The SMU Mustangs struck gold two years ago when quarterback Garrett Gilbert transferred to the Hilltop from the University of Texas, as the former Gatorade National High School Player of the Year threw for 6,460 yards and 36 touchdowns in two seasons at SMU.

Now, another quarterback who once was one of the top recruits at his position in the nation is joining the Mustangs. Matt Davis, who chose to sign with Texas A&M two years ago over offers from national heavyweights like Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Arizona, is headed to Dallas after spending the 2013 season at Tyler Junior College.

Quarterback Matt Davis says he will have three years of eligibility with the Mustangs (photo by Tyler Morning Telegraph).

“It’s a great opportunity, and I’m really excited to play for Coach (June) Jones and SMU,” said Davis, who has not yet signed his financial paperwork but said that will happen “soon” and that his decision is solid and final. “I’ve kept up with GG (Gilbert). I watched him in high school, and I remember when he was thrown into the national championship game against Alabama — he’s a great football player.

“I kind of study the game. I knew what Coach Jones did at Hawaii with Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan, and what he did when he coached (in the NFL) at Atlanta and San Diego, and I saw what he did with (Gilbert). As a quarterback, you definitely want to play for him.”

Davis was listed on Tyler’s 2013 roster at 6-foot-1, 206 pounds, and said he now is up to 210. He split time last year with another quarterback at Tyler before injuring his foot in the Apaches’ fifth game of the season.

“I thought it was just a sprain, but it was something I just couldn’t get over, and I had to stay off it to get it right,” Davis said. “I tried to play a series, but told my coach, ‘I can’t get out there now.’ So I spent three weeks in a boot, without practicing or anything, and then the other quarterback got hurt. I went back in, but I was limping around out there. I was really limited in what I could do.”

College coaches from across the country lined up to try to land Davis, an extremely athletic signal caller who was a four-star recruit by ESPN.com, 247sports.com, rivals.com and scout.com. After tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his right knee as a junior at Klein Forest High School, he returned for his senior year and regained his explosive athleticism, running for 921 yards and 12 touchdowns, while passing for 1,483 yards and 13 touchdowns. While colleges chased him on the recruiting trail, accolades poured in from recruiting services. He was a SuperPrep.com All-America and ranked by the site as the No. 6 quarterback in the country, and No. 1 at his position and the No. 16 player overall in Texas. Rivals.com tagged him as the No. 3 quarterback in the country and the 119 player at any position, while 247sports.com the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in the country. ESPN.com named him to the ESPNU 150 (No. 107 in the nation) and the No. 6 quarterback in the nation. In high school, he played guard on the basketball team before the knee injury he suffered, and he ran on his school track team’s sprint relay team that finished third in the state of Texas … and fourth in the entire nation.

Davis enjoyed a swarm of attention before settling on Texas A&M. This time around, Davis said he approached the recruiting process differently.

“I had a good amount of opportunities this time, too, but a lot of schools didn’t think I would be eligible to come out now,” Davis said. “A lot of schools came to see me, thought I wouldn’t be able to come out until December and just told me, ‘we’ll be back in the fall.’ BYU and Tulsa offered me this time, too, but I didn’t talk to their coaches much, and once I visited SMU this week, I knew that’s where I want to be.”

When he originally signed with Texas A&M, Davis had a strong fondness for the school, choosing it over others that boast some of the nation’s elite football programs. Therefore, leaving College Station a year later was not easy.

“It was tough,” Davis said. “It definitely was the hardest decision I have ever made. To this day, I don’t regret going there out of high school, and I never will. A&M is a really good school, I was around some great coaches, I got to see so much. But I prayed about it, and when I did, I felt like time there was over. God was leading me in another direction. I landed over there in East Texas (at Tyler), and I had some ups and some downs there, but God always had a plan and it worked out for the best.

“Nine months later, we’re here. There have been a lot of bumps along the way, but a lot of learning, as well. Overall, this has been a good experience.”

Davis, who will have three years of eligibility with the Mustangs, said he has not yet had a chance to discuss his new team with former teammate Caleb Tuiasosopo, the former Tyler linebacker who transferred to SMU and enrolled in January. He called Tuiasosopo “a great guy and a great player,” but said one of the things that made him so quick to choose SMU was the chance to play under Jones.

“Honestly, it was an honor just to meet (Jones),” Davis said. “He’s a pioneer in coaching. I told my brother that if there were a Mount Rushmore in coaching the spread, he’s on there. He’s a great coach, and I’m going to work hard and learn a lot from him.

Davis, who plans to be at SMU in time for summer school so he can start working out with his new teammates, said that Jones and the SMU coaches made no promises about playing time, or a timeframe under which he can expect to get on the field. Instead, he was told that if he wants to unseat Neal Burcham, who ended the Mustangs’ spring drills as the starter, he has to earn the chance.

“He just said it’s going to be a competitive battle, so I’m going to show up and compete,” Davis said. “That’s all I want — a chance to compete.”

Davis is not unaware of the fact that his new team plays Texas A&M Sept. 20 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in the Mustangs’ third game of the season, but he insists that a chance to face his former team is not his primary focus.

“If we’re going to be honest, I’m really looking forward to getting there and preparing for Aug. 31 against Baylor, but I have a lot of work to do, a lot to learn, before then,” he said. “I have talked to some of my (former Aggie) teammates, and a couple of my boys said some stuff, but I’m not worried about that. I’m focusing on doing whatever I have to do to win the (quarterback) competition and be ready to do whatever we need to help us beat Baylor.”

Davis said he does not expect to feel like a freshman all over again when he officially joins his new team, and he not coincidentally, he didn’t treat the recruiting process the same as he did two years ago.

“I had an advantage this time, because this ain’t my first rodeo,” he said. “I have been at a tremendous university at Texas A&M, and now I’m at a tremendous university at SMU. I knew what I was looking for this time, so I didn’t need some of the things that are fun for young guys when they go through the process for the first time. I looked for the right things coming out of high school, too. I don’t regret going to A&M, and I saw the same things that were important at A&M when I visited SMU, in terms of the team aspects and the chance to play for great coaches.

I wanted to find the same things I found there, and I found them at SMU. Plus, I’m going to get one of the best educations in the state … one of the best in the nation. It’s a great match for me, and it feels great to have found a new home.”