Often times, younger players simply have to wait their turn. It’s the hardest thing for any standout athlete to understand when they arrive at Ol’ State U.

Jelani McDonald is a supreme example of making the most of your opportunities.

The Waco Connally product came to Texas as your typical high school All-American but had to play special teams and learn the defense his first season. On Saturday, the sophomore had a breakout performance with seven tackles, including one for loss, in a 27-24 win over Vanderbilt.

“I think Jelani, I still think his best football is ahead of him,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

WATCH AND SUBSCRIBE: Follow A to Z Sports’ Texas Longhorns channel on YouTube.

Click here to accept Marketing cookies and load this content

McDonald fits the mold of someone any college coach would want in their locker room.

An excellent football athlete? McDonald was ranked 97th nationally among all recruits in the class of 2023 and the third-best overall athlete in Central Texas by the Waco Tribune-Herald. He played both quarterback and linebacker as a do-it-all performer.

A multi-sport athlete? McDonald played baseball and ran track in high school and won the Class 4A state triple jump in 2022 with a leap of 48 feet, two inches.

Any athletic family lineage? McDonald’s father LaMarcus was a tackling machine for TCU in the early 2000s, starting 22 of 33 games and became a second-team All-American. LaMarcus McDonald was the Conference USA defensive player of the year in 2002.

“You think about this guy in high school,” Sarkisian said. “He was a high school quarterback that kind of moonlighted on defense when they needed him. He was an offensive player that we just saw the raw athleticism.

“Then we checked on his dad, and his dad was one of the leading tacklers in TCU football history. So we said, OK, it’s in there somewhere, too. And then when we got him, we didn't know how his body was going to evolve.”

The Longhorns wanted his athleticism on defense. Sarkisian noted how McDonald tried outside linebacker, then corner, a nickel and safety.

“We were just kind of trying to figure out what he could be all the while he had an impact on special teams as we were going,” Sarkisian said. “So he kind of finally found a home for him at safety this spring, you can see a lot of growth in his play. And I think it’s been huge for him to be in a room with Michael Taaffe and Andrew Mukuba, two guys who have a ton of experience that he can lean into. And he's really grown at the position.”

Saturday was McDonald’s first extended time on defense, and as Sarkisian pointed out multiple times, it was only just the beginning for his journey.

“This is his first time ever really doing this,” the coach noted, “and so just through experience alone I think his play is going to improve.”