Utah's Troy McCormick Jr. has proven adaptable, both on and off the field

Going to and winning another bowl game means something to Utah’s soft-spoken, diminutive senior running back Troy McCormick Jr.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pound speedster has spent his career relentlessly and quietly pushing forward regardless of the circumstances. He sees no reason to stop before earning a fourth ring for winning a bowl game.

A fifth-year senior, McCormick experienced ups and downs during his Utah career. One time slated as the primary change-of-pace back alongside former workhorse Devontae Booker, McCormick missed an entire season with a potentially devastating knee injury. He’s been passed on the depth chart and spent spring practices learning to play wide receiver in his final year. An injury-depleted running back unit forced his full-time return to the backfield during preseason camp.

“He has moved around and has battled through injuries and faced some adversity in his time here, but picks himself up off the mat every time and comes back to work,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said. “He’s got a great attitude, and he’s one of the quietest kids on the entire football team. He hardly ever says a word. He just goes about his business. He’s a guy that’s been a pleasure to have in the program, and he’s been a great teammate his entire time here.”

McCormick learned to roll with life’s punches long before joining the Utes. A former Texas high school standout, McCormick’s family ended up in the Lone Star State after evacuating New Orleans, his birthplace, as refugees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. They eventually settled in Katy, Texas.

Change has certainly been a constant in McCormick’s life on and off the field.

He’s been anywhere from the fourth running back to the backup this season. He made his first career start in the second week against BYU. He has continued to brush off talk about the depth chart or his role in the offense.

“All that spot stuff doesn’t mean anything to me,” McCormick said. “When you’re number is called — you can be the fifth string — when you’re number is called you got to go in there and make a play. They call on you to make a play in that particular moment.”

When the Utes routed UCLA in Rice-Eccles Stadium earlier this month, McCormick’s teammates reveled in his two touchdown catches that covered 88 yards, including a 75-yard catch and run to start the second half and break the game open.

“I think he got that resiliency trait from his growing up and some of the trials that he faced, and it’s toughened him up,” Whittingham said. “He’s a tough kid. Like I said, he never says a word, but he lets his actions do the talking.”

When McCormick moved to Houston as the “new kid,” he had to prove himself repeatedly on the football field.

Describing himself as the “smallest guy ever” when he went out for middle school football in seventh grade, McCormick points to that year as the time he realized that belief in himself trumped anything others thought or said of his size or his abilities.

“It’s show myself,” McCormick said. “What can I prove to myself that I can do. You just want to beat yourself, be the best you can be, compete with yourself. If you can’t compete with yourself, you can’t compete with nobody.”

That mentality proved crucial during spring practice of 2015 when he blew out his knee. McCormick said he tore multiple ligaments and his knee was dislocated. He walked with the aid of crutches for a while, and was told it could take a year for him to walk regularly on his own and he’d probably have to wear a knee brace for the rest of his career.

“I was like, okay, that’s what you say,” McCormick said. “Now, I got to see what my body is going to say. We just attacked the rehab. I listened to everything they said. They said don’t be on it for a week, I wasn’t for a week. Some people they’re kind of like tip-toeing. Nope. I wasn’t playing that. I listened to everything they said, but when it was time to rehab I put in 110 percent.”

In less than 10 months, he was running full speed. Quietly pushing forward as usual.

McCormick kept his head down when a flood rolled through his adopted hometown of Houston this fall. He said he checked in on his mother all the time by phone. Water didn’t get in the house and his family didn’t have to evacuate this time.

McCormick never took the time to question how this could happen again. Instead he took solace in the same belief he did when he went through his knee injury — that God has a plan for everything.

“He’s mute Troy,” senior wide receiver Kyle Fulks said of McCormick. “He don’t say a word. He’s always quite. A shy guy. If you get to know him, he’s a good guy.”

Fulks grew up competing against McCormick in track and football in middle school and high school in Texas. Fulks went to powerhouse Katy High School while McCormick attended Mayde Creek High School. The two have lockers right next to each other in the Utah football facility.

While nothing football nor natural disasters have thrown at McCormick has been able to affect his demeanor, one recent life-changing event has changed McCormick. In January 2017, his girlfriend gave birth to a baby girl named Ava Rose.

Now raising two children with his girlfriend, McCormick has used them as an inspiration to push forward even harder this season in hopes of getting a chance in the NFL so he can provided for them.

“That’s a huge motivation for him,” Fulks said. “He’s been locked in, tunnel vision ever since then. He’s been doing his thing. I’m proud of him.”