Colt McCoy, a former Texas quarterback, shared his story with college and professional football in conversation with David Bazzel at this morning’s Little Rock Touchdown Club meeting. McCoy is known for his time with the Texas Longhorns, where he played for four years under head coach Mack Brown from 2005-2009.
Photo by Ryan Parker
McCoy, a born-and-raised Texan, also has a couple of connections to Arkansas. His grandparents lived in Nashville, and his mom played basketball at Harding University.
While McCoy’s list of stats during his time as a Longhorn is impressive, his most notable achievement was leading the team to a 13-0 record and a BCS National Championship game. At the time of his graduation, McCoy was the winningest quarterback in college history, winning 45 of his 53 starts throughout his college career.
“When I hear that, I think about how fortunate I was to play for four years… I don’t know if there are many guys that will play at the same college for four years anymore. I had great teammates, no coaching turnovers, and playing under Mack Brown, the expectation was to win,” McCoy said.
Photo by Ryan Parker.
McCoy went to Jim Ned High School in Tuscola, Texas, where his dad was also his football coach. While he attended a small school, he was able to play several sports throughout high school. From 7th grade to the state championship in his junior year of high school, McCoy had never lost a football game.
“I had lost games in other sports, but I was so confused when we lost that time. But I’ll never forget it; it was a good lesson,” McCoy said.
Being from a small town, McCoy was unranked when he received a scholarship offer from Texas after attending a football camp at the school. While he had a track meet to be at that day, McCoy said his dad allowed him to choose between the two, and that the decision ended up being the best decision he made.
“When we were leaving, a couple of UT guys stopped my dad and I, and said, ‘Coach Brown wants to see you in his office…we talked for about 30 minutes and on our way home. I remember telling my dad, ‘Listen, if I have the chance to go to University of Texas, that’s where I want to go,” McCoy said.
The next week, McCoy said he received a package with a handwritten note from Coach Brown offering him a scholarship.
While McCoy did not play during the time of NIL and the transfer portal, he said he is grateful that college athletes can now make money off of their name, image and likeness. With that being said, McCoy also said the transfer portal has made it easier for athletes to transfer constantly, which in return may hurt team cohesiveness.
“Now that guys have the flexibility to move schools all of the time, if schools want to be competitive, they need money,” McCoy said.
Jock Davis, WWII Veteran was honored at Little Rock Touchdown Club. Photo by Ryan Parker.
While the Texas-Arkansas rivalry has always been and will continue to be as Texas is officially now in the Southeastern Conference, the tradition of college football history and rivalries is part of the reason McCoy is now excited to call games for NBC Sports as a game analyst and contributor to the “Big Ten College Countdown.”
“I love college football, and I want to be around college football,” McCoy said.
McCoy also had a 14-year career in the NFL, playing for the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals.
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