Early Enrollee Q&A: Get to know quarterback McLane Carter

Next up on our Signee Q&A series is Tyler J.C. and former Gilmer (TX) quarterback McLane Carter. Carter, who earned conference MVP (both overall and on offense) and garnered an honorable mention All-American nod, committed to the Red Raiders in December. Carter was on Tech’s radar as a preferred walk-on in 2015, but after a growth-spurt and a prolific junior college career, Carter popped back up on Tech’s radar as a scholarship QB.

Get to know McLane Carter below…

TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT MIGHT SURPRISE PEOPLE.

“I guess you could say that I’m really big into outdoors. I really enjoy hiking, kayaking, and camping and stuff like that. I really enjoy outdoor activities.”

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOTBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME AND WHO DO YOU MODEL YOUR GAME AFTER?

“Probably Brett Favre. Favre was just a gunslinger. One game he might throw six touchdowns. When he was on, he was just the best. He was really cool to me. I try to play like Aaron Rodgers. Aaron Rodgers is awesome to me. He’s always on.”

YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM YOUR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL CAREER?

“In high school my senior year, we were in the third round of the playoffs and were playing Gladewater. It was a really tight game. We had a 1:09 left and we had to go down and score, and we went down the field in a minute and scored, leaving only nine seconds on the clock. We won the game.”

DID YOU EVER HAVE AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT PLAYING FOOTBALL?

“I was in junior high, and I had a fumbled snap or something like that and the ball went over to the side. You can kick the ball out of the back of the endzone, and you can punch the ball out of the back of the endzone. I kicked the ball out of bounds, to the left, and they threw a flag on me. I thought you could do that, but you can’t and it was pretty embarrassing.”

WHEN DID YOU FIRST REALIZE THAT YOU HAD THE POTENTIAL TO BE A FBS FOOTBALL PLAYER?

“Going into junior high, in 7th grade. I was always out there with the high school kids throwing routes, and I was just as accurate and throwing just as well as the high school kids. From that point on, I knew I had the potential to be better and become something that was different in that program and become a D-1 athlete.”

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST WHEN YOU HEAD TO TEXAS TECH?

“Meeting great people, having great friends, getting my degree, and then hopefully go on and play in the NFL. I just want a home environment.”

WHAT'S THE MOST UNIQUE THING A COACH SAID OR DID DURING YOUR RECRUITMENT?

“No names, but I got told that I couldn’t play at a school because I was left handed.”

WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE YOU THINK, "TECH IS THE PLACE FOR ME" ?

“It was when I was on campus. Great friends, great environment, the people of West Texas were awesome. Getting to throw the ball 50+ or 45 times a game was big. Playing for coach Kingsbury who also played quarterback, learning from coach Morris who also played, these guys know and they understand. It was like a clicking moment for me because these guys have been there and done that. I knew Tech was the place and that was it for me.”

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT DURING THE RECRUITING PROCESS?

“Watching film with coach Kingsbury.”

WHAT WAS THE WORST PART ABOUT THE PROCESS?

“The worst part was coming out of high school and being skinny and not fitting the coaches’ view in a quarterback based off of looks. That was kind of disappointing for me and a low spot. I told myself that when I went to junior college that I was going to get bigger, faster, stronger, and everything changed. I’ve always been about 6-foot-3. My last snap playing high school football in 2014, I weighed about 180 and now I weigh 222.”

WHAT SCHOOL WOULD YOU HAVE CHOSEN IF YOU HADN'T SIGNED WITH THE RED RAIDERS?

“Baylor.”

DO YOU HAVE A NICKNAME?

“People have been calling me ‘Sunshine’ for a while now.”

WHAT PERSON, DEAD OR ALIVE, WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH?

“I’m going to go with Muhammad Ali.”

WOULD YOU RATHER FIGHT 100 DUCK-SIZED HORSES OR ONE HORSE-SIZED DUCK?

“I’m going to go with the one horse-sized duck. The smaller horses might have a strategy, but the one duck, it is just me and him. I could find his weakness.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

“American Sniper.”

HAVE YOU DECIDED ON WHAT YOU WANT TO MAJOR IN AT TECH?

“I’m undecided right now.”

WHAT NUMBER WOULD YOU LIKE TO WEAR AT TECH AND WHY IS THAT NUMBER SIGNIFICANT TO YOU?

“I really want to wear 8. My senior year of high school, my legally adopted brother passed away, and he wore number 8. I’ve worn number 8 at my first college, and I want to be able to wear it from here on out.”

WHAT POSITION WILL YOU BE PLAYING AT TEXAS TECH?

“Quarterback.”

WHAT IS A PERSONAL STRENGTH THAT YOU WILL BRING TO THE TABLE AT TECH?

“I guess you could say my mental toughness.”

WHAT IS ONE THING THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON IN ORDER TO PLAY AT THE NEXT LEVEL?

“The process of going through reads. I need to go through my first, second, and third reads, and then run. Now, I’m one read and then run. I need to learn to sit in the pocket more and way for things to develop.”

DO YOU EXPECT TO REDSHIRT THIS SEASON?

**Carter does not have a redshirt available. He has three years to play three.

WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE WHEN YOU LEAVE TEXAS TECH?

“That I was a hard worker. I went out of my way for people, and I love to win ball games. I was a competitor, and I made a lot of accomplishments for Tech. I won many games for Tech, I won bowl games for Tech, and maybe even a national championship.”