Sawyer Robertson’s parents, Stan and Angela, required their teenage son to call every coach who recruited him and let them know that he was grateful for their interest but that he was choosing Mike Leach and the Mississippi Bulldogs. It was a “bad day” for the now star quarterback of the Baylor Bears. 

But as he nears the end of the story, a wry smile flashes across his face. The last call of the day was to Leach. It was Robertson’s reward for the dozens of somber calls he made throughout the day. Those felt like breakups. This one would be a celebration. After all, Robertson was one of the best signal-callers in Texas during a prolific prep career at Lubbock Coronado and Leach would assuredly treat the moment like winning a big game. 

“I made those calls for hours and then I finally call Leach, and I kid you not, his exact words were, ‘Oh, that’s great, we’re excited. So where is your favorite Mexican food place in Lubbock?” Sawyer shakes his head and smiles five years later. But at the time? “After he asked me that, I thought, ‘Oh gosh, what did I do?” 

Robertson’s answer was Mama Josie’s Kitchen. Leach loved Mexican food. And Lubbock, Texas. He was the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders from 2000-2009. His daughter attended Lubbock Coronado decades before Robertson. Leach even tried to give the school $1 million for a new turf softball field so his daughters team could play on it but the school district turned it down because it would’ve needed to buy a turf field for every other school one, as well. Leach liked to joke that it was the only time he tried to give away a million dollars and no one wanted it. 

Leach also loved quarterbacks. He came up under Hal Mumme and was one of the Godfathers of the Air Raid offense, one he made famous at Texas Tech while producing quarterbacks such as Graham Harrell, Sonny Cumbie, B.J. Symons, and Kliff Kingsbury. The tradition in West Texas continued after Leach’s departure when Kingsbury tutored Patrick Mahomes. 

Robertson grew up in the stands at Jones AT&T Stadium watching those great quarterbacks smash records and revolutionize football. His dad, Stan, was a first-round pick in the MLB Draft out of Plainview High School and eventually played football at Texas Tech after an injury ended his baseball career. 

Sawyer was good at everything, too. But his dad didn’t know he wanted to be a quarterback. Sawyer transferred to Irons Middle School, which feeds into Coronado, from a private school in eighth grade. When he returned home from the first day of football practice and told Stan that he tried out for quarterback, Stan was surprised. 

“I didn’t even know he could throw a football,” Stan said. “I had only seen him throw a baseball and I know how hard that transition can be.”

The Air Raid spread through the high school ranks in West Texas like wildfire. One of the early disciples was Seth Parr, who was the head football coach at Coronado when Robertson transferred to Irons Middle School and eventually became the starting quarterback for the eighth-grade team. Parr didn’t need much convincing when it came to Robertson. He was familiar with the young phenom’s genes. Stan played at Plainview for Parr’s dad, Scott, and Seth was a ball boy for those teams.

Robertson traveled with the varsity as an eighth grader so he could get a feel for Friday Night Lights. Parr put him on varsity as a freshman so Robertson could attend meetings and learn from the starter Quay Gray, who threw for nearly 11,000 yards in his high school career. Parr knew Robertson would be the starter as a sophomore and thought the experience on Fridays with the varsity was more important than reps against freshmen or junior varsity defenses. Robertson played some special teams and received some reps late in blowouts as a freshman. 

He ascended to the throne as expected in his sophomore season and never looked back. Robertson passed for 11,302 yards over the next three years, which is Top 15 in the history of Texas high school football. He’s eighth all-time in completions with 813 and 10th all-time in touchdown passes with 135. Coronado reached the Class 5A regional semifinals in Robertson’s senior year in which he was named Gatorade Texas Player of the Year. 

Ask Parr about his favorite Sawyer Robertson memories and he’ll mention a few comeback victories and the car rides with his young quarterback who procrastinated on getting his driver’s license. Parr even says he gained 15 pounds because crates of candy would get delivered to his office by all of Robertson’s secret admirers who though “he was easy on the eyes.”  

Robertson didn’t have as many admirers on the recruiting trail. His commitment to baseball kept him from attending elite camps or going on a bunch of unofficial visits. He didn’t receive dozens of offers despite the video game numbers he put up in Parr’s offense at Coronado. Eventually more offers arrived after he threw for 3,914 yards and 44 touchdowns as a junior. Mississippi State offered in January of 2020. Florida State and TCU entered the mix, as did USC and Arkansas. 

Texas Tech was not one of the schools that offered Robertson despite his exploits, proximity to campus, and his family legacy. Stan says to this day that he doesn’t understand why Matt Wells’ staff never pursued the hometown kid. Parr tried to make the case for his superstar quarterback, but it fell on deaf ears. 

“Yes, I was surprised that Tech never came around,” Parr said. “Tech was wanting to take one quarterback and they were sold on Behren (Morton). I tried to convince them to take both and see who’d win the job. I knew how well-liked Sawyer was in the Lubbock community. He loved Texas Tech, but God works in mysterious ways and it worked out for everybody.” 

Robertson spent two years at Mississippi State before tragedy struck when Leach passed away in 2022. With his whole reason for playing with the Bulldogs gone, Robertson entered the transfer portal and wound up at Baylor, where his cousin, Jarrett Stidham, played quarterback. Choosing Baylor raised eyebrows, most notably Stan’s, who was surprised that his son picked a school that wasn’t running the Air Raid offense. 

Jeff Grimes was the offensive coordinator at Baylor when Robertson felt “called” to Waco to play for the Bears. It was the first time he’d ever taken a snap under center, a skill he said he needed to learn if he wanted to reach the NFL and achieve his ultimate goals. Robertson played in six games and started four times as a redshirt sophomore in 2024. 

The season was full of ups and downs but ended with a virtuoso performance against West Virginia in the season finale, completing 17 of 19 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown in the loss. Starting quarterback Blake Shapen left after the season, as did Grimes. Baylor head coach Dave Aranda hired Jake Spavital, a man more than familiar with the Air Raid after apprenticing for Dana Holgorsen and Kingsbury as a young coach, to call plays for the Bears. 

The performance against West Virginia and the hiring of Spavital propelled Robertson into a successful offseason. He battled with transfer Dequan Finn and felt good about his chances of winning the starting job heading into the 2024 season, but he ultimately entered the year as the backup. Robertson didn’t hang his head, though. He’d been disappointed before and made the best of it. He was determined to do it again. 

“I had peace about it the whole time, whatever God had in store for me, I was going to trust it,” he said. “Whether that was to start the season or Week 6 or Week 8, I was just going to make the most of it and step up to be the best quarterback I could be for the team.” 

That shot came in the third game of the year in a win over BYU after Finn suffered an injury. The Bears lost the next three games – Colorado, BYU, Iowa State – with Robertson in charge. Baylor was 2-4 and its own worst enemy. Robertson says the team was “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.” But Robertson knew all the Bears needed was one win. One win to spark a run. The next game of the season was in Lubbock against Texas Tech. 

Robertson had 40-plus family and friends in the stands at Jones Stadium as he played in the arena he grew up in. With their backs against the wall and their head coach on the hottest seat in America, Robertson and the Bears caught fire. He threw for 274 yards and five touchdowns in the 59-35 victory over the Red Raiders. Baylor never lost another regular season game and Robertson finished the season with 3,071 yards passing and 28 touchdowns. 

Robertson said it wasn’t his Super Bowl in Lubbock and that it was cool to play well in the stadium he spent so much time watching football in, but nothing more than that. That’s the right answer. But maybe not the complete truth.  

“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a little bit more to that win than a regular game,” Stan said. “We were excited for him and were excited it went that way.”

Robertson rode the roller coaster of modern college athletics and came out the winner. From not being offered by his dream school to losing his head coach to an unexpected death to losing the quarterback battle ahead of the season. He emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in college football and one of the main reasons why many believe the Bears can win the Big 12 in 2025. They get a marquee stage in Week 1 on a Friday night at home against Baylor. 

“From our perspective, this has been quite the journey,” Stan said. “It has been a fun ride. Just to see all the dominos fall, it has been unbelievable.”