Troy, he’s a guy we can run in motion, we can shift him and we can use him in different ways. He’s different than Joe in that he’s smaller but he’s got great quickness. – Running back coach Dennis Erickson
SALT LAKE CITY – It happened in an instant early in 2015 spring drills when his knee was hit squarely on a hard tackle by a teammate and for the first time in his life, Ute running back Troy McCormick was sidelined with an injury.
“That was the first time in my life I’ve been injured -- ever,” McCormick said. “It was just a regular play at practice.”
That one hit, which tore his ACL, meant McCormick couldn’t play last year and required a long, nine-month rehabilitation process.
However, McCormick didn’t sit around and feel sorry for himself. Although he calls the experience of being injured and sitting out for a year “very tough,” he didn’t waste time moping around.
“Right when they told me I could run, I was trying to come play, even though I couldn’t move laterally,” he said. “I was just trying to come back and do something. I was full go in January, so right when I started running again I got up to full speed and got in to the mix of it.”
Now after all that hard work, the diminutive McCormick is back to 100 percent and says, “The knee is good feels great, no question about it.”
Not many folks may be talking about McCormick, but those who remember glimpses of his play during his 2014 freshmen season are excited what he’ll bring to the Ute offense this season along with projected starter Joe Williams.
McCormick is known for his quickness and ability to elude tacklers, much different from last year’s workhorse, Devontae Booker, who would bulldoze his way over the opposing defense.
“Troy, he’s a guy we can run in motion, we can shift him and we can use him in different ways,” says running back coach Dennis Erickson. “He’s different than Joe in that he’s smaller but he’s got great quickness.”
Erickson envisions using McCormick in the slot and on jet sweeps besides runs out of the backfield.
“Were going to mix it up,” Erickson said. “Troy gives you some different things with his speed and some of the things that he does.”
McCormick was born in New Orleans and played high school ball in Katy, Texas, just outside Houston. He was recruited by Ute defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley and had just one other major offer – Duke. But he was sold on Utah because of the recruiting efforts of Scalley and because he wanted to play in the Pac-12.
“Coach Scalley, he’s a great recruiter,’’ McCormick said. “After Utah offered, I committed.”
After sitting out as a redshirt, he rushed for just 178 yards on 30 carries in 2014 playing behind Booker and he showed his potential in the Las Vegas Bowl win over Colorado State in when he rushed for 86 yards on just five carries, including a 49-yard run.
Then came the devastating injury in early April of last year, leaving him with a long rehabilitation.
“I just did mental reps and watched film every day,” he said. “They told me I could go home for fall camp, but I couldn’t do that and feel like I wasn’t a part of the team. I had to stay in rehab, I didn’t go home once last year.”
When McCormick was asked about the best part of his game, you might think he’d say it was his quickness or elusiveness, but he said something different.
“My work ethic is the best part of my game,” he said. “I just want to make plays any time they give me the ball.”
Unlike the past two years when Booker got 90 percent of the carries at running back, Erickson said both Williams and McCormick will get a lot of carries and he’s looking for a couple of other running backs, such as true freshmen Zack Moss and Devonta’e Henry-Cole to see action.
“Joe and Troy are playing really well, but we’ve got some young guys who are pressing,” Erickson said. “We’re trying to find the best four. Booker was obviously special, but this is by far the best overall talent we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
As for his lack of size at 5-foot-9, 178 pounds, McCormick says it’s not a problem.
“No problem at all,” he said. “My favorite player in the NFL is Tyrann Mathieu (5-9, 186) who’s from my hometown and went to my dad’s high school. If he can do that, look how small he is. It’s all about your heart.”