Texas Tech wide receiver Coy Eakin defines “West Texas Tough”

No one knew that Coy Eakins feet were different sizes until he walked onto the Texas Tech campus and the Red Raider equipment staff measured them and determined that his left foot was a size 14 and his right foot was a size 12. When Joey McGuire first heard about it, he thought his co-workers were playing a prank on him.

“I said to Coy, ‘Hey man, you know we can get you different size cleats for each of your feet,” McGuire said with a laugh. “He just said, ‘Coach, it’s OK. I just order socks from Amazon that are thicker to fill the (real) shoe.'”

Eakin has been a “West Texas Tough” since birth. His father, Mark, was a national rodeo champion while in college and is now the long-time director of rodeo operations and head coach at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. The Eakins are born on a horse. Most walk before we crawl. Eakin had been riding since he could walk. It's actually a horse, which is why Eakin's feet are different sizes.

A 10-year-old Eakin was tying a calf while practicing with his father when the rope caught his foot over the rope. When young Eakin tried to dismount, the horse spooked, causing the rope to tighten around Eakin's leg, trapping him. As the horse spun around in a panic, it stepped on Eakin's leg, breaking the fibula and tibia on his right leg.

There is a simple unwritten rule in rodeo: If you can crawl or walk, stand up and leave the arena. Eakin tried. He told his father that he was fine despite the broken leg and mustered the courage to stand up and take a step. He was obviously not feeling well.

The injury was too severe for the normal prescription of “rub some dirt on it” to suffice. Fortunately, doctors were able to position his leg without rods, but Eakin wore a cast that reached almost to his hip for nearly a year. During this time, Eakin grew. Well, most of him did. The right foot was not taken into account.

“He was always a tough kid,” Mark said. “The funny thing was that when he was on the ground he looked up at me and asked, 'Am I still going to be fast?' I told him we would and we laughed about it.

Eakin is the only one in his family who prefers running to riding. His grandfather was a bareback rider. His grandma still competes in barrel racing. He has three uncles and all are rodeo players, as are each of his first cousins. And although Eakin doesn't mind the saddle, he prefers to use his oversized feet.

When Eakin's older sister Caitlin was growing up, a common punishment Mark meted out was to make her run to the back stop sign. That didn't work for Eakin. He loved to run to the stop sign and back. Mark always had his rodeo team run 4.5 miles when they missed a meet. His youngest son came along for fun. “The team would always ask Coy what he did wrong, and I would always say, 'Nothing, he just never wanted to be beaten in a race at school,'” he recalled.

Mark moved back to Stephenville in 2008, when Eakin was 5, to manage the Tarleton rodeo department. The family knew from an early age that he loved sports, especially football. In elementary school he had given out cones and done his own exercises. Mark initially enrolled his son at Hico, but the family moved him to Stephenville after Eakin won his first 50-meter track race.

“We knew we had to put him in a position to excel,” Mark said. “Stephenville had a great football program and that was his passion.”

Eakin was in his ninth season at quarterback when Sterling Doty took over as head coach at Stephenville. He knew the Eakin family because his father was Mark's rodeo coach in Tarleton. He had heard about the youngest Eakin, who dominated the area's middle school and freshman football fields as a tall, speedy quarterback.

However, the quarterback position at Stephenville was open when Eakin entered his second season in 2019, so he played wide receiver and defensive back. The spot was vacant at the start of his junior season in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted offseason workouts, resulting in Doty trading with a senior who had more experience at the position. Eakin was a good teammate and again starred at wide receiver.

After waiting his turn for two seasons, Eakin was ready to start at quarterback for Stephenville as a senior. As a child, his father dreamed of gold belt buckles and the perfect ride. As a child, Eakin dreamed of “Friday Night Lights” and touchdown passes. Doty had his star receiver start at quarterback, but ultimately chose junior Ryder Lambert over Eakin at quarterback because he felt the team would be more complete with Lambert throwing to Eakin. Eakin disagreed.

“He and I had a lot of back-and-forth when I told him my decision,” Doty said. “It wasn't disrespectful on his part, but I let him express his passion for what he wanted to do, which was to be a quarterback at Stephenville High School.”

Eakin didn't pout. He rubbed some earth on the wounds and went into the arena. His senior season ended with 93 catches for 2,140 yards and 31 touchdowns. He scored once every three touches of the ball. He caught 9 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns and added another on the ground in the Class 4A Division I state championship game win over Austin LBJ.

But while Eakin set records, he received no FBS offers. He attended the state championship game with offers from Tarleton, Lamar and Incarnate Word. At halftime of the state championship game, Western Kentucky assistant coach Ben Arbuckle texted Doty to let him know Eakin was on scholarship after the game.

Former WKU offensive coordinator Zach Kittley was recently hired at Texas Tech for former high school head coach Joey McGuire, who watched Eakins' historic performance at AT&T Stadium. The two invited Eakin for an unofficial visit as the early signing period approached. The problem was scholarships. The COVID exception meant there wasn't much room for the newly appointed McGuire and he didn't want to give up players he hadn't seen play yet.

The Eakin family visited Washington State and TCU, where the new staff in Fort Worth wanted him as a defensive lineman. Eakin wanted to play at Texas Tech, but also knew he needed an offer first. So the family went to Lubbock for a visit on the last official visitation weekend before the death period. He left without an offer, but with the promise that if a scholarship opened, Eakin would be the first to know.

“We didn’t even make it home when Coach McGuire called and said they had a scholarship and they wanted Coy to play for the Red Raiders,” Mark said. “It should be like this. This was an excited child.”

Eakin proved his toughness to his teammates by overcoming two broken collarbones in his first two seasons as a Red Raider. He enters Week 6 against Arizona second on the team in receptions (17) and yards (307) and leads the team with five touchdown receptions. No one in the Eakin family is surprised that the kid who didn't have an FBS offer until he dominated a state championship game forced his way into the Red Raiders' starting lineup. But they are definitely proud.

“Coy went his own way and I respect him deeply for that,” Mark said. “Everyone else in our family does rodeo, but he had a different passion and no plan B. He wants to be a professional football player.

“But he’s still a good roper. He picked it up a few times over Christmas break or when he was home in the spring. I think he could win events now, but maybe he’ll learn later in life and in rodeo.”