Marquan McCall is the big, bad man at the heart of the Kentucky Wildcats’ defensive line. The imposing 2022 NFL Draft nose tackle prospect tipped the scales at 346 pounds at the East-West Shrine Bowl. Incredibly, he’s played even heavier than that. But he matches every pound of weight with something harder to measure. McCall is a big man with an even bigger presence, combining football ability with energy and leadership.
Marquan McCall, the big man with an even bigger presence
“Hey, the best dance moves,” McCall breaks into a laugh. The Kentucky Wildcats nose tackle has been dancing into opposing offensive backfields his entire football career, showcasing his movement skills and quick feet. He’s not shy about showcasing those dance moves, whether celebrating a play on the sideline during practice or most recently at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
From the minute he appears — larger than life itself — on the video screen, you can feel the presence that McCall brings to the football field is evident in every facet of his life. His energy is contagious. Whether by coincidence or design, that’s one of the desired impacts. By bringing that energy level to everything he does, McCall hopes to uplift those around him.
“They call me Mr. Energy at school because I’m always bringing that energy. Just being that guy that everyone loved,” McCall tells me. The how is evident. The dance moves, the loud demeanor. You can see it on the field, and you can sense it in the 30 minutes we spent talking about his journey to the NFL Draft. What is more important, however, is the why.
“I feel like I always had that energy. Growing up, watching my uncle, he had that energy. I’d watch him in high school, and he was always bouncing around, making sure everyone was good. One thing I say is, you never know what a person is going through that day. So, you always keep a good energy, positive energy. Someone could be having a bad day, and if you go over there with the energy, that could make his day.”
Developing a love for the game growing up in Michigan
His energy isn’t the only thing that McCall credits his uncle for. Growing up in Michigan, Marquan’s love of football was fueled by watching his uncle play high school ball. While he describes the “ups and downs” that every family unit goes through, he tells me he wanted to walk in his uncle’s footsteps when he finished playing the game. McCall also names him as one of his early influences, alongside some of the game’s best.
“I really like Chris Jones from the Kansas City Chiefs. I watched him a lot. Vince Wilfork, I love that guy. That’s my guy right there. I really enjoyed watching him growing up as a kid. Watching him dominate the line of scrimmage, it made me want to do the same.”
At Oak Park High School in Michigan, McCall learned to dominate the line of scrimmage. In fact, he dominated on both sides of the line, earning the nickname “Bully Ball McCall” for his ability to bully his opponent in the trenches. While he was a highly rated offensive line recruit, there was something more naturally appealing about playing at the heart of the defensive line.
“I did think about playing offensive line at college. I was leaning towards it, but as my 12th-grade year went on, I leaned towards defense more,” his smile widens into a laugh, and his eyes light up. “Because … I like to put my hands on people and do what I want. And I can’t do that on offense because I’m gonna get a holding call!”
The highs and lows at Oak Park High School
McCall was considered a tremendous technician at Oak Park. Meanwhile, he was praised for being extremely quick and athletic and possessing great hands. Those things that made him the No. 4-ranked guard in the 2018 recruiting class helped him as a defensive tackle as he “could see what they were going to do before they even do it.”
He describes his time at Oak Park as amazing, paying particular attention to his senior year of high school football. “My 12th-grade year was amazing. We made it all the way to the semifinals. We didn’t get the championship, but we were close, man. It was amazing.”
Although there were highs, including the state semifinal run as a senior and All-State honors, his time at Oak Park wasn’t without adversity. McCall suffered a torn ACL in his junior season, something he reflected on as we discussed his football journey to the NFL Draft.
“It was very difficult for me. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect the recovery to be so intense. My grandma told me that I didn’t come this far just to give up. I was in a bad stage. It was just a mess. But I overcame it. My grandma helped me overcome it. I took my therapy really seriously, and I’m here today.”
McCall arrived in Kentucky and made an immediate impact
While the ACL injury provided some adversity to overcome, it also helped shape McCall’s football journey. A highly sought-after recruit who “received offers basically every day,” he could have headed to multiple big-name programs, including Oregon, Michigan, and Michigan State. However, Kentucky invested the time when others didn’t — and reaped the rewards.
“When I tore my ACL, a lot of schools stopped talking to me. I dunno what they thought. Kentucky was still texting me every day, making sure I was good. Making sure I was doing great in school. Steady communicating, and I take that seriously. I took that personally, and I felt like they were loyal to me, and so I committed to them.”
As one of the highest-rated recruits in the school’s history, McCall made an immediate impact on the field for Kentucky as a freshman. He saw action in eight games, with a standout performance coming against Murray State, where the imposing nose tackle accrued 3 tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble.
“I really didn’t care what coach did with me, but I did want him to see that I could play at a young age at a high level. It was amazing that he got me on the field at such a young age, just so I could get that experience. He really trusted me, he had faith in me, and that was one of his things, ‘If I can trust you, I’m gonna put you on the field.’ I just showed him that I was ready to work, and I never looked back from there.”
Developing with the Kentucky team
Despite the early success, there was also a lot of “trusting the process” to McCall’s journey to the NFL Draft. He didn’t earn his first start until 2020. But he showcased belonging in the starting lineup with a career-high 6 tackles in that first start. Despite missing four games with an ankle injury in his final season, he’s been a pivotal part of a Kentucky team that has rebounded from a losing 2020 season in style last fall.
“We had a lot of older guys, a lot of seniors,” McCall begins to sum up the success of the 2021 college football campaign. “We all trusted each other. It was like a family. We didn’t have any groups here, groups there. We were all together. I feel like that made us even closer, made us like a family. We came out 10-3 with a Citrus Bowl ring!”
Historically, Kentucky has been a basketball school. Kentucky’s football team has only had four seasons in program history where they’ve finished with 10+ wins. Two of those seasons have come while McCall has been in school (and under head coach Mark Stoops). One of the most underrated coaches in college football, McCall spent some time talking about the job Stoops has done.
“Man, Coach Stoops is a different type of guy. Since he came, he’s been changing the program. These last four years, I can honestly say I watched the turn. That guy knows what he’s doing. A lot of people take that for granted, but I really appreciate Coach Stoops for everything he did and making sure that I am where I am right now.”
A leader on and off the field
McCall’s energy on and off the field makes him a natural leader, especially when you consider the “why” behind that energy. Leadership is the unselfish pursuit of elevating those around you, and McCall’s desire to uplift and impact with his energy plays perfectly into that role.
“It means a lot to me,” he reflects on being named a captain this season. “I was a team captain at high school. Coming into college, we had a lot of seniors, Josh Allen, Benny Snell, those kind of guys. I waited my turn, gained my teammates’ trust down the years, and they made me team captain this last year. I was excited.”
A community and leadership development major who also spent time with the kids at William Wells Elementary where they commented on “how big I was” in that honest way that kids do, McCall takes his role as a leader extremely seriously.
“It’s very important. You’ve got young kids watching you, you got teachers watching you, you got everybody watching you. You want to give that good feeling all the time. Not just on the field. You want to do it off the field as well so they can see that he’s a man off the field as well. I try to give that perspective to everyone, that I’m a good guy and I’m a hard worker.”
Shedding weight and shining at the Shrine Bowl
Sometimes hard work isn’t visible. It’s not always possible to measure the effort that someone puts into achieving something, whether on the field or off the field. Some things, however, very much are. There’s no escaping that McCall is a big man. But ahead of his senior season for Kentucky, he lost almost 40 pounds as he sought to craft his body for the next level.
“I’m not gonna lie, man,” he smiles. “At first, it was a difficult time. Because, you know, all I wanted to eat was burgers. All I wanted to drink was soda. So, it was very difficult at first, but once I started being consistent and put my mind to it, it really became easy for me, and I started dropping it fast. It was tough at first, but I really got it going.”
The result was over a third of his tackles in the 2021 season ending in tackles for loss. Following his final season, McCall declared for the 2022 NFL Draft, earning an invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl that he described as “everything to me.” In Las Vegas, he showcased his energy, dancing on the sideline and making some noise. But what does the Kentucky defensive tackle feel he showed the NFL in that week?
“Showed them that I can control my weight, that I can pass rush. I’m not just a two-down guy. Showed them that I’m versatile, that I can move a little bit more than they think that I can do.”
McCall is ready for the NFL
“I mean, I would definitely lead the guys to a Super Bowl,” says McCall when asked why an NFL team should use a draft pick on him come April. “I’m ready to work. It’s time for me to step my game up more than I already did. I’m ready to work. I’m ready to go.”
McCall is the big man with a big presence and big ideas about the big, wide world. He takes an avid interest in traveling, listing Hawaii and Dubai amongst the places he wants to see in the world. He’s aware that a lot of kids don’t ever make it out of Detroit and that he’s lucky in that respect. But McCall wants to eventually do the exploring he feels he should have done by now.
He’s lucky in many other respects, too. At just two months old, doctors discovered holes in one of his kidneys, and he had to have it removed. He jokes that “luckily, one still works like two,” further demonstrating that positive energy that has brought him so far. That big presence won’t change when he heads to the NFL, a dream 23 years in the making. Some advice received at the Shrine Bowl feels perfect for “Bully Ball” McCall.
“Just be yourself. You don’t have to put on a show or pretend that you’re somebody else. Be yourself, do you, and I feel like you’ll come out on top just by being yourself.”