One of Cole Crotty’s earliest memories of football was sitting down with his grandfather as a kid and watching a game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers on a Sunday afternoon. Mesmerized and starstruck by the game, Crotty knew from that point on what he wanted to do when he grew up: play football.
Crotty has been one of the most prolific receivers in Johns Hopkins history since stepping on campus back in the summer of 2023. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound receiver out of Hermosa Beach, Calif., had played in 37 games entering his senior season, hauling in 226 receptions for 3,260 yards and 28 touchdowns. Heading into 2026, those marks ranked seventh, second and fourth in program history, respectively.
During that span, Crotty has helped Johns Hopkins win 36 games, reaching the Division III semifinals twice and quarterfinals another time. He now aims to capture a national championship in 2026 while also looking toward playing at a higher level in the future.
“I’ve really enjoyed my experience so far, been a part of some great and historic teams in terms of Hopkins football history,” Crotty said. “I’m extremely blessed to be here in an environment where you get the whole package in terms of athletics but also academics. Surrounded by great teachers, coaches and teammates, it’s just a really special program and place to be.”
Crotty was recruited out of Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, Calif., where he played football and baseball and competed in track and field. He chose to focus on football full time as a high school sophomore in the spring of 2021. The football season had been pushed back to the spring due to COVID-19, thus forcing him to pick between football and baseball.
By the end of his junior season, Crotty watched the seniors play their final games “realizing that was it for them.” He decided then that his senior season wouldn’t be it for him. He was determined to reach his goal of playing college football.
Crotty began his high school career as a quarterback but finished it as a receiver, totaling 95 receptions for 1,692 yards and 23 touchdowns. He was recruited by lower-level Division I schools as well as Division III schools.
Crotty was recruited by Hopkins as a junior and senior. Now majoring in economics, he was intrigued by what the academic side would present for him at Hopkins, not to mention the football.
“Ultimately as a player you want to feel wanted and recognized for your talent, and the effort and attention they showed convinced me to go out and visit JHU during my senior year,” Crotty said. “I ended up taking that visit, coming out loving the staff and the players I met on campus. I decided that’s where I wanted to be, and that’s where I could go to be successful not only on the field but off the field as well.”
Opportunities can come and go in football, so it’s all about what players do with them when they swing their way. Blue Jays offensive coordinator Alex Horvatits watched Crotty take advantage of his opportunity in the summer of 2023 leading into his first game.
“Coming in, we weren’t really expecting him to start, maybe contribute on special teams,” Horvatits said. “… But it was Day 3 of camp where Cole is catching a [pass] across the middle and running away from defenders after the catch, and the coaches and I admittedly knew that was different. It was very seamless when making that transition, and it was funny to me. Cole never seemed like a freshman to me. He always had the maturity level to be a Day 1 starter.”
An injury to another receiver thrust Crotty up the depth chart ahead of the 2023 opener against Ithaca, and Crotty led all receivers with 83 receiving yards on three catches and found the end zone twice in a 27-17 victory.
Crotty’s first touchdown was a 54-yarder on a busted coverage, while his second one was a 27-yarder against double coverage.
“Well, he’s scored with no one person on him, and now he’s scored with two guys on him. I can only imagine what he can do with just one guy covering him,” Horvatits recalled thinking. “But it just spoke about the progression he would go on to have that year as a freshman, learning, growing and improving weekly, just things you don’t expect young players to grasp right away until their second or third year.”
Crotty said he models his game after NFL wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, both of whom are versatile enough to play in the slot or on the outside. They’re shifty, capable of making big plays down the field and finding soft spots in the defense.
Crotty wants to earn an opportunity in the NFL.
“That’s a dream that all the kids have when playing this sport, so that’s definitely the goal of where I want to end up,” Crotty said. “With the new NCAA [five-for-five] rule, I’ve got another year of eligibility left to go transfer [to a Division I school] or I [could] just go straight into draft prep.”
No matter where his path takes him, Crotty knows he can contribute more in the world than just football. Crotty helps lead Bible study with the team. He is involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and local nonprofit events to connect with younger student-athletes in the surrounding community. He and his family head down to Tijuana, Mexico, every summer to help build houses through an organization called Homes of Hope.
“It’s been a cool thing that me and my family have done since I was about 7 or 8 years old,” Crotty said. “Being involved in an organization like this where we are really making a difference in these families’ day-to-day lives, to set them forward economically about 10 years has been life-changing for my family and I. It puts life in perspective to have a sense of gratitude and understanding of what you’ve been blessed with, but also an increasing desire to do more to help your surrounding community.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletics