The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas to retire McCoy's No. 12 jersey at Baylor game on Oct. 30
10.13.2010 | Football
Oct. 13, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- Colt McCoy, the two-time Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) National Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy finalist, will return to Austin for the Baylor game on Oct. 30 to see his Texas jersey number 12 retired, The University of Texas Men's Athletics Department announced Wednesday. His jersey will be officially retired during a pre-game ceremony. McCoy will join five other Longhorns football national players of the year to have their jerseys retired: No. 20 Earl Campbell (1974-77), No. 22 Bobby Layne (1944-47), No. 60 Tommy Nobis (1963-65), No. 34 Ricky Williams (1995-98) and No. 10 Vince Young (2003-05).
Texas' first criteria for a student-athlete having their jersey retired is earning National Player of the Year honors from one of the NCAA recognized awards. McCoy did that by claiming the WCFF honor twice and the Maxwell Award in 2009. He joined Ricky Williams (1998) as Texas' WCFF Player of the Year selections, and Vince Young (2005), Ricky Williams (1998) and Tommy Nobis (1965) as Maxwell Award honorees.
"I was just overwhelmed, humbled and psyched when I was told about this," McCoy said. "It's a dream come true!
"This is such a tremendous honor, but it's not about me. It's about all of the great coaches that helped me develop as a player and a man, the tremendous teammates that made my job so much easier and the most supportive family anyone could ask for. I can't thank Coach (Mack) Brown enough for bringing me to Texas and Coach (Greg) Davis and all of the staff for pushing me and helping me to improve each and every day.
"Having grown up in Texas and playing for my dad in high school makes this extra special. Hopefully it's something every coach who helped me along the way -- from Pop Warner, Little League, junior high and high school -- can be proud of and a tribute to everything coaches do in developing young players all across this great state."
McCoy led the Horns to a perfect 13-0 regular season record and the Big 12 Championship before being injured early in the BCS title game as a senior in 2009. In addition to winning his second WCFF National Player of the Year Award and the Maxwell Award, he earned consensus first-team All-American honors for the second straight year. McCoy also claimed the AT&T Player of the Year Award, Davey O'Brien Award (nation's top QB), Manning Award (nation's top QB) and Unitas Golden Arm Award (nation's top senior QB). He was a finalist for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award and the Wooden Cup (nation's top athlete/community), and was also named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year by both The Associated Press and the league's coaches.
"It's quite an accomplishment to become national player of the year and it takes an unbelievable career to earn that recognition twice," Mack Brown said. "You have to be a special player on a great team to do that. Colt certainly was that and I will be very proud to see his name forever placed very high in Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Every time I see the name, it will remind me of all of his and his teams' accomplishments at Texas."
In 14 games last year, McCoy went 332-of-470 (70.6%) for 3,521 yards and 27 TDs for a 147.4 passer rating, while rushing for another 348 yards and three TDs. His 70.6 completion percentage led the nation. McCoy's 147.4 pass efficiency rating ranked 16th and he averaged 26.6 yards per TD pass on his 27 scoring throws.
McCoy became the all-time winningest quarterback in NCAA history when he won his 43rd game as a starter against Kansas. He ended with a 45-8 record, bettering David Greene's (Georgia) mark of 42 victories. He is the first QB in major college football history to lead a team to four 10-win seasons and is also the first QB in Texas history to lead his team to consecutive 12-win seasons and just the second Longhorn, joining Vince Young, to lead his team to consecutive 11-win seasons.
"I can remember when I started following the Longhorns growing up, and then when I came here, seeing Earl (Campbell) and Ricky's (Williams) numbers up there on the stadium and dreaming of one day accomplishing something like that," McCoy added. "To join a group like Earl, Ricky and now Vince (Young), Tommy (Nobis) and Bobby (Layne) is just unbelievably humbling. I couldn't have imagined in my wildest dreams a day like this coming, but I worked really hard, overcame a lot and was blessed to have so many great people helping me along the way.
"I'm really looking forward to getting down there in a couple of weeks and sharing the moment with my coaches, teammates and the great Longhorn fans."
McCoy holds 47 school records including 16 career, 13 single-season, five single-game, six freshman and seven miscellaneous marks. During his 53-game career, McCoy completed 1,157-of-1,645 passes (70.3%) for 13,253 yards and 112 TDs (45 INTs) for a passer rating of 155.0. His 13,253 yards are sixth on the NCAA all-time list, his 112 TD passes are seventh and his 70.3 career completion percentage is just shy of the NCAA record of 70.4 percent, which is held by Colt Brennan (Hawaii).
His 1,157 completions, 1,645 attempts, 70.3 completion percentage, 13,253 yards, 112 TDs and 155.0 passer rating rank first on UT's all-time list and he is the first Longhorn to pass for more than 10,000 yards. He is one of just five QBs in NCAA history to pass for at least 2,500 yards in each of his four seasons.
In addition, McCoy has rushed for 1,571 yards and 20 TDs on 447 carries (3.5 ypc) and has rushed and passed for a TD in the same game 14 times during his career. In combining his passing (112) and rushing (20) TDs, McCoy ranks sixth on the NCAA list and first on UT's TD responsible for list with 132. He had scored at least one TD in 30 straight games entering the BCS National Championship Game. McCoy is UT's all-time leader in total offense and ranks fourth on the NCAA all-time list, having produced 14,824 yards (13,253p/1,571r) on 2,092 plays (7.1 ypp).
Winner of the 2009 Bobby Bowden Award (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete and three-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection, McCoy graduated in December with a degree in sports management. He also was one of UT's most active community service participants and was selected to the Allstate AFCA and Big 12 Good Works teams. McCoy spent his last two spring breaks traveling to Peru to perform mission work, and he regularly serves as a featured speaker representing the FCA and individually.
McCoy was selected in the third round (85th pick) by the Cleveland Browns in the 2010 NFL Draft and may start his first NFL game Sunday at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
