Texas great and longtime NFL backup quarterback Colt McCoy retired from football, but his next job is not far away from the game he loves so dearly. Awful Announcing reports McCoy joined NBC Sports’ coverage of college football this season as a Big Ten analyst.
The two-time Walter Camp Award winner’s 14-season NFL career ultimately ended with the Arizona Cardinals, where he last played during the 2022 season. McCoy, whom the Cardinals released last August, was a free agent this summer and did not sign.
McCoy was a four-year starter for Texas from 2006 through the 2009 season, throwing for 13,253 yards, 112 touchdowns and 45 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,571 yards and another 20 scores as one of the most decorated signal callers in program history. He helped lead the Longhorns to the national championship game against Alabama as a senior, before an injury in the first quarter cut short his efforts during his team’s loss.
McCoy recently worked on his new craft in the booth after providing his thoughts on the Longhorns’ current quarterback situation entering the 2024 season. Quinn Ewers is the starter ahead of five-star Arch Manning, who redshirted last fall as a freshman.
“I love Arch,” McCoy said, via KVUE. “I think that having the ability to sit for a couple years, it’s not normal. It’s not normal in college football these days. A lot of guys transfer. A lot of guys want a chance to play. That’s great. I think for Arch’s perspective, he’s working really hard. He’s learning a bunch from Quinn. And if I’m a high school quarterback, if I’m growing up in Texas, I want to go play for Coach Sark. You watch his offense, you watch the way that he calls plays, you watch the formations, the mismatches, the tells the quarterback gets before the ball is in his hands, that’s what you want to go play for. I think Arch recognizes that.”
Manning saw limited action in one game, tossing five passes in the 50-point win over Texas Tech. He went 2-for-5 for 30 yards in the debut outing.
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“Arch is saying, ‘I’m very comfortable here where I’m at. Yeah, we all want to play. But I’m learning, I’m growing, so that when the ball is in my hands when I get out there, I trust the system, I trust all this growth that I’ve made my first two years, and I’m going to go out there and play,'” McCoy said. “I think he’s going to be well prepared for that. It’s definitely an advantage for UT. It’s an advantage for Texas to have a guy like that prepared.”