If the advent of the early signing period has favorably altered the dynamic for unsigned quarterbacks leading up to National Signing Day, Los Angeles (Calif.) Brentwood School signal caller Cole Lourd is the poster boy for a lost season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A short list of Lourd’s Twitter followers include former Texas Longhorns offensive coordinators Tim Beck and Mike Yurcich, but after the pandemic shut down spring practice last year and cancelled Lourd’s senior season, the consensus three-star prospect is still looking for a landing spot.
On Monday, LSU extended an offer to Lourd after originally recruiting him as a preferred walk on. Given Lourd’s family ties to Cajun country, the pairing made sense for a quarterback with offers from Florida Atlantic, Idaho, Liberty, Louisiana, and Ole Miss. But Lourd decided to push back his decision.
I will no longer be announcing my commitment later today, and plan on releasing it sometime in the next few days. Thank you for the patience.
— Cole Lourd (@lourdcole) February 4, 2021
Enter Texas. First reported by Mike Scarborough of Tiger Bait and then confirmed by Jason Suchomel of Orangebloods, the Longhorns are looking to add Lourd to the 2021 recruiting class as a preferred walk on who could eventually earn a scholarship.
Texas only has three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster for spring practice this year and while new head coach Steve Sarkisian understands that the days of four or five scholarship quarterbacks is probably a thing of the past, he is still working to add depth. And since graduate transfers want to compete for actual playing time, landing a prospect like Lourd with scholarship upside could be the perfect fit.
247Sports recruiting analyst Greg Biggins watched Lourd at the 2020 Elite 11 regional in Los Angeles and came away impressed:
“Lourd was consistent throughout the camp and threw the ball as well as we’ve seen him. You won’t find many players who work harder on their game and it’s really starting to pay off. He looked very comfortable throwing the entire route tree and his confidence is high right now. He showed touch on the deep ball, is very good throwing on the run, was accurate all camp long and made every throw look easy.
“He has filled out over the last year and looks bigger and stronger and his arm more live as well. He has a tight release and gets the ball out quick. He’s very solid mechanically and has made a nice jump as a player this off-season.”
Lourd plans to announce his decision on Thursday.
With that being said, I will be announcing my commitment later today. https://t.co/6ikkxM2aCE
— Cole Lourd (@lourdcole) February 4, 2021