Colt McCoy ready to start professional career

On Jan. 8, 2006, some doubt crept into the minds of Greg Davis and his fellow football coaches at the University of Texas.

Star quarterback Vince Young had just announced he would leave their program as a junior and enter the NFL Draft. Four days earlier, Young led the Longhorns to their first national championship since 1970.

Fortunately for Texas, though, Colt McCoy was prepared to become its new leader, even if he was the only one who knew it at the time.

“The day that Vince Young declared that he was gonna come out early, Colt called me,” said Davis, the Longhorns’offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. “And he said, ‘Coach, I'll be ready, and I'll be the best you've ever coached.’”

Yes, it was a bold statement from a young man who redshirted his freshman season and hadn't taken a snap as a college quarterback. But McCoy, who's now a rookie with the Browns, fulfilled his promise.

He won an NCAA record 45 games. A runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 2008, McCoy also led the Longhorns to three bowl victories and at least 10 wins in each of his four seasons, finishing his career with 47 school records.

Last season, he helped Texas reach the BCS National Championship Game, in which it lost 37-21 against Alabama. McCoy suffered a pinched nerve in his right shoulder during the first quarter and never returned.

It was a bitter end to an illustrious college career, one that might never have fully developed if it weren't for McCoy's willingness to pay close attention while he sat and watched Young. After compiling a record of 34-2 as a starting quarterback at Jim Ned High School in Tuscola, Texas, McCoy curbed his competitive appetite long enough to learn the intricacies of Texas’offense during his redshirt year.

As McCoy's new team begins its first full-squad practice of training camp Saturday in Berea, Ohio, he's in student mode again. In the eyes of Browns brass, the fewer snaps McCoy takes during his rookie season, the better. Ideally, 2010 will be his time to be patient and study.

“It's a challenge (waiting to play), but at the same time I've got a lot to learn,” said McCoy, 6-foot-1, 215 pounds. “I'm learning every day, and I think I'll be a learner the rest of my career. That's what's gonna make you be the best, and ultimately that's what I want to become. Right now, I know my role is to be the leader of my rookie class, and their expectations of me are to come in and learn and do my best. When it's time, it's time. So that's kind of the mindset that I have.”

This past March, the Browns signed quarterback Jake Delhomme to a two-year contract after the Carolina Panthers released him. Delhomme, 35, is set to make $7 million this year. The Browns also traded a 2011 draft pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for perceived backup Seneca Wallace, 29.

Hence, the plan for McCoy's rookie season.

“Things could change, but I don't expect him to play this year,” Browns President Mike Holmgren said a day after McCoy was selected in the third round (85th overall) of this year's draft. "We did not draft him, necessarily, to come in and play this year.

“The best thing that might be able to happen to him is that he just sits, watches, learns and makes the transition into the pro game. That's my expectation level for him.”

Brad McCoy, Colt's father and football coach at Jim Ned, knows his son perhaps better than anyone. The elder McCoy acknowledges that it won't be easy for Colt to hold a clipboard on game days, but that it's a role from which he can benefit greatly.

“Obviously, he was a star in college like he was in high school and feels like he could play,” Brad McCoy said. “He's a competitor and always wants to be the best, but he understands where he is and what coach Holmgren's wishes are. He's obviously grown up around coaches his whole life and has an unbelievable respect for the coaching profession and for coaches in general. There's a lot of things in life you don't like, that you'd like to do differently, but you understand and respect the decision.”

Something McCoy didn't comprehend, though, was his long slide in the draft. McCoy and his family, to say the least, thought his name would be called much earlier at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

“It was tough,” Brad McCoy said. “We were excited when it happened and certainly felt blessed when it finally happened. It was pretty brutal there waiting, simply because we felt like it was going to be different than it was. But Colt was a trouper. He kept his head up, and he immediately turned that into motivation.”

Earlier this month, the Browns rewarded McCoy with a generous contract for a player selected 85th overall. His four-year deal is reportedly worth as much as $5 million with $1.07 million guaranteed. The typical deal for a player drafted in McCoy's slot is worth about $3.275 million.

But the Browns, and those close to McCoy, believe he'll prove to be worth their investment.

“He's not naive,” Brad McCoy said. "He knows he's at a level that's gonna be bigger, faster and stronger than where he was. He's been playing football since he can remember anything. Each step required a certain degree of acceleration, and he understands at this step, it's even more.

“But he also knows that he's been in one of the greatest programs in the nation, and he is prepared mentally and physically. He's an incredibly smart kid, and he's been in the playbook since the day after (he was drafted). In those days after the draft when he was still at home, I'm talking three to four hours a day he was on the phone with (Browns) offensive coordinator (Brian Daboll) and in his playbook.”

McCoy's first training camp represents a small step in his quest to become the Browns’quarterback of the future. And he knows what he needs to accomplish during the initial phases of his journey.

“(I want to) produce in the reps that I do get and really just continue to get better at each practice,” he said. “That's what I did through (organized team activities) and through minicamp, so I'm really excited about it. ... I feel like I'm prepared going in, and I just got to have fun.”

Davis has told the story about McCoy vowing to guide Texas several times. The tale stuck with Davis because McCoy kept his word after his predecessor, Young, was drafted by the Tennessee Titans. In other words, McCoy lived up to his own hype.

So Davis has no doubt McCoy will deliver again. Sure, this time it will be at a different level, but Davis said it will still be a result of uncanny preparation.

“When we started in January with (McCoy after Young announced he was leaving), it was like he had played,” Davis said. “He had taken great notes and had a great understanding of what we were trying to do. I know he wants to play (for the Browns as a rookie), but he also understands that there's a process. And he'll be one of those guys that if they stick with the plan, then that'll be fine, and he'll be better next year in training camp. If they do need him to play or decide they want him to play (this season), then I think he'll be as ready as you can be.”

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