Coach Joe McDonald +

Coach McDonald was a native of Sherman, Texas, where he was an all-state center on the football team. After attending the University of Texas and enlisting in the Army, Coach McDonald received bachelors and masters degrees from the University of Houston in 1959.

He began his coaching career at St. Pius High School, and came to St. Thomas as an assistant in 1961. He became head coach in 1962 and athletic director in 1971. During his 14-year tenure as football coach, his teams had a combined record of 117-39-5. His teams were district champions 13 years in a row, reached the TCIL state title game 10 times and won the trophy as state champion eight times. His players were named to the all-state team 62 times and 17 players received All-American recognition.

Coach McDonald was the National Catholic Coach of the year three times and was an honoree of the Texas Italian American Sports Foundation. His success was largely due to his innovative ideas and his tremendous motivational skills. He brought the pro-style offense to St. Thomas before many colleges were using the formation and his pre-game and half time speeches are legendary.

Joe and his wife, Patsy, reared two boys and a girl. The two boys, Keavin '73 and Kelly '77, starred at St. Thomas in the 1970s and were outstanding football players at Baylor and the University of Houston.