Dom Amore: When perseverance pays off, UConn quarterback Tucker McDonald is holding a large IOU

EAST HARTFORD — An hour after the last play was snapped in UConn’s spring football showcase, the smile was still wide on Tucker McDonald’s face, the enthusiasm still in his voice as he signed autographs with his teammates on the concourse at Rentschler Field.

“I like your face paint,” he told one child.

“Do you like UConn?” someone asked. “LOVE IT,” he responded. And so it went as the long line finally shortened, and when the team bus was warming up, he got up as worked his way to the back to make sure any remaining posters, caps or footballs were signed.

“I love it. They support us every Saturday, so the least we can do is sit here and sign some autographs,” McDonald said, still as he walked away from the tables. “I’ve been injured the last two years, unfortunately. “But anytime I get to play out on the field with my guys, it’s a blessing.”

This was a good day to be a football player for UConn, to sign his name in bold ink and McDonald, after persevering through pain out of the fans’ view, is due more such days in the sunlight. He threw six touchdown passes in his final game for Wachusett Regional High in Massachusetts in 2022, but has attempted only five passes in three seasons at UConn. Most of his work has been behind the scenes, redshirting as a true freshman, missing most of 2024 recovering from a broken foot, most of last season with a broken thumb.

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When Jim Mora left for Colorado State, McDonald put his name in the transfer portal, but after meeting with the new coach, Jason Candle, he returned to UConn to throw his helmet in the ring once more and compete for playing time.

“Injuries are hard for any athlete, when the sport that you love, and what you do every day is taken away from you, that’s a tough pill to swallow,” Candle said. “So what I felt in my early conversations with him was a guy who was hungry to compete, a guy that was hungry to be better and steadily improve. He thinks that he can make an impact on this football team, and when there is a drive and there is a want to be great, couple that with some people who really invest in that player, good things usually come. I think he had as big a smile as anybody out there today, just to be back and play football and be around his guys.”

The competition at QB will be fierce. Jake Merklinger, the transfer from Tennessee, would figure to be the front-runner based on past history, but he took only a few snaps Saturday. Bo Polston, top freshman recruit, didn’t suit up. Kalieb Osborne, the backup for Candle at Toledo last season, with experience in the Rockets’ bowl game, is familiar with the new coach’s culture, and McDonald split most of the plays, with a few going to Tyler Smith, redshirt freshman from Fairfield Prep.

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McDonald pleased the crowd with some nice throws, zipping a couple in the red zone to Jediyah Willoughby for touchdowns.

“The people here, the support we get, and I love to play the game,” McDonald said. “I’m a competitor at heart, and my teammates keep me going. Through the injuries, they’ve always supported me every step of the way.”

McDonald threw his lot in with UConn before it was fashionable, visiting in May of 2022, earning an offer in Mora’s first camp and committing soon after, part of the first recruiting class following the Huskies’ 1-11 disaster of ’21. Zion Turner, Ta’Quan Roberson, Joe Fagnano, Nick Evers, Cole Welliver and Ksaan Farrar are some of the quarterbacks who have come and gone the past three seasons, but McDonald remains in the fight here.

“A lot went through my mind (when Mora left),” McDonald said. “I had some options, I went into the portal when it opened. I stayed here and I’m really happy about it. My conversations with Coach Candle were great, he kind of showed me his vision of what he was planning on doing here, he’s had a really good track record at Toledo. The coaches he brought in and what they were planning on doing, was really appealing.”

In 2024, Evers and Fagnano battled for the job, Fagnano eventually taking it and running with it all the way to the Fenway Bowl. McDonald got into a game against Buffalo and sustained a Lisfranc tear, which required two foot surgeries and ended his season.

Last year, McDonald completed a 45-yard pass in a late-game appearance against CCSU in the season-opener, but the thumb injury cost him an opportunity to play in the return trip to the Fenway Bowl when Fagnano opted out, and Ferrar played in the loss to Army.

“It was kind of a game-time decision,” McDonald said. “I got cleared from my injury the day before the game, and I didn’t think it was fair to this team, or me or any supporter to just be thrown out there without really preparing.”

Now McDonald says he is 100 percent healthy. Coaches have indicated the competition is wide open, no presumptions. The showcase indicated McDonald will get a fair chance to prove he can be more than just a loyal program guy. “They’ve been really transparent about all of it,” McDonald said.

He has at least two years of eligibility left, depending on how the redshirts and the injuries are adjudicated by the NCAA. Fagnano and McDonald were roommates on the road, the younger quarterback soaking it all in as Fagnano played his sixth and seventh seasons of college ball and improved himself to the point he is considered an NFL prospect. Maybe Tucker McDonald can be the Huskies’ next late-blooming surprise under center.

“I hope they see a dynamic playmaker, a relentless competitor,” McDonald said. “I’ll do anything to win for this team and this program. I learned a lot of great things from Joe. The preparation. He was a pro about everything he did, how he took care of his body, how he ate, how he prepared for a game. He was my roomate the night before in the hotels, so I saw how he prepared for each game and learned a ton from him.”