Texas Border Business
Edinburg, Texas – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) head football coach Travis Bush announced on Friday the hiring of Adrian McDonald, who spent the last two seasons as the defensive backs coach, special teams coach and recruiting coordinator at Midwestern State, as the first defensive backs coach in program history.
McDonald competed collegiately at Houston as a safety from 2012-15, the first three seasons of which Bush was on the coaching staff in positions including offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.
“I can’t tell you how lucky we are that Coach McDonald chose to come to UTRGV,” Bush said. “Adrian is a fast-rising star in the college coaching profession. His experience as a college player and time in the NFL have helped him move up the ladder quick. A high school quarterback turned safety in college, Adrian has extensive knowledge on both sides of the football and great expertise on special teams. He’s already proven to be a great evaluator of talent and will add value to this program immediately. It’s been fun to watch him grow from an outstanding student-athlete to now a fantastic coach. I’m excited to be back on his team again.”
During his two seasons at Midwestern State, McDonald mentored the defensive backs, coordinated passing game and coverages, oversaw special teams, and created scouting reports while helping his team to an aggregate record of 13-8, including two wins over top 25 teams.
McDonald spent the previous two seasons (2019-20) as a defensive graduate assistant at Texas State, where he organized game plans and practices in coordination with then-defensive coordinator Zac Spavital, who coached him during his stellar career at Houston and was hired as Maryland’s safeties coach on Thursday. McDonald also assisted in developing players during practice, primarily working with corners, safeties, and returners.
McDonald began his coaching career as the defensive backs coach while also serving as a special education teacher at Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena in 2018.
“The opportunity to work with Coach Bush after being around him when he was coaching and I was playing at Houston is astounding,” McDonald said. “I know how he is as a coach, and I saw the great job he did as the head coach of those Seguin and Canyon programs. It’s intriguing that he was at UTSA when they started their program. It’s a blessing to be able to work with a guy like Coach Bush and to get to the Valley and start a program. Not many people have the opportunity to be first and I’m excited for what we’re going to be able to accomplish as we #RallyTheValley together.”
A native of Lawton, Okla., McDonald was a standout defensive back/safety at Houston, earning numerous awards, including recognition as a Jim Thorpe Award semifinalist and a member of the Wuerffel and Nagurski trophy watch lists, in addition to All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) Second Team, Phill Steele’s AAC Third Team, Dave Campbell’s Preseason Best Defensive Back in Texas, Dave’s Campbell’s Preseason All-Texas First Team, and Athlon Sports and Phill Steele’s Preseason AAC First Team honors while serving as team captain as a senior. McDonald was an All-AAC First Team selection as a junior and ended his career with the Houston career record for interceptions (17) while ranking second in interception return yards (286), third in fumble recoveries (7), and fifth in forced fumbles (7). He put an exclamation point on his career with seven tackles in a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl win over Florida State.
McDonald spent two seasons in the NFL as a practice squad player with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2016 and the Buffalo Bills on 2017.
McDonald graduated from Houston in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. He earned his Master of Education from Texas State in 2021.
