QB Max Duggan fought the odds to become one of TCU’s most decorated athletes, leading the Horned Frogs to a magical 2022 season
15 | QB Max Duggan (2019-2022)
Few athletes have ever demonstrated the Frog Factor as thoroughly as Max Duggan, playing with an unmatched passion and refusal to lose. His 2022 season cemented him as an all-time great TCU athlete, but he was the team leader for all four seasons in Fort Worth. Duggan arrived on campus as a four-star Elite 11 quarterback out of Council Bluffs, Iowa, took a long a winding road to reach the Heisman Trophy stage and bring his Horned Frogs to the National Championship. Even as a true freshman, Duggan would not be denied, despite being lower on the depth chart. He opened the season behind veteran Alex Delton on the depth chart, but quickly overtook the Kansas State transfer, leading wins off the bench in the season’s opening two games and starting the rest of the way. He earned national and conference accolades for monster games in wins over No. 15 Texas and Texas Tech.
Duggan would always battle long odds and would face his toughest test entering his sophomore season. With heightened medical testing and scrutiny due to the COVID pandemic, it was found that Duggan had a heart condition that would require surgery, a nine-hour procedure followed by another surgery days later due to blood clotting. His collegiate career was on the brink, facing many uncertainties. As always, Duggan would bounce back. He did not start the 2020 season opener vs. Iowa State, but entered after halftime, leading a valiant comeback effort, completing 16 of 19 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns. Duggan would again have a dominant game in a win over a ranked Texas team, as the Horned Frogs took down the No. 9 Longhorns behind 310 total yards and 2 rushing TDs from the QB.
The Frogs would struggle in 2021 as Duggan suffered through many injuries, missing a pair of games giving Chandler Morris an opportunity to shine. Morris and Duggan would enter the 2022 preseason in a camp battle for the starting role under a new coaching staff led by Sonny Dykes. Morris would emerge as the winner of that camp battle, but would fall to injury midway through the season opener at Colorado, ceding the role to Duggan. And thus the magic began for Duggan and the Horned Frogs, delivering one of the greatest seasons in program history. He delivered a gritty performance in Dallas to take back the Iron Skillet from SMU, declaring Fort Worth or Nowhere. The season hit hyper speed the following week with the Oklahoma Sooners and the venerable Brent Venables defense visiting Amon G. Carter Stadium; Duggan torched it for 302 passing yards, 116 rushing yards and five total touchdowns, revealing “This man’s got a dragon in his chest.”
The rest of the dream season continued powered by Duggan, his crop of elite weapons, and Hypnotoad to deliver stunning victories at every turn. With major comeback fights along the way, including a 2OT field-storming stunner over No. 8 Oklahoma State and Bazooka on the Brazos to take down Baylor, the Frogs survived at every turn for an undefeated regular season. The game that best encapsulates Max Duggan was actually one that resulted in a TCU loss and an emotional post game press conference. The 2022 Big 12 Championship Game vs. Kansas State featured that fight and fury from Duggan as he put the team on his back and willed the Horned Frogs into overtime before Kendre Miller was ruled short of the goal line. Despite the loss, the dominoes fell just right for the Frogs to earn a trip to the College Football Playoff, playing the Michigan Wolverines in the Fiesta Bowl. On the national stage, Duggan passed for 225 yards and 2 TDs through the air, adding 57 yards and two more scores on the ground as the Horned Frogs defeated the Big Ten Champion and advanced to the National Title Game where he would also rush for a touchdown. Finishing runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting, Duggan would earn a boat load of awards for the 2022 campaign including Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, the Daye O’Brien Award, the Johnny Unitas Award, and the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award.
Duggan finished his collegiate career with 9,618 passing yards and 73 passing touchdowns, adding 1,856 rushing yards and 28 scores on the ground. In TCU history, he ranks third all-time in total passing yards and 2nd all-time in passing touchdowns. Duggan was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the 7th Round of the 2023 NFL Draft