Tulsa QB Competition: Looking forward to opener at OSU

It will be ironic when either Luke Skipper or Chad President opens the 2017 season as the starter against Oklahoma State, each in their own way.

For Skipper, it goes back to the recruiting process where the Pokes tried to steal him away from Tulsa.

“It was crazy. OSU tried to get in the backdoor, offering right when I was committing to TU after I got home from my visit after watching the ULM game (34-24 TU win in 2015),” Skipper said. “When I got home, I got a call from OSU talking about how they would like to offer me a scholarship. That was a little bit nuts.”

For President, it comes down to a name.

“When you think of them (OSU), you think of the Cowboys, of course, unfortunately, because I don’t like the Dallas Cowboys, don’t at all,” said President, who goes on to explain why he dislikes the closest team to his home town of Temple. “Every day in school, I heard people say the Cowboys are great, they’re going to the Super Bowl. I think just nagging Dallas Cowboys fans is always fun.”

It is possible both will play on opening day, and that the fans and OSU won’t know who the starter will be until the opening snap for TU on offense. Both President and Skipper (a big Dallas Cowboys fan) are confident in Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery and his staff’s ability to make the right decision.

“I feel like we have the best coaches in the nation,” Skipper said. “I’ll tell that to anybody. They’re great at being professional, but we’re all a family. They make that a huge deal, in just day-to-day things. Family is everything.

“I have the utmost confidence in Coach Monty and his decision-making skills, so I’ll leave that up to him. If he wants to play two of us, he’ll play two of us. If not, he won’t. At the end of the day, we just want to win.”

For President, his decision to de-commit from Baylor and go to Tulsa was directly related to Montgomery leaving his position as offensive coordinator at Baylor to accept the head coaching position at TU in 2015. It also helped that Mike Bloesch, TU’s current offensive line coach, was hired as well, since Bloesch coached President in high school from 2011-2013 as Temple High School‘s offensive coordinator.

The impact of Bloesch and Montgomery has been so strong that President wants to coach when his playing days are over, preferably in Texas near where he grew up.

“In high school I met Coach Bloesch, and he’s always been a key part of my life, watching him coach and knowing his passion for it,” President said. “And when I met Coach Monty when I was a sophomore in high school, I saw how much he loved coaching when I used to go up there and see them practice. Being around him and being around other coaches here just gets me ready, and I’m just so prepared for it.”

Also a motivator in wanting to be a coach for President, who is majoring in exercise and sports science, is his father, Monto President.

“My dad coached my pee-wee teams, and I always told him I want to be just like him when I grow up,” President said. “And he always says, ‘I want you to be better than me’.”

The pressure of the quarterback competition, and playing the most visible position in all of sports, is something both Skipper and President are confident in handling.

“Going into high school, I was in exactly the same situation, like identical,” Skipper said of competing for the quarterback job in Forney, Texas, not far from Dallas. “Same grade and everything. It is crazy how things work out.

“The way I dealt with it in high school is just controlling things I can control. Don’t worry about too much. I’m going to do the same thing here. I feel like the trick is just to not even feel like there is a competition. Take every rep as it is, and leave it where it is, and go back and watch film and correct it.”

Most importantly, Skipper relies on his Christian faith. Skipper is even minoring in religion (while majoring in marketing).

“God is good every day. Just keeping things in perspective, that helps,” Skipper said. “I feel like that helps, leaps and bounds, with the pressure.”

President has had to be mentally strong to deal with many things, like battling through injuries that sidelined him for part of the last two seasons (including a medical redshirt in 2016). Also, President has had to wait behind Dane Evans while Evans was setting multiple records at TU.

“You just have to have patience in any process, in anything you do in life,” President said. “It’s just another thing you go through. Me just being patient in waiting my turn and showing coach what I can do.

“My mental process is just getting in the film room and learning what I did wrong and going out the next day and trying not to do that again. If you make the same mistake twice, it’s always a joke on you. I just try to go out there and do the right thing every day.”

In comparing the two quarterbacks, President has the edge in experience, since he got some playing time the last two seasons, while Skipper is redshirt freshman. Also, President, a sophomore, ran virtually the same offense in high school.

“College is a lot faster, of course, but I think knowing the ins and outs of the offense, knowing what the offensive line is supposed to do, knowing what the receivers are supposed to do, knowing where the running backs are supposed to hit the hole, just knowing what everybody is supposed to do gives you that extra confidence,” President explained.

Both President (6-2, 226) and Skipper (6-2, 208) are similar in size, with President being a little heavier, and both are strong, fast runners, although President is known more for his running. Skipper is a little more polished of a passer. Both know they have a lot of room to improve.

“I have so many things I can work on every day,” Skipper said. “My eyes and my feet, just going through my progression, staying calm in the pocket, those are my weaknesses. As far as strengths, just having the confidence to make every throw that they need me to make.”

“I think my strength is running the ball,” President said. “I think my deep ball has always been a strength since I was growing up. And I think just finding that medium and intermediate and short throws is always going to be a weakness of mine, so I try and work on that all the time. Always throwing the ball, trying to get that timing down.”

Montgomery has said that whoever plays, it will come down to who is the most effective. Don’t be surprised if both Skipper and President get a chance to show what they can do this season.