John Rhys Plumlee (born January 2, 2001) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the UCF Knights. He formerly played for Ole Miss and was a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

for the Ole Miss baseball team.

Early life and high school

Plumlee grew up in

Hattiesburg, Mississippi Hattiesburg is a city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, located primarily in Forrest County, Mississippi, Forrest County (where it is the county seat and largest city) and extending west into Lamar County, Mississippi, Lamar County. The city popu ...

and attended Oak Grove High School, where he played baseball and football. He became the Warriors starting quarterback as a sophomore. As a junior, he passed for 1,759 yards, 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions and rushed for 599 yards and eight touchdowns in nine games and was named to the "Dandy Dozen" by ''

The Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...

''. In baseball, he batted .442 with 35 RBIs and 38 runs scored in 27 games. Rated a four star recruit, Plumlee initially committed to play college football at Georgia during the summer going into his senior year over offers from

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, Notre Dame,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

, Tulane,

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

, South Alabama and Mississippi State. As a senior, Plumlee completed 187-of-291 passes (64.3 percent) for 2,834 yards with 33 touchdown passes and three interceptions while also rushing for 1,444 yards and 19 touchdowns on 162 carries (8.9 yards per carry) and led the team to a Southern State championship before losing to Horn Lake High School. He finished his high school career with 5,430 passing yards, 2,314 rushing yards and 82 total touchdowns in three seasons. After the season, Plumlee de-committed from Georgia shortly before National Signing Day in order to accept as scholarship to play both football and baseball at Ole Miss. Plumlee batted .411 with 39 hits, 45 runs scored, seven doubles, five triples, two home runs and 24 RBI in 29 games and was named 2019 5A/6A All-State in his final baseball season at Oak Grove.

College career

Ole Miss

Plumlee began his true freshman season in 2019 as the

Rebels Rebels may refer to: * Participants in a rebellion * Rebel groups, people who refuse obedience or order * Rebels (American Revolution), patriots who rejected British rule in 1776 Film and television * ''Rebels'' (film) or ''Rebelles'', a 2019 ...

' backup quarterback. He made his collegiate debut against California after an injury to starter Matt Corral, completing all seven of his passes for 82 yards and rushing three times for 53 yards as he led the team to a near-comeback win before being stopped at

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

's one-yard line as time expired. Plumlee made his first career start the following week on September 28, 2019, against

, completing 35.7 percent of his passes for 141 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and also rushing 109 yards and one touchdown in a 59–31 loss. He was named the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) Freshman of the Week after rushing for 165 yards and a touchdown with 99 passing yards against Vanderbilt on October 5. On November 10 against New Mexico State, Plumlee broke the freshman rushing yards and rushing touchdown record with 177 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Plumlee finished the season with 910 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions on 79-for-150 passing (52.7 percent) while rushing 154 times for 1,023 yards and 12 touchdowns. He set Ole Miss records for rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and total touchdowns by a freshman and the most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback. Plumlee began his freshman baseball season as the Rebels' starting centerfielder, while playing in the same outfield as football teammate

Jerrion Ealy Jerrion Zawasky Ealy (born August 19, 2000) is an American football wide receiver and running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss. Early years Ealy attended Jackson Prepa ...

. He had one hit in 16 at-bats before the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Going into his sophomore season, Corral was named the Rebels' starting quarterback over Plumlee. Plumlee continued to be used in package plays while also serving as the backup quarterback. He also occasionally lined up at wide receiver and saw significant time at the position in the Rebels' 26–20 win over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in the

2021 Outback Bowl The 2021 Outback Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 2, 2021, with kickoff at 12:30 p.m. EST on ABC. It was the 35th edition of the Outback Bowl, and was one of the 2020–21 bowl games concluding the 2020 FBS football ...

, catching five passes for 73 yards. Plumlee finished the season with 65 passing yards with one touchdown pass, 94 rushing yards, and six receptions for 79 yards in six games. In baseball, he batted .267 with four doubles, one home run, 21 runs scored, and seven RBIs. Plumlee entered his junior season listed as a wide receiver. He finished the season with 19 receptions for 201 yards and 72 rushing yards on nine carries. Plumlee announced that he would be entering the transfer portal following Ole Miss's appearance in the 2022 Sugar Bowl.

UCF

Plumlee announced his commitment to transfer to

UCF The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

on January 9, 2022. He also committed to play for the UCF baseball team, but his waiver to play in the 2022 season was denied by the NCAA. Plumlee was named the Knights starting quarterback going into the 2022 season. He tied a school record with seven total touchdowns after he completed 18 of 22 pass attempts for 373 yards and four touchdowns and rushed seven times for 37 yards and three touchdowns in a 70-13 win over

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

on October 13, 2022. Plumlee finished the season with 218 completions on 346 pass attempts for 2,586 yards with 14 touchdowns and eight interceptions while also rushing for 862 yards and 11 touchdowns. Plumlee entered the 2023 UCF baseball season as a starting outfielder.

Statistics

References

External links

Ole Miss Rebels baseball bioOle Miss Rebels football bioUCF Knights baseball bioUCF Knights football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plumlee, John Rhys 2001 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baseball outfielders Ole Miss Rebels baseball players Ole Miss Rebels football players Players of American football from Mississippi Sportspeople from Hattiesburg, Mississippi UCF Knights football players UCF Knights baseball players