Swoopes' ability to move the ball via his short-yardage package makes him a valuable part of the offense.

As he did when he hired Sterlin Gilbert to be his offensive coordinator in December, Texas head coach Charlie Strong said during his Monday press conference that it shouldn’t take the Longhorn coaches long to figure out who the winner of the quarterback battle will be.

Strong didn’t appear to know for sure who he and Gilbert were going to trot out during Monday afternoon’s first practice of the spring to be the starting quarterback. He eventually said it’s likely that senior Tyrone Swoopes will take the first snaps when the Longhorns go 11 on 11 for the first time.

“No, I don’t know which quarterback,” Strong said. “Swoopes is the guy, he ended up there, so he’ll probably be the first one today.”

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But after that first snap, all bets are off as to who the starter for the Sept. 3 season opener against Notre Dame will be.

Swoopes earned the right to compete for the job he had entering the 2015 season with the way he played late in the season. He led the Longhorns with 11 rushing touchdowns and engineered a 23-17 upset of Baylor to end Texas’ disappointing 5-7 season on a high note.

Nevertheless he’s going to compete with sophomore Jerrod Heard, redshirt freshmen Kai Locksley and Matthew Merrick, and true freshman Shane Buechele over the 15 spring sessions that end with April 16 spring game. On Monday Strong said he hopes the Longhorns aren’t still talking about which quarterback will start once the fall arrives, meaning if Gilbert is comfortable with someone this spring then they’ll begin to immediately build Texas’ version of the veer-and-shoot offense around that particular signal caller.

“Sterlin, whoever he’s comfortable with, he’ll be able to know that right away,” Strong said. “We’ll give the guys enough reps to where he’ll be able to place them in that position. Then he can just say, ‘Hey, this is the guy we’ve got to go with.’”

Strong is promising a truly open competition for the job. He mentioned expecting more from Swoopes and Heard since they are the returning veterans before adding that if they’re comfortable with Buechele being the guy then they won’t hesitate to go with the true freshman.

All players on offense got a clean slate with Gilbert’s arrival, Strong said, which he’s counting on as a tool to get the best out of the five scholarship quarterbacks vying for the starting spot.

“It’s clean, so you’re going to have a good battle,” Strong said. “You’re going to have a good gauge of where guys are going to be. It will be wide open, so it’s going to be a matter of how quickly guys can pick it up and if guys can do what he’s asking them to do.”