McDonald to Towson

Defensive ends coach and recruiting coordinator Jeff McDonald is leaving Yale to become defensive coordinator at Towson.

I'm a little surprised by this one.

Jeff had some ties to Connecticut but to become a coordinator have to move on sometimes.

Towson program is not the same one Yale smoked in 2001 either. They've put some money and scholarships into that program, which plays in the CAA (Richmond, James Madison, Villanova, etc.)

Jeff was a pretty quiet guy, but always very cordial and pleasant.

Yale has had some good defensive ends under his leadership as well.

But what might hurt Yale most is losing Jeff as recruiting coordinator.

I understand the university being what it is is in many ways its biggest recruiting tool, but it's not an easy job coordinating recruiting at an Ivy League school with the AI.


Here is the release from Towson


An assistant coach at Yale University for the last six years, Jeff McDonald has been named as the Defensive Coordinator for the Towson University football team, it has been announced by Coach Gordy Combs.

During his six years at Yale, he served as the Bulldogs’ Recruiting Coordinator and coached the defensive ends for Coach Jack Siedlecki. While he was part of the Yale coaching staff, the Bulldogs won 38 of 60 games and had four winning seasons. In 2006, Coach McDonald helped Yale post an 8-2 record and win the Ivy League championship. Last year, the Bulldogs finished the season with a 9-1 record, winning their first nine games before losing the season finale to Harvard.

“We are very pleased to have Jeff joining our staff,” says Coach Combs. “What we like about Jeff is his familiarity with the defense we play. It’s the same defense he coached at Yale. He is also very familiar with our league (Colonial Athletic Association) because of his experience at the University of New Hampshire. He will also enhance our recruiting efforts due to his experience as the Recruiting Coordinator at Yale. At Yale, his recruiting area was the Middle Atlantic area, one of our top recruiting spots.
“Jeff is a bright young coach with a tremendous future ahead of him,” he adds.

A Florida native who was born in East Hartford, Connecticut, McDonald graduated from the University of South Florida in 1995. An offensive lineman who earned a letter in one year at Western Connecticut State, he transferred to South Florida after an injury ended his football career. A three-year performer for the track and field program at South Florida, he was named to the Metro Conference Commissioner’s List for Academic Excellence.

After graduation from USF, he began his coaching career at Ridgewood High School in Florida where he served as an assistant football coach for three years. He was also the head coach of the track and field team at Ridgewood for one year.

He entered the collegiate coaching ranks in 1998 when he was named as an assistant football at Quincy University in Illinois. In three years at Quincy, he served as the Defensive Coordinator and Recruiting Coordinator.

In 2001, he joined the University of New Hampshire staff as a linebackers coach. After one year at UNH, he joined the staff at Yale.

He earned his Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Quincy in 2004. Coach McDonald replaces Bob Benson as the Tigers’ Defensive Coordinator. Benson resigned after two seasons to become the Associate Head Coach at Colorado School of Mines.