Former Oklahoma quarterback Tanner Mordecai announced today he would be transferring to SMU after three seasons in Norman.

Presumably, he will be SMU’s starter for the 2021 season.

The move caps off four days of limbo for SMU at the quarterback spot. Last Friday, two-year starting quarterback Shane Buechele announced he would be foregoing his final year of eligibility to pursue NFL aspirations.

Then, two days ago, Mordecai entered the transfer portal. Along with this, incoming four-star quarterback Preston Stone signed his letter of intent to play at SMU.

Now, Mordecai will be the experienced three-year college player mentoring the true-freshman. Dykes has called Stone the future of SMU.

Just how long this mentorship process will last, however, will be even more of an interesting storyline. Mordecai has three years left of eligibility after he redshirted at Oklahoma. Stone will have four years of eligibility, but likely intends not to wait three years to play.

Last week, Dykes was hesitant to say what the plan at quarterback would be in the future. He left open the possibility of getting a transfer, like Mordecai, but also said Stone could start as a true freshman.

He pointed to the fact that Stone will be enrolling early in January, so the transition from high school to college will not be as abrupt.

“Enrolling early will probably give him the opportunity to play faster than your typical freshman quarterback,” Dykes said last Wednesday. “Jared Goff did the same thing for us at Cal. (When he came in) he was probably our fourth-string quarterback but by fall camp… he won the starting job.”

“We will see how that plays out. But we are going to improve our roster anyway we can. And if there is a quarterback out there that we think makes sense… we will consider it,” Dykes said.

Mordecai spent most of his time as a backup at Oklahoma. Jalen Hurts, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2019, and Spencer Rattler won the job over Mordecai in the last two years.

During his career, he played in 12 games and completed 50 of 70 pass attempts for 639 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.

Out of high school, Mordecai did have an SMU offer as a Waco native.