Rams’ MacDonald a man on the move

Patrick MacDonald has come to know his way around the University of Regina Rams’ secondary.

“Coming in, I thought I’d be a corner and then after spring camp, I wasn’t really sure,” the 23-yearold product of Calgary said. “(The coaches) said I’d probably be a corner and then at the start of fall camp, I was playing three positions.

“Then I ended up playing almost the whole pre-season game at safety, but then in the first regular-season game, I started at corner.

“I’ve been bouncing around a bit, but it has been fun. I’m just happy to be playing.”

MacDonald, who joined the Rams this season after playing five seasons with the PFC’s Calgary Colts, played cornerback in each of Regina’s first four regular-season games.

He’s expected to start on the corner again today when the Rams face the Manitoba Bisons in a Canada West football game in Winnipeg, but there’s also a chance he could play some safety.

It’s nothing new for the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder.

“I played safety for four years in junior and then, in my last year, I played corner,” MacDonald said. “I know how to do everything.

“There’s just a little bit of rust here and there, so you just have to shake it off and keep playing.”

MacDonald started his football career in Grade 10 at Calgary’s St. Mary’s High School — and he also started his nomadic ways there, switching positions in each of his three seasons on the team.

Because he was less experienced than some of his peers, MacDonald joined the Colts instead of the U of C Dinos. He remained with the PFC team for five seasons while at the same time attending Mount Royal University, where he received a degree in applied business and entrepreneurship, sport and recreation.

After his final PFC season — during which he tied for third in the league with four interceptions — MacDonald faced an uncertain future. He eventually settled on the U of R where, besides working toward a diploma in business administration, he also found a spot on the football team.

“The only reason I came here was because I had a good chance to start,” he said. “If not, I would have either retired or maybe looked to go somewhere else, like the Dinos.

“If it wasn’t a perfect fit (with the Rams), then I probably wouldn’t have kept playing. But it was a good opportunity here.”

Following the 2012 season, Regina lost to graduation much of its starting secondary, which opened up opportunities for a player like MacDonald to win a starting spot in 2013.

“He’s a mature guy and he has seen lots of things (in the PFC),” Rams defensive co-ordinator Paul Dawson said. “He had the experience factor over some of the younger players. He’s got pretty good football sense, too.”

Dawson expected to play MacDonald at safety, but the Rams moved the newcomer to cornerback when — as Dawson put it — “things didn’t pan out for some of the guys we thought would play there.”

MacDonald hasn’t disappointed, registering 11 solo tackles, five assisted tackles, an interception and a knockdown while displaying solid man-to-man coverage skills.

“I thought it would be a bigger jump (from the PFC to the CIS), but after spring camp, I thought I could definitely start in this league,” said MacDonald, who noted the biggest adjustment he had to make was to the overall speed of the university game.

“Maybe it’s not as big of a jump as I thought because we had very good receivers (with the Colts) the last few years. We had guys who were practising with the (CFL’s Calgary) Stampeders and a guy who ended up going to the NCAA, so I’ve been playing against good competition.

“I’ve also had pretty good coaching, so that helped me out a lot, too.”