Sweet Home Alabama: It sure is for Top 100 cornerback Chuck McDonald

October 21, 2023 is a day Alabama commitment Chuck McDonald III will never forget. His mother, Tameka, passed away after suffering a heart attack. The news was sudden. It shook a community which had known the mother and wife as one who was there for her children and others. She was a team mom who always had a role- whether it was checking height/weights or helping feed players.

McDonald’s mother didn’t have an opportunity to see his college commitment. She didn’t live long enough to see Nick Saban announce his retirement. She did, however, embark on a journey to Tuscaloosa last summer. The trip brought joy, excitement and the belief her son was in good hands.

Alabama’s initial interest in McDonald began near the end of his sophomore season at Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.). Former Alabama Director of Personnel  Operations Sam Petito was engaging with Zabien Brown , now a freshman cornerback for the Crimson Tide, who was a teammate (junior) with McDonald.

The former area recruiting coach, Holmon Wiggins , extended an offer to McDonald on January 24, 2023. The family knew what the offer from Alabama meant. “Mom and I were so excited because of what Alabama stands for,” Chuck McDonald II (father) said. “When Chuck got offered he was the only corner in his class in the West region with an Alabama offer.

“A lot of colleges offer kids, and depending on the situation, it doesn’t mean a lot. It showed how real the interest was because they weren’t offering everyone just to try and get them to campus. It definitely made things a lot more real.”

The family found a way to make the cross-country trip to Tuscaloosa for summer camp (’23). Nick Saban still needed to see McDonald in-person, and there was a lot of one-on-one time on the practice field. The McDonalds were blown away watching “the greatest football coach of all-time” instructing their son.

“Nick is pointing at him and pulling him to the side to explain how to do certain things,” his father said. “He was putting a lot of interest in him. We were just sitting there like ‘wow!’ He really knows who Chuck is. It was just such a great experience for our family on that day.”

The visit concluded with a meeting in Coach Saban’s office. The offer was confirmed, and the 7-time national champion head coach provided feedback. Saban delivered a message to McDonald as one of the Tide’s top recruits in the ’25 class.

‘Sweet Home Alabama?? Sure feels like it.’- the caption Tameka (McDonald) wrote in a social media post after departing from Alabama on June 12, 2023.

“She was so proud of him,” McDonald’s father told BamaOnLine. “The Alabama trip was so surreal. This was the pinnacle of all the hard work and running around during all these years; the training and sacrifices we had to make as a family to get to this point.

“The trip really left us on his high. It was really a great time for us as a family. I remember my wife asking Chuck what it was like talking to Nick Saban. I could tell he was excited. He doesn’t always show his emotions like others do, but he thought it was great and he respected it. He knew the hard work that it took to get here.”

McDonald started playing flag football at 3-years old. He lives in Lake Elsinore, California, part of the ‘Inland Empire’. He is about one hour from Los Angeles and an hour from San Diego.

His father described Chuck as a small-town kid despite many with a first thought of him being a top-end recruit from ‘LA’. How’s he gonna adjust at Alabama coming from the West Coast? The Tuscaloosa population is about 40K more than his hometown.

McDonald was active in football from the moment he was allowed to participate with older kids in flag football to playing tackle football by the age of six. His mom even tried to bribe him with a copy of the new Madden game just to try and get his mind off starting at such a young age. It didn’t work.

His father coached him from the age of 5 to 12-years old. McDonald then started training at the ‘Winner’s Circle’ for the sixth grade until the start of high school. Several of his future teammates also participated in the program, and he was given an opportunity to attend Mater Dei in ninth grade.

“Alabama is similar to Mater Dei because a lot of people don’t want to go there; they are close to going, but at the last minute they pull out. They don’t want to deal with the competition. The depth charts are deep, and they don’t know if they are ever going to play.

“Chuck always wants to choose the most difficult route. He wants to fight for his spot. He wants to compete with the best. That’s what made Alabama feel the way it felt from the beginning. It was never about who was going to be there ahead of him. That’s what made Alabama feel like home for me and my wife after that first trip.”

Time stands still

Everything felt right with Alabama after the visit last summer. Zabien Brown committed to Alabama (7/9/23) the following month. The communication continued throughout the season, but time stopped when his mother suddenly passed away.

One can never prepare for the loss of a parent. The McDonalds had to battle some previous health scares (with Tameka) which had included two previous heart attacks. There wasn’t any expectation on October 21 as the final day of her life. She told her husband she loved him while getting placed in an ambulance.

McDonald’s father was told upon arriving at the hospital his wife had passed away. The loving mother, and wife who cared so much about her family and such a strong, uplifting presence in their life had left this earth.

Her death also happened during the middle of the football season. McDonald took three weeks off before returning to play for the eventual state champions. The season was dedicated to his mother by the entire Mater Dei football family. Recruiting went to the backburner while McDonald mourned the loss of his mom, and finished out his junior year.

Alabama had remained strongly on his mind as the top school in his recruitment. Other schools were also in heavy pursuit. The early connections with the Crimson Tide staff plus having an opportunity to play for Coach Saban seemed like the best fit.

McDonald was invited by Alabama to attend a playoff bowl practice ahead of the semi-final game against Michigan. Schools are allowed to host players at practice, but no-contact. McDonald attended practice with his teammate, ’25 running back Jordon Davidson (Oregon commitment).

A few days later his area recruiter (Wiggins) parted ways with Alabama to join the Texas A&M staff. Coach Saban retired January 10. Defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson leaves for Georgia, and Sam Petitio (who made the initial contact) was not retained by the new staff (Petitio is now at Ohio State). Every person he had met, talked to and who he knew were no longer at Alabama.

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Starting over

Kalen DeBoer was hired by Alabama on January 12. Some may have noticed McDonald was offered by Washington on September 25, 2022 (sophomore season). While this is accurate the relationship didn’t carry as he did not take a trip to Seattle.

McDonald and his father assumed Alabama was officially out of the picture and other schools would move to the front of the list. There were also changes elsewhere. He strongly considered Texas A&M prior to the firing of Jimbo Fisher . USC was also in top contention, but lost its defensive backs coach, Donte Williams to Georgia, and Coach Demetrice Martin left Oregon to join the Michigan State staff.

Nothing matters more than losing a parent, but McDonald was also in a tailspin from losing the connections he had at the top schools on his early list. His father encouraged him to release a list of contenders, and hit the road for unofficial visits. Those trips included Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA and USC while also participating in track.

Alabama had re-offered McDonald on February 13.  It wasn’t until the following month when the conversations started to increase. A spring visit to Alabama did not take place, so defensive backs coach Mo Linguist and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack traveled to see McDonald during the spring evaluation period. It was his first meeting with the new Tide assistant coaches.

The plan was to announce a top four on Mother’s Day. Alabama was not originally on the short list. Other coaches and schools had been in contact for a long time, but Alabama was the school where he wanted to go prior to Coach Saban’s retirement.

McDonald gave the UA staff a chance to recruit him, and Coach Linguist and Coach Wommack made the most of it during the visit to Mater Dei in early May. The duo spent more than two hours with McDonald reviewing his film and working hard to develop a fast relationship with official visits on the clock. The conversations carried over to his father during the next several days.

McDonald revealed a final four on May 12- Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and USC. The Trojans were scheduled for the final visit (June 21-23) with McDonald’s father admitting the belief the Trojans were in the lead, and asked for the last trip. He also believed Chuck considered staying closer to the family after his mother’s passing.

Alabama was on the books for May 31-June 2. He was also scheduled to Georgia the following weekend, Oregon and then USC.

“The first official usually isn’t the best,” Mr. McDonald said. “Alabama and Coach Mo just said, ‘I’ll take it.’ He had taken a lot of unofficial visits, and then we end up only taking one official visit. A lot of those (unofficial) visits are similar to an official. A car service to the airport isn’t something that is going to move us.

“It was all about the relationships with the coaches and how we felt when we got there. Alabama is where he wanted to go, but Chuck was lost after Coach Saban retired. He was just trying to look for somewhere else after that happened.”

There were still a lot of questions for the McDonalds regarding Alabama. Is it still a winning culture? Will they continue the legacy Coach Saban had built? McDonald wanted his son to choose the best decision for his future. He needed to weigh the pros and cons.

“The main thing I realized is life is about making tough decisions,” he said. “Some people are great people but they make bad decisions. It can really cause a domino effect in your life.

“It’s hard to figure out everything in just one visit but there were so many things that felt right and made us feel comfortable. I think with us going there before there was some familiarity. There was always a good feeling about Alabama. He didn’t grow up an Alabama fan, but he felt like he was an Alabama-caliber player. He grew into a feeling of that’s where he wanted to be.”

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Connections, even unconventional ones, played a role

Randy Jackson, not the one from American Idol, the father of Alabama defensive back Domani Jackson played an important role in the decision. Chuck had contacted him years ago for his take on his son joining the Mater Dei program as a freshman.

Domani decided to transfer to Alabama from USC less than two weeks prior to Coach Saban announcing his retirement. He could have re-entered the portal and been one of the top cornerbacks on the market. The Jacksons didn’t know Coach DeBoer well, but they were aware of Courtney Morgan.

The new Alabama football general manager (Morgan) had recruited Domani two years prior when he was at Michigan. He was a significant piece despite not an on-the-field coach. The Wolverines were in the final three for Jackson (along with Alabama and USC).

“The biggest thing for us were the players and their families,” McDonald said. “We knew they would keep it real with us. There were all sorts of rumors going around and those were squashed. Chuck talked to Zabien (Brown) and received feedback from Domani from his experience at USC. They weren’t fake about it. They were being real.

“Both felt like Coach Mo (Linguist) is one hell of a DB coach and one of the best they’ve ever been around. The staff was A1. All of the boxes were checked from Courtney Morgan, Coach Mo, Coach Wommack and Coach DeBoer. Everyone made this feel right.

“I talked to Randy (Jackson), and he gave me some good advice. He told me things about Courtney and what Domani had said about Coach Mo. He said that when Domani stuck with USC a lot of coaches sort of turned their back, but Courtney kept that relationship.

“He always showed love. He confirmed everything we felt about Alabama was real- it wasn’t fake. We wanted to hear from people we trusted and have pointed us in the right direction in the past.”

McDonald was sure to mention a few of the other connections with the Alabama staff. He told his son, on Saturday night (6/1) in the Tuscaloosa hotel room, that of all the ‘DB’ coaches they had met he liked Mo Linguist the best. “Reminded me of myself.” Mr. McDonald learned a few days later the two are the same age and born on the exact same day, April 1, 1984.

The day Coach DeBoer was hired by Alabama the McDonalds’ neighbor spoke highly of the new head coach in Tuscaloosa. He was from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and played for Coach DeBoer. He told McDonald so many great things about Coach DeBoer, and the Alabama head coach remembered the neighbor when McDonald mentioned it.

He credited all the connections, the fast-forming relationships, and the level of expertise on the staff as significant reasons for the commitment. It was also seeing the commitment to excellence remaining at Alabama despite the coaching change. It’s something they have also seen first-hand.

“The Mater Dei head coach retired last year (after 34 years), and we still won the championship this past season with our new coach (Raul Lara),” McDonald stated. “People said we couldn’t win without him. We still had the same values. He put so much into the program that those values are still there. It’s the same with what Nick Saban did for Alabama. It was very apparent with everything we saw.

“He didn’t need to go on his visit to Georgia after that trip to Alabama. We had all these connections with coaches and former teammates who not only are on the same team, but they are also in the same position room. Both Alabama staffs offered him. It didn’t matter who was there; they looked at him as being an Alabama-caliber player.”

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Alabama is the perfect fit

USC held out hope McDonald would still make the trip prior to the dead period. He considered it more as a favor to the staff who had recruited him, but decided it was only a waste of time. He knew in his heart where he wanted to attend school, and has known for more than a year. He had let life come full circle.

McDonald has been in the same locker room with Zabien Brown and Domani Jackson. The interest in Alabama wasn’t because of those two, but to hear from them regarding their experience in Tuscaloosa since Coach DeBoer, Coach Mo and the rest of the staff arrived certainly painted the picture McDonald needed to see.

Other schools were different in some aspects. For a player who has clawed and fought his way to get on the field from when he was three-years old to playing for the national powerhouse program it was never about what can Alabama do for him it’s was more what can he do to help Alabama.

“The first night we were at Alabama they took Chuck to the bowling alley. He came back around 1:00 a.m., with work-out clothes on,” his father recalled. “I asked what he was doing, and he said that him and Zabien decided not to go out. They went to work-out instead. For me, that’s what he wants. He’d much rather do that than the other stuff. He’s with someone who will push him and would rather work out than go out.

“We went to some other schools, and he mentioned how some of the guys weren’t doing what they should be doing. He really couldn’t believe some of the things. Alabama is a winning culture for a reason regardless of who is there. They are gonna go find the best available coach and get the best available players because that is what they are.”

Fall practice is underway for Mater Dei as McDonald has primarily worked out technique during the off-season. Participating in track during the off-season helped improve his speed and explosiveness. He’s also bigger and stronger and more knowledgeable. He doesn’t need to focus on recruiting with plans to only return to Tuscaloosa this season (possibly the UGA game).

His mom is looking down, ready to cheer loud during games. She had an older son who Chuck adopted as his own. She had two sons with Chuck II, Chuck III, and Price, who is seven-years old, and already expects as the best athlete in the family.

It has been a long, difficult road for the McDonalds. Sweet Home Alabama is waiting for him, and the life journey for Chuck is only about to begin.

“I think she would be head over heels about him going to Alabama,” Mr. McDonald concluded. “I think she always thought he would go here. I know she would have been super excited, and feeling blessed that he has this opportunity.

“The highest point (during Chuck’s recruitment) I can remember is when we went to Alabama. Just being able to live in that moment – how happy and proud she was. It wasn’t an official visit. We had to put our money together to make that trip. We talked about how happy we were to make it happen.

“Just thinking back to the original call with Coach Petito (2022) and being on the phone with him for over an hour. We always thought he was good enough to play at Alabama, but to see it actually happen is another type of feeling. We’re just so excited and proud of him. I know she would have been crying a lot. That’s a fact.”

McDonald and his father returned to Tuscaloosa for the Champions Cook-Out last weekend. They’ll return (possibly for the UGA game) to Alabama for their first game day experience at Bryant-Denny Stadium. McDonald is set for early enrollment (December) with the Crimson Tide.

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