Jason MacDonald is in his seventh year at Navy and his third as the Director of Player Personnel. MacDonald spent his first four seasons coaching the fullbacks.
In 2024, MacDonald helped lead the Mids to a 10-3 record, wins over Air Force and Army to win the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy and a victory over Oklahoma to win the Armed Forces Bowl. The 10 wins marked just the sixth time in school history that Navy won 10 or more games in a season.
In 2021, Navy managed to have the ninth-best rushing offense in the country (225.5 yards per game) despite facing six of the top-35 defenses in the country, including three of the top 10. On top of the tough schedule, Navy had to start five different offensive tackles, five different guards and three different centers due to injury. Fullback Isaac Ruoss was named a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American.
In 2019, Navy had one of the greatest seasons in school history, winning a school-record tying 11 games against just two losses, winning the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy, sharing the American Athletic Conference West Division title with Memphis and winning the prestigious Liberty Bowl. The Mids’ eight-game improvement from 2018 was the second-biggest turnaround in FBS history.
The Mids finished the 2019 campaign ranked 20th in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls. It marked just the second time in the last 56 years that Navy finished in the AP Top 20 (18th in 2015).
A big part of that success was a Navy offense that set school records for total rushing yards (4,687), rushing yards per attempt (6.1), rushing yards per game (360.5), total offense yards per game (455.8) and tied the record for total offensive yards per attempt (6.8). The Mids also led the nation in rushing.
Fullback Jamale Carothers was named First-Team All-East. Carothers, who started the year on the junior varsity, rushed for 734 yards and 14 touchdowns on just 111 carries (6.6) in 10 games to finish second on the team in rushing.
MacDonald came to Navy from the Naval Academy Prep School where he served as the offensive coordinator for the past eight years. MacDonald was also a position coach at the prep school where he coached the slot backs for one year, the quarterbacks for four years, the wide receivers for one year, the fullbacks for one year and the offensive line for three years.
The NAPS offense averaged over 300 yards per game under MacDonald and in 2016 averaged 33.4 points per game.
MacDonald also handled the budget, was the academic coordinator and the head track & field coach at the prep school.
Prior to NAPS, MacDonald was a graduate assistant at Springfield College for two years where he was responsible for the offensive tackles and tight ends.
Two of his pupils, John Carlson and Sean Meagher, were named to the Empire 8 All-Conference Team.
MacDonald is a 2004 graduate of Springfield College where he earned his Bachelor of Science in sports management and a minor in business.
He was a four-year member of the Springfield College football team, including team captain of the 2003 team that won 10 games. He was named ECAC First Team All-Defense as a defensive lineman his senior year.
MacDonald and his wife, Dominique, have two sons, Adrian and Dion.
