The influence of Zach Calzada’s parents can be seen in his dedication and work ethic.
Highlights
- Zach Calzada’s college football journey spans an impressive seven seasons across four universities (Texas A&M, Auburn, Incarnate Word, and Kentucky), highlighted by his signature upset victory over top-ranked Alabama in 2021.
- The Calzada family story represents a multi-generational American dream narrative, beginning with grandparents who fled communist Cuba with nothing and built new lives that enabled their children and grandchildren to pursue educational and athletic opportunities.
- Both Zach and his sister Carolyn have continued the family’s athletic legacy (their father was a college swimmer), with their parents fostering their talents through a supportive approach that emphasizes passion and hard work rather than pressure.
Zach Calzada, known as the “Cuban Missile” since middle school, has crafted a remarkable journey through college football.
Born on November 8, 2000, the American quarterback currently plays for the Kentucky Wildcats, bringing with him years of experience across multiple college programs.
Calzada’s football journey began at Lanier High School in Sugar Hill, Georgia, where he overcame significant injuries during his senior year, including a cracked rib and punctured lung.
Despite these setbacks, he returned to finish the season with impressive stats—122 completions on 240 pass attempts for 14 touchdowns—earning Under Armour All-American honors while leading Lanier to the state semifinals.
Zach Calzada you are a KENTUCKY WILDCAT.
— Casey (@BleedBlueCasey) December 20, 2024
pic.twitter.com/KlTA3XexPk
His college career began at Texas A&M in 2019, where he saw limited action as a freshman.
After not playing during the 2020 season, Calzada found himself thrust into the spotlight in 2021 when starting quarterback Haynes King suffered an injury in the second game.
Calzada seized this opportunity, most notably leading the Aggies to a stunning 41-38 upset victory over top-ranked Alabama.
His performance in that game—285 passing yards with three touchdowns—earned him SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Davey O’Brien Award Player of the Week, and Maxwell Award Player of the Week honors.
Following the 2021 season, where he amassed 2,185 passing yards with 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions across ten starts, Calzada entered the transfer portal.
He joined Auburn University in January 2022 but faced several challenges. After missing spring practice due to a shoulder injury, he started the season third on the depth chart and eventually had to undergo season-ending surgery.
Calzada’s journey continued when he transferred to the University of the Incarnate Word, an FCS school in San Antonio, Texas, in January 2023.
During his time there, his career thrived over two seasons, accumulating 6,144 yards and 53 touchdowns, while completing 66% of his passes.
This video proves Kentucky’s new QB1 is the ultimate “culture guy.”
— Casey (@BleedBlueCasey) December 20, 2024
Let’s get to work, @zach_calzada. 💙 pic.twitter.com/3UVDYhNmIw
In his final season at Incarnate Word, he demonstrated his dual-threat capabilities, rushing for 332 yards and five touchdowns while passing for 3,791 yards, 35 touchdowns, and just nine interceptions.
In a surprising turn, Calzada received a medical hardship waiver granting him an additional year of eligibility.
This allowed him to transfer to Kentucky for what will be his seventh and final collegiate season in 2025, where he joins the Wildcats as a seasoned veteran at 25 years old.
Zach Calzada’s Success Would Not Be Possible Without The Support Of His Parents
Behind Zach Calzada’s success stands a family with a remarkable story of perseverance, determination, and unwavering support spanning multiple generations and countries.
Zach’s parents, Hector “Tico” Calzada Jr. and Colleen Calzada, have been instrumental in nurturing his athletic career.
Hector Jr., an accomplished athlete himself, was a Division I All-America honorable mention swimmer at Tulane University who set Georgia swimming records in the backstroke as a child.
Colleen, an Irish Catholic and University of Miami graduate, has fully embraced Cuban culture—even making what the family describes as “the best cafecito” (Cuban coffee).
The couple adopted a thoughtful approach to parenting their athletic children, with Hector explaining,
“We paid attention to where their passions were, and we helped to feed that passion.”
Ouresquina
Hector Jr. has built a successful professional career as a managing director at Deloitte, where he works as a financial advisor and strategy consultant for healthcare organizations.
His professional achievements include roles on several boards, including KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools, the Finance Committee of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta, and the Advisory Board for Vanderbilt University’s Master of Accountancy Program.
During Zach’s time at Texas A&M, Hector Jr. offered insights into his parenting approach:
“My relationship with my son has changed as he moved on to college. He has his coaching relationships and other people he confides in. I think I do a better job of emulating what my father did: Being the consummate uplifting parent and waiting.”
Texags
He added that he tries to be there for Zach while giving him space to develop his own voice.
The family’s story, however, begins a generation earlier with Zach’s grandparents, Hector Sr. and Maria Del Carmen Calzada, who fled Cuba in 1960 amid Fidel Castro’s communist takeover.
Their harrowing journey took them first to Panama for six months before they could arrange passage to the United States with little more than the clothes on their backs.
“I had nothing,” Hector Sr. recalled.
“They took it all away. They didn’t let me take anything. They took all the money in my bank account when I said I was leaving. It was very difficult, very difficult.”
Ouresquina
In America, the couple rebuilt their lives from scratch. With the sponsorship of Webster Groves Christian Church, they settled in St. Louis in 1962, where Hector Sr. worked multiple jobs simultaneously to support his family.
He assembled furniture, worked in shipping and receiving, and took weekend shifts as a bartender.
“This country is tremendous,” Hector Sr. said.
“It gave me the opportunity, my wife and me, to redo our life. It’s been a tremendous success.”
Ouresquina
Years later, Hector Sr. and Maria made similar sacrifices for their children’s education and athletic pursuits.
When Tico became a competitive swimmer, his father took out a credit card to pay for a pivotal swim meet in St. Croix—a debt that took five years to clear.
Hector Sr. also worked a second job at Sears on nights and weekends to help pay for Tico’s tuition at Tulane.
The values of hard work, determination, and making the most of opportunities have clearly passed through generations of Calzadas. Talking about his children’s upbringing, he said,
“I always wanted to give them responsibility so they know it doesn’t matter the type of work you do. We taught them that no matter what work they did, they should do the best they could and put the best effort in anything they want to do.”
Ouresquina
That legacy lives on in Zach, whose nickname “Cuban Missile” honors both his powerful arm and his family’s heritage.
Additional Information
- Zach Calzada’s sister, Carolyn, recently transferred to Notre Dame for her final season of college soccer after starting 54 games at Texas A&M.
- Despite fearing his football career might be over and working in a warehouse for a period, Calzada emotionally credited Incarnate Word coach Clint Killough for believing in him “when nobody else did,” calling him “the best coach I’ve ever had.”
- When Kentucky recruited Calzada in 2024, he was chosen over other transfer portal options like former Texas and Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy, partly because Calzada’s dual-threat capabilities better aligned with offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s preferred playing style.
