Growing up, John Rhys Plumlee demonstrated a competitive spirit that would follow him around like his shadow. No matter the challenge, he would find a way to master it, whether on the diamond, gridiron or classroom.
His parents — Lori and Denton — first noticed their son’s desire to compete at an early age.
“At 2 and 3 years old, he was ready to be on a team because he saw his cousins play and compete,” Lori said. “He just wanted to do something.”
Added Denton: “When he was little, he hated to lose and would cry. He didn’t like losing, which made him pretty good at everything he tried because he wanted to be the best. He was just born with it, I guess.”
That competitive edge followed Plumlee from those early pick-up games in the front yard of his Hattiesburg, Miss., home to the sunny skies and sandy beaches of Central Florida, where the fifth-year senior is set to begin his final year as the starting quarterback at UCF.
The Plumlees have three children, with John Rhys nestled in the middle of his sisters, Rhyan and Reese. Almost immediately, they noticed an unbridled enthusiasm and energy coming from their son.
“Boys and girls develop differently, so at 18 months old, my daughter was talking in three-word sentences,” Lori said. “John Rhys wasn’t talking, but he was jumping, sailing off the couch, and running through the den. It’s his motor, and he’s always busy.”
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“He’s always been blessed to be fast,” recalled Denton. “It started when he was in soccer and he was the fastest kid and that’s carried throughout to football.”
That need for constant activity was nothing new to the family, which had prided itself on being active. Even when Plumlee struggled to contain his exuberance in school, the family found a way to cope.
“When we would start getting notes that John Rhys was having trouble sitting in his seat or talking too much, I knew that boys just have a certain amount of energy,” said Lori. “That’s not anything bad, but you’ve just got to burn that energy off so he would run the driveway before school.
“He would try to beat his own time and as he got older, we made it longer [distance], so he always turned to sports for everything.”
Plumlee played multiple sports growing up, sometimes going from after-school basketball practice to a soccer game later that evening. He was also splitting time between football and baseball. But before ninth grade, his parents finally asked him to cut back his sports schedule and he chose to stick with football and baseball.
Baseball
Plumlee settled in on his baseball and football careers.
“He’s always been an outstanding baseball player from the beginning,” said Denton.
He excelled at Oak Grove High, where he was a .395 hitter in four varsity seasons, finishing with 7 home runs, 75 RBIs and 59 stolen bases in 111 career games, per MaxPreps.com.
Plumlee would turn down being selected in the Major League Baseball draft because he wanted the chance to play football. That connection between the two sports was so strong that when he went on his college recruiting visits, he only wanted to go somewhere where he could play both sports.
“If they weren’t 100% in on that, then he wasn’t interested in going there,” said Denton. “His plan from the beginning was to play both sports.”
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Plumlee split time this spring between football practice and playing for UCF’s baseball team. He would take to the gridiron in the mornings before transitioning to the diamond in the afternoons.
The two worlds collided on April 15 when Plumlee participated in an afternoon baseball game against Memphis — going 2-for-3 with 2 RBI in helping the Knights cruise to a 12-3 win — before racing over to FBC Mortgage Stadium for a spring football game where he would go 10 of 17 (58%) for 236 yards with an interception and 2 touchdowns.
Plumlee hit .286 with 10 homers, 32 RBIs and 18 stolen bases in 196 at-bats for the Knights.
David Morris has worked with Plumlee as a quarterbacks coach since middle school. A former quarterback at Ole Miss, Morris established QB Country, one of the nation’s leading quarterback training and development companies. He has been impressed by his prodigies’ versatility.
“It usually doesn’t work for a quarterback to play baseball and win a [starting quarterback] job,” said Morris. “It tells you the kid is pretty darn special. There are only a couple of guys that have ever really done it. You’ve got Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson. Charlie Ward played basketball and football.
“These guys are some of the best players in college football history.”
Football
Denton Plumlee enjoyed playing different sports growing up but admits he wasn’t nearly as gifted as his son. Not as fast as John Rhys, Denton wound up playing defense.
He would eventually coach his son when he was little.
“He was, of course, the fastest one and when they’re playing little league football, you want the fastest guy to get to the edge,” Denton explained. “I put him under center just to use that speed and that’s where he started.”
Plumlee found his way onto the football team at Oak Grove High as a ninth-grader, but it wasn’t playing quarterback. He started at safety for the Warriors, even moving up to linebacker.
“There were three linebackers: one was 235, one was 225 and he was 155 pounds,” said Denton. “He was pretty versatile and the speed helped get him around.”
Plumlee moved to quarterback, where he spent his final three seasons on the varsity team, completing 61% of his 627 passing attempts for 5,430 yards with 51 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He had 2,344 rushing yards with 31 touchdowns.
“If you watch his highlight tape in high school, you’ll see a lot of Kyler Murray stuff,” Morris said, comparing Plumlee’s performance to the former Oklahoma and current Arizona Cardinals quarterback.
Plumlee had plenty of offers coming out of high school and originally made a non-binding commitment to Georgia. Still, his parents felt it was important he visit as many schools as possible before making a final decision.
“We decided early on that we would not try to influence him,” said Denton. “We loaded up on one spring break with four colleges because we knew he wanted to to be able to get his foot on the ground and see the colleges before he committed to it.”
During a visit to Auburn, he met with then-coach Gus Malzahn, who saw Plumlee in a different role for the Tigers.
“Coach Malzahn sat me down and said, ‘I know you want to play quarterback, but I think you would d be a really good slot receiver.’ That wasn’t something I wanted to hear,” recalled Plumlee. “The next thing I told him wasn’t something he wanted to hear. ‘I appreciate it, but no, thanks.’
“After I played another year of high school football, he started recruiting me as a quarterback. After that, I knew the guy would not lie to me. He already told me something I didn’t want to hear before, so I knew everything he told me was truthful.”
While Plumlee would eventually sign with Ole Miss, that relationship with Malzahn would pay off a few years later when he transferred to UCF.
Ole Miss
During his first season, Plumlee appeared in nine games (eight starts) for the Rebels, setting a school freshman rushing record with 1,023 yards and 16 total touchdowns. He rushed for at least 100 yards in five games, including a career-high 212 yards and 4 touchdowns in a loss to LSU on Nov. 16, 2019.
Lane Kiffin arrived at Ole Miss in 2020, and he brought former UCF offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to guide an uptempo offense predicated on explosive passing plays. They promoted Matt Corral to starting quarterback.
Looking for any chance to get back on the field, Plumlee volunteered to switch to slot receiver.
“I wanted to play quarterback because that’s where my heart was,” said Plumlee. “So every week, we would have Thursday walkthroughs and I would try to throw a couple of routes here and there, corners slants, just to try not to let the rust set in.
“That’s what I would send D-Mo [Morris] and he would, of course, give me coaching points as he has always done since middle and high school.”
“I remember when he was going through that, it was hard,” recalled Morris. “I would get dozens of videos a week that season when he was playing receiver and it was always him throwing after practice. It says a lot about him and also the power of belief and the power of betting on yourself.”
Plumlee transferred after his junior season, entering the transfer portal on Jan. 4, 2022. Five days later, he committed to UCF, where he re-connected with Malzahn who had taken over the program a year earlier.
He guided the Knights to an appearance in the American Athletic Conference championship game, passing for 2,586 yards with 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He also led the team with 861 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
After a summer of workouts, Morris sees Plumlee’s game moving to the next level.
“He’s always been a passer. Now he’s becoming more of a precise thrower,” said Morris.
Added Malzahn: “John Rhys is like night and day to where he was at this time last year.”
Music
When Plumlee’s not on the baseball diamond or the football field, he most likely can be found playing the piano. Music has always been a big part of his life.
“When kids are growing up, they always want to do sports and be active and that’s wonderful and we love that, but we also wanted to give him a gift of something that he could enjoy the rest of his life,” said Lori. “You can enjoy playing sports for a while, but probably when you’re 70, you’re not playing sports, but you can still play the piano.”
Plumlee’s love affair with the piano began in the second grade when he began taking lessons from his grandmother, who introduced him to the instrument. The family also paid for lessons, hiring a piano teacher, but it was the one-on-one opportunities with his grandmother several times a week where the passion grew.
Elaine Flynt, or Gran as the Plumlee children call her, has played the piano for the church for over three decades.
“We just gravitated towards it and wanted to play piano with Gran,” said Plumlee.
“A little boy doesn’t want to sit down and practice piano. He wants to be outside, running around and playing in the dirt. But now that I know how to do it and went through all those years of having to sit down and practice, I’m super thankful for it.”
His music talent has grown so much that he can hear a song on the radio and soon afterward, he can play it on the piano.
“Even now, he turns to music,” said Lori. “If he’s excited, he’s in there playing the piano. He has a piano in his bedroom in Orlando. If he’s upset or has any emotion, he loves to filter it through his music.”
“I knew if he were under stress, he would just go and start playing,” said Denton.
Plumlee’s musical talent isn’t just contained to the piano.
His parents purchased guitars for all three children one Christmas and it wasn’t long before Plumlee was hunting and pecking his way to performing.
“He doesn’t really get sheet music or music books,” Lori said. “He really plays more just from his phone where he can work out the chords.”
His competitive nature would carry over into his musical side with Plumlee performing in events sponsored by the Mississippi Music Teachers Association. At one point, when he was in fourth grade, he was ranked No 1 in the state based on his performance.
During UCF’s recent Knight Nation Celebration in Thornton Park, Plumlee took the microphone and led fans in a rendition of Zombie Nation.
It’s just another example of the charisma and charm many have seen in Plumlee.
“His personality is big,” said Morris. “He’s a really good kid.”
Those traits have worked well for him, especially at quarterback.
“When he leads, he leads with passion,” said UCF offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw. “He has fun with the guys, but he also understands that this is a hard sport.”
“He brings leadership, he’s fun to be around and coach. He’s the first one running on the field from the tent when we have a break; he’s on the field and leads by example.”
None of it shocks his mother.
“He’s always been right where his feet are,” said Lori. “When he’s playing football, he’s all in. If he goes to the golf range and is hitting balls, that’s all he’s thinking about. Wherever he is, he’s just 100% there.”
Email Matt Murschel at mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osmattmurschel.
