Future Forecast: Quarterbacks

Now that the end of the season has come and gone we will take a look at what is next for head coach Tony Levine and staff as they look to finish strong on the recruiting front and get ready for spring football in a few months. With the amount of youth on the field and on the team in general, spring will be very important for the staff to implement new pieces and shore up the depth chart across the team.

The best way to go about this will be to break it down on a position by position basis, so that is how we will do it. Today we will start our series with a look at the most important position for the Cougars this spring, Quarterback.

The struggles at the position were no secret this season and the staff's handling of the position attracted a lot of attention from the fan base. Did they stick with David Piland too long? Would Crawford Jones have done a better job had he started the whole time? What exactly is the status of Bram Kohlhausen? And more were common questions and heated discussions on the message boards this fall. In the end it now seems like most of the key subject from those discussions will not be in the discussion for next season.

Rumors are swirling as to exactly what is to become of Piland, and he and his family will surely sit down and make the best decision for him. In the end he will not be the guy next season at Houston. Jones is graduating and moving onto bigger and better things, namely the gig awaiting him with the Houston Astros. The jury is still out on Kohlhausen and rightfully so, he is only a redshirt freshman and there really is not enough to go by as to his ability to be the next starter or not. He lost time this season with a bicep injury and saw extremely limited time in the SMU loss.

With all of that said the Cougars will head into the spring with Kohlhausen, freshman Rex Dausin and a mid-term JUCO player that is yet to be determined. Butler C.C. signal caller Billy Cosh was in on an official visit this weekend and noted how important it was for him to come in and start immediately in this interview following the visit.. Other notables that Houston is chasing from the JUCO ranks are Jake Waters, who appears to be leaning elsewhere, Tyler Ferguson and at least a couple others we are working to confirm. (You can get a look at the growing list of official visitors here)

The other intangible in all of this is current Cougar commit John O'Korn who remains committed to Houston but is being heavily pursued by other suitors like Wisconsin, Florida State and Penn State to name a few. If the Cougars do in fact hold on the talented O'Korn, then he will most certainly get a serious look in the fall. To be realistic no matter how talented a player is, it is always a struggle getting up to speed and getting ready to start for a program in 90 days. By all means I am not saying it can't happen but the Cougars are wise to be hedging their bets with a mid-term guy and letting them battle it out on the field.

The next major point is going to be at the coaching level. The Cougars will certainly bring someone in on the offensive side of the ball to either co-coordinate the offense with Travis Bush or even outright own the coordinators position with Bush sliding back to running backs coach. Either way there will be a new face at that spot and they will also likely be involved with coaching the quarterbacks. Expect that to happen sooner rather than later for recruiting purposes and in order to prepare for spring.

In the end the offense of the Houston Cougars that will look to get back to where they were two years ago will likely be led by a player not currently on their roster. Not that Levine and company are not aware of the importance of the position in recruiting for this class but moving forward their immediate future will likely be tied to the results at the quarterback position from a player and coaching standpoint.

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