How TCU left tackle Anthony McKinney went from high school wrestler to NFL prospect
TCU left tackle Anthony McKinney wasn’t interested in football growing up. He preferred wrestling, a sport at which he excelled early on.
Eventually, though, the football coaches at Harlem High School in Machesney Park, Illinois — a suburb of Rockford, just south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border — talked him into trying it.
“I didn’t want to play. I actually tried to avoid football for the longest time,” McKinney said. “But my high school coaches saw potential in me before I even did. They basically kept asking me to try it out, see if I liked it, so I did. And then it just went all uphill from there.”
Yes, it did.
McKinney flashed enough potential during his junior and senior years in high school that he landed a spot at Iowa Western Community College, a school known for producing Division I talent. He then chose TCU over a number of Power Five offers.
McKinney has continued his growth at TCU, starting nine games as a junior in 2018 and eight games this season (missing the opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff with an injury).
He’ll be TCU’s starting left tackle at Texas Tech on Saturday and, barring something unforeseen, the rest of the season. Then he’ll hope to continue his playing career in the NFL, as he’s landed on pro radars with his size (6-foot-8, 314 pounds) and projectability.
Asked about pursuing a career at the next level, McKinney said: “For sure. That’s definitely priority No. 1, knowing my athletic ability and my strengths and weaknesses, and developing those to get myself on an NFL roster.”
Wrestling background
McKinney is all-in on football these days, but his wrestling background has helped his development. This is a guy who qualified for the Illinois state wrestling tournament as a senior in high school, going 29-10.
“My ability to bend and get low, I definitely credit that to wrestling,” McKinney said. “I was never that flexible growing up, so going through all those years of wrestling did allow me to become a lot more flexible, and that has transitioned over to my O-line play.
“It’s definitely an advantage sometimes because I know if I’m not strong enough against an opponent, at least I feel more athletic.”
McKinney describes his style on the football field as “very poised”; he doesn’t try to rush things. Much like any wrestler, he embraces the ability to counter and react to different techniques throughout a game.
As he explained, “Everybody has their own different thing, but kind of knowing what I’m getting myself into and being comfortable with it, getting comfortable all week in practice is my style.”
It continues to be a process, though. It’s sometimes easy to forget that McKinney is still relatively new to the sport, since he didn’t start playing until his junior year in high school.
But his learning curve sped up with his wrestling background and his two years at Iowa Western.
“Iowa Western for me was kind of like the developing stage in your life where you learn to walk,” McKinney said. “It was where I learned most of my football IQ. I couldn’t tell my head from my feet at that point, but it was very crucial I went there. I’m glad because if I was thrown into Big 12 play fresh out of high school, I don’t think I would’ve done as well.”
In his final season at Iowa Western in 2017, McKinney helped the Reivers to an 11-1 record. His O-line coach there, Donnie Woods, remembers the raw ability McKinney had thanks to his wrestling background.
“Wrestlers have to have superior balance, and that’s one thing you must have as an offensive lineman,” Woods said. “You have to have feet in the ground and be powerful. Wrestling teaches those basic fundamentals. When you’re wrestling, you have to be able to counter move, and that’s a lot of times what boils down in pass rush.
“Anthony had that, and it’ll pay huge dividends down the road for him.”
McKinney ended his JUCO career as a four-star prospect and the No. 3-ranked offensive tackle in the country, according to 247Sports. He was flooded with big-time offers, choosing TCU over schools such as Oklahoma, Georgia, Iowa State and Michigan State.
It’s worked out for both sides.
“I remember I watched one of his first games at TCU; he was lining up against [Ohio State’s] Nick Bosa,” Woods said. “What an unbelievable opportunity, coming out of high school as an under-recruited kid and 18 months later he’s lining up against Nick Bosa. Seeing one of my guys in that light was pretty cool.
“You awaken to D-1 football pretty quick with that opportunity, but you learn more from your failures than successes. I think he’s done a heck of a job at TCU.”
Eyes ahead
McKinney, like the rest of TCU’s players, is focused on becoming bowl eligible down the stretch. The Frogs have to win two of their final three games to do so.
Much will start up front with McKinney and the O-line. TCU has to establish the running game each week, as well as give true freshman quarterback Max Duggan enough time to jump-start the passing game.
Ironically, McKinney and Duggan knew of each other a couple of years ago. Iowa Western shares the same stadium — Titan Stadium in Council Bluffs, Iowa — with Lewis Central, where Duggan went to high school.
“I watched him and knew he could play,” McKinney said.
Duggan has endured the growing pains expected from a true freshman, but it helps to have McKinney, a player with NFL potential, protecting his blind side.
McKinney and the rest of the O-line will be tested in the final weeks of the season. Texas Tech is averaging 2.11 sacks per game, and that game will be followed by games against Oklahoma (2.56 sacks) and West Virginia (2.89).
For McKinney, it’s an opportunity to put more quality film together for pro scouts.
“I’m making slow but sure progress,” McKinney said. “Now is the point in the season where I’ve really sped up my development as a football player. I’m definitely starting to hone in that confidence.”
And, hey, if football doesn’t go as planned, McKinney always has a fallback option with his wrestling background. He expressed an interest in pursuing mixed martial arts (MMA) after football.
“I’d like to get into different academies and start learning the different styles of mixed martial arts,” McKinney said. “Just dabble in it and see where it goes from there. I don’t have a set plan, but it’s just something with my wrestling background that’s too connected and too tied that I just can’t let it go.
“I want to see where I can take it.”
