4 Power 5 Schools That Need to Chase D'Eriq King for Next Season
By Michael Luciano
After scoring 50 times in just 11 games and coming into the season with Heisman buzz, Houston quarterback D'Eriq King is now expected to leave the Cougars after a 1-3 start and not properly meshing with Dana Holgorsen's system.
King has plans to sit out the remainder of the season before hitting the open market as a grad transfer. With the quarterback eligible for the 2020 season, these four schools should be lining up to persuade King to choose their program for his last year of college ball.
4. Ole Miss
Ole Miss went full zone read this year, hiring Rich Rodriguez, who once upon a time orchestrated a mind-bendingly explosive offense based around Pat White and Steve Slaton as West Virginia's offensive coordinator. Matt Corral has been OK, but nothing too inspiring in this offense. In King, Rodriguez would have a near carbon copy of White, and could remake his successful WVU offenses down in Oxford.
3. Florida State
Kendal Briles, the son of former Baylor head coach Art Briles, took his dad's high octane offense and has tried to implement it in Tallahassee. So far, results have been mixed, as James Blackman and Alex Hornibrook aren't exactly Joe Montana and Steve Young in the QB room. Briles' mind with King under center could be the spark the dormant Seminoles program needs to get back to their winnings ways of yesteryear.
2. Alabama
The last time Alabama started a transfer quarterback, they won a national championship with Jake Coker. Considering Tua Tagovailoa is a lock to go either No. 1 or somewhere close to it in the upcoming NFL Draft, Nick Saban and the Tide could look to the transfer market for their next quarterback, and King comes with a proven track record of statistical dominance and experience at this level.
1. Oklahoma
At this point, why not? If King were to go to Norman, he would be the fourth undersized transfer quarterback Lincoln Riley has worked with. Under his watch, the Sooners have won the Big 12 twice, Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray took home Heismans and No. 1 overall pick selections, and Jalen Hurts appears on his way to at least being a Heisman finalist. If Murray could throw 42 touchdowns and seven picks under Riley's watch, imagine what kind of numbers King could put up.