TCU QB Josh Hoover said no thanks to Tennessee; he's right at home in Cowtown

FRISCO, Texas -- TCU quarterback Josh Hoover has a horse, a goat and a couple of steers that he "feeds out" in Fort Worth.

Hoover taught himself to rope, will occasionally wear spurs and has already broken the news to his parents that the area known as "Cowtown" will be where he settles later in life. Cowboy boots, after all, are part of his normal attire.

"Going to Dallas is kind of overwhelming for me sometimes," he told ESPN with a smile at Big 12 media days. "All the traffic and all that. So Fort Worth's good. It's slower, and it's just a cool town. It's kind of a Western-type town, too. Kind of fits."

There are few better fits in college football than TCU and Hoover, who set the single-season school mark for passing yards with 3,949 yards last season. He has 42 touchdown passes in a career that has seen 19 starts, including six wins in the final seven games last year.

With TCU coming off a 9-4 season and opening the year at North Carolina to wrap up Labor Day weekend with a Monday night game, the opportunity looms for Hoover to become one of the sport's household names early on this season. With that, comes the chance for TCU to announce itself again as a contender at the top of the sport, three seasons after playing for the national title.

TCU coach Sonny Dykes doesn't flinch when projecting the caliber of quarterback that Hoover can become for TCU, referencing his time on staffs with future NFL quarterbacks Tim Couch (Kentucky), Nick Foles (Arizona) and Jared Goff (Cal).

"We've been lucky to coach some good ones," Dykes said. "And a couple of first picks in the draft and a Super Bowl MVP and some guys that are pretty good players. And he throws it as good as any of 'em."

To those who know Hoover best, there was never really a doubt he could sling it at TCU. He committed to TCU out of nearby Rockwall-Heath High School after first pledging to Indiana. He redshirted behind Max Duggan on TCU's national finalist team in 2022 and took over as the starter midway through the 2023 season.

In other words, he earned the job, worked hard to earn the respect of his teammates and in the process fell in love with the school and the area. If that all sounds a little throwback and hokey, that's because Hoover's story is just that.

And it's why when he was golfing this spring and his agent called to let him know Tennessee was interested in him as a Nico Iamaleava replacement, he didn't even wait to hear what the offer was. He was more worried about hitting his tee shot.

"He didn't even say a number," Hoover said. "I just said, 'No, that's not what I want to do.' It was pretty simple."

When Alex Hoover, Josh's dad, relays the same story, his voice gets choked up with emotion. He recalls his son telling him: "What kind of captain would I be? What kind of player would I be if I left? I gave my teammates my word that I'd be back."

Dykes said he never spoke to Hoover about Tennessee. He simply wasn't worried about him leaving -- especially after Hoover had led his team all spring.

"He's a really unique guy, and he loves TCU," Dykes said. "It's like he tells me all the time how appreciative he is to be there, and he's kind of an old soul from that standpoint. And his parents are just unique people and so they're big-picture people."

Hoover grew up in a competitive family, as his brother, Caleb, is a baseball player committed to South Carolina, who began his career at Oklahoma State. His sister, Hannah, is a television sports reporter at the ABC affiliate in Oklahoma City.

Josh Hoover had a Dallas Cowboys outfit at age 2 and his and Caleb's childhood left a stream of broken lamps from footballs flying around the house. (Josh was a high-end baseball prospect, too, but ultimately chose football.)

Hoover's father, Alex, played linebacker at Colorado State and briefly in the NFL. Josh Hoover didn't think much of his father's offensive playcalling in youth football, saying that defensive coaches are "too excitable" to call offensive plays, recommending another assistant coach relay them in. "By fifth grade," laughs Alex Hoover, "it doesn't matter what I called, he was checking it."

The Hoovers didn't grow up on a ranch in Heath, Texas, but Josh said his mom's family is from West Texas, which is where his affinity for wide-open spaces comes from. He did make clear the injury risk of riding and roping has made that an activity he'll focus on later in life.

"I don't get to compete or anything, I'm saving that for after football," he said. "I figured it wouldn't be fair to my teammates."

Stories about Hoover around Fort Worth are unique. His mom, Tammy, heard from someone that her son had stopped his truck to help an elderly woman mow her lawn. Hoover was embarrassed when this got brought up.

"Think about it, would you want your grandmother doing that?" he asked. "It wasn't nothing too much, but I just thought the way I was raised, you see somebody doing something like that and you help."

Hoover met an older TCU fan, Gus Bates, while eating one day a few years ago at Yogi's, a popular local eatery. Bates' son asked Hoover to say hello to his father, a big TCU fan, and the two hit it off.

"I went and sat down with him, talked for an hour and got his phone number," Hoover said. "And we had lunch every single Friday until the day he died."

Bates passed away at the age of 81 in August 2024.

"They made Josh an honorary pall bearer at the funeral," Tammy Hoover said. "The relationship they built in two years, it was precious to see how much love was there so quick."

Hoover has clearly made an early impression at TCU. With two seasons of eligibility left, there's a chance to build a vast legacy.

Dykes had recruited Hoover to SMU, and visited him the day after he got the job at TCU in 2021. He said he liked Hoover's tape, but fell in love with the person.

"The situation was a little bit like Jared Goff and Cal, Jared had been committed," he said. "You put Jared's tape on, it's OK. And then you get to know him a little bit and you go, 'OK, we got to have this guy.'

"And it's kind of the same thing with Josh. We felt like the fit was good, and 10 minutes in I'm like, 'We got to figure out how to make this thing happen.' Just who he was and his character and what his high school coach had to say about him and the whole thing."

Hoover has already established himself as a draftable prospect, an NFL scout told ESPN. He projects in the third- or fourth-round range, with a chance to move up. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, there's a need for physical growth.

The production should come again in Kendal Briles' offense, and Hoover is excited about the opportunity the season affords him. Hoover threw 11 interceptions last season, and Dykes said part of his development to take the next step will be taking the easy checks and plays.

Dykes said part of Hoover's issues early last season came from him pressing, as TCU struggled to run the ball and there was pressure to score. Which meant Hoover tried to fit the ball into tight windows.

"The pressure you put your quarterback under sometimes really determines his level of play in a lot of ways," Dykes said. "It's easy to play quarterback from ahead. It's easy to play quarterback when you have to score 17 points to win. It's a lot harder to play quarterback when you say, 'We've got to score 49 to win.'"

There will be immediate attention on TCU to open the season with a matchup against North Carolina and the klieg lights of Belichick's college debut. It's a game that presents a unique opportunity.

"I never really would've imagined that, but looking at it now, it's cool," Hoover said. "He's a great coach, great legacy, a lot of respect for him. What he's done, he's changed the game of football, and so it's definitely cool."

It's a forum that could help both Hoover and TCU take a leap, the kind of night people would bring up years from now if they bumped into Hoover around Cowtown. An opportunity to further the story he has crafted by sticking around.

"I want to be remembered as winning a Big 12 championship, winning the national championship and then, even more, just being a guy that people can count on," Hoover said. "Just being somebody that is true to their word and someone that's just had a great character and loyalty and would do anything for their teammates."