When Dewey McDonald transferred to California University of Pennsylvania from Fairmont State in his home state of West Virginia, he saw the opportunity for a fresh start.
For the Ranson, WV native, his eyes were deadlocked on taking the next step in his football career. Now, almost a year later, McDonald has graduated with a Masters Degree, several honors and a chance at achieving the ultimate goal of going to the NFL.
After hearing that Fairmont State was attempting to revive their entire football staff, McDonald was approached by one of those coaches leaving, Mike Lopez, about an opportunity to come to Cal.
“It was during exam week and Coach Lopez came in and told me they were firing the whole coaching staff,” McDonald said of how the decision to transfer came about. “I had broken my arm and it gave my a chance to better myself and get to the next level.”
McDonald admitted that he’d always had the thought of Cal in his mind, even before Lopez extended the offer.
“It was all God’s plan,” he said. “I was sitting at Fairmont one day when I had broken my arm, watching Cal. And I was talking to my brother and said, man, that’s a great school. If I had the chance to go there I would. It was a lot of prayer.”
From there, McDonald left Fairmont and enrolled at Cal in the spring.
But the 6-foot, 215-pound safety knew coming into Cal that he’d be filling the shoes of Rontez Miles, who put together a memorable career of hard-hitting highlights with the Vulcans and has since moved onto the NFL, signing with the New York Jets this past season.
McDonald, though, wasn’t trying to replace anyone, but instead make a name for himself.
“I actually got a chance to meet Rontez when he came back for his Pro Day. He was a great guy, a great player. You can’t replace Rontez,” McDonald said. “It wasn’t about me replacing him. It was about me stepping up behind him. It was my time, now.”
And that approach led McDonald to earn the trust of his teammates in spring ball, leading to him becoming a captain on the team.
McDonald finished the season with a career-high 89 total tackles, 6.0 tackles for losses, three interceptions that he returned for touchdowns and eight pass breakups. He became the first PSAC player in over a decade to return all three of their interceptions for scores along with finished his career with the second-most career interceptions return yardage (475) among active Division II players. He also finished ninth for career interceptions with 12, including five his freshman season at FSU.
For his standout senior season, McDonald was named a Don Hansen Third-Team All-American.
“It’s an honor to get any award,” McDonald said. “Yeah, it’s third team, but it’s still an award.”
McDonald was one of only five PSAC West players to receive Don Hansen All-American honors and gave the credit to his entire defense and the team for embracing him from the very beginning.
“Once I got to Cal and once I got better, the players took me in with open arms,” he said. “Our defense played great this season and that played a big part in the award.”
Along with the Dan Hansen All-American honors, McDonald was also named a D2football.com All-American Honorable Mention selection, a Don Hansen First-Team All-Super Region One selection, a First-Team All-Daktronics Super Region One selection and a First-Team PSAC West selection.
Now, McDonald is currently training in Atlanta, GA with Chuck Smith in preparation for his Pro Day in late March.
Photo Credit: Cal U Athletics
