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Ex-Husky McDonald Returns to Texas to Finish Career

The edge rusher will go from the UW to San Diego State to TCU.
Dan Raley|
Ex-Husky McDonald Returns to Texas to Finish Career
Ex-Husky McDonald Returns to Texas to Finish Career

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Washington Huskies

Cooper McDonald, the former University of Washington edge rusher, has come full circle in his college football career after announcing on social media on Friday he will finish up at TCU — in Fort Worth, Texas, just 15 miles from his hometown of Haslet.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound McDonald will turn to the Horned Frogs after playing two seasons for the Huskies and two more at San Diego State.

He was a 10-game starter for Jimmy Lake's final team in Montlake, forced to play a lot as a redshirt freshman when projected Husky starters Zion Tupuola-Fetui and Ryan Bowman missed most of that 2021 season with injuries. 

In two years at the UW, McDonald finished with 27 tackles and a sack. He left the program following the coaching change from Lake to Kalen DeBoer.

McDonald transferred to San Diego State for the chance to play alongside his older brother, Caden, a three-time, first-team All-Mountain West selection. They shared in a 7-6 team in 2022.

In starting 18 of 22 games for the Aztecs, the younger McDonald collected 78 tackles, including 8.5 for lost yardage and 3.5 sacks, and had 4 pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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