Freshman quarterback John O’Korn is one of five players cempeting to be the Cougars’ starting signal caller next season. | Courtesy of UH Athletics

Head coach Tony Levine has a season-defining decision to make at the most important position on the football field.

Within the next two weeks, the second-year coach will pick a starter at quarterback from the five players competing for the spot. Freshmen John O’Korn and Greg Ward will challenge junior college transfer Billy Cosh, sophomore Bram Kohlhausen and last season’s starter redshirt junior David Piland for the job.

After Tuesday’s practice, the third of the summer, Levine talked about the unique set of skill each of the newcomers presents. All three — O’Korn, Cosh and Ward, have been practicing without coaches since May when they arrived on campus.

Here’s what Levine had to say about his three newest quarterbacks now that he has gotten to coach them.

About Cosh: “They are all different, starting with Billy Cosh– he’s certainly older… He’s been through some adversities and had some great experiences to help him grow. He’s got all of the intangibles of leadership qualities and maturity. Again he’s very knowledgeable — he picked up our offense in a short amount of time.”

About Ward: ”Greg is very instinctive. He’s very smart and he’s accurate. He’s got great feet, he’s elusive. He can keep things alive if things break down — he’s done that already in the first couple of practices.”

About O’Korn: ”John is certainly the tallest quarterback we’ve had. He’s got a tremendous arm… He’s a winner. He’s got great vision. and he’s got great leadership qualities as well.”

Levine said all three have one quality that he likes.

“When you talk about Greg and John, you’re talking about two just turned 18-year olds, who just went to prom three months ago. The one thing that all three have in common is they’re all winners. Everywhere they’ve been they’ve been big-time winners.”

sports@thedailycougar.com