From Walk-On to the West Wing: The Unlikely Journey of Johnny McEntee

In the summer of 2008, Johnny McEntee arrived at the University of Connecticut as the kind of player coaches see every year: a walk-on quarterback with big dreams and long odds. Standing 6-3 and weighing 208 pounds, the kid from Fullerton, California, had no scholarship, no guaranteed roster spot, and no reason to believe he’d ever see meaningful playing time for the Huskies.

Three years later, McEntee was the starting quarterback for every game of UConn’s 2011 season. Five years after that, he was walking into the Oval Office as one of the most powerful unelected officials in Washington, dubbed by his colleagues as the “Deputy President” to Donald Trump.

The journey from walk-on to the West Wing reveals a pattern that defined Johnny McEntee’s entire career: an almost supernatural ability to turn rejection into opportunity, to outlast the competition through sheer persistence, and to seize moments when they presented themselves.

The Walk-On Mentality

McEntee’s path to UConn was hardly conventional. Unlike many of his teammates who were recruited from powerhouse high school programs, McEntee threw for 1,525 yards and seven touchdowns as a senior at Servite High School in Anaheim – respectable numbers, but nothing that screamed Division I starter. When he showed up to Storrs in 2008, he was just another hopeful trying to prove he belonged.

The walk-on culture at UConn has always been about proving doubters wrong. The university, which began as Storrs Agricultural College in 1896, has long embodied an underdog mentality. Even today, UConn football continues to welcome walk-on candidates through formal tryouts, recognizing that talent doesn’t always come with a scholarship attached.

McEntee redshirted his first year, a common move for walk-ons to develop physically and learn the system. He saw minimal action in 2009 and 2010 – just two games total across those seasons. Most players might have transferred or given up. McEntee stayed and grinded.

Then came 2011, when everything changed. With the starting job unexpectedly available, McEntee seized his moment. He started all 12 games, throwing for 2,110 yards and 12 touchdowns while completing 172 passes – numbers that placed him 10th and 14th respectively in single-season school history at the time.

But his senior season brought familiar adversity. After throwing for just 99 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions over the first three games, McEntee was benched. His college career appeared to be ending in disappointment.
Instead, it became a launching pad.

From Viral Fame to Fox News

What happened next illustrates McEntee’s uncanny ability to create his own opportunities. On a Saturday afternoon in February, with time to kill and a Flip camera in hand, McEntee and two friends decided to make a trick shot video around campus.

“It was like a Saturday or something in February. I think we had a lot of free time,” McEntee recalled years later. “We had one of those Flip cameras at the time. And me and two guys just went around and did that all day.”

The video, showcasing McEntee’s quarterback arm in increasingly improbable scenarios, went viral in an era when that still meant something special. Over seven million people watched the UConn quarterback nail impossible throws, including one shot in the basketball arena that still gives him elbow problems today.

Suddenly, Johnny McEntee was viral. But unlike many who stumble into internet celebrity, he understood that fame without a plan was just a moment. After graduating with a sociology degree, McEntee moved to New York City on a whim, sleeping on a friend’s girlfriend’s couch and picking up odd jobs while figuring out his next move.

Through a connection at church, he landed a production assistant job at Fox News. It was entry-level work, but it put him in the building when political history was about to be made.

The Daily Email Campaign

On June 16, 2015, sitting in his Fox News cubicle, McEntee watched Donald Trump descend the golden escalator at Trump Tower to announce his presidential campaign. While his colleagues laughed and dismissed Trump’s chances, McEntee saw something different.

“I remember at the time, everyone in the office was laughing; they were saying he had no chance,” McEntee said. “The speech had the total opposite effect on me. I thought he was tapping into something Republicans had forgotten about.”
What happened next was vintage walk-on persistence. McEntee started emailing anyone who could possibly connect him to the Trump campaign. No response. He kept emailing. Still nothing. Days turned into weeks of radio silence.

Finally, after two weeks of daily emails with no replies, McEntee sent one last message that captured his walk-on mentality perfectly: “Apparently, this campaign doesn’t have anyone to check emails. I’ll take that job and I’ll do it for free.”
The response came immediately: “Come in and do it.”

McEntee quit his Fox job and started as a volunteer on the Trump campaign in July 2015. Within months, he had worked his way up to become Trump’s “bodyman” – the personal aide who carries the candidate’s bags, coordinates his meals, and never leaves his side.

The Rise to Power

When Trump won the presidency, McEntee’s proximity to power became power itself. As the president’s bodyman, he was in every meeting, on every trip, present for every major decision. He became Trump’s most trusted aide, the one person guaranteed to be in the room when history was being made.

In January 2020, Trump promoted McEntee to Director of Presidential Personnel, making him responsible for managing the 4,000 appointments the president makes across the federal government. Continuing as bodyman while simultaneously heading the Personnel Office gave McEntee unprecedented influence, earning him the moniker “Deputy President” from colleagues who watched him operate.

McEntee used this position to lead what he called “an overhaul of Executive Branch personnel that resulted in a reassertion of the President’s control over the federal bureaucracy.” He became known for his loyalty tests and ideological vetting, with some Trump aides privately comparing his operation to “the East German Stasi” for its focus on rooting out disloyal personnel.

When regular bureaucratic channels failed, Trump relied on McEntee to get things done. He famously orchestrated a troop withdrawal from Somalia by having the President sign a withdrawal memo that bypassed the Department of Defense and National Security Council’s review processes entirely.

The Post-White House Empire

After leaving the White House, McEntee again demonstrated his ability to reinvent himself. He founded Date Right Stuff, a dating app for conservatives, with funding from tech billionaire Peter Thiel. The app’s launch was announced exclusively on Tucker Carlson Tonight, and McEntee appeared on the show to discuss both the platform and his White House experience.

But McEntee’s most surprising transformation came through social media. Through promoting Date Right Stuff, he became the first conservative TikTok celebrity, known for his satirical takes on political issues. His account @daterightstuff has garnered 3.3 million followers and 1.7 million on Instagram, with over 2 billion views across platforms.

This digital influence led to profiles in outlets from Yahoo Finance to Entrepreneur Magazine, and regular appearances on Fox News, Fox Business, and Newsmax. USA Today dubbed him a “TikTok Icon,” and his reach became a case study in how political figures could harness social media for conservative messaging.

The Project 2025 Role

During the 2024 election cycle, McEntee served as a senior advisor to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, tasked with building the “Presidential Personnel Database” – essentially creating a pool of vetted candidates for the next conservative administration. It was a role perfectly suited for someone who understands both the importance of personnel decisions and how to find talent in unconventional places.

“Any conservative candidate, if he or she prevails in 2024 – one of the first people they’re going to turn to is John McEntee to say, ‘How do I stock this government?’” said Paul Dans, the head of Project 2025.

McEntee’s approach to recruitment was rooted in the lessons learned as a walk-on: look for people willing to fight for their opportunity, prioritize loyalty and work ethic over pedigree, and never underestimate someone hungry enough to keep showing up.

The Walk-On Playbook

McEntee’s journey from UConn walk-on to Washington power broker offers a playbook for anyone facing long odds:
Persistence over talent: When McEntee couldn’t get the Trump campaign’s attention through connections or credentials, he simply outlasted their indifference with daily emails.

Proximity equals opportunity: As a walk-on, McEntee learned that being in the room matters more than being the star. His role as Trump’s bodyman put him in position for every major opportunity.

Adaptability: From quarterback to viral star to TV production to political operative to dating app founder to social media influencer – McEntee has repeatedly reinvented himself while maintaining his core identity.

Seizing Moments

Whether it was the starting quarterback job in 2011, Trump’s campaign launch in 2015, or the rise of TikTok as a political platform, McEntee has shown an uncanny ability to recognize and capitalize on inflection points.

Looking back at that February afternoon in 2011 when a benchwarmer with a Flip camera decided to make trick shot videos around campus, it’s impossible to draw a straight line to the Oval Office. But the walk-on mentality that kept McEntee grinding when he had no guaranteed playing time is the same relentless persistence that carried him from Trump Tower volunteer to Deputy President.

In an era where political careers are often built on Ivy League credentials and family connections, Johnny McEntee’s rise stands as proof that sometimes the most powerful qualification is simply refusing to quit. The walk-on from UConn never stopped walking on.

As McEntee himself put it when discussing his role in staffing the next conservative administration: “As long as they’re there for the right reasons, we can sort out the rest later.” It’s the ultimate walk-on philosophy – heart and hustle first, everything else can be coached.