Finally healthy, McQuitty eager to make his mark at Nebraska
Jaevon McQuitty just wants to play.
It may seem like an easily attainable goal for a former four-star wide receiver entering his third collegiate season. But considering the number of hurdles he’s had to clear, McQuitty simply wants to take that first step.
After playing through a lingering shoulder injury during his senior year at Columbia (Mo.) Battle, McQuitty arrived at Nebraska in the spring of 2017 and looked well on his way to making an immediate impact as a true freshman.
Those hopes ended midway through his first fall camp, as a torn ACL ended his season before it even began.
As if recovering from a significant knee injury wasn’t difficult enough, McQuitty then had to acclimate to a coaching change and a complete shift in offensive scheme under new head coach Scott Frost and offensive coordinator Troy Walters going into his redshirt freshman campaign.
He appeared in six games and did not make a catch last year, and with every frustrating week, self-doubt continued to creep in. With the help of his family, coaches, teammates, and faith, McQuitty never let his discouragement get the best of him.
“I blamed nobody, I just talked to God heavy,” McQuitty said. “That’s where my strength came from, because if it weren’t for talking to Him, I would have probably left (Nebraska). I just kept my faith, kept talking to my parents, just trying to keep my spirits up, because it’s easy to fall off and say, ‘I don’t want to do school, I don’t want to do football,’ and none of that because it’s not going your way.
“I had to fight through the adversity, because that’s the type of guy I am. I’m not a quitter. I’m going to keep fighting until I can’t anymore. If it didn’t work out, it didn’t work out, but I always fought. I’m never going to quit.”
“It’s easy for doubt to always come in, but you’ve just got to fight it off,” McQuitty added. “There were a lot of points where I wanted to just give up, but I couldn’t because I have a lot of people back home looking up to me, I’ve got people here looking up to me. There are people that came before me that couldn’t do what I’m doing and people that want to do what I’m doing, so I can’t quit. If I quit, one day I’ll think, ‘I should’ve kept going. I was almost there.’ That’s why I’ll never just quit. I’ll always keep going.”
While it seemed like he was getting lost in the shuffle as Nebraska continued to add talent to the wide receiver room, McQuitty stayed the course in his recovery and his studying of the playbook. But he was also well aware that his window of opportunity might not stay open much longer.
With J.D. Spielman standing as NU’s lone known commodity returning at the position in 2019, this spring, summer, and fall would likely be McQuitty’s best chance to make his move up the depth chart.
That’s why Walters made it a point from the beginning of spring ball to push the 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore to take that next step, and McQuitty has answered the call every day since.
"He has done a great job,” Walters said. “He understands the offense. The biggest thing is he is confident. Last year he wasn’t very confident. He kind of was more reactionary. Now he goes and makes things happen. He’s got that confidence. He’s made plays in the scrimmages. He keeps getting better and has that sense of urgency. He wants it. He wants to be a part of this team. He wants to contribute to the offense. That’s a good sign."
McQuitty said Walters definitely turned up the heat on him this offseason, but he understood completely that his coach was doing so for a reason.
“I’m glad he’s on me, because it’s time for me to take that step,” McQuitty said. “Like when a bird’s in the nest, you’ve got to just push the bird out and see if it’ll fly. I’m going to see if I’m going to fly or not.”
Walters said right now McQuitty was on track to be among the Huskers’ top 6-7 wide receivers in the game day rotation going into next week’s season opener. It might not be as a starter just yet, but McQuitty doesn’t care.
He just wants to play, and when he finally gets that chance, he knows he has no choice but to make the most of it.
“I’m just ready to play my role,” McQuitty said. “Whatever Coach Frost and Coach Walters want me to do, I’m just going to be a missile – you shoot me here, I’m going to blow it up. You tell me what to do, I’m going to do it.”