn’t Texas football offer either Jalen Hurts or Patrick Mahomes out of high school?

So, if Texas was struggling so much at the quarterback position, why didn’t the former coaching staffs in Austin recruit in-state talents such as Mahomes and Hurts?

Mahomes and Hurts both have some connections to the Longhorns dating back to each of their respective recruitments out of high school in the mid-2010s.

Texas tried to offer Patrick Mahomes as a safety

I will say that Texas’ ties to Mahomes on the recruiting trail look to have ended pretty fast. There was a point in time when Texas was scouting Mahomes in the 2014 class.

It just wasn’t to play the quarterback position. Former Texas head coach Mack Brown apparently tried to offer Mahomes as a safety when he visited Austin and worked out for the Longhorns around his sophomore year in high school.

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Mahomes has made it quite clear in the years since that happened that he didn’t take too well to that. And looking back on the idea of Brown and the Longhorns trying to offer him as a safety, it obviously doesn’t seem too smart in hindsight.

He mentioned in an interview a couple of years ago that the Texas visit where he worked out as a safety even made him consider quitting football at one point to pursue a career in basketball and/or baseball.

Mahomes also specifically said in 2017 that Texas offering him as a safety “let’s me know they don’t watch film”.

There wasn’t much communication that took place between the Longhorns and Mahomes after that visit. He wound up getting a handful of other Big 12 offers from schools like Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Baylor, among others.

We all know what happened from there. Mahomes went on to have a sparkling career statistically at Texas Tech under the former Red Raiders head coach Kliff Kingsbury. And while Texas Tech didn’t find a ton of success in the win column, Mahomes still had a great collegiate career where he ultimately ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in career passing yards, adjusted yards per passing attempt, and passing touchdowns.

Texas prioritizes Shane Buechele as a recruit over Jalen Hurts

The connection that Texas had on the recruiting trail in the 2016 class was more pronounced with Hurts than Brown’s staff had with Mahomes. While the pursuit of Mahomes on the recruiting trail as part of the 2014 class essentially ended after that visit where Texas ultimately thought about offering him as a safety, Hurts was a legitimate quarterback evaluation for the Longhorns.

A report from Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman in 2019 indicates that Texas was considering offering Hurts in the 2016 class. There was interest from both parties involved here as former Texas head coach Charlie Strong found Hurts as a good fit in his offense.

Hurts was also in admiration of the Texas program growing up, as he idolized legendary Longhorns quarterback Vince Young for his performance in the 2006 Rose Bowl Game.

"Hurts’ fascination with Texas stemmed from watching the Longhorns’ 2005 run to the national championship when he was just 7 years old.“I liked Vince Young, great player,” Hurts said with his customary brevity before being asked for specifics. “He’s a winner, and he made plays.”"

And it really looked like Texas was going to be in a spot to offer Hurts as he attended a camp where he worked out for the Longhorns’ staff around his junior year in high school. But an injury that he suffered within the year prior to his Texas visit and workout ultimately held him back.

Texas’ staff then prioritized the recruitment of the fellow former four-star dual-threat quarterback Shane Buechele over Hurts. Buechele got the Texas offer following that visit for both him and Hurts. And he wound up becoming the priority quarterback recruit in the Longhorns 2016 class.

Meanwhile, the Alabama Crimson Tide and legendary head coach Nick Saban liked what they saw from Hurts coming out of high school. Alabama wound up being the first offer that Hurts received after that trip he took to Texas in 2014. From there, the rest was history.

Alabama secured the commitment of Hurts in their 2016 class. He would end up leading the Tide to a couple of title runs before transferring to Oklahoma ahead of the 2019 season. Hurts finished second in the Heisman voting in 2019 behind the former LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow after a sensational campaign where he racked up well over 5,000 total yards, 53 total touchdowns, and just eight interceptions.

Texas suffered a lost decade at the quarterback position

In hindsight, Texas clearly missed on quite a few top-tier quarterback recruits that were interested in playing for the Longhorns at one time. Mahomes and Hurts are in a group that also includes Johnny Manziel, Baker Mayfield, Robert Griffin III, etc. among those that Texas didn’t recruit all that hard that wound up having tremendous collegiate careers at other schools.

The latter three quarterbacks there even went on to win the Heisman one time each.

Hurts will be looking to win his first Super Bowl ring on Feb. 12, which would also be the second title for the Eagles in the last five years. Meanwhile, Mahomes will be seeking his second Super Bowl with the Chiefs in his NFL career.