Quincey McAdoo’s once-promising Arkansas football career is now over.
The former wide receiver-turned-cornerback is one of three Razorbacks from last year’s team who are hanging up their cleats and receiving a medical hardship, Best of Arkansas Sports has learned.
He is joined by offensive linemen Eli Henderson and Terry Wells, both of whom were backups buried on the depth chart. Another reserve offensive lineman, Cole Carson, is set to graduate this spring and will also move on despite being just a redshirt sophomore.
The moves help Arkansas inch closer to its 85-man scholarship limit for 2024 — a number head coach Sam Pittman likely won’t finalize until after spring ball, as there is another transfer portal window for players to leave and the Razorbacks can still add to their 13-man portal haul.
The Loss of Quincey McAdoo
From a playing time perspective, Quincey McAdoo’s retirement is the biggest loss of the four players mentioned above.
A four-star prospect and in-state recruit coming out of Clarendon, McAdoo was originally committed to Florida State in the 2022 class before flipping to Arkansas football in April 2021.
It was a big get for then-wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton, but McAdoo’s role was limited to special teams early on and he was hampered by a wrist injury just as he seemed to push for a spot in the two-deep.
With injuries plaguing the Razorbacks’ secondary, McAdoo approached Sam Pittman about flipping to the other side of the ball and helping out at defensive back. Sure enough, as soon as he got healthy, he worked his way into the rotation and came off the bench against Liberty — a game in which he made an interception.
The following week, McAdoo was in the starting lineup and never relinquished the spot. He started the final four games of the season and posted a solid 66.2 PFF grade on 368 snaps. Even though he didn’t change positions until midway through the season, McAdoo landed on the SEC All-Freshman team.
With Dwight McGlothern also returning, Arkansas appeared to have a great cornerback tandem for 2023, but that never came to fruition. In May, McAdoo was involved in a serious car accident that left him hospitalized with a neck vertebrae injury.
Pittman never laid out a timeline for his return, but remained optimistic that he’d eventually be able to play again and McAdoo remained around the team. Even as recently as January 3, the 19-year-old posted a shot of himself lifting weights at what appears to be a Clarendon High facility with the message “I’ll always bet on me.”
Unfortunately, it’s now clear that he won’t return to the field.
This is likely something the Razorbacks were aware of based on their moves in the transfer portal. Even with Jaylon Braxton returning after a strong freshman campaign, they’ve added two cornerbacks — one with significant SEC experience (former Vol Doneiko Slaughter, who put money at the forefront of why he chose the Hogs) and one with solid production at the Group of Five level (Marquise Robinson from South Alabama) — from the transfer portal.
Arkansas is also still awaiting decisions from Hudson Clark and Kee’yon Stewart, both of whom could return as super seniors in 2024 and have starting experience at cornerback.
Reserve O-Linemen Move on From Arkansas
Despite being at Arkansas for a combined eight seasons, the offensive line trio of Cole Carson, Terry Wells and Eli Henderson appeared in just two total games.
Both of those appearances were by Wells, who played on the offensive line against Georgia Southern in 2021 according to his UA bio and on special teams against LSU in 2022 according to PFF.
Wells was the top in-state player in the 2021 class, but never really cracked the two-deep during his three seasons with the Razorbacks because his career was hampered by multiple injuries. The latest of those was a torn pectoral that caused him to miss all of 2023.
Although he initially posted on Twitter that he was back, Wells has since announced he was taking a medical hardship.
Carson also joined the Razorbacks in the 2021 class, but never appeared in a game during his three seasons.
Henderson signed with Arkansas in the 2022 class and figured to eventually compete at center, but like Wells, his tenure was hindered by injuries
Their departures might have hurt the Razorbacks’ depth up front, but they have restocked via the portal by bringing in a trio of offensive linemen — Keyshawn Blackstock from Michigan State, Addison Nichols from Tennessee and Fernando Carmona from San Jose State. They’ve also actively been pursuing other transfers.
It also helps that Arkansas has been able to retain most of its linemen from last season. Beaux Limmer is headed to the NFL Draft and Devon Manuel transferred to Florida, but those are the only known departures among last year’s contributors so far. The Razorbacks are still waiting on a decision from Brady Latham, who could return as a super senior.
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UPDATE on Quincey McAdoo
After this report published on Wednesday, McAdoo took to social media to make it clear he doesn’t intend to stop playing the sport forever.
“Counting me out before the doctors say is crazy,” McAdoo posted on X. At another point, he continued: “My whole life I’ve been counted out or looked down on … please don’t believe what the internet says … these are reporters not doctors.”
To be clear, to say he’s retiring from the Razorback football program doesn’t mean he’s retiring from the sport of football altogether. Just consider the case of Dax Courtney, the son of his high school coach, Mark Courtney. After dealing with numerous injuries throughout his high school career, Dax Courtney medically retired from the Arkansas football program in 2022.
But later he decided to stick with the sport, transferred to UCA and played football for the Bears this past fall.
Theoretically, if one day McAdoo gets clearance from doctors, he could look into making a similar move to a lower level. His accident, however, was more life-threatening than the injuries (e.g. a dislocated knee, torn ACL) Courtney had endured.
See our latest on Arkansas football roster movement here:
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