When a student-athlete decides to leave a Division I school and transfer to a community college, the choice they make can have an impact on their chances of returning to that level. For Cerritos College quarterback TJ McMahon, he spend a red-shirt year at Mississippi State University as a walk-on before making the decision to transfer. But playing for the Falcons in 2019 turned out to be the best decision for him, as he set the school record in pass completion percentage and put his name in several other categories in the school's record book.

McMahon announced that he has chosen to transfer to Rice University, who are member of Conference USA and one of the most prestigious academic schools in the country. The Sports Management major selected one of the top academic schools in the country because he believed that the education he receives after football would take him much farther. McMahon is also just the second player in school history to transfer to Rice, joining Jim Willard, who signed in 1980.

"I chose Rice because I believe it is the best place for me," said McMahon. "The education is top of the charts, so when football does ever come to an end I will have a great education to fall back on. With football, my goal is to play in the NFL and play for a long time. I believe these coaches can help me grow more as a QB and help me to achieve this goal. The coaches have also built a great culture which I saw firsthand with the players I interacted with."

One of the people most impressed with McMahon was Falcon head coach Dean Grosfeld, who called his quarterback "one of the most complete players at this level from talent to intangibles."

In his lone season with Cerritos, McMahon helped Cerritos to a 7-4 season, which was capped off by a 46-39 Joe Kapp Real Estate Beach Bowl win over Ventura College. On the year, McMahon completed 194-of-295 passes (school-record 65.8 completion percentage) for 2,667 yards along with 24 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He threw for over 300 yards three times on the year and was not sacked at all in the final two games. His passing yard total is the second most in a season in school history.

The product of Servite High, McMahon played a number of his high school games at Falcon Stadium. He felt that one of the benefits of playing at Cerritos allowed his family and friends to come see him play like they did during his high school games.

"TJ played at the highest level in high school, so all those things intrigued us," added Grosfeld. "Coming from Servite, the discipline and love for the program were big factors for us."

But Cerritos wasn't his first choice when deciding to leave Starkville, MS.

"My dad actually made me go check out Cerritos," added McMahon. "When I came back (from Mississippi State), I was dead set on going to Riverside (City College), but after getting a chance to come out to watch a practice, seeing some players I had played with or against and talked to Coach (Dean) Grosfeld, I felt like Cerritos was the best place for me to continue growing as a player."

In fact, it was Grosfeld, a former Falcon quarterback, that made the biggest impact on McMahon deciding that playing for Cerritos would be the best fit.

"TJ reached out to us when he left Mississippi State," continued Grosfeld. "I had no idea he was leaving. He reached out to Riverside, Saddleback and us. He chose us because of the opportunity, location and trust in what we could offer him as an academic and football program. He's very intelligent and a great athlete."

"Coach Grosfeld was huge influence on me coming to Cerritos," said McMahon. "When we met and talked, he was very transparent about what could possibly happen. He wasn't making empty promises or telling me what I wanted to hear to get me to come. Coach Grosfeld's style and offense definitely helped me grow as a player, both ability-wise and with the mental side of playing QB. Our offense did a lot of different things throughout the season so I was able to have some versatility. The mental side of the responsibility I was given helped me be more aware of everything that was going on in the game."

That guidance and leadership came into play in several games during the season. With the Falcons mired in a slump, after losing four out of five games and close to missing out on a post-season bowl game, McMahon stepped up his game and completed 30-of-41 passes for 583 yards and seven touchdowns in the final two regular season games to help secure that bowl game. Against the Pirates in the bowl game, McMahon was nothing short of spectacular, as he threw for 297 yards and two more touchdowns and rushed for a season-high 38 yards.

With his lofty numbers and stellar season, McMahon found himself being courted mainly by just two schools. Overlooked coming out of high school, McMahon was aware that his only option was to walk-on at a school, which he did at Mississippi State. Although he felt it was a great experience, and he learned quite a bit, being recruited was a new experience for him. Joining Rice in the quest to land McMahon was South Alabama University. But the 6-0, 195-pound McMahon made the decision to lean toward the school that he felt could benefit him after his playing days are over.

"Being recruited by Rice and deciding on them means a lot to him," said Grosfeld. "TJ has earned this and is responsible for receiving this opportunity he has been given. I don't care about us looking good, I am just happy for all of the players that get such an awesome privilege to play the game and get their education paid for. We supply the opportunity and support a platform for student success, and they earn everything they get."

But he's taking a lot from his year with the Falcons and hopes to parlay that into a starting role with the Owls.

"Besides winning some big games, I think the best memories from the season was just being with my teammates building those relationships," continued McMahon. "We had times where it would have been easy for us to give up on the season but nobody ever gave up. We stuck together and there was never a game that we thought we couldn't win."

He will now look to help Rice improve on a 3-9 season that saw the team win their final three games. They have several other young quarterbacks on their roster, but McMahon feels that given an opportunity, he can help the team win more games in 2020.

"I will be in the mix to compete and earn the starting job," stated McMahon. "It won't be easy (because) they have good QBs in their room. All I could ask for was a legitimate opportunity to compete."

Given his track record, when McMahon is given a chance, he has shown he can deliver.