With spring football in the rearview and summer workouts starting for Tulsa Football last week, the time has come to begin our summer position analysis, beginning with the Golden Hurricane quarterbacks.

Luke Skipper isn’t going to waltz into the job as starting quarterback. After all, players under Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery aren’t given jobs.

As the old John Houseman commercial used to say, “They Earn It.”

With that being said, Skipper is the logical choice to win the quarterback job this fall, although Seth Boomer and Chad President may have something to say about that as well. And that assumes Baylor transfer Zach Smith, who is slated to sit out this year due to NCAA transfer rules, doesn’t somehow become eligible for the 2018 season.

The old-fashioned way of having a quarterback competition is something that is definitely happening for Tulsa in 2018, with Montgomery clearly stating that the position is still open in an interview with Inside Tulsa Sports on May 15.

“We’re still in a quarterback competition state right now, and we will be throughout the summer and as we get into fall camp,” Montgomery said of what is essentially a three-man competition between Skipper, President and Boomer.

“I think those guys have done a good job. I think our quarterback room has really kind of grown and matured. I think they’re pushing each other a little bit and helping each other at the same time. And that’s been a good facilitator about our improvement in that room.”

Quarterback is at the center of all thoughts after coming off a disappointing 2-10 season where quarterback play, understandably, played a significant role in Tulsa’s falling from a 10-3 record in 2016 under TU record-holding quarterback Dane Evans.

Like Evans, Skipper took over midway through a redshirt freshman season and had mixed results in a losing season. Montgomery is hoping that Skipper, like Evans before him, can show marked improvement as a sophomore.

Skipper took over for President, who played well in two early games but then struggled and was benched in game six after falling behind 21-0 at Tulane. Skipper was mostly outstanding when he subbed for President against Tulane, and he had mixed results in his five starts before missing the final game with a concussion.

“I thought Luke carried over some of the things that, obviously, being in the fire like that from year one, are going to allow him some growth and maturity,” Montgomery said of the 6-2, 208-pound Skipper from Forney, Texas. “He did a nice job this spring of really working at his craft, being a better anticipator of what is about to happen, being able to put the ball in precise spots, being able to understand how the defense is changing, and understanding the windows that he has to work.

“I think his growth as a quarterback and our growth at receiver really complimented each other as we went through the spring. Still has a lot of work to do, but I thought Luke had a really productive spring.”

President, the heralded four-star recruit from Temple (TX) that originally committed to Baylor when Montgomery was the offensive coordinator there, had some positive moments, especially running the ball. He rushed for 429 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging an impressive 6.2 yards per carry.