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- [00:00]
Colt McCoy
There's never been an instance where, you know, the sideline reporter, Lisa Salters, comes and interviews the losing quarterback who didn't play in the game. Like, you go, you go interview. Saban, you go interview. Like, you go straight there, hold the trophy I'm trying to get. She catches me right before I'm walking in the locker room. It's like, what happened? You know, I had read Isaiah 26:3 the night before, said, trust in the Lord, for the Lord is the rock eternal. When she caught me in that moment, like, that's what came out of my mouth, and that's what I believe. And, you know, this one was taken away from me and it was the biggest stage of my life. And it's what I worked for, not only me, but everybody, for forever. And I didn't get to do it. But you know what? I still know that God has a wonderful plan, and it wasn't part of the plan tonight. And you just move on.
- [00:54]
Podcast Host
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- [02:51]
Colt McCoy
So is this where you film all of them?
- [02:53]
Podcast Host
Well, I used to have a studio and then when we moved out of that office when I was across the street from you, I've probably been filming here for the last.
- [03:00]
Colt McCoy
You know, there's a podcast studio in our office.
- [03:02]
Podcast Host
Is it legit?
- [03:03]
Colt McCoy
It's legit. As legit as this? It's about. It's about half this size.
- [03:08]
Podcast Host
In your office or just in the building?
- [03:10]
Colt McCoy
In our office. Really, it's legit.
- [03:13]
Podcast Host
Does it have equipment now?
- [03:15]
Colt McCoy
My equipment's there. Like the stuff that I like when I got to log on to like ESPN or whatever.
- [03:21]
Podcast Host
How often do you have to get on? How often do you use it?
- [03:23]
Colt McCoy
I've. It just kind of varies by season. Like this football season. I haven't done near as much. Did you see last year? I was doing it like every day and it's been nice. I mean, I probably do it once a week. No, because that's all you say different is. Yeah, basically this is different networks or what special games or stuff. I haven't done very much NFL stuff at all. What I'll do now is I like. Like I have buddies in the media who, for example, like AQ Shipley. He is paid by McAfee to go on every Wednesday. It's like every Wednesday he. He's on the show and he's talking like O line play, you know, and it's like the. I don't know what they call it, like the big boys interior or something, you know, and that's kind of AQ segment. And then like Thursdays is like J.J. watts, like defensive whatever, you know, it's cool that, you know, McAfee and I were same class. We got same draft class.
- [04:25]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [04:26]
Colt McCoy
So he pays those guys to come in. They fly to Indy. I think JJ does like half and half. AQ flies to Indy, you know, late Tuesday night is there all the Wednesday flies home Wednesday night. He lives in Phoenix, but for like aq, like AQ will call me on Tuesdays and walk through, like, here's the things. I need you your help. Like what is this route? You know, I'm like. Because he's an O line guy, so he's talking about this and he'll always show like, you know, four or five of the big plays of the week or whatever that I've like, given him or talks through with him. So I'm doing a little bit more of like, that than I am, you know, hosting a show or being a guest on a show.
- [05:09]
Podcast Host
Yeah, you have to study what he tells you on Tuesday. You know, exactly what you're seeing.
- [05:13]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, he shows me, and I'm like, okay, let me. Let me talk you through this. This is what this means. Here's the read, here's the routes, here's the depths. Here's what, you know, just because, I mean, I've done that forever.
- [05:24]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [05:26]
Colt McCoy
So that's. That's pretty fun. And I'll. And I'll do two or three things like that.
- [05:33]
Podcast Host
Do they pay you to do it?
- [05:35]
Colt McCoy
I do. For aq.
- [05:36]
Podcast Host
No.
- [05:36]
Colt McCoy
But, like, if I'm gonna go on to a show, they'll pay you, like. Like, in, like. Like an ESPN contract. ESPN offered me a contract. And it's all based on days. They do. They do day contracts. So, like, they'll. They'll say, we need you for 30 days. And then you're subject to, like, that. You know, one day might be one hour. It might be a full day in Bristol, like. And so I. I said, no, can't do that. Yeah, but they'll say, like, 30 days. We'll pay you, you know, 300 grand, which is great. But it's like, okay, so I'm at the expense for a whole month. I'm at your expense to, like, drop everything I'm doing. It might be in my studio. It might be.
- [06:20]
Podcast Host
And you won't know.
- [06:21]
Colt McCoy
It might be calling a game and it might be doing first take. I'm like, not my deal. But those will. Those are. Will always be there. Yeah, I'm really enjoying what I'm doing now. It's fun. It's. I'm energized. Like, I enjoy where we are and being on this, you know, putting this team together and how we, you know, that's just fun for me.
- [06:50]
Podcast Host
Awesome.
- [06:50]
Colt McCoy
So I told, like, you know, I. I got hired by NBC to be a broadcast analyst, like, to be the color guy. And that was awesome. Like, I really enjoyed it. The hardest part was, like, there's a lot of prep in the week that I didn't know about. Like, you gotta interview both coaches, both coordinators on both teams. So, you know, that's, you know, coordinators on both teams. That's four separate interviews during the week. Even coordinator, offense coordinator, both teams, then the head coaches on both teams. And then generally you do, like, one to three players off of each team. So now you're at eight, like separate, like zoom in, log in, you know, interviews, taking notes. Like you need to know what they're saying. Brutal.
- [07:44]
Podcast Host
And that's just for one game.
- [07:45]
Colt McCoy
For one game.
- [07:46]
Podcast Host
And you're having to cover multiple every week.
- [07:49]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. So. So you look at that and it's like, okay, that really is like half these coaches are never on time. So you're just kind of sitting around waiting on them to log in, whatever. So that's like a day and a half, at least two days probably worth of like being kind of ready or prepared. And then you gotta watch the tape to like understand scheme on both sides and put your own talking points together. Like if you see something, you remind yourself, then you gotta study guys names and you know, because the cardinal sin is, is a guy makes a play in real time and like you butcher his name. Like you. That's a, that's a big note. I mean, because every fan knows that guy's name. And then as a color guy, you have to know, you got to know storylines of like, okay, where is this team right now? They're 5 and 3. You know, they should have won two of those three losses. Why did they lose them? Who's playing good, who's injured, who's out? What's the, what's the, what's the. Because you can't like walk in and call a game and not know, you know, oh, there's some drama between the quarterback receiver here. Right. So you got to kind of immerse yourself in some of that. That takes up your. That takes up a lot of time. Then you fly out on Thursdays and you fly home Sunday night and it's an away game every week.
- [09:10]
Podcast Host
You did that all us?
- [09:11]
Colt McCoy
I did that. I did 12 games last year.
- [09:13]
Podcast Host
You think Saban's doing all that?
- [09:16]
Colt McCoy
No, because Saban's not in the booth. Saban just goes to game day, but
- [09:19]
Podcast Host
he just shows up and just kind of rolls with it. Or do you think he's doing a lot of things?
- [09:23]
Colt McCoy
He's probably got a team around. Like they challenged me to not have somebody like do the work for me.
- [09:29]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [09:30]
Colt McCoy
Which was probably smart, I think. Like, you know, as you get, you know, you start getting into. I was the number two crew at NBC. Yeah. Which is great. I mean that's like a legit starting job if you want to be in that business. Like, I probably could have got the number one chair probably next year.
- [09:47]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [09:48]
Colt McCoy
But I just told NBC, I was like, look, like it's not about how much Money. You pay me. Like, you know, you. You could write me. I mean, I guess at a certain point, but, like, because of all this, like, I love doing it. Same thing. Like, but I also, I would love coaching. Like, I love being on it. Like, I love the game, but, like, why I left was because of these reasons. And this, what I'm doing is taking away from all these things. Like, I'm gone every weekend. Yeah, I missed all my kids games last year. I missed Thanksgiving and Halloween. And, you know, it just, it all adds up. And it's like, if I do that every year, what's the point? I said, call me in 15 years when my kids are out of school, and I'd freaking be glad to jump back in the booth. And I mean, it's natural for me. Like, it's easy. And I. And I would probably enjoy it a lot more. You probably get a little bit more out of me because I wouldn't be
- [10:46]
Podcast Host
missing anything because at least during football season, you had eight home games and the kids could travel to a game. They're not going to go travel to the booth.
- [10:55]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, I took my. I, the kids came with. I took one kid with me one time. Yeah, but that was like, it was added stress. Me and my kid playing on iPad in the booth back behind me. Like, stay right here. Like, don't say a word, you know, and they were cool to let me do that, but like, you know, so just. There's just a lot.
- [11:16]
Podcast Host
All right, so to get to like, the position where you could call games, I kind of just want to go back to, like, how it all started. Like, what's your earliest memories of football?
- [11:27]
Colt McCoy
My earliest memories of football. You know, I, I have lived a football life. What's a football life? My. I'll go back even farther. My granddad, my heroes, he was a farmer and a great athlete, women's basketball coach of, like 30 years at Abland Christian, and also a track coach. And my mom actually played for my granddad at Abland Christian. She was, you know, a point guard and a two guard. And my dad played football at Abland Christian. And that's where. That's where my parents met.
- [12:11]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [12:12]
Colt McCoy
And so when. When they graduated and my dad became a football coach made my earliest memories of football. I was like the water boy at 3 years old on my dad's sideline of the football games. And from three years old till retired last year, like, I was on sidelines. And so, you know, my, my, you know, when I say it's a lot, I mean That's. That's all I've done. It's been. It's been amazing. It's like, you know, you. You really. You really have, like, a PhD in all things football. From being in a locker room, from understanding offenses, defenses, players, leadership, coaching styles. I mean, travel, big games, district games, playoff games, conference, you just. You name it. Like, I've. I've. I've literally been in every situation in football. The only thing I never did was play in a Super bowl, really. But I remember I was, like, 6 years old, and I didn't get out of the way on time on the sidelines, being the ball boy. I got run over and broke my collarbone. So, like, I mean, I was. I had an injury before I even played football. You know, the first time I ever played a game was seventh grade. And my dad just was a big believer in, you know, I want you to be, you know, developed to the point where, like, you can carry your pads and your helmet and you can tackle somebody with your head up, and you can. You know, you can defend yourself, and you can get coached by coaches who know they're like real coaches. Not that dads can't coach football, but that, you know, that was kind of his way of saying. And so my dad and his staff, I went to. I grew up in a small town in West Texas. Like, those coaches coached the junior high, they coached the freshmen, they coached the jv, and they coached the varsity. It was all part of it.
- [14:16]
Podcast Host
And so you didn't play flag or anything?
- [14:19]
Colt McCoy
No.
- [14:20]
Podcast Host
What'd you do all those years?
- [14:22]
Colt McCoy
I played. I played a little bit of basketball. I love basketball. Basketball is probably my favorite sport until I got an offer to go play at ut. And then I was. I was like, okay, well, I'll go play football. But I also. A little bit of that is that I grew up in a small town, so there wasn't. It's not like we had a flag football team to go play on.
- [14:45]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [14:46]
Colt McCoy
And so part of. Part of. Like, what I look back on is that, of course I wanted to play. You know, some of the. Some of the guys that I grew up with would, like, drive into Abilene, which was like, the biggest town, and play Little League, Pop Warner, whatever. We just didn't have that in our. In our town, but I wanted to play that.
- [15:10]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [15:11]
Colt McCoy
I think. I think looking back, like, there's a. And what I try to explain to my kids is there's. There's a little bit of, like, there's a meaningfulness to making those Games matter. Like, I love youth sports. I think they're, I think they're great. But there's a difference between, and I'm not saying one is right or wrong, but there's a difference between. I waited until seventh grade to play football. So like you can imagine, first time I get to go play a game, like it was the, it was the most unbelievable experience ever. Whereas some kids nowadays will get to seventh grade football and they've played 100 games and it's just another, it's just another day. Right. And so like find it for me is youth sports is awesome, but it's finding the balance of like my favorite memories of all sports was like junior high and high school football. Really? Yeah. You're playing with your buddies, your boys. Like we've all kind of waited to do this and like it matters. And every game is just like first, first game of my life. We, I'm in seventh grade and were you quarterback? Yeah, I'm quarterback in safety. I likes to hit people. We got, you know, we, we left school early at like 2 o'. Clock. We played the 5 o' clock game on the road in Albany. The Albany Lions. What a cool stadium.
- [16:45]
Podcast Host
Zach Jones is probably.
- [16:48]
Colt McCoy
We, we, we got on the bus. You know, we're all in our slacks and our button ups and our, our jerseys over our white collared shirts and we all look the same, we're all nervous. We get, we get to the, we get to the, we get to Albany. It's about an hour bus ride, maybe a little longer. You know, we're carrying all our bags, all of our equipment. You know, we're in like some little locker room smaller than this. And I remember I go to the bathroom and I, I yak and I, and I'm like, I, I, I'm not sick. Like I don't, I was so nervous.
- [17:25]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [17:25]
Colt McCoy
Like I've never done this before. Yeah. And, and then we, we go out there and play and it's awesome and we win and you know, I like celebrating. Like everything led up to that. Right. And so I've just loved football ever since. Like it's been, it's been an amazing journey. And if you'd asked me in seventh grade, do you want to play in college?
- [17:48]
Podcast Host
Sure.
- [17:49]
Colt McCoy
Like, no clue what that would meant. Do you want to play in the NFL? Sure. Every, every kid who plays football wants to go to the NFL. Right. Like, but, but I didn't, you know, that wasn't like my goal. My goal was to go play with my buddies.
- [18:05]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [18:05]
Colt McCoy
You know and like, I always tried to treat games like that because that was my first, that was my first memory. It was like, if I'm in my 14th year in the NFL and I'm playing, you know, the LA Rams in SoFi, it's like, it's still a, it's still a kids game. I still get to do this right. And it's hard to keep that perspective. But I, I did my best to try that.
- [18:33]
Podcast Host
We'll get into middle school and high school for a second. I know your dad was a coach, but sometimes, like, your parents can like, burn you out. What did your dad do to like, make you love the game? Like, what did he do? Well, on one end, like, you couldn't play that first game till you were in seventh grade because there was no other options. Yeah, but like, what did he do as a coach to keep you, like, inspired and wanting it? And maybe it's just like the gifts God gave you early on, but you can, that can go both ways where you're like, I don't actually want any of this. And how did he impact all that?
- [19:07]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, I mean, obviously, like, growing up, like, the star players on my dad's football team were like my heroes. They were also my babysitters. Right. Like, it was. I just around it all the time. I think my dad did a wonderful job of. I always knew that he had high expectations for me, you know, because he was a coach and, and because he was my dad. And you know, I think naturally as a dad, like, you're gonna have high expectations for your kids. May not be in sports, but maybe in school it may be in how you treat people. It may be in, you know, being respectful everywhere we go or whatever it is. Yeah. So I always felt the, that there was a, There was an expectation from. I could just feel. But. But I also would say that he did a really good job of kind of separating, you know, hey, I'm talking to you as your dad right now about whatever or, hey, man, sit down, son, I'm your coach right now. You know, and, but, but there was always a clear. He did a good job of. There was a distinction between both. So, you know, sometimes I'd be like, daddy, you talk to me like a dad or you talk to me like, like, like my coach right now.
- [20:25]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [20:26]
Colt McCoy
And he always made me earn everything way more than anybody else.
- [20:30]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [20:30]
Colt McCoy
Which is fine.
- [20:31]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [20:32]
Colt McCoy
I mean, I think, you know, I wanted to play quarterback in high school when I was. Or varsity when I was, you know, freshman. But he didn't Let it happen, you know, And I was. So I went and played basketball. I was a starting point guard on the varsity basketball team as a freshman. So I was like, well, I think I'm a basketball player now, you know, and then sophomore year, it was like, you know, I think. I think the assistant coaches had to convince my dad that, like, hey, like, he's the guy.
- [21:00]
Podcast Host
Yeah, he doesn't have to earn.
- [21:02]
Colt McCoy
You grew up in a small town. There's politics. There's, you know, oh, it's the coach's son. He's going to. So I think he was cognizant of that, and he had high expectations for me. And so, like, I sensed that. I felt it. And so, you know, I also think I loved football forever. But growing up in a small town, in a small school, I played five sports in high school. You know, you played football, basketball, you know, you ran track, played golf, played tennis. You know, we had enough guys for the baseball team. So I. I kind of stopped playing baseball when I got into high school. You just. You kind of did it all. And there. There was a beauty in that. That was. That was a ton of fun. But, you know, one of the things I respect about my dad is that he was a great football coach. And, you know, I mentioned earlier that my granddad was a farmer, and, you know, that was part of our lifestyle, too. And I. I didn't learn this till a few years ago, but, you know, my dad was offered big jobs to come to the Metroplex or go to Houston or, you know, big, big towns. You know, he was a good football coach, but he raised us out in West Texas in small towns, so that we could be close to having to work the farm in the summers and, you know, the weekends that were free. Like, we were out there, you know, that. That was my memory. I was playing football or sports or I was. I was working. And, you know, I didn't pick up on that until, you know, later in life. But I'll always respect that about kind of, you know, my roots and the morals and the values and the foundation that my. My parents and grandparents gave me growing up in West Texas.
- [22:47]
Podcast Host
Okay, so you can say it humbly, but, like, when did you kind of know you were better than most at football if you didn't even get to start quarterback till sophomore year? Were you already good at that point or.
- [22:59]
Colt McCoy
We didn't lose a game in junior high.
- [23:01]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [23:01]
Colt McCoy
But I also had, like, you know, good teammates.
- [23:05]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [23:06]
Colt McCoy
You know, I had good, good guys around me. We all worked hard and you know, we all. It meant something to us. Like, we just now got to do it. I would say that I felt like I sensed something about me, like my junior year and I got recruited late, but during my junior year, I felt like, not that things came easy, but that, like, we were winning by a bunch. You know, we, you know, I just felt like I could, I could. I was controlling some things out there. Like, you know, I could run, I could. I could throw it. I could. I could kind of control the game a little bit. Yeah, I didn't know what that really meant. But, you know, one of my goals was to play college football. And I had been offered a scholarship to go play basketball at Alban Christian. And I thought, well, my mom did that and my granddad coached there. And I think, you know, if I get the chance, I'm gonna go play football and basketball at Abbott Christian. That's. That would be perfect with me. And so I think the first time I really felt like I can do this is when I got a scholarship to go play, like, at a big school, that somebody saw something in me that was not my, you know, the. The small town in West Texas where I grew up.
- [24:28]
Podcast Host
I mean, keep going.
- [24:30]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, like, you know, I. I had qualified for the district. I had. I had got first or second place in the district track meet in the high hurdles. I hated track, by the way. And I got a letter in the mail from the University of Texas. And I'll keep this story short, but basically I took it to my dad, or maybe my dad had had the letter. He showed it to me, and it was. Texas invited me to go to a one day minicamp. So back in the day, you know, during that there, you know, recruiting's totally changed now, but back in the day, they would. They would invite you to a one day camp. They'd get your height, their weight, your measurements. You'd run a 40 and then you'd go outside and you. You'd throw routes on air and you'd compete against everybody else out there and, and you. And they'd fill your day. Then you go home. And it was. It was school's ways of. I think they could do like one or two of those a spring. So I get that letter from Texas Sand.
- [25:26]
Podcast Host
Junior year.
- [25:27]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, yeah, junior year. Like in a junior year, like May of my junior year, like, like come to our one day mini camp. And it was the same day as the regional track meet. And nobody, nobody else on my track team, we weren't competing as a team at regionals. I think only a few guys made certain events. And so my dad was like, hey, bud, this is up to you. Like, you, you, you. I'll take you to the, to the one day camp if you want. Or you can, you know, you can, you know, go run track. It's like, it's up. I'm not gonna make this decision for you. And so I, I slept on it. And, you know, I loved football. I was like, you know what? I, I wanna, I wanna crack at it. So I ended up not going. The reason track meet ended up, ended up going. My dad. We woke up early, like four in the morning, Drove to Austin, was about three and a half, four hours. Spent the day at camp. There was a ton of kids there. And the quarterbacks in my class were Mark Sanchez, he had been offered a scholarship to ut, and a guy named Ryan Perlu, who ended up going to lsu. And so the people who had been offered scholarships were like, on one field, you know, this, these are the prize ponies over here. And the rest of us went to, like another field. And I was like, man, you know, I should have. I see where this is going, right? But I did all my stuff. I started throwing the ball over there. Eventually I worked my way over to this field towards the end of the day and kind of started throwing head to head with these guys. And, you know, I thought I did a pretty good job. You know, I thought it was worth my time and went up camp ends, and we're walking back out to the car and one of the assistants says, hey, can you guys come back inside? Coach Brown wants to meet you. And I look at my dad and I'm like. And he's like, yeah, let's go. You know, so we go back in and Coach Brown and Ms. Sally are there, and Coach Brown sits me down and is like, son, where are you from? I'm like, I'm from Buffalo Gap, Texas.
- [27:34]
Podcast Host
He's like, where is that?
- [27:35]
Colt McCoy
I go to Jim Ned High School. He's like, son, head coach of the University of Texas. And I, I don't. I have no idea where that's at. No. And so. And your dad's your coach? Yes, sir, my dad. My dad's my coach. And we've, we've had a couple good years. You know, we lost in the state championship game my junior year, which was our only loss that year. And anyways, we just kind of start talking back and forth and, you know, they are, they're able to pull up some of my tape and they start watching that a Little bit. And they saw me throw head to head against these other guys and it was, it was good. I, I can, I, you know, and then we, we go back to the car and go home. I remember, I remember getting in the car and telling Coach Brown or telling my dad, you know, like, dad, like, I hate, like, if this is, if I get a chance to come to the University of Texas, like nothing else matters to me. Like, I am, I am going here. And, you know, I remember my dad kind of chuckling and looks at me. He's like, yeah, son. Like, you know, you and everybody else in the world, right? And so we drive home and, you know, I was wiped. It was a long day. And we get home late and we wake up for, for church the next morning and we're all getting dressed for church and go out the front door and there was a, there was a overnight FedEx handwritten note from Coach Brown that says, thanks for coming to camp. Love getting to meet you. Here's your full scholarship to come to the University of Texas. What? Yes. And that's how it happened. And I, and you know, so we're all celebrating, you know, me and my, my mom's crying and I'm like, I don't know what to, what Nobody at my school had ever been, you know, boy or girl, had ever been, you know, at least for a really long period of time, was not on, like a full scholarship to go play a sport. And, and then, you know, a week later, I had like a hundred scholarship offers because.
- [29:29]
Podcast Host
Because. Word.
- [29:30]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, because Texas offered me. So, you know, every, every school in the country, like, started coming. They started coming. Like, we want to watch you do spring practice. And my dad's like, we're two. A high school. Like, we don't have spring practice. Everybody's playing baseball and golf and tennis and track. You know, we don't have an off season program. So I mean, I told Coach Brown, I'm in. And Coach Brown said, well, I'd like to sign, I'd like to sign two of the three guys that I've offered. So I said, I don't care, I'm in. Like, bring them. I just threw head to head against them. I, I'm in, you know, and so I, I, I never went and visited anywhere else. I didn't, I didn't travel anywhere else. Like, I, I went to Texas.
- [30:08]
Podcast Host
You get a, you get a call randomly to go down to Texas. They had seen your film somehow, I guess they were doing film. This would have been what, 0404 this was 04. How would Texas have even known? They just know there was this great team up in Buffalo Gap that was winning by a lot. And they had maybe heard there's a quarterback there that's kind of running.
- [30:27]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, running hot. I'm sure there was like a GA or an analyst or somebody that like got win or something or, or and just sent out a flyer like, hey, come to camp.
- [30:39]
Podcast Host
So you go to camp, obviously have a good throwing day. So basically, like within 48 hours, your. Your whole world was completely turned upside down.
- [30:51]
Colt McCoy
Yeah.
- [30:52]
Podcast Host
Okay, so that's May. So you go into summer. I'm assuming you have a good senior year.
- [30:56]
Colt McCoy
Yep. I mean, Listen, I played 2A high school football. I mean, you play both ways. I remember, you know, the big deal for Coach Brown was like, we don't want him playing defense. Yeah, I'm like, no, I love to play defense. Right. And so that was. Yeah, we played my senior year and, you know, I had the opportunity to go early and, you know, graduate early. And I just, I said, no, like, I want to play basketball. Like, I love basketball. Our team was good. We ended up getting beat in the state tournament in Austin. So we went to the state championship. Got beat by a team by like four, you know, so finished out my senior year. Then I came in for summer school and started. But yeah, the. The story's wild. And, and, you know, I think, I think if you were to ask anybody in my hometown of 700 people, you know, like Colts going to the University of Texas, like, only anybody would have assumed that I would, like, actually go be the quarterback there. I mean, I did deep down, somewhere in there, I was like, I got a chance, you know, but this doesn't happen. Like, this never happened. And so I felt like Coach Brown gave me an opportunity and went out on a limb for me, which he did. But, like, I will always be grateful for that. And I also felt like I'm representing, you know, all my buddies that I played football with. Yeah, I'm representing West Texas. I'm representing all the small town kids who play football who never got the chance that I got to. And I would imagine there's better guys, better athletes, better players than me, but somehow I got picked, and I have always tried to honor that.
- [32:58]
Podcast Host
One more question, then we'll get to arrival day. So that day camp, how many total court. There was Mark and the guy that played at lsu, there was you. Was there anybody else or was it just the three y'?
- [33:07]
Colt McCoy
All? It was just us three.
- [33:08]
Podcast Host
So you.
- [33:08]
Colt McCoy
There was Some other guys that like, never made it to this field. There was like other quarterbacks over here.
- [33:14]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [33:14]
Colt McCoy
But like, it was.
- [33:15]
Podcast Host
They kind of moved you to the good field after they saw you throw a few.
- [33:18]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, yeah.
- [33:19]
Podcast Host
Were you throwing them long? Just direct?
- [33:23]
Colt McCoy
I, you know, I don't. You're throwing the guys you've never thrown before. Right. You don't know how fast this guy is. You know, I think they're, they're just doing, they're doing drills, footwork drills, take, Take a five step drop, do a roll out, you know, give me three and a hitch, you know, those sort of things. And I think I just, you know, I'd been playing the game my whole life. Like, I've been doing that since I was three. Right. And so I think, you know, there was things I needed to work on and get better at, but I think just overall, you know, you can, you know, if I'm nothing like being around the game forever, like, I am a really good evaluator of talent. Like, I can, I can go out and watch a high school football game and I can tell you if anybody on that field, no matter what position they play, like, have a, have a chance. Yeah, right. Because I've, I've just seen it forever. And so I think it was the same thing that day. It's like, okay, like, let's put you over here so I can kind of evaluate you with like, what I already know, Mark and Ryan and you know, those guys are like, you know, I think Ryan was the number one recruit in the country and I think Mark was number two.
- [34:27]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [34:29]
Colt McCoy
And so that was, I knew who those guys were. Right. Now I get to go through. I'm going to give you my best shot. Right.
- [34:37]
Podcast Host
So you get to Texas, you get to. What is it? I guess summer, two days.
- [34:42]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, I get to Texas.
- [34:43]
Podcast Host
And, and, and did you kind of arrive, you and your heart knew. I'm going to, I'm going to make it on that starting squad. But did the world kind of like, were you arriving as like third string, second string, first string or were you arriving as like end of bench?
- [34:56]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, I was arriving and no one knew who I was. I think people thought I had a cool name and that's about it. Like, nobody knew anything about me.
- [35:04]
Podcast Host
In fact, it's a pretty football name.
- [35:05]
Colt McCoy
I wasn't even, I wasn't really like ranked on like any website until Texas offered me a scholarship and then I became like a low ranked, like, I think that was a three star. Yeah, if that rings a bell. For anybody. And so we had. We had the smallest recruiting class in UC history. So my 2005 signing class was 13 guys. I think, like, nine of us made it, got drafted, which is pretty awesome.
- [35:36]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [35:36]
Colt McCoy
But I remember nine of 13 guys, maybe more. I remember, you know, getting on the campus, not, you know, all the guys. Like, you know, you don't really know anybody, but it was like Jamal Charles and Jermichael Finley and Roy Miller and like, I mean, a bunch of these, like, household names. And after a few days in, the dudes were, like, upset at me, like, hey, listen, like, because we were. We were like the number three class in the country. Four class in the country. And then, you know, it's all based on what your ranking is. And so when I came in, it's like, you're bringing a three star. Like, we went from, like, the number three class, like the number 11, 10 or 11 class. And so they were all like, come on, man. You really. I'm gonna. Trust me if I get out. Like, if I get a chance, I'm gonna. I will. Trust me. I'm here for a reason. And so that was always like the running joke, like, around, like, our recruiting class was like, man, Colt, run this for us.
- [36:39]
Podcast Host
You know, Then at the. Then the next question just becomes, when did you figure out you had a chance at Texas? That you weren't just gonna.
- [36:48]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. So this was. So this turned into be. I ended up red shirting that year, and I needed it bad, man. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me because I came from a small town in West Texas. We didn't really have, you know, an off season program. You just went from, you know, we. We lost in a state championship game in football on a Friday night, and Tuesday night we had a district basketball game, right? So it was like, take the helmets and cleats off, put your basketball shoes on, go shoot a couple free throws and like, let's go, let's go play. So I just. You. You know, I was. I was little. Like, I was six foot. I was. I think when I checked into campus, I was like 169 pounds, just a little athlete. And. And I remember checking in and getting on campus, and it still amazes me that I got a scholarship, like, like knowing what I was. But I guess whatever they. Whatever potential they saw in me to take a flyer on me, but I needed a year, and I actually hit a growth spurt my freshman year. I didn't like, my first start. My. After my redshirt year, my Freshman year, my red shirt freshman year, I was 6 to 195 pounds. So I put on, you know, 25 pounds. I actually grew 2 inches, which is crazy.
- [38:04]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [38:06]
Colt McCoy
And so, but that, that whole year I was 5am workouts every day with Mad Dog. I mean every single day. Squatting, benching, power, clean running, like just anything to put meat on my bones. And at the same time it was meetings and meetings and meetings, like learning the offense, learning the system, learning protections, learning coverages and defenses. And it's just, it was a constant. Just like first time in my life where I was just consumed with one thing. I wasn't going to basketball practice and baseball and track like it was football all day long. And I loved it. But I knew I had a long ways to go. And so it was just a full on commitment of if I ever want to have a chance, like I gotta do this. And so that, that whole year I technically was the backup, probably Vince was the starter. So it was, it was, I mean we went 13, 0 and won the national championship, which was incredible. Back then that was 05, that was 05. So back then one, if you played one play, you burned your red shirt. Now you can play like four games and still red shirt. So the whole goal was to not play. But I traveled and I dressed every game. I was holding a clipboard and I was, I was tracking, I was on the headphones, I was listening to like, I mean I got a front row seat to like what this needs to look like. And Vince never got hurt. And so nothing. Nothing.
- [39:40]
Podcast Host
You were second string. Your reg.
- [39:42]
Colt McCoy
I was running the scout team. I was technically third string because we had a fifth year senior who, who traveled and was the backup. Got it and like cleanup duties and. But I think if something, you know, catastrophic would have happened, events, you know, I think I, I think I probably would have burned the red shirt. But I'm, I'm glad that didn't happen. And you know, it's like it was a great way for me to not only you know, put on some weight and physically get stronger and mentally get dialed in more of like how we call plays, what it looks like, how we execute, how we operate, but also to, to, to see it. Like I'm a, I'm a visual learner, I always have been. So I'm like, you know, and the one thing I remember was like there was a lot of self doubt in me. Like I'm here, like I'm here for a reason, I think. But like I can't go. I Can't go do that. Like, I can't, I can't, I can't run like that. Like, I can't, I can't do these things that Vince Young is doing. And so I was always, I was, I had this back and forth in my head all the time of like, if I'm ever going to play here, it's not going to look like that. Yeah. And so what can it look like? Like, what are my strengths? And I, I learned real quickly that, you know, I was never going to be the, the biggest, the fastest, the strongest. But you, you know, in order to play high level college football, you got to have an edge somewhere. And, and, and my edge ultimately ended up being, you know, like in my head mentally, like understanding structures and coverages and defenses, understanding offensively, like where the ball needs to go, checks, audibles, alerts, packages, like to just operate the thing flawlessly and trust what I'm seeing to go do that. And so that's where I just, that's why I just dove in and though, you know, I remember, you know, walking up to Coach Brown's office after Vince left and went to the NFL, you know, every year we brought in a five star quarterback. Nothing was. And I remember Coach Brown sitting there looking at me, he's like, son, listen. And Coach Brown and I are super tight now and we always have been. But, but it's different when he's your coach. And you know, day to day he was like, nothing's ever going to be given here, especially to you. Everything's going to be earned.
- [42:09]
Podcast Host
Like, damn, my dad's making me do this forever.
- [42:12]
Colt McCoy
And, and exactly like, but I was used to that first. I mean, I was used to that. And, and so like, it was just, it was just a daily, like, somebody's coming to take my job today and I'm not going to let it happen. And I played that way my whole life, especially at ut because, you know, I had to go earn the job my next year. I had to go earn the job the next year. Like, I kind of felt safe after my junior year, like going into my senior year that like, you know, I still gotta go get it, but like, I don't think anybody's gonna take my job right now. Right. And I just, I've just always had that mentality.
- [42:50]
Podcast Host
So you started your sophomore year?
- [42:53]
Colt McCoy
I started. All four years. Yeah. Yeah.
- [42:59]
Podcast Host
Just a little like walking onto the field for the first time.
- [43:02]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, it's my first, my first game. We played North Texas.
- [43:06]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [43:06]
Colt McCoy
And I had had a really good Training camp and similar to my dad and, and how, like, you know, some of the assistant coaches had to convince him that like, okay, he, like, he's. He's our best guy.
- [43:19]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [43:20]
Colt McCoy
You know, I think, I think, you know, I got voted captain four years in a row and I had it. And that's probably one of my proudest accomplishments because it's all about the players. Like, coaches are amazing. Coaches can call great plays, coaches can help in a lot of different ways. But like, if you don't have the respect of your team and the guys that you're doing this stuff with and you're around them all day, every day, like, that's a. You gotta earn that.
- [43:48]
Podcast Host
So let me ask you a question. Were you voted captain leading into your freshman year or you voted on that at the beginning of the year?
- [43:56]
Colt McCoy
Yes and no. So like in at ut there was never like a, we never had a. Captains were voted on. Like, you got that at the end of the year at like an awards banquet.
- [44:07]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [44:07]
Colt McCoy
But there was like, there was you captains to like walk on the field and do. The coin toss changed. You know, it was mostly like seniors. And we rotated that out.
- [44:17]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [44:18]
Colt McCoy
That's how Coach Brown did it. But there was an, there was an understood, like, who's calling the shots around here?
- [44:24]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [44:24]
Colt McCoy
And I, and I know a lot of my teammates advocated for me to be the guy, but I was competing against a five star, a guy named Jevin Snead, who was like Mr. All World. And he was, he was a great quarterback. And it was head to head. I mean, head to head every day. And I remember going into the first game at North Texas, Coach Brown called me in on Thursday on a Thursday night, you know, And I'm thinking, like, man, I've done everything I can possibly do. I hadn't even really thought about North Texas. I've thought about like being the quarterback. And he says, listen, you know, I think you've done a good job. I'm proud of you. He's like, but like, you're going to start this game, but Jevin's going to play too. And he's probably going to play in the third series. He's like, so depending on how it goes, what this looks like, like y' all are both going to play. And I was like, all right, you know, like, if that's, if that's where we're at, that's where we're at, you know, And I remember going out and never coming off the field against North Texas, right. And just, I threw Four touchdowns. We rolled. And it was like, you know, you asked, like, when did you think you could do it? Like, I probably didn't think I could do it before that game, but going out there and, and like, feeling it and smelling it and executing and doing it, like, then it was like, okay, like, games are going to get harder, but, like, I got that one under my belt. And I, I, I, you know, you get that point. Everybody's comparing you to, we just want a Natty. It was a, you know, and, and I'm three inches shorter and, and not as fast and. But like, I did some good things and things that I could build off of and things I could get some confidence in. And we, and we, and we went.
- [46:13]
Podcast Host
Not only did you come off the Natty, you. You said it was the greatest college football game maybe of all time. Was the 2005 Natty for sure, that you also got to watch firsthand.
- [46:24]
Colt McCoy
I think if you, I think if you asked a lot of people, I mean, I think most people would say that's. That's one of the greatest games of all time.
- [46:34]
Podcast Host
So, you know what's funny is I had Steve on yesterday, went to usc. He said, tell Colt. Everybody in Texas probably says that. Everybody, USC has forgotten that game.
- [46:43]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, but there was, I mean, there was stars galore in that game. Reggie White, I mean, not Reggie Bush, Matt Leiner, Lindell White. I mean, their whole defense got drafted. When you look at our 2005 team, our, you know, the defense we had, the guys we had on offense, I mean, I mean, it was, it was a, it was a game, and it was. And not only were there was there so much talent on the field, like, the game was epic. You know, we stopped him on fourth down at midfield with a couple minutes left. We go down and score. Vince runs it in. Like, you're like, you're like, what? We just won. You know, it's pretty awesome.
- [47:19]
Podcast Host
Had a fun night.
- [47:20]
Colt McCoy
It was fun night. I mean, really fun night. But it, but it, you know, afterwards, you know, Vince is like, I'm out. I'm heading to the league. And I'm like, yeah, you're the best player in the world. Um, you know, it just. It immediately became real.
- [47:33]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [47:33]
Colt McCoy
Like, okay, now what?
- [47:35]
Podcast Host
Okay, so you, you a few more things in college. So you, you start all four years. What is, like, your greatest memory? Is it a game? Is there a moment like, Texas football is such a big deal? It's. It's just a big deal. Was it maybe, like, what was the, the pinnacle of it all for you?
- [47:57]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, I think, you know, I had the opportunity to leave after my junior year had, you know, really was tore about. Torn up about it, you know, because I was, I was getting feedback from the NFL that I was going to be a, you know, mid to late first round pick, maybe early second round
- [48:15]
Podcast Host
pick end of junior year.
- [48:16]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, yeah. You know, and that's hard. That's hard to turn down. You know, I'd been in school for four years, played three years, and, you know, I think at the end of the day, what mattered most to me was, was graduating from Texas. But, but more important than that, honestly, was the guys that I had been playing with, like all my teammates. And I, I didn't know if we'd be as good as 2008, but I knew we had a chance to go back to the rose bowl in 2009. And I just, I loved college. And I, and I, and I loved, like our coaching staff was the same. You know, we, we. It was, it was just. It was set up in a way that, like, I really was convinced that we could go win a national championship. And I experienced that, my friend, my early, my freshman year. But I wasn't, I was a part of it, but I didn't play. And I wanted that. And I knew it was gonna be back in at the Rose bowl. And and so, you know, it was like, it allowed me to kind of do all that. And it, and it became a pretty easy decision for me was. Was to come back. And I think if you asked me, like, what my favorite memories were, it would. You know, there's rivalries at Texas that are really fun. You know, Oklahoma's the big rivalry, playing in the Cotton bowl and that environment, you know, split down the middle, you know, same tunnel you. This generally, whoever wins that game is going to go to the Big 12 championship and have a shot at the national. Like, all those things were, it was, it was awesome. And we played. I played good in that game every year. It was fun. You know, the A and M game is great and you know, it's kind of the big in state rivalry, but they're Aggies. But it's still like, you know, playing at Kyle Field is an awesome experience. And so all those, you know, those are the kind of the two games you circle on the calendar every year. But I think probably the game that everybody remembers the most is, you know, we made it. We. We made it to the national championship. Like, that was the goal. There was no other goal that year. Like, if I was coming back like, that was it. Everybody. It was almost like a. Like, we didn't have to talk about it. And we. And we. And we got there. It's hard to do. We were playing a lot of young receivers. We had. We had a lot of young guys playing different spots. There was. There was some. There was some close games in the year where. The year before we were kind of blowing out people, but we were still winning, and we were kind of learning along the way and bringing these young guys up. And so there was times where it was a little bit frustrating, but we made it. And, you know, going into that game, you know, it was. It was. I mean, we were underdogs, but the. The expectation and. And the. The. Everyone knew we were going to win that game. Like, there was. Like, we just. We knew. And then to have that taken away by injury was awful. And, you know that you can't go back and change anything in time. And I've certainly, you know, had many years now to like, dwell on that and think about that. And, you know, that just. That was a. That was a tough blow to. Not just to me, but to, like. I didn't even care about me in that moment, really. I cared about my coaches, I cared about my teammates. Like, no quarterback had stepped in the huddle and called a play for the last four years. You know, it's like, it was just. It was chaos. Like, there was. It was awful. And, you know, that. That hurt. That still hurts. But at the same time, like, if. When you look in the. At the totality of everything, like, you know, we would have loved to, like, finish that game and win that game, like, of course, absolutely. But that. That just. That didn't happen, and that was taken away and. And I've learned a bunch from it and still deal with it at times, you know, physically, but also grew up a lot after that. Like, you know, it was. That was a. That was a really tough deal.
- [52:39]
Podcast Host
What do you remember about that play? Like, what are you in the moment?
- [52:46]
Colt McCoy
Like, yeah, kind of black out over it. You're so locked in. Very routine play. Like, nothing. Not even like, that hard of a hit. Like, it wasn't. Wasn't like a massive collision. It was. It was just. It just. He caught me the right way and landed on me the right way. And like, I. It didn't hurt. And I remember I'm at the bottom of the pile. I'm trying to get up. I'm trying to push myself up off the ground. Like, I have. I have nothing on the right side of my body. And I'd had. I had stingers. Everybody who plays football has stingers before. Kind of like, it kind of burns and it doesn't feel good, but you kind of shake it off and like, a few minutes later it comes back, like. And so that's kind of what I was hoping for. Yeah, that's what I was for sure. But, like, I came off the sidelines and when I. When I say it was turned off, like, it was turned off for three months. Like, I got. I got drafted late in the third round. I was supposed to be a first round pick, like, because no doctors could say he's gonna, he's gonna be all right at this date. Like, the feedback was, he may never be right like that. Like, it's different on every person. It was a cervical, you know, in my neck. Everybody thought it was a shoulder injury. It was like, it's a, it's a, it's your neck that goes through your shoulder and down. Like, I mean, for, for a month I couldn't, like, control my hand and like, go pick up something like, it, it was a freaky deal. And if I could have, if I had any ounce of anything, like you were. You would never come off that field. Right. So it was just, it was one of those, like, you know, it was one of those deals. And I remember at the end of the game, you know, I couldn't take my shoulder pads off at halftime, so I just walked back out and did my best to be a cheerleader for everybody. And I'm trying to get back to the locker room after the game. And there's never been an instance where, you know, the sideline reporter, Lisa Salters, comes and interviews the losing quarterback who didn't play in the game. Yeah, like, you go, you go interview Saban. You go interview. Like, you go straight there, hold the trophy I'm trying to get. She catches me right before I'm walking in the locker room. It's like, what happened? You know, talk to us, whatever. I had, you know, I had read Isaiah 26:3 the night before. Said, trust in the Lord, for the Lord is the rock eternal. I went to bed that night like I do every night before a game, just excited, pray and. And wake up and it's like, ready to go. And when she caught me in that moment, like, that's what came out of my mouth. And, like, I'm. That's what I believe. And, you know, this one was taken away from me, and it was the biggest stage of my life. And it's what I Worked for not only me, but everybody for forever, and I didn't get to do it. But you know what? Like, I still. I still know that God has a wonderful plan, and it wasn't part of the plan tonight, and you just move on.
- [56:05]
Podcast Host
Were you like, dude, I mean, you're.
- [56:08]
Colt McCoy
You're frustrated, you're aggravated, you're pissed. You're a competitor. You're. You don't know what's going on. Like, I couldn't. I couldn't, like, control this. I mean, I had nothing.
- [56:19]
Podcast Host
Just limp.
- [56:20]
Colt McCoy
Nothing. I mean, I. There was, like, a little fractured rib in here. So, I mean, he did. He caught me good. But I didn't feel that I couldn't. It was. It was. It was gone. And I think, you know, being able in that moment to, you know, that's what comes out of my heart. I think looking back, I'm. I'm very. I'm very thankful that that's what came across, because that's what I think amongst all the emotions I was experiencing for myself and for everyone else was like, I stand on the rock because that's the most important thing.
- [57:08]
Podcast Host
I can't fully. I don't think many people on this planet get to feel the gravity of something like that. That's a big deal, man, and that's a great way to walk away from it, even if in the moment you're like, I trust the Lord. And it's hard right now because this isn't. This is not what I was planning on.
- [57:29]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. I mean, that's the. That's the last time I wore the orange and white. I mean, that was it. Like, I walked off, and you were
- [57:36]
Podcast Host
kind of the storyline of the game.
- [57:39]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. I mean, yeah, it was the culmination of, like, all of our goals. You know, we had it. We were there.
- [57:46]
Podcast Host
You know, that's something that kind of sucks about college football right now. Like you said, I got to play with these guys for four years. The coaches were the same. You see, these teams right now, they're just trading each other all the time. It's hard to build that camaraderie in that team like they used to.
- [58:03]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, it's certainly changed. I mean, you know, I think being a former college football player, like, my hope is that, you know, we can somehow keep the sanctity of college football. The rivalries, the traditions, the. The. The fans, the. The. You know, like, there's. There's so much awesome stuff there. Right. And right now it just feels like he's pretty corporate.
- [58:31]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [58:32]
Colt McCoy
You know, and My hope is that there can be folks who can figure that out for all of us right
- [58:44]
Podcast Host
before we get to the NFL. Real quick, when we. I told you this the other day when I put out something on the Internet, I said, what do you want me to ask Colt? And your boys from Tech were like, ask him about Crabtree in Lubbock, Texas. And you had a funny story. Yeah, so tell us the three.
- [59:01]
Colt McCoy
How.
- [59:02]
Podcast Host
How the. How you and Crabtree became buddies.
- [59:04]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, yeah, obviously, 2008, you know, we kind of had everything we wanted right in front of us, and we get beat late in the game in Lubbock prime time, you know, Crabtree catches the ball on the side. I'm standing right there. Like, I'm. I'm on the end of the field kind of watching the play. Like, all we got to do is keep them in bounds. Game over. People forget we got the. We played horrible the first half. We made this epic comeback in the second half. I get the ball with, like, three minutes left. We march 80 yards and score. And I. As I handed off the ball to, like, and he. And our guy runs into the end zone. I look up at the scoreboard, and there's, like, a little over a minute left. And I'm like, did we just score too early? Yeah, but you can't really. In the moment, it's like, dude, we just scored. We just made a crazy comeback, you know, and our defense was good that year. And, you know, so I go. I go down on the sidelines, like, the far end, you know, just like, all right, one stop, baby. Like, we got this. And then Crapshey catches in front of me, walks in, and scores. It was brutal. So I'm. I'm playing for the Cleveland Browns for my first. I get drafted by the Browns, play. My first three years, you know, I had gone through three head coaches, three general managers, and now an ownership change. So the. The owner ended up selling the team to Jimmy Haslam. And I remember Jimmy comes in, who's a great friend of mine, and, you know, it's his first day, and. And he brings his dad, and it's got to be an awesome experience for the Haslam family, right? They're wonderful people. And, you know, at that point, like, it's been rough. Like, I've. I've played decent football, but we just. You know, and I'd given it everything I had, and I was. I was prepared to be a Cleveland Brown my whole career. I mean, you don't. You don't go into the NFL expecting to, like, Bounce around and play on different teams and you're like, I'm fully committed to. I loved Cleveland. I remember having a conversation with Mr. Haslam and, and just like, hey, you know, how's Cleveland treated you? How. What, what do you like? And I was like, look, I love it all. It's been hard, you know, now I'm going on another coach, like been through a lockout, like is. Is. There's just a lot here. I was like, and, and if you want me to be a Cleveland Brown, like, I'm, I'm all in. But if not, like, it might be, it might be best for all of us if I got, I got a fresh start somewhere. And he said, I'm not going to make any, any like personnel decisions this whole first year. Like, I don't know, I'm just, I'm going to evaluate. You know, I'm, I'm great. And I remember, you know, he called me back and just said, hey, why don't you come see me in the morning some. Something like that. And so I did. And, and long story short, through that, through that whole process, you know, he says, let's get you a, let's get you a fresh start. And I get traded to the 49ers. So I'm like at the facility at like 8 in the morning, meeting with the owner and you know, at 3 o' clock I'm like landing in San Francisco.
- [62:24]
Podcast Host
Oh, wow.
- [62:24]
Colt McCoy
To be, you know, quick. Yeah. So what happens when you're under your rookie contract? It's a four year contract, so you get traded at your, you're going into your fourth year. The, the Niners just picked up the last year of my rookie contract, which was guaranteed. And you know, so I get to go, I get, I just get a fresh start. And it, it ultimately was like the best thing that, you know, that's, it's sad and you're confused and you, you know, we're kind of excited at the same time and, and so I, I get there and you know, they pick me up, they bring me to the facility, I'm with, with Harbaugh and the, in the gm and you, you know, you'll sign your contract and you're, you're meeting everybody and you know, Harbaugh's like, hey, why don't we just show you the locker room? You know, come down there and the lights are off. And I like, you know, I'm like, you know, great. I'm getting, getting the whole tour. And you know, we, we go in and, and he flips the lights on and my locker's like right around the corner. And I look over there and Crabtree is sitting at his locker. And Harbaugh puts me in the locker right next to Crabtree. He's like, hey, you know, I think you might know this guy. And I'm like, you gotta, you gotta be kidding me right now. But, you know, Crab, she comes over, you know, high fives like, big old smile on his face. I hadn't talked to him since that. That happened. And we, you know, we were locker buddies for a whole year in San Francisco. He's awesome. And you know, but, but that's, that's. Yeah, I mean, I remember exactly where I was standing when he scored. And like, you know, that ultimately knocked us out of the national championship and probably a Heisman and probably, you know, just. It was, it's was brutal. You know, but that's, that's also football. Like. Yeah, that's why we all love it, dude.
- [64:10]
Podcast Host
It's the best.
- [64:11]
Colt McCoy
And so we obviously got our, you know, got our stuff out of the way and became boys and, you know, I threw a bunch of balls that year and it was fun.
- [64:20]
Podcast Host
Yeah, I was in Vegas. TCU played UNLV that weekend. So we were watching it from the Bellagio sports book. I remember it too.
- [64:28]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, it was, I mean, people ask me, like, what are, what are some of the toughest places to play? Yeah, like, you know, back then it was. You played Nebraska, you know, there was in 08 and 09, seven of the top 15 teams in the country were in the Big 12. Yeah. Say what you want about the SEC. Say what you. But like seven of the top 15 teams, sometimes eight. I mean, Kansas won the Orange Bowl 2007.
- [64:57]
Podcast Host
Really?
- [64:58]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. So there was, everybody was, was decent and. But like, you know, playing at Oklahoma State on Halloween was like ridiculously hard and loud, like crazy. And that field's so tight, you know, Zach Robinson and Des Bryant and great defense, like, you know, but playing at 8 o' clock in Lubbock on prime time. Oh, I mean, that's one of the hardest, hardest environment. You're. People are throwing stuff at you. And like we walked in the stadium and the entire student section was full. At 4 o', clock, you walk out for warm ups and it's just every thing you could imagine. I mean, I had, I had guys from my high school class. Like, I always told you how much I love where I grew up. I mean, I had high school teammates of mine on the front row. Like, we're gonna get after you tonight, boy. You know, like, dude.
- [65:51]
Podcast Host
And you can hear it.
- [65:52]
Colt McCoy
Oh, yeah.
- [65:53]
Podcast Host
You pretend like you don't, but you can hear it.
- [65:55]
Colt McCoy
Of course. That was awesome. I mean that when I say the sanctity of college football, that's what I'm talking about. Like, that is incredible. That's what I remember playing at Nebraska, playing at A and M. Like, all these places were crazy hard to play.
- [66:11]
Podcast Host
And away versus home is a big deal. Like, it really is a change of psychology to be away.
- [66:16]
Colt McCoy
Big deal. I never had more fun in my entire career than going on the road and beating somebody. I took massive amounts of pride in that.
- [66:29]
Podcast Host
You said one thing real quick. You said Jimmy Haslin saved your career. Did he save your career by letting you go?
- [66:34]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
- [66:36]
Podcast Host
Well, what would have happened if you hadn't? Like, why? Why?
- [66:39]
Colt McCoy
Who knows? I mean, listen, I. I loved Cleveland. Cleveland's a really hard place to play.
- [66:44]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [66:45]
Colt McCoy
And, you know, I. I gave it. I have. I have no regrets. On, like, man, I learned a ton. I grew up a ton. I mean, I. I gave it everything. And, you know, when I played there, it was like Pittsburgh was winning Super Bowls, Baltimore was winning Super Bowls. You played them twice a year. Cincinnati was good. Like, that's your division. You play six games like that. Yeah, it was. It was. It was tough, and it was the weather, and it was cold, and, like, I loved it. And, you know, all that was, was. Was a great, like, experience and. And learning curve for me. But sitting down with Mr. Haslam and. And him, you know, kind of understanding, you know, and looking at the totality of what had gone. I mean, listen, you get drafted by a certain regime. They get fired after first year, a new one comes in. They're not the people who drafted you, but you play a year with them, then you get a new one, then you get a lockout, then you get a new owner. I mean, it was just like, what's next?
- [67:45]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [67:46]
Colt McCoy
You know, and if it's the best thing for me to, like, kind of. I don't want to be selfish here, but if. If. If there's another better. If somebody's going to offer you a good amount of picks. For me, like, we should think about it. And, and, you know, when ultimately, when I got to San Francisco, you know, that was a great football team.
- [68:03]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [68:03]
Colt McCoy
I mean, I mean, there was hall of Famers all around me, made great friends. You know, you're talking Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman and Justin Smith and Alden Smith and Frank Gore and Vernon Davis and stud offensive Line. I mean, you go down the list. Like, I learned to love football again that year, big time. I was like, oh, this is fun. This. We. We ended up getting beat in the NFC Championship game by Seattle. In Seattle. It was the whole Crabtree Richard sermon. Scuffle in the back of the end zone. Last play of the game. We were that close to making a Super bowl, you know? And from then, I became a free agent. Could have stayed in San Francisco. I think that was a real opportunity, and I think just. I. I kind of weighed my options, and I felt like Washington was a better place for me. I ended up playing seven seasons there. Loved it. And so it just. It just kind of. It just re. Energized me on football again.
- [69:02]
Podcast Host
What is the biggest learning curve, NCAA to NFL?
- [69:07]
Colt McCoy
I was trying to explain this to my kids the other day. Okay, okay, listen to this. I took my kids to the All Saints Regents State semifinal playoff game last week, and My son is 7. I have four kids. I have three girls and a boy. My oldest girl's 10. My second child is. My second girl's 8. My son is 7, and my little girl is 4. After the game's over, you got one side that's, like, holding up the trophy pumps. We're going to State, right? I've been there. And it's a beautiful feeling, right? So you're like, that's awesome. You look across the field, and everyone's crying. Fans, parents, cheerleaders, band players. Just devastated, right? And they start playing Kenny Chesney song Boys of Fall, which is like, you know. Right? And so, like, I'm caught up in this moment, like, because I know both sides. Like, I. Nothing in my. I didn't love anything more than high school football.
- [70:17]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [70:18]
Colt McCoy
So we get back in the car, and Judd, my son, says, like, why were those boys crying? And I was like, but where do I start? You know? Like, how do I. Because what my son has seen is that, like, oh, you want to go play college football? You can go play my daddy did. You don't play in the NFL. We can all go play. Like, go play in the NFL. You know? That's what he's saying. He's seen me. He's. He watched, you know, five seasons of his life was at NFL games.
- [70:46]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [70:48]
Colt McCoy
And so trying to. To break that down for him of, like, hey, like, for 99% of those guys that were crying after the game, like, football is now a memory. Oh, it's over. It's over. They won't ever put their pads on again. Like, it's it. And he was like, why don't they just go play in college? I said, because, like, you have to be outrageously better than everyone else to even sniff the opportunity to go play in college. Like, it's so hard to go to college. I mean, it's less than 1%. Go play college football. And it's getting worse now. I mean, high school athletes aren't hardly getting recruited, as you know now, because you got the portal. It's like. I was like. And not only that, like, if you get to go play in the NFL, like, less than 1% of those guys in college get the chance to go play in the NFL. I was like, you have to be. You have to have so many things go your way. You have to stay healthy, and you have to be so good to even think about having the opportunity to go to the next level. And I could just see him thinking, like, dang. You know, like, dang. And my girls are in the backseat. Like, wow, I've never thought about that. And that's the truth. Like, you know, I hate that I'm not playing football now. Like, every part of me outside of my elbow right now knows I could still be playing. But at the same time, like, my heart is so full for what I got to do, because I know how hard that is, and I know it wasn't just me. I had people praying for me. I had people help me. I had people encourage me. Like, I mean, it is. It's so hard. I got to play 14 years. I didn't accomplish all my goals and dreams. I mean, I didn't even get come close. Like, I'm a competitor, but at the same time, like, I'm so grateful that, you know, my kids got to see me play. And it kind of gave me a good Runway to go, you know, be a great dad and husband and go start a business. And, like, it's unbelievable. I just told you where I came from. And, you know, so, like, I'd be crazy to not wake up every day and just, like, legitimately count my blessings.
- [73:15]
Podcast Host
And we're going to talk about the decision you made to leave in a second. I do want to go back to just when you let. When you leave the NCAA and you're at the top, and now the 1%'s going to the 1%.
- [73:27]
Colt McCoy
Yeah.
- [73:28]
Podcast Host
Do you have to change as a player? Like, do you have to become a new player? Like, what's the learning curve? Yeah, because it's a business now also. Yeah.
- [73:39]
Colt McCoy
You're getting paid now.
- [73:40]
Podcast Host
You're getting paid. The game's a little different, maybe. I don't know.
- [73:45]
Colt McCoy
No, it is.
- [73:46]
Podcast Host
Like, are you having to relearn the game again when you get into the NFL?
- [73:50]
Colt McCoy
Yes. The way that I played in college was not going to translate to the NFL because like, I led our team in rushing my junior and senior year in college.
- [74:01]
Podcast Host
I didn't know that.
- [74:02]
Colt McCoy
Not, not by, not by choice, but just like, that's, that was our personnel and that's how we, that's what was asked of me and I had to do it. Never in the NFL would that happen.
- [74:13]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [74:14]
Colt McCoy
Right. And so like you're, you know, I remember, I remember playing the Patriots my, My rookie year. You know, Tom Brady and crew coming to town and we beat them 34 to 14. And I had like, I had like a, a 17 yard touchdown run, which was. Ended up. I mean, I, I, like that's about as good as I can do. Like, there's no way I'm getting 20.
- [74:37]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [74:38]
Colt McCoy
And I remember like, like getting out of the pocket, you know, it's kind of a broken play. And like, I'm watching, I'm. I'm looking at the, the, the, the pylon, the front pylon because I end up like diving it and barely clipping the front pylon. But I remember like, there was dudes that were like 6, 5, 300 plus, like gaining ground on me that entire time. And like, come on, come on, like I can do, you know? And it's the, the speed of the game is, is, is guys you've never heard of ever are like the biggest, fastest, strongest guys that, that God's ever created.
- [75:18]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [75:18]
Colt McCoy
Coming at you. Right? And so it's just, it's a different game. The speed's different, the, the size is different. The, the, the way you get hit is different. And so the way you play the game has to change. Like, balls got to come out. You got to make quick decisions. Right. You got to be accurate with the football. You got to throw in between guys at the line strum. Six foot two.
- [75:39]
Podcast Host
You got to have the. No, look, throw.
- [75:41]
Colt McCoy
It has to be part of your game. It has to be where, like, because you. I got to, I got to get the ball in that guy's hands to go make a play. That's my job.
- [75:50]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [75:50]
Colt McCoy
In rhythm, on time, accurately. So it's a catch and run. And you got to do it over and over and over. And the difference between college and NFL is that like, the complexities of the scheme is different. Like, there's no. Oh, I got to go to class for six hours break and then come back and do football. It's football all day and you're playing against the Rex Ryan's and the Bill Belichicks and the, you know, the Mike Tomlins of the world who are, who are drawing up, you know, coverages and defenses that like, I mean, I mean hard, hard to like understand and, and execute against. And it's, and it's weekend week out, weekend week. I mean the teams who are 2 and 9 right now in the NFL like are full of great players and if you're not on your game, like they're going to get you and it's just a high level competitive environment. I would say I was thinking about this the other day if, if you asked me what I miss the most about the NFL, knowing how hard it is to get there, was that for 14 years, like I, I would get in my car early in the morning, I'd drive to work and like when I turn off the truck and I walk in that building, it is like if you're not, if you aren't like competitively geared up to like go compete and win your job and do it at a high level, you're done like immediately.
- [77:25]
Podcast Host
There's no grace.
- [77:26]
Colt McCoy
There's no, there's grace for a few people and there's grace for guys who are just unbelievable God given talent, right? And there's some there, there's, there's some of those out there like, like the greatest I've ever. The greatest athletic freak I've ever been privileged to and I've played against them. I just name names in San Francisco. I mean I've had. But Trent Williams is the best athlete I've ever been around.
- [77:55]
Podcast Host
Really. I was not expecting that.
- [77:57]
Colt McCoy
Trent Williams played Oklahoma. He's a Texas boy from Longview. He walked. It would take him five minutes to walk from here to that door right there. He would, he would, he would take him, it would take him 10 minutes to walk out on the practice field. It'd take him 20 minutes to put his gear on. Like I'm talking like slow, slow. The moment he got in his stance and like no stretching, no warm ups. Like incredible. I watched him in a 10 yard sprint with no warmup, be a full body length ahead of DeSean Jackson, who's one of the most, the fastest guys I've played against in a 10 yard sprint. Trent beat him by a full body at 330 pounds and he's, you know, I watched him walk into a weight Room, no warm up. Put 5, 15 on the bench. How many you want, Coach?
- [78:59]
Podcast Host
Just different.
- [78:59]
Colt McCoy
Like, I don't need to be in here. You know what I can do, like, just completely. There's guys like that. Not a whole lot, but there's guys like that. But if you ask me what I, What I miss the most about the NFL, I would say, like, my favorite part, number one, is, is. Is scheme. Just the X's and O's. It's the, it's the grind all week of, like, motioning and shifting, you know, formations and creating mismatches and switching up your personnel groups to, like, get the look you want. And then you get them, like, like they're. They're like, man, it feels good, you know, and, and I, I love that about the game. But the second piece I would say, and this one was hard for me to kind of figure out, was like, like, I miss the violence of the game. I miss coaches yelling, players yelling, pads popping, blood, like sweat, like fights. All because you are in a, like, dog eat dog world at all times, and if you don't bring it, you're out and like, living in that world for, you know, five years in college and 14 years in the NFL and like, not knowing anything different when you, when you walk away from that, like, you're like, everything's different.
- [80:26]
Podcast Host
You can't.
- [80:26]
Colt McCoy
You. You can't. It's really hard to recreate that. And I know for me as a quarterback, you're like violence. You know, it's like, not. I don't. I don't love getting hit, but I've. I'm in it, I'm around it. And, and, and you, You. It's. It's hard to. It's, you know, you're in the locker room and, you know, you're picking on each other and like, you know, you walk in and you're taking your ankle tape off and you're. You got a bet with your guy next. I can hit this in the bucket right here. How much you want? 100. All right. Boom. You know, like, it just never stops. And like, like, I, like, I miss that.
- [81:04]
Podcast Host
So when you're taking a snap in the NFL or in college and you're looking at these defensive end and linebackers whose only goal is to destroy you, at least at the beginning of the play, do you ever even, like, are you ever thinking about, like, are you nervous?
- [81:20]
Colt McCoy
Like, no. Or can't be.
- [81:21]
Podcast Host
You can't be.
- [81:22]
Colt McCoy
You have to.
- [81:23]
Podcast Host
So you're just like, did you ever play? I don't Know who is, like, the scariest line? Was it Erlacher, or was Ray Lewis? Ray. Okay. Ray Lewis is on the other side. You're just thinking past him.
- [81:37]
Colt McCoy
I lined up my rookie year. My rookie year or second year, I can't. I can't remember. I may have been hurt my rookie year when we played Baltimore. But in Baltimore, you know, if you've never been to a Baltimore Ravens game, it's worth it. Like, their. Their intro. Their intros at the time, you know, it was. It was. It was Ed Reed, it was Ray Lewis, it was hello, Dinata. It was Terrell Suggs. You know, it was. I mean, they. They had everybody and Quan Bolden, and, you know, every time, like, one of them comes out, fire shoots up, you know, and fans. The lights are off, fans are going crazy. Ray Lewis comes out and does his, like, dance, you know, and, you know, if you're not, like, fully locked in, you're kind of already beat because you just. You just. I mean, that was the whole goal there.
- [82:34]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [82:35]
Colt McCoy
And we. We beat Baltimore a couple times, but I'm under center, Ray Lewis. Ray Lewis is playing middle linebacker. And, you know, the linebackers, you know, they're like, four or five yards off the ball, right? I'm under center. He walks up there he goes, son, I'm not gonna say what he said. Essentially said, you know, I'm gonna kill you. Hey, rook, it's gonna be a long day. And it was. You know, it's like. He's like, that's fair, you know, but he. Yeah, looking back, like, I got to play against a lot of. You know, you're in the NFL, like, you know, and. And. And you're. You're playing against guys where you say their names. Everybody knows who that is.
- [83:26]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [83:26]
Colt McCoy
And when you. It's a different beast when you're inside the white lines on a Sunday. It's just a different beast.
- [83:33]
Podcast Host
Okay, we. We talked about the hit in college that you. But you said it really didn't hurt. The. The Alabama in 09. You said it didn't really hurt. What is the actual hit you took that you felt like the hardest hit, that to this day, you're like, yeah,
- [83:48]
Colt McCoy
I don't ever want to get the hardest. The hardest hit I ever felt was, like, playing in Pittsburgh on a Thursday night. You know, they're really good. It was. It was one of those just, like, ridiculously cold nights, you know, I don't. It may. You know, may have snowed a little bit, but, like. Like, cold, cold, like, bone chilling. Cold. And we're, like, late in the. I think late in the third quarter, and I. You know, we're. We're in the game. It's a tight ball game. We're driving. I. I get out of the pocket and I flip it. I'm, like, looking downfield and I flip it to my running back on the side and, like, flip it. And, you know, all of a sudden, like, this guy, James Harrison comes out of nowhere and completely. I mean, I. Completely knocked out. Like, knocked out. Like. Like blacked out. Don't know where I'm at. Nothing. And I remember trying to, like. I remember, like, kind of coming to, right? Like, whoa. And thinking, like, where am I? What just happened? And why does, like, everything on my body hurt? You know, it's like, you know, I had. When I threw it, I. He kind of came around. I didn't really see him, and he. And I tried to protect myself, and he. His helmet hit me, knocked me out, but my hand was in there. Somehow I got a little, like, fracture in my hand at the same time. So I got. When I came to, I. I kind of held my hand up to the trainers, like, so they looked at this. Long story short, I ended up going back in and playing, like, 17 plays or something like that. Really played awful. Yeah. Like, we were in the game, and then when I came, I mean, I was throwing the guys who, like, weren't even in the route progression. I was doing bad stuff. And I don't. I mean, to this day, like, if you turn the tape on, like, any game I played in, I could kind of tell you what was going on. No idea in that game, which is really scary. But that was. That was. That was by far the. The hardest. I was generally, like. I got popped a few times, but I was generally pretty good at, you know, falling down or getting out of the way. That was.
- [86:04]
Podcast Host
You're a free target.
- [86:06]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. And he's. He's. I mean, he's about as bad as Ray Lewis. He's a brick wall.
- [86:11]
Podcast Host
He's about. If it's Ray Lewis, he might be right there. Right there. All right, so you're there 14 years. You're in Arizona. I actually recall, was it the year that you decided to leave or the year before you played when what's his name was hurt and you played well?
- [86:32]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. Yeah.
- [86:32]
Podcast Host
And you even said. Right now, you said, if it wasn't for my elbow, I could still be out there.
- [86:37]
Colt McCoy
Yeah.
- [86:37]
Podcast Host
You probably have every option in the world to stay in the game in different capacities. And you're here in Fort Worth, which is awesome. But I kind of just want to maybe this last part of the conversation kind of talk about how you came to that decision.
- [86:58]
Colt McCoy
Yeah, you and I have talked a lot about this.
- [87:00]
Podcast Host
A ton.
- [87:03]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. So I ended up having surgery on my elbow. You know, it was a tough deal. I tried to come back and play. It just. It wasn't the same. And, you know, practice a day and have to sit three days and, you know, wasn't accurate with football. Like, accuracy was probably my number one trait as a quarterback was like, I could just, you know, I. I could put it where I wanted to put it, and I. I kind of lost that. I lost some grip stuff. I lost, like, I lost my touch when you're dealing with, you know, the outside of your elbow, and it. It. It was. It was. It ended it.
- [87:41]
Podcast Host
And you knew that.
- [87:42]
Colt McCoy
Yeah.
- [87:43]
Podcast Host
Did everybody know that or did you know that?
- [87:45]
Colt McCoy
We went through a coaching change, and so it was hard to communicate that with my new coaching staff. Like, guys, I'm not what I was. Players knew it. I mean, all my receivers and teammates were like, you know, he just. He ain't got it no more. You know, so I actually had to go to the team and be like, look like, yeah, I ain't got it no more, which was good. I mean, I'm getting put on IR and, you know, I had a whole year to kind of like, we, you know, Rachel and I kept our kids in school in Phoenix because, you know, this. This thing's over with, you know, and I wasn't necessarily prepared for it, but I knew at some point it's going to come to an end. And, you know, that just started this journey of. Of, you know, what.
- [88:32]
Podcast Host
What.
- [88:33]
Colt McCoy
What's next? And, you know, I think everyone in my life at the time probably thought I was. I was just going to transition into being a coach and. And take that route and be great at that. Like, all my teammates, all my former coaches, all my former owners, you know, the position that I played, the service time that I had, the relationships that I made, the markets that I played in, it was there for me to go be a coach. And, you know, I think if you asked me in that moment, it was like, yeah, I mean, like, that's probably what I'm going to do. But I started praying about it, and Rachel and I were really intentional about it. And, you know, I think for me, you know, I had to put my priorities in line. Like, okay, I've always said that, you know, football wasn't the most important thing, but it sure feels like it right now.
- [89:27]
Podcast Host
And.
- [89:27]
Colt McCoy
And, you know, so peeling back the layers of my heart to, like, get down to, like, what is the most important thing. And, I mean, Rachel and I brought, like, a. Like a whiteboard into our. Into our room, and we would write, like, the pros and cons of what would it look like if. If we stayed in the game and how would it affect our family. And you'd probably have to move a couple times, and kids would have to change schools, which they'd already done a couple times. And I think it was one of the first times where my whole life up to that point was like, I was on a mission. Like, if I wanted to sign as a free agent to Washington, I moved to Washington and told Rachel to pick up the pieces and meet us there and find a house and find a school for the kids. Like, I'm working, you know. And then we moved to Phoenix or whatever, move to New York. That's how I operated. And so it was really important for me to. And you kind of had to. You had to do it that way. It was really important for me to bring Rachel into this. And let's go through this process together, and let's not make any quick decisions. Like, we're here for a year, and let's figure out exactly what I'm supposed to do, where God wants us to be, and let's. Let's walk through this together. And it became, over time, really apparent to me that, like. Like, I wanted to be present for my kids with my time. And if it had just been me, then I'd be. I'd be trying to be a head coach somewhere, but with a wife and four kids and young kids, like, I never want my. I never wanted. I don't want to see my kids, like, walk out of the. Out of the house, go on with their life, and, like, I don't know much about them. Yeah, that was a huge fear of mine. And so we started praying. We started praying intentionally, like, okay, God, if it's not football, like, what do you want me to do? And didn't really get any clear answers. So we backed up and said, like, okay, where do you want us to live? If I'm not going to go be a coach, where do you want us to live? Let's start there. And, you know, it was amazing what I identified as, like, what was important to Rachel and what was important to me.
- [91:50]
Podcast Host
On the whiteboard.
- [91:51]
Colt McCoy
On the whiteboard. And things were very different, but also some things were very similar. And we started just, you know, kind of doing that and then praying together and then praying on our own and then coming back and like, hey, like, where are you at on this? Like, like. And, dude, like, not easy. Not easy, hard. Really hard. Because it's like, I've done one thing my whole life. I've told you that. Like, so to think about doing something else is like, it's a foreign planet. And so, like, all these things just over and over through a ton of prayer and, like, I mean, ultimately getting on my knees and being like, all right, like, what? Where, When? And. And I. I went back to when I was my. In my third year in the NFL. You know, this is a quick story, but, like, I watched two of my closest teammates get cut. The GM comes in and says, hey, man, you know, you guys pack your stuff up, come see me in the office. Over. And I realized, like, hey, at some point, football's coming to an end for me. I hope it's not today. This is my third year in the NFL, but, like, it's going to come to an end. And so I would go home in the off seasons to Austin. We had a place in Austin, and I would. I would. I would sit with, like, big CEOs of different companies, private equity, real estate, you know, some family office guys, some oil and gas. Like, and I learned a bunch, you know, really, I was looking at, like, different leadership styles. How does he operate here? You know, and you're. You're learning bits and pieces of what they do along the way, and you might invest a little bit in some of their companies and deals if they allowed you to. And, like, it was awesome. I did it for, like, six to eight weeks every year. Then I'd go back because I wasn't good enough to not go back and start practicing football to. And I would leave. But I made all these awesome relationships. And so I. During that year, I would, you know, I would fly back to Texas and I'd go sit with each one of those guys, like, what. What do you think I should do? And to a man, every one of them was like, you know, I think you should go. If that's how you feel about football and you've got this, you know, you and your wife are aligned in this. You need to go start. Start your own deal. You can do it. Doesn't matter what you do. You should. But you're wired to go do that. Which was foreign to me. So then it became like, well, what. What did I enjoy most? And that was real estate. I love I loved being in the. In the real estate environment. I thought there's just. There's so many. So many different parts of it. People and characters, people and relationships. And. And I. I enjoyed it. And so I said to Rachel, like, we got to figure out where we. Where we want. Where do we want to raise our. If I'm leaving the game, like, it's the first time in our life we get to pick wherever we want to go. Like, anywhere. We can move to Alaska, you know, I'm not going to. But not a good real estate market, so. But. But you gotta think, like, before, I didn't know I was. I knew I liked real estate, but I didn't know that's what I was gonna do. Yeah, I wanted to get settled in a place because I could do that. Like, I didn't have to go get a job right away. And so we. We prayed through it and. And started visiting different places. We, you know, thought about staying in Phoenix. We visited, you know, San Antonio and back to Austin, and we always thought we'd move back to Austin. We had built a house in Austin, but that didn't feel right. We came to Fort Worth. My brother lived here. We had. You know, I wanted to be closer to family, and, you know, we kind of fell in love with Fort Worth, but it was also like, is this the right thing? Like, we've never lived there before. You know, I think both of our hearts were probably geared towards moving back to Austin. And then it was like, well, let's just. Let's just. Let's sit on it for a little bit. And we start. And then. And like. And just literally, like, kept climbing. Like, it hit all the things geographically amongst our family, you know, good schools, good people. Like. Like, kind of how I grew up. Like, it was the biggest town for me in West Texas, where I, like, if you needed to go, you know, to a Rangers game or you. You got a new pair of shoes for school, like, you came up. You came to Fort Worth, right? And. And so, like, that it started being that. And, you know, I remember sitting on my knees and praying with my wife and, like, what? And it just became clear to both of us, like, that there's no doubt that's where this is headed. And we just got to trust that that's the case. So we. We. We planted our flag in Fort Worth and moved here. And I didn't know what I was going to do, so I broadcasted some games and was kind of doing that deal for a little bit. And that was a really Cool experience. You know, I learned that, that I loved it, but it was a big chunk of my time and, you know, kind of it was almost like I was a coach again. It was kind of defeated the purpose of. And I started leaning into the real estate world and, and jumped in and, and after a lot of interviews and job opportunities and different things, I kind of trusted a lot of my mentors. Like, why don't you just go do it? Like. And so I did. I. I hired a bunch of guys who are a lot smarter than me, that are, you know, high character, best in class, have been great executors at their job for a long time that are, that are all around my age that have good families and they saw the vision of what I, what I wanted to do and what, what I wanted to build and why I think we can do it. And, I mean, it's been amazing. You know, I tell you, I count my blessings from 14 years of playing NFL well, like, to be able to go do what I'm doing now with the guys that I get to do it with. And I, like, it's. It's incredible. And Fort Worth has been an awesome place and, and, you know, my wife has been with me every step of the way. She said, go be a coach if you want to be a coach. Like, we're, We're. We can do it. You know, this is where you think God's calling you. We're all in. Go do it. And it's just been a. It's just been a really, you know, nothing's been easy. Goes back to what Coach Brown said. Like, nothing's going to be given to you, boy. Like, you have to earn everything. And I feel that way now, but at the same time, I know that through tons of prayer and through, like, this sacred pace of decision making that regardless of what happens for me, like, I know that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be and doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I have a whole lot of confidence in that, and I have a whole lot of faith and trust in that, because when you look at my priorities, you know, God is first, you know, my faith is the most important thing to me. And then it's my wife and my kids and my family and, like, you know, taking care of them and being a good dad and being present and giving back some time that I hadn't really done for a long time. And then it comes to work and, you know, I want to be a picture to my kids of, hey, like, it was awesome. You got to watch me play football. And you saw the ups and downs. You saw the injuries, you saw the broken legs and the broken thumbs and, and the big games that we won and what I had to go through. And now it's over. But now you get to go see me. Like, life doesn't stop you. I want to be a picture to them of, of, you know, it's a, it's a restart and I'm learning something new and I'm going to go build a team and I'm going to, I'm gonna, I'm gonna challenge myself and I'm gonna work hard and I'm gonna surround myself with good people and, and, and I, I want to, I want to be that for them. And so I, that's, that's where I'm at now. But it wouldn't have happened without just deep, deep, intentional. Like, I don't know what this next phase of my life looks like. I'm giving it, I'm open handed and, and I'm asking you to like. And that doesn't, you know, that doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen without tears, without, like, like struggles, without like, you know, sacrifice, without, you know, again, that's. That, that whole process I just laid out is, I mean, it's, it's like a nightmare. But it's, but it's in a way that I think is, is the only way that I got where I'm at right now. And I, yeah, if you talk to my friends in the NFL or my old coaches, like, they don't understand. That's crazy because it's like, dude, you were ready. You got your PhD here, you're walking away from it, and that's okay. They also know my heart and they know what I believe and they know my priorities are and they're proud of me and I want to go do this to the best of my ability and go create something that's going to last and it's going to help Fort Worth, it's going to help all of our families, and it's going to like, we're going to leave it better than what we found it as.
- [100:50]
Podcast Host
Selfishly. I'm so glad you're. You made that decision. It's been one, awesome to have you here. Two. I think just the most fun part was knowing you were recruiting. Obviously, I'm in the industry, like Colts recruiting right now. Everybody had ideas, but there was like that two week window where everybody started announcing and it was probably, you know, one of the best real estate Weeks in Fort Worth. Um, maybe that final kind of thought is like, how long was that? Was that a year long process? Was that a six months? I know it's not a time thing. God tends to.
- [101:26]
Colt McCoy
It was. It was definitely over a year before I decided that I want to go start my own company.
- [101:31]
Podcast Host
So. So it was a lot of.
- [101:32]
Colt McCoy
But it was. It, you know, it was probably a eight to nine month, like, process of, you know, where do we want to live? Like, that's. I mean, that took a lot. And I didn't move to Fort Worth knowing that I was gonna go start a real estate company. Yeah, like, that. That came. That came next. Which is probably unique. But I've. Since I've started my company, I've really focused on 90 day increments. Like, okay, this 90 days, I'm going to do XYZ, and then I'm going to pivot to, like, these 90 days, and I'm going to. And so, like, that's how I've always done in football. It's like, all right, I got the summer to train. I've got spring training now I've got a season. Okay, now how did that go? Where did I do wrong? I would. I would. I would stand in front of the mirror in the off seasons and mimic my throwing motion and be like, how does this need to tweak? Like, ball needs to be up, down, like. Like, details, right? And so that's the only way I know how to do. Like, I'm doing the same thing now. Like, and it's. And honest truth. Like, I learned so much from the guys I'm around every day that I can't even. I can't even tell you. Like, I'm asking questions, like, over and over and over, and I'm learning by watching. I'm a visual guy. And so, like, I think I'm in a. In a phase of. Of, like, it's really fun. Like, I get up in the morning, I take my kids to school, and I go to work. And like, when I'm on that drive to work, like, I am pumped. I am. I am legitimately, like, all right, like, what are we getting into today? Yeah, like, let's. We got meetings, we got. We got stuff. We got deals. We got, like, let's go get it. And. And, you know, I think in that period of time where I went through this full trust process of, like, man, I don't. I don't know this is going to look like. But I hope that I can find something that gets me going. Like, 14 years in the NFL did for me. And I, I've said count my blessings a lot, but like, I, I do genuinely, because I have a lot of old teammates that hadn't found that yet. And, and, and I've, I got to watch that and I got to learn from that. And so I'm very thankful for the ability to get to do this. Like, that's unique too. And I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm giving it all I got and excited about it.
- [104:12]
Podcast Host
Well, I'm grateful for you. I mean, I think you said we've talked about it a lot. I'm in a. Interesting season where I'm thinking about a lot. I think the most I've learned from you is every time I try and like force the, the answer and I'm not at peace about it. I know God's telling me just slow down. And my nature is not to slow down. And you've just been a huge source of inspiration of like, just be patient, like pray about it. Think about it. And it's not easy. It hadn't been easy and I'm not through it yet. So I'm just going to keep leaning on you.
- [104:51]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. Like, and, and, and patience also. You've been a highly, highly successful guy in life and in business and all in all that you've done and to turn that off, like to turn a high performer off for a little bit and, and like sit in this sort of like process of like what do I want to do? I mean I've, I've kind of crushed it here. I'm still confused like to, to, to turn that off into, and to allow yourself the time to grow and, and, and make good choices and decisions. Like it is a hard process every day. My advice would be go there and if you go there and you're open handed with it, like truly get to like, I'm holding everything loosely because I trust that whatever comes out of this is the right thing led by God. And if you can get there, that's a beautiful place.
- [106:14]
Podcast Host
And I will tell you, I come home and some days Michael's like, what's up? I'm like, I'm exhausted. She's like, what are you exhausted about? Like the mental grind of thinking about this and now. But it's been a huge blessing and similar to you, it's taught me things about my life, even with the kids. Like, I used to think I spent a lot of time at home. Well, you don't know how much time you spend at home until you have more time to spend at home or how present you are. For me, my mind never really turns off. So coming home and not having as much to think about all that to be said, I have more energy than I've ever had to go do, climb the next mountain. And I'm in that. I have some ideas. I'm not totally ground zero, for sure,
- [106:56]
Colt McCoy
but you're going to have tons of opportunities, tons of ideas.
- [106:59]
Podcast Host
Well, who knows?
- [107:00]
Colt McCoy
We might. You don't got to, like, go pick one right now. Like that. That one that you ultimately pick. Will it. It will. It will slowly become the one.
- [107:11]
Podcast Host
What's funny? And I'll end it on. On. This is like. And we'll have more to talk about here. Some ideas have been outside of real estate in the last, like, 45 days. A lot of peace has been coming with playing back in the real estate world in maybe a little bit different capacity than I was. And we'll see what next year brings.
- [107:39]
Colt McCoy
Can't wait to see.
- [107:41]
Podcast Host
Maybe we'll work on something together.
- [107:43]
Colt McCoy
I got an open chair.
- [107:44]
Podcast Host
You do?
- [107:46]
Colt McCoy
Yeah. Think about it. Put that in your prayer list.
- [107:48]
Podcast Host
I want to come play with the dream team.
- [107:51]
Colt McCoy
We got a long ways to go, but we're. We're getting after it.
- [107:54]
Podcast Host
Well, dude, like I said, it's been awesome having you here this year. Become really good friends. I'm super pumped to have you here. But really, today's, like, story was awesome. I learned a lot about you that I didn't know. So thanks for spending a couple hours with me, man.
- [108:09]
Colt McCoy
I enjoyed it. Thanks for. Thanks for having me on.