SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — TCU star receiver Quentin Johnston said he had several inquiries about transferring elsewhere during the offseason, particularly with Gary Patterson stepping down as coach toward the end of the 2021 season.
But Johnston stayed put and is ecstatic that he did.
The Horned Frogs will make their first College Football Playoff appearance on Saturday in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, the first school from Texas to ever play in the playoff. Not only that, but the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Johnston has emerged as the No. 1 receiver prospect in the 2023 NFL draft, according to ESPN’s Todd McShay.
“Sure, there were a lot of different people doing different things, people on our coaching staff splitting up and going to different places,” Johnston said Wednesday, speaking ahead of TCU’s semifinal matchup against Michigan. “And then from other schools I had offers from coming out of high school, you know they were there [with transfer opportunities].
“But like I said, I wasn’t really planning on leaving in the first place. So I kind of shut everything down early and just focused on TCU football.”
Johnston isn’t naive. He’s seen the reports of players being offered millions of dollars to jump into the transfer portal and cash in with bigger NIL deals. He’s not knocking those players who choose to go that route and pointed out that everyone’s situation is different. It just wasn’t the right move for him.
“I feel like overall that people are going to see dollar signs … and obviously it’s not something to be taken lightly,” Johnston said. “You see X amount of dollars and say, ‘Why wouldn’t I go there?’ But if you’re offering that to three five-stars on the team playing the same position, somebody’s not going to play. You’re going to have money, but you came to play football, which is why I try my best to try not to get caught up into it.
“I mean, if you think about it, it’s not overly hard not to run to a dollar sign every time you see one. It’s going to come if you stay down, play your style of football and get better in the program, then obviously somebody’s going to recognize that and hopefully one day you’ll get paid.”
Johnston, a junior from Temple, Texas, was the second-highest-rated recruit of the Patterson era at TCU (58th overall by ESPN). He also had offers from Texas, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Baylor and Nebraska among others. Ironically enough, he said at the time one of the reasons he chose TCU was Patterson’s longevity as coach. Then partway through Johnston’s second season on campus, Patterson resigned.
“We weren’t sure of what type of change was coming and how it was going to turn out, but obviously it turned out good. So I can’t complain about it,” Johnston said laughing.
Even before Sonny Dykes was named coach, Johnston had already bought in and wasn’t going to let anything detract from his desire to play football for the Frogs. He said a big part of that was growing up in a family with a military background.
“From Coach Dykes’ first meeting, I was in there right up front, just embracing everything, you know, and listening to what he had to say,” Johnston said. “So yeah, I just kept my mind on TCU football and not who was coaching TCU football.”
TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley said Johnston was a big part of the whole team buying in so early with his selfless attitude. And while the staff did have to spend much of its first few weeks re-recruiting players, Johnston wasn’t one of those.
“We didn’t have to do much with Quentin. He loves TCU and wanted to be here,” Riley said. “He just said, ‘You know what, we’ve got the guys here to do it. We’ve just got to put it together,’ and that’s what this team has done.”
Johnston figures to play a big role Saturday if TCU is going to beat Michigan. Riley said it will be paramount to hit some big plays against a stifling Michigan defense that hasn’t allowed much of anything in the running game this season. The Wolverines are ranked third nationally against the run (85.2 yards per game) and tied for fourth in scoring defense (13.4 points per game).
Johnston has five touchdown catches and is averaging 17 yards per catch. He’s tied for second nationally with five catches of 50 yards of longer and is especially adept at breaking tackles and gaining yards after the catch.
Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said one of the Wolverines’ biggest challenges will be keeping Johnston from making big plays down the field.
“He and Marvin Harrison, I would say, are the two guys on the same wavelength,” Minter said. “Both are extremely good, extremely productive and extremely explosive. [Johnston] is even a little bit bigger. The thing that impresses me is that he can not only go up and get the ball, but his run-after-the-catch ability is so good. Half his yards are after the catch, which is impressive for a big guy.”