Iowa Tough: TCU QB Max Duggan brings an old-school approach in today’s college game
Max Duggan has no plans to transfer. He doesn’t expect TCU’s new coaching staff to hand him the starting quarterback job this offseason, either, and is ready to compete for it.
Duggan is a rarity among college athletes these days with his old-school mindset at a time when it’s easier than ever for athletes to transfer. Amid TCU’s coaching change, Duggan is showing his commitment to the school rather than a particular coach. And he’s showing his commitment to the team rather than himself by prolonging foot surgery until after the regular season.
“There’s nothing really that has changed. I want to be here at TCU,” Duggan said of the school’s pending coaching change. “I haven’t really focused too much about it, though, ‘cause I’m just focused on Iowa State right now. When everything happens, we’ll figure it out.”
Asked if he wants to stay at TCU in a follow-up question, Duggan said: “Yes.”
Duggan’s toughness and mindset can be traced to his Iowa roots, which he will revisit this week with TCU facing Iowa State on Friday afternoon in Ames. Duggan and the Frogs have a chance to become bowl eligible with a victory.
For Duggan, his upbringing is what made him the player and person he is today. His dad, Jim, is a retired high school football coach from Council Bluffs, Iowa, who provided plenty of “tough love” over the years.
“Being from the town that I am, that was the persona of people,” said Duggan, who was Iowa’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2018. “Hard workers who went to work every day and didn’t complain about anything. Mental toughness. Didn’t have everything given to you, you had to work really hard for it. That was kind of the attitude in my town and where I’m from in southwest Iowa. I think it just kind of grew on me.”
Duggan has been playing through a broken bone in the fifth metatarsal area of his foot since sustaining the injury at Texas Tech on Oct. 9. Not only is the bone broken but there’s also a torn tendon attached to it, according to a source close to Duggan.
It’s an injury that can’t get worse with Duggan playing through it, but it still requires a high pain tolerance to take the field. Duggan gets an injection before the game and at halftime to help alleviate the pain, but it never fully goes away.
“It doesn’t feel great,” he said. “But on game day when you have some adrenaline going and I’m able to get injected … at that point it’s just kind of mental toughness. I try to get out there and be available for the guys. I think that’s the biggest reason. When it happened, I knew I was going to be there and get through the season. It’s been all right.”
Duggan is expected to have surgery next week in Dallas, which would sideline him for a possible bowl game. But he wants to undergo the surgery before bowl season as the recovery timetable is approximately 12 weeks.
Surgery next week would put Duggan in line to be recovered by late February and able to participate in spring practices in early March under the new staff.
Duggan has thrown for 1,832 yards on 130-of-201 passing with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. He’s also rushed for 324 yards and three TDs.
Duggan returned last week against Kansas after sitting out the previous two games. With quarterbacks Chandler Morris and Sam Jackson nursing injuries, Duggan was the team’s best option.
He didn’t light up the box score, finishing 10-of-16 passing for 166 yards and rushing for 74 yards on 14 carries, but he earned respect throughout the locker room by taking the field.
As interim coach Jerry Kill said afterward, “Max Duggan is the toughest quarterback, one of the toughest people, you’ll ever see play this game. Period.
“He was raised by a hard-nosed dad that’s a football coach. He’s old school and that bloodline goes right to his kid. So thank his family for the bloodline and for him carrying it out.
“If we don’t have him we don’t win. Period.”
This story was originally published November 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
