McCoy recovered, ready to break out

Lying nearly motionless on the Alamodome turf, UTSA wide receiver Wille McCoy felt pain shooting through his neck, still stunned after taking a crunching hit.

Roadrunners coach Jeff Traylor feared something severe as he walked out on the field, scarred by fresh memories of a few season-ending injuries UTSA players suffered in 2022.

Seeking to put Traylor’s mind at ease, McCoy said he felt fine. He wasn’t being 100% truthful, but he knew he wanted to get back up and return to action.

McCoy had already pushed through a pair of injuries to play most of his first season with the Roadrunners as a transfer from Kilgore College, but this time, the circumstances were more dire.

He remained down on the field for nearly 10 minutes, with medical staff removing his jersey and shoulder pads before loading him onto a stretcher and transporting him to a nearby hospital.

“It’s a scary thought. I really thought I wasn’t going to play again, to be honest,” McCoy said. “I’m just glad I made it through that.”

Though McCoy still had full function and feeling in all his limbs, he was confined to a neck brace for a period after the injury, unable to do much work toward recovery outside of resting and applying ice.

But as UTSA prepared for a pivotal matchup against Tulane just two weeks after the injury, McCoy said he started pushing to play. His medical clearance was still a couple weeks off, but when the Roadrunners took the field for the Frisco Bowl on Dec. 19, McCoy was back as the return man for the opening kickoff, in action again just more than six weeks following the injury scare.

“Really, to be honest, I’m just happy that I finished the season,”

McCoy said. “I had quite a few injuries last year, so I’m just happy that I finished out.”

McCoy said he underwent a pair of surgeries during his first fall with the Roadrunners, first to repair his meniscus and then to address a thumb injury.

Despite the setbacks, he still appeared in 10 games, missing only UTSA’s opener against Houston and the final two regular-season games following his injury against Rice.

“It was pretty tough. I just had to do what I had to do,” McCoy said. “I didn’t have time to sit out.”

Stepping into a crowded receiver room last year with returners Joshua Cephus and Tykee Ogle-Kellogg as well as emergent freshman Devin McCuin, McCoy was often UTSA’s fourth option at the position, finishing the year with 18 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns.

But as he returns for the Roadrunners spring practice this month with a year of experience under his belt, McCoy has flashed “unbelievable talent” and shown

that he’s “a guy who can be a No. 1 in a room,” Traylor said.

“I just think his ability to make plays is coming,” Traylor said.

“You saw that a little bit last year. He battled through so many injuries and nothing he could help. He just had one of those runs

where he couldn’t help himself. I’d love to see him stack some days of being healthy. He knows the offense now, and I think he could really be a player.”

McCoy, too, said he feels as if he “got better a lot since last year,” refining small fundamentals like route-running and looking the ball into his hands on catches.

Preparing for his fourth college season, McCoy said he approaches the game with added focus.

“I feel like I’m hungrier this year, because it’s my senior year,” McCoy said. “I want to take everything this year.”

McCoy also enters 2024 feeling he has a better understanding of how to preserve his health, believing he “could’ve avoided that situation” that led to the scary injury against Rice.

Remembering how fearful he felt in the moment, Traylor said he’s “thrilled” to see McCoy back rolling through the spring. McCuin said McCoy’s injury was more disheartening to witness because of McCoy’s diligent approach to practice, and the incident inspired McCuin to play his hardest the rest of the season.

“I honestly didn’t expect him to come back in the bowl game, so that was big, seeing him back as his normal self,” McCuin said. “It’s a blessing, for sure.”

Sam Owens/Staff photographer Willie McCoy, left, who suffered a number of injuries in his first year at UTSA, including to his neck, is healthy and playing like “a guy who can be a No. 1” receiver , coach Jeff Traylor said.