The Beauty of College Football: Max Duggan & TCU

Chris Dailey

Founder, The Sports Court

Rick Scuteri / Associated Press

In a day and age where NIL and the transfer portal have ruled the roost of college football - it’s a small campus, under-the-radar, overlooked team that captivated the hearts of millions around the country and booked their ticket into the College Football Playoffs Championship.

The story of the Texas Christian University Football Team is a story led by the epitome of an underdog, Max Duggan.

Duggan is perhaps the best QB to play for TCU since the days of Sammy Baugh back in the 1930s. It’s been nearly a century since Baugh played for the Horned Frogs but TCU is back in the glory land thanks to Duggan.

Duggan, a native of Council Buffs, Iowa, was a true-freshman starter in 2019 and threw for school freshman records with 2,077 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Seen as one of the best freshman quarterbacks in the nation, Duggan was hoping to continue his success into the 2020 season. However, this was done with a fair bit of struggle along the way that put a dent into his training and physical health.

Duggan found out he had been born with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a condition that affects the heart to beat abnormally for fast periods of time. He had to have a 9-hour surgery to fix the problem and following that, Duggan suffered a blood clot that saw him go under another emergency surgery. 

The surgery for Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome meant he had to put catheters in his neck and groin. 

Despite this all, Duggan remained faithful and confident he could play in the 2020 season, which is exactly what he did.

Duggan didn’t miss a single game that 2020 season and the Horned Frogs finished the season 5-4 in the COVID-shortened year.

Although the season was cut short and TCU didn’t exactly have the standout season fans would’ve hoped - one thing was evident, Duggan was a warrior. He didn’t let anything stop him and he went from battling blood clots to putting his body on the line for the program, earning the respect of those around him. 

However, just when everything seemed to be getting better following his surgeries and the 2020 season in which he led the team in rushing, Duggan struggled in 2021. 

The program was losing games and Duggan wasn’t playing well. A big factor in this was a broken bone and tendon in his foot that he suffered. 

Duggan was eventually pulled in TCU’s road loss against Kansas and his backup, Chandler Morris, came in and threw for 461 yards as TCU upset the #12 Baylor Bears in the next game out. 

Many TCU fans thought this would be the end of the Max Duggan era and he would transfer - especially after interim coach Sonny Dykes said there would be a competition for the starting role in 2022.

By August of 2022, it was confirmed by Dykes after the summer practices that Morris would be starting. Rather than quit - or put his name in the transfer portal, Duggan stayed with the team. This came as a surprise to many fans who all knew he could start for a smaller D1 program, but Duggan knew in his heart that he did not come this far to stop now. His goal remained the game - to help TCU lift a National Championship, and if he was a backup, he would be the best backup in the country.

In the first game of the season against Colorado, Morris injured his knee and Duggan led TCU to two touchdowns and from there - a season for the history books.

Duggan’s toughness was shown throughout the season as he helped drag TCU to a 12-0 record by the time of the Big 12 Championship Game - a game in which they fell short to Kansas State but despite that, Duggan was the talk of the town due to his awe-inspiring performance. 

Duggan threw for 3321 yards and 30 TDs and only 4 interceptions. Duggan was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and won the Davey O’Brien Award & Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

In addition, Duggan finished second in Heisman voting, only behind Caleb Williams.

Tonight - on December 31, 2022, Duggan accomplished his most miraculous feat yet, leading TCU to a National Championship Game.

In a day and age where coaches are ‘buying players’ with NIL Booster Clubs - as seen in the Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher debacle prior to the CFB season, it’s a school with 12,273 students and a 325-acre campus that is headed to Sofi Stadium.

It’s a school whose backup quarterback became the Heisman runner-up. It’s a school whose head coach built a winning culture in his first season. It’s a school that emphasizes the beauty of college football.

Everyone has a chance, whether you like it or not. TCU was unranked coming into the season and are now patiently awaiting their opponent for the National Championship. It’s a story for the ages and one of the greatest underdog stories in recent college football history.

Max Duggan and Texas Christian University show exactly why college football is the best, and now, they are one offensive explosion away from entrenching their names into College Football History. This is what movies are made of.
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