Cali QB Guru Danny Hernandez Talks Newest Texas Offer Troy Huhn

I spoke with California QB guru Danny Hernandez earlier this morning following Texas' offer extension of 2026 Mission Hills QB Troy Huhn.

Hernandez has a handful of up and coming prospects that are already making national headlines on the recruiting trail. Of course, he also trained former Texas QB Maalik Murphy who is now expected to be the starting quarterback at Duke this season.

A quick rundown of some of the elite prospects coach Hernandez is working with right now:

• 2026 Nerbury Port QB Brady Smigiel – 5-star & No. 21 overall prospect in the class of 2026
• 2026 Newport Harbor QB Jadon O'Neal – 20 offers and counting
• 2026 Folsom QB Ryder Lyons – 24 offers
• 2026 Archbishop Riordan QB Michael Mitchell Jr. – 8 offers
• 2027 Lewisville (TX) QB Tre Williams

As for my conversation with Coach Hernandez this morning, there is a ton of praise headed in the direction of Huhn as a prospect and player.

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Q: What were the early impressions of Huhn when you first started working with him?

A: When I first got with him, he was tall obviously, but he had a pitching background in baseball. He was really long in his delivery. Kind of stridey and dippy in his stroke, but man I said, 'There is something here, for sure.' He is such a smart kid.

(Hernandez added that Huhn really got to work on shortening his throwing mechanics and now it is a strength when talking to college coaches about his overall game.)

Q: What is it about a pitching or baseball background that translates to the world of quarterbacking?

A: It is always helpful when a guy has a baseball background. The biggest thing for me when I have a guy with a baseball background, especially if I get them pretty young, the thing that I am always trying to tell them is to not use our pitching mechanics, but let's use more of our hitting mechanics. Hitting mechanics are so much more similar to throwing a football... It is about being sudden and twitchy, doing some of those things, I think is a little more transferrable to hitting.

Q: Where in the developmental stage is Huhn as a prospect?

A: The other thing too with Troy, most quarterbacks are going to be a little bit older. Most of these guys are going to be 19 by the time they are graduating (high school), because they have been held back in eighth grade or whatever – it is pretty common with the QB position. Troy is not one of those guys. He is on the younger side of things with those guys – very similar to Maalik Murphy. Maalik was showing up to Texas young, he just turned 20 a few days ago as he heads into year three of college.

(Cont.) Troy is the same situation. Young guy, so you look at it and say this guy is still pretty far from his ceiling. That is one of the things that is super intriguing.

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Coach Hernandez and I spoke a bit more about the potential that Huhn is showing so far in high school. Following his first career varsity start, Huhn threw for 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions as a sophomore as he grew into his body at Mission Hills High School in California. As the individual workouts continue and the body carries on in the developmental path, Hernandez said he can absolutely see Huhn being a top three QB prospect in the country for the 2026 class.

It was perfect timing this past fall when Huhn made his trip to Austin to watch the Longhorns in action. He was joined by his family and Coach Hernandez on the trip to watch Maalik Murphy start against Kansas State at DKR in what ended up being the best game of the season at home for the Longhorns. Cool moment as well for Coach Hernandez getting to see Maalik in action at Texas.

One last quote I wanted to leave y'all with:

"I think the world of the kid. He has a high football IQ and is extremely coachable. I honestly think this is going to be a top three guy in the country without a doubt."