A phone call from the Dallas Cowboys convinced Max Duggan he made the right decision

On Saturday morning inside the L.A. Convention Center, Max Duggan sat behind a microphone at a podium, surrounded by a throng of members from the national media, two days before what will be the final game of his TCU career.

His first game came on Aug. 31, 2019, a 39-7 win over Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

In between then and now came injuries, interceptions, touchdowns, a losing season, a heart condition, COVID football, his head coach “resigning,” a new head coach, a benching, regaining his starting spot, and a season unlike any other in the history of the university.

His last game will be played on Jan. 9, 2023 against No. 1 Georgia in the national title game.

TCU exhausted all possibilities to sell Duggan on staying for a fifth year, including offering him a potentially lucrative series of NIL deals.

“It was really close,” TCU offensive assistant Doug Meacham said.

A phone call changed Duggan’s mind. Or at least a call that solidified to follow his gut instincts.

Approximately one week before Duggan announced his decision to turn pro after the season, TCU had him talk to member of the Dallas Cowboys scouting department to discuss his pro chances.

The scout told Duggan that he should feel good about leaving TCU now. That he would likely be drafted, on the third and final day.

And, if he’s not drafted, then he can go to whatever team he feels is the best fit as a free agent.

“It was a hard decision. In my eye I was ready for it,” Duggan said Saturday morning. “It was something I thought about a lot. I graduated from TCU. The timing of being here four years, and playing a lot, I think was a determining factor. It was something I was ready for, and was the best timing for myself.”

Not many quarterbacks attempt more than 1,200 passes in a college career, like Duggan. Not many college quarterbacks play 46 college games, like Duggan.

“It wasn’t really a surprise to any of us when he did do that,” TCU offensive lineman Steven Avila said. “He’s a really good player, and a really good guy, and I feel like it’s going to help him get to that next level.”

The concern NFL scouts have about Max Duggan are his accuracy; that he’s “streaky” as a passer; the way he plays lends itself to injury.

Duggan is hit a lot. NFL hits land differently than college hits.

He also fits the mold of the new age NFL quarterback, who can run it and throw it.

The lifespans of an NFL quarterback may not be as long in the future, as NFL teams are going with the college-style quarterback who can run in the open field.

Patrick Mahomes. Dak Prescott. Jalen Hurts. Lamar Jackson. Josh Allen. Kyler Murray. Russell Wilson.

They can all run as a first option.

Duggan has run for more than 1,800 yards in his TCU career.

TCU head coach Sonny Dykes was hoping if Duggan did stay he would go to San Diego in the summer to work with a quarterback coach, and that it would improve his potential draft status.

Duggan opted to leave for all of the right reasons.

“The odds of you repeating all of this, and putting your draft status higher, are pretty slim. That’s for anybody, not just Max,” Meacham said. “He’s done all he can do. Right now, draft wise, he’s probably as valuable as he will be.

“If he didn’t have any inclination of going to the pros, and just wanted to be a college kid, then stay. But he wants to try to play in the pros, and he’s at his hottest moment, his story.”

The plus of Duggan as a pro are all of the obvious traits; he competes, he’s an adult, he’s talented, he gets it; that he’s been through a lot, and coached “hard” by a lot of people and made it through all of it to achieve so much in his final season.

Between former TCU coach Gary Patterson, former TCU quarterbacks coach Kenny Hill, Duggan’s father, who is a high school coach, Duggan had a lot of people in his ear in his first three years in Fort Worth.

This year, it’s mostly TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and Dykes.

The other plus on Duggan is that he could be an example of a quarterback whose ceiling is much higher than where he currently is playing.

Tony Romo is the standard example of a college player who came into the NFL, undrafted from a I-AA school, and continually improved until he was named the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.

The odds of Max Duggan being the next Tony Romo are slim, but now is the ideal time for the TCU senior to see if he can make it in the NFL.

He felt it in his gut, and the Dallas Cowboys told him his gut is right.