The shoulder that Shaqualm McCoy continues to carry a chip on is the same one he’s been using to inflict punishment on defenders on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team this spring.
And the chip won’t be getting smaller any time soon.
In some regards, he’s the most valuable player of the spring simply because he’s been, at times, the only available running back. He’s taken shots from all angles yet has continued to get up and jog back to the huddle, ready to absorb more punishment.
McCoy transferred in as a walk-on from NCAA Division III LaGrange College, where as a freshman in 2013 he led the team in touchdowns with six and was second in rushing with 393 yards. In addition, he caught 10 passes out of the backfield for 119 yards and another score.
Of course, the 5-foot-11, 220-pound McCoy is no stranger to change. After rushing for 1,226 yards and 15 touchdowns at Notre Dame High School in 2011, he chose to cross the state line and attend Ridgeland, where he rushed for 454 yards and six scores in 2012. He was behind 2,000-yard rusher Darrell Bridges, who is at Presbyterian — one of UTC’s opponents this fall — and 1,000-yard rusher Vonn Bell, a starter in the defensive backfield of Ohio State’s national championship team this past season.
“I just want to show that I’m as good as the other backs. I’ve always had that motivation,” he said Saturday. “When I transferred to Ridgeland, there was Vonn and Darrell, so it was like, ‘Who is Shaqualm McCoy?’ I was just a guy from Chattanooga. I want to be a bruiser.
“It’s the same way I felt coming from LaGrange to UTC, and I just have the motivation to keep doing it.”
In two scrimmages for the Mocs, he’s rushed for 182 yards on 30 carries with two touchdowns, getting a load of the carries as fellow backs Derrick Craine and Richardre Bagley have been limited at some point. With Craine and Bagley already in the fold and incoming freshmen Kyle Nalls and Alex Trotter highly touted, McCoy knows he still has a lot left to prove.
“I’m just hoping the coaches would give me a chance,” McCoy said. “God blessed me with a chance to see what I could do. I hoped for an opportunity and UTC gave that to me, so I’m happy for that. It was tough at the beginning because I had to adjust to the schemes, but that comes around with reps. As long as they give me chances, I’ll do what I can do.”
Getting “a chance” hasn’t been a problem for McCoy. In one practice last week, he was the only healthy running back, so he received all of the work. At one point, he had the wind knocked out of him, but he returned shortly to get additional work in.
“We knew coming into the spring that we were coming in thin at the running back position,” UTC head coach Russ Huesman said recently. “Shaqualm has got some extra carries, but it’s not just running the ball. If you’re in there the whole time, you’re pass-blocking … you’re running routes. It was a hard day for him, so I was proud of him for sucking it up, going out and playing hard.”
The Mocs enter their last week of practice with workouts on Monday and Wednesday prior to the spring game Saturday at Finley Stadium.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.