Colton Corner’s: Where does Texas State go after quarterback debacle?

To say the last two weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions is, quite frankly, an understatement.

Wednesday marked what can be assumed to be the end of the on-going quarterback saga, as Texas State University announced transfer quarterback Jayden de Laura had withdrawn from the university and was no longer with the football team.

De Laura’s commitment to play football at Texas State was mired in controversy. The former Arizona and Washington State quarterback was reportedly involved in a lawsuit regarding allegations of sexual assault. The alleged incident took place in 2018 involving both de Laura and Wisconsin safety Kamoi Latu. De Laura settled the civil lawsuit a day before signing with Texas State.

The backlash to signing a player facing these types of allegations, the reported details of which are stomach churning, was swift and loud.

Over the last week or so, the Texas State student newspaper, the University Star, dove into the allegations including an opinion piece that was strongly critical of the signing. There was also substantial furor on social media and talk of a planned protest forming on campus before de Laura withdrew from school.

Beyond the moral quandary that the signing brought to the forefront, there are also plenty of football related implications.

The signing caused a ripple effect within the quarterback position.

Last season’s starting quarterback T.J. Finley, who broke the school record for most passing yards in a single season and had previously announced his intentions to come back for the 2024 season, entered the transfer portal to move to another school.

Finley then announced his commitment to play for Western Kentucky last Monday.

Now Texas State will enter the 2024 offseason with redshirt freshman P.J. Hatter and freshman quarterback Brad Jackson with Hatter being the only quarterback to have seen playing time.

In other words, this saga has had more twists and turns than your daily soap opera.

Texas State has no one to blame but themselves for falling into an unwinnable situation. The move pushed out a beloved player in Finley, who led the Bobcats to what is perhaps the best season in San Marcos since 2005, for a quarterback in de Laura that, despite his talents, had glaring red flags that either weren’t paid enough attention to or were overlooked.

This isn’t to say Texas State is at fault for finding another quarterback. It took Finley until January 11, well late into the recruiting cycle, to make his decision to return to San Marcos. But the way they went about it has left the team with a quarterback room with zero experience after backup quarterback Malik Hornsby left for Arkansas State.

Now they have to dig out of the hole they themselves have dug both on and off the field.

So where does Texas State go from here?

On the field, the answer is simple.

Coach up the young freshmen still on the team, or hit the portal once more.

Head Coach G.J. Kinne’s eye for talent is a cut above the rest. It is one of the reasons he was able to flip a roster that had not won more than four games in over seven years and the team to their best record since 2008.

Without question, Kinne will be able to find another quarterback to add as well as continue the development of Hatter into a FBS starting quarterback.

But it’s not on the field that is most critical.

The mess made of the de Laura situation will take time to clean up.

All you can do is admit you made a mistake, correct it the best you can, learn from it and move on.

The accusations against de Laura have been mired with uncertainty surrounding his guilt or innocence due to the way the charges have been handled in juvenile and civil courts. The lack of an unequivocal, public answer in the eyes of the law left a gray area that Texas State slipped into. But the claims, as they have been reported, are disturbing enough that they should have increased the level of scrutiny going into the potential recruitment, at a bare minimum.

Texas State needs to do a better job of understanding the players they are bringing into the program no matter what the stat sheet says. The vetting process needs to be reviewed, and a reexamination of where to draw the line needs to be considered as well.

There is nothing wrong with giving people a second chance, and football can be an incredible opportunity to offer that chance. I’m a firm believer in people learning from their past mistakes.

But actions have consequences, and the Texas State community made it clear that the actions alleged against de Laura cross that line. Without knowing the specifics of how de Laura came to withdraw from the university, I hope the decision makers have a clearer picture of where that line is.

The mistake was made. The immediate issue has been corrected. Now, it is time for the university and leadership to show with their actions what they’ve learned from it because only actions going forward will show that a difference has been made.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc