Tag: Chuck McDonald

2025 4-Star CB out of Mater Dei (CA) places Texas A&M in his Top 10 program list

Shifting to the 2025 recruiting class, Texas A&M has landed in 4-star CB Chuck McDonald’s Top 10 program list.

Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has his own type of cornerback prospect in mind going back to his time as the Aggies’ defensive coordinator from 2017-2021. Looking ahead to the 2025 recruiting cycle, Elko and his staff have offered four-star CB Chuck McDonald out of Mater Dei (CA).

With 14 players signed from the 2024 cycle, Elko and his staff now have the opportunity to really sell their image of the program and get back to the Aggie roots that were seemingly lost under now-former head coach Jimbo Fisher.

With plenty of talent in the 2025 cycle, McDonald, who is currently positioned as the 21st-ranked cornerback and the 13th-ranked player in California, is coming off two unofficial visits to College Station on March 4 and Sept. 16 and has developed a new relationship with Mike Elko since his hiring in late December.

Earlier this week, McDonald released his Top 10 program list, which will likely be trimmed down in the coming months. His teams include Alabama, Oregon, USC, Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA, Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Cameron on Twitter: @CameronOhnysty.

2025 4-star CB Chuck McDonald lists Alabama in top 10

2025 four-star cornerback Chuck McDonald released his top schools list. One of the programs that made the cut was Alabama.

Alabama is positioned to land one of the nation’s top cornerbacks in the 2025 recruiting class. Mater Dei High School’s Chuck McDonald released his top 10 schools on Friday. McDonald listed Alabama as one of his top schools.

The California native took an unofficial visit to Tuscaloosa in early June before the start of his junior season. He was a high school teammate of Alabama signee Zabien Brown.

During his junior season, McDonald recorded 34 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one interception.

The Alabama coaching staff has been high on McDonald since the beginning of 2023. McDonald will likely visit Tuscaloosa in the future given that Alabama is a finalist to land his commitment.

Roll Tide Wire breaks down Chuck McDonald’s recruiting profile.

Film

Mater Dei defense scores 2 touchdowns in close win over St. Frances Academy

With Mater Dei’s offense unable to get going against St. Frances Academy, defensive stars Nasir Wyatt and Chuck McDonald took the lead.

Mater Dei’s offense has been dominant this season. Take the 55-8 win over Kahuku on Sept. 9, for instance, when four-star quarterback Elijah Brown threw for four touchdowns and elite running back Jordon Davison rushed for two more. Or the week before, when Brown threw for a whopping seven touchdowns.

On Friday, the defense took care of both sides of the ball. St. Frances Academy’s (Baltimore) defense prevented the Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) offense from getting going at all, not allowing a single offensive score through the first three quarters, but two big touchdowns from the Monarchs’ defensive end helped them maintain a lead through most of the game and remain undefeated against a very tough opponent with a 20-6 victory.

The first touchdown for either side came near the beginning of the second quarter when a scramble for possession resulted in five-star edge rusher Nasir Wyatt corralling the loose ball and taking it home. That 7-0 score would hold through halftime.

St. Frances tied up the game about seven minutes into the third quarter and then got a stop to get back possession.  Their drive was halted immediately and brutally, as the Panthers were reminded that it’s not just Mater Dei offense that has made them the No. 1 team on the Super 25 throughout the season.

Already deep in their own territory, the Panthers gained just four yards before four-star Monarchs cornerback Chuck McDonald picked off a pass and returned it to the end zone to take the lead.

Brown rushed in an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter, but those two defensive scores were enough to hold the lead. As strong as St. Frances’ defense was, holding Mater Dei’s offense to a single touchdown, the Monarchs’ defense was no less stringent, giving up only one touchdown of their own. Even while the Monarchs scored a season-low 20 points, they got the win and improved to a record of 5-0.

The Panthers are now 1-5, but that has been a symptom of scheduling arguably the toughest schedule in the nation. Four of the losses have been to teams ranked in the top-10 — two of whom are ranked among top-3 teams — and the fifth was to an East St. Louis (Ill.) program that briefly appeared in the Super 25 this season.

There’s good news for St. Frances: This is their last game against a nationally ranked team until mid-November. The Panthers will have a chance to rack up some wins and gain momentum ahead of their matchup with IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), currently ranked No. 4 in the Super 25.

As for the Monarchs, they continue to set the pace for the nation. They have pole position and have not shown signs of relinquishing.