McDonald embraces leadership role
LaMarcus McDonald has a nose for the ball, making spectacular plays at an amazing rate. Now coaches look for the senior to be more of a leader.
By Danny Gillham
Sports Editor

Senior linebacker LaMarcus McDonald seems to follow the TCU football slogan yearly.

Last season, when it was “Time to Step Up,” McDonald had a career year in games, tackles and sacks.

Now, with this year’s statement being “Bring It On,” McDonald and his coaching staff look for him to expand his game further as a leader on and off the field.

McDonald’s season was highlighted by his performances in arguably the Frogs biggest three games of last year.

“Special players make special plays on special days,” McDonald said. “When it’s a big game, you have to show up because if you don’t show up, people will begin to wonder ‘What’s wrong with that guy?’”

Not even slated to start at the beginning of last season, McDonald made his presence known in the first game against eventual Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch and the nationally ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers.

In front of a packed crowd in Lincoln, Neb., and on national television, McDonald tied for a team high eight tackles, including four for losses.

Then, when a torn ACL sidelined Josh Goolsby, McDonald took his place and never slowed down.

McDonald would go on to have stellar performances in other critical games for the Frogs. Against eventual Conference champion Louisville, McDonald had 5 1/2 tackles for losses, including 3 1/2 sacks. For his efforts, he was named USA Defensive Player of the Week. In the galleryfurniture.com Bowl against former SWC rival Texas A&M, McDonald had a career day, registering a game high 17 tackles, including six for losses.

McDonald finished the season tied for the team lead in sacks (6.0), and second on the team in tackles (80). Twenty-five of those tackles went for losses, totalling 108 yards. His 2.23 tackles for loss a game led C-USA, and was good enough for fourth in the NCAA standings.

His successes has caught the attention of the national media as well. McDonald is a pre-season all-conference and All-America candidate, and one of only 64 players selected to the “Watch List” for the Brongko Nagurski Award. That award is given to the top defensive player.

“To have people say that they think I am one of the best players in the nation is an honor, but it’s not my focus,” McDonald said. “I focus on the season and my team so we can come out as winners. When I was a kid, I used to think about how I wanted to win this award and that award, but now it is about the team.”

Head coach Gary Patterson said the staff always had a good feeling about McDonald, it was just a matter of him maturing.

“We’ve always known that LaMarcus McDonald has been a great player,” Patterson said. “From the very first day that he stepped on this campus, you could tell that he had a chance to be a very special player. The key was for him to grow up.”

For this year, Patterson said expectations for McDonald have been raised, as they are looking for him to broaden his abilities on the field.

“The key this year to make another step to be a really good-player is the aspect of being a full-rounded player,” Patterson said. “Not just being a blitzer, not just being a man-player. We want to know if he can play zone, and be where he needs to be, to be a leader on this field.”

The role of a leader is something McDonald welcomes.

“I’m in the middle of all the commotion so I have to be a leader,” McDonald said. “But I’m only as good as the next man in front of me. If the man in front of me isn’t producing it looks like I’m not producing. So if we do what we need to do as a team, all of the other things will work itself out.”