On the day Matt McDonald achieved his dream of becoming a quarterback at a Division 1-A school, he credited his struggles for helping him rise.
The strong-armed Mission Viejo senior highlighted National Signing Day in Orange County on Wednesday by inking a letter of intent for a full scholarship to Boston College.
While McDonald said some around the Atlantic Coast Conference program are “trying” to call him “Matty Ice,” a fun reference to Boston College product and Super Bowl-bound Matt Ryan of Atlanta, county fans know about McDonald’s fall as a brief starter at Mater Dei and his transfer to Mission Viejo.
After McDonald was injured early in 2015, freshman phenom JT Daniels displaced him as Mater Dei’s starting quarterback. But McDonald enhanced his narrative with a stellar 2016 at Mission Viejo and a connection with Boston College late in the fourth quarter of the recruiting process.
McDonald believes the hardship of his journey helped him reach the success he celebrated with teammate Colin Schooler (Arizona signee) and Leo Tamba (College of Idaho) on signing day.
“I actually think that is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” McDonald said of his adversity at Mater Dei. “Best thing, not the worst. … It definitely motivated me a lot more and I started playing with a chip on my shoulder that I didn’t have before.
“I think that took my game to a whole another level.”
McDonald (6-3, 204) passed for 2,704 yards and 39 touchdowns this past season. He played so well, he accomplished something few recruits now do in football recruiting: secure a Division I-A scholarship based on their on-field performance as a senior. Most of the top recruits receive scholarship offers well before their senior season and commit months before National Signing Day.
“A lot of (schools) have quarterbacks picked out before then,” Mission Viejo coach Bob Johnson said last week. “It worked out well for (McDonald) but it made it really hard on him, that’s for sure. He picked the right school (to transfer to). We had a spot for him.”
McDonald said Boston College valued his senior video but he still had to navigate a rally in the recruiting process. His courtship with Boston College – which recruited two quarterbacks — only became serious about two months ago.
Boston College made its offer to him on Jan. 23.
“I would talk to a bunch of schools and they would say they really like me but they already had guys because they started recruiting them when they were juniors,” McDonald said.
“That definitely put a lot more pressure on me and made it harder but it all worked out in the end.”
McDonald thanked his coaches Bob and Rob Johnson and his older brothers, Andrew and Michael, who played quarterback at Newport Harbor and later New Mexico State and USC, respectively. He recalled the support of his former teammates at Mater Dei.
He also remembered his dad’s steady influence when his path became rocky.
“The most positive guy you will meet,” McDonald said of Paul McDonald, the former USC and NFL quarterback. “He’s been my rock. He’s just helped me stay cool, calmed and collected this whole process.”
But McDonald figured out his strategy on the early “Matty Ice” reference on his own.
“They can’t call me that yet,” he said. “I have to earn that first.”
