By 
FORMER Donaghmore and Tyrone GAA goalkeeper Lorcan Quinn continues to enjoy a meteoric rise in his American Football career and last week it was confirmed that he was joining the biggest college team in the States- Alabama Crimson Tide.
Quinn, a member of Tyrone’s All-Ireland senior winning panel in 2021, as well as an Ulster champion with the county under-20s, where he starred in nets, has transferred for the 2026 season from Marshall University in West Virginia to Alabama’s prestigious football programme for his second year in college football as a kicker.
He admits to being delighted at the progress he has made since switching sports to gridiron though adding that it took a period of time to adjust to his new sporting career across the Atlantic.
“ I would have bit your hand off to get where I am now at the start of last year. I just went out there thinking I’m just going to take every day as it comes and gradually get better.
“ I had a slow enough start to the season. I made some adjustments from the first six games to the last six games and made massive improvement towards the end of the year.
“By no means did I go out there expecting to hit the ground running. There was slow learnings from the off.”
Lorcan agrees that the experience of life in America is a million miles removed from back home in the ‘Village’.
“ Everything is different there, from people driving on the other side of the road it’s a completely different world out there. Donaghmore is a small village and you know everyone there. You go over to America and everything is supersized-food, roads everything.”
During the 2025 season, Quinn broke the Marshall record for field goals in a single season with 21, four of which were converted from more than 50 yards.
He scored all eight of his field goal attempts and subsequently joined Marshall on a scholarship in May, making his debut for the Thundering Herd against Georgia Bulldogs in front of 90,000 fans at Sanford Stadium, something which Quinn found surreal.
“ It was a crazy experience. I only had one extra point and two kickoffs so I was only on the field three times. I wouldn’t say I was nervous but you do get a bit of a feeling alright. I was happy to get a couple of run outs in that game. It gave me a taster of what it was all about.”
Having stepped away from the Tyrone squad in 2024, Quinn travelled with other aspiring kickers to demonstrate their skills in front of college coaches at an event in Florida 12 months ago.
He agrees that his role as a kicker means he spends a lot more time on the sideline watching the action rather than being at the hub of it which is the case with a goalkeeper in Gaelic Football.
“ Basically you are out of the game the whole time on the line until those moments you are summoned in. In American football you have just one job whereas if you are playing GAA back home you are constantly involved.
“ If something goes wrong for you you can go and try and get the ball again whereas over there you have one job and you have to try and execute it properly. That was the biggest difference.”
Lorcan was back home for a few weeks over Christmas with his season finished. While a college season consists of just 12 matches, he said that their all year round preparation remained intense.
“ From early January we will be essentially training all year. You might get a few weeks off pre summer but it really is the full year round commitment.”