Quarterback Corey Slater left the SMU football team this week citing competition at quarterback as his main reason for leaving. The Seattle native plans to head back to Washington this week.

Slater said both he and the other quarterback, Justin Willis, are good and he doesn’t think it’s best for him to stay at SMU.

“I’ve talked with most of the coaches and it doesn’t make sense for me to stay here with the quarterback situation being what it is,” said Slater, “It’s a hard position to be in.”

The quarterback’s exit comes just a week after SMU linebacker Reggie Carrington announced he was leaving the Mustangs as well.

Slater has been thinking about leaving the team for a while, he said, and believes there is still enough time for him to go somewhere else. Slater would be a junior in the fall and eligible for two more years of playing time.

Slater said he has nothing against the coaches and he is not trying to burn any bridges but leaving is something he feels he needs to do. The quarterback said he does not want to look back 10 or 15 years from now and have regrets.

“I could be making a big mistake,” said Slater, “But I’ve made some pretty good choices so far.”

The quarterback has already been in contact with a few colleges including Montana State, Washington State and Boise State, but the 20-year-old has not made any decisions. Slater said the northwest has a lot of big and small schools and he feels there is a lot more opportunity up there for him.

“I just want to play football,” said Slater.

Slater saw playing time in six games in 2006 and started against UTEP and Marshall. Slater played the entire game in El Paso after Willis was suspended due to a violation of team rules.

Prior to joining the Mustangs Slater played football at Dixie State Junior College.