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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Thorsby High School’s Grayson McManus is achieving two major goals in both athletics and academics after signing with Faulkner University on April 7. The longtime Thorsby standout on both sides of the ball will stay close to home to play quarterback, but he will also be getting a great foundation in the career he wants to have after football.

“Overall, it came down to a few schools, but Faulkner was the right decision,” McManus said. “It is close to home, I like what they stand for at Faulkner and it felt like the right idea as soon as I stepped on campus.”

Toughness was the trademark for the senior throughout his high school career, and Thorsby head coach Daryl Davis said it caught the eyes of other coaches as well. Many coaches asked Davis after games “Who is No. 10?” — and how hard he played stood out to them. He believes that will continue at Faulkner too.

“I think he will pick up (at Faulkner) right where he left off (at Thorsby),” Davis said. “He is going to go down there and play hard, do what he is supposed to do and he will be a favorite of the coaches.”

McManus had around 15 opportunities to play college football, but the opportunities at Faulkner fit everything he was looking for in a program. Faulkner is giving McManus the opportunity to play quarterback, and his versatility and knowledge of so many other positions on the field having played them at Thorsby gives him a unique trait at the position.

McManus said he had to be tough to play quarterback for the Rebels, and Davis helped him grow in that regard over the years. Numerous camps and extra reps helped him refine his quarterback skills too. McManus will now get the luxury of focusing solely on the quarterback position.

“He will grow, and here he got very little work on just being a quarterback. He gets down there and does it all the time, he will get better and better,” Davis said. “If you are going to be the quarterback you have to be a leader, and Grayson knows that and has done that. To be the leader you have to outwork everybody else — be there earlier, be there later and be the toughest guy. If you do all that, they will follow you.”

At the academic level, McManus is the first traditional undergraduate student at Faulkner to receive a full-tuition scholarship from The Stumbaugh School of Risk Management & Insurance. McManus wants to have a career as an insurance professional following college, and the program will set him up well for his post-college plans.

When it comes to his mindset transitioning to college, McManus hopes to keep it positive and use a lot of the lessons learned as a Rebel to keep his confidence high throughout his college career both on and off the football field.