McCloud grew up in Tampa, Florida and attended Henry B. Plant High School. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at South Florida over offers from Oregon, Boston College, Iowa State, Maryland, Bowling Green, Colorado State, Southern Miss and Toledo.[2]
College career
South Florida
McCloud redshirted during his true freshman season in 2018. During the 2019 season, he played in all 12 games and was named the starting quarterback as of the third game of the season.[3] He finished the season with completing 124 out of 224 passing attempts for 1,429 yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. During the 2020 season, he played in eight games and started in seven of them.[4] He finished the season with completing 120 out of 194 passing attempts for 1,341 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions.[5] On December 26, 2020, McCloud announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.[6] On January 30, 2021, he announced that he would be transferring to Arizona.[7]
Arizona
During the 2021 season, McCloud played in three games and started in two of them as a quarterback. He made his first appearance with the Wildcats against Northern Arizona where he completed 6 out of 7 passing attempts for 66 yards and a touchdown.[8] His first game he started as a Wildcat was against Oregon where he threw for 233 yards and a touchdown.[9] The final game McCloud played and started for the season was against UCLA where he completed 21 out of 30 passing attempts for 182 yards before suffering an injury thus having him sit out for the rest of the season.[10]
On October 8, 2022, McCloud announced that he was 'not on the team anymore.'[11] On November 25, 2022, he announced that he would be transferring to James Madison.[12][13]
James Madison
During the 2023 season, McCloud was named as the starting quarterback. During the Week 4 game against Utah State, he scored a career-high six touchdowns total in a game. Because of his performance, he was named the Manning Award Star of the Week, the Davey O'Brien Award Great 8 and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Midseason Watch List.[14][15] McCloud was named the 2023 Sun Belt Conference player of the year and named a part of the 2023 first-team all-Sun Belt team.[16]
On December 1, 2023, McCloud announced that he was once again entering the transfer portal and would leave James Madison.[17]
Texas State
On February 27, 2024, McCloud announced that he would commit to play for the Texas State Bobcats.[18]
Personal life
McCloud is the younger brother of current NFL wide receiver and return specialist, Ray-Ray McCloud.[19]