Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame: Dan McDonough, Newport Harbor

Barry Faulkner

Dan McDonough’s job with a Costa Mesa-based management consulting

firm calls for him to help his clients’ businesses operate more

efficiently.

Somewhat ironic, one might say, for a guy who spent a noteworthy high

school and college football career as a human wrench in the gears of

opposing teams’ offenses.

A three-year varsity performer at Newport Harbor High and the starting

senior middle linebacker on the 1994 unbeaten CIF Southern Section

Division V champions, McDonough took his knack for creating inefficiency

to St. Mary’s College, in the San Francisco suburb of Moraga.

But the physical toll of being a catalyst for carnage -- nerve damage in

his neck and shoulders -- prematurely ended his playing career halfway

into his junior season with the Gaels.

“It started with stingers (a shooting pain in one’s neck, somewhat

similar to that experienced by striking the funny bone) and got to the

point where I would lose complete sensation in my arms for hours at a

time,” McDonough said.

McDonough, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound two-year starter for the I-AA program,

said giving up football became the obvious solution to his condition,

which still generates periodic stiffness and headaches.

“When I was playing, if I turned my head really fast, I’d get a stinger.

That made my decision to quit really easy.”

There was nothing easy about trying to move the ball with the former

All-CIF, All-Sea View League and All-Newport-Mesa District standout

patrolling the middle.

Mobile and hostile, the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame honoree roamed

sideline to sideline as the Tars’ primary run stopper. He also saw spot

duty at tight end.

In the CIF title game victory over Servite, McDonough intercepted a pass

at his own 8-yard line with 1:05 left in the third quarter, helping the

Sailors maintain a 14-9 lead.

“It was the only interception of my career, so it was nice it came at an

opportune time,” McDonough said.

The Friars took a 15-14 lead on a touchdown with 4:08 remaining, only to

be overcome by a 38-yard scoring toss from Harbor quarterback John

Giordani to Mike Freeman with 2:27 left. From there, McDonough and the

defense cemented the win, which gave the school its first section crown

in 64 varsity seasons.

McDonough graduated with honors with a degree in finance last spring and

immediately returned to Orange County to take his current position.

“Right now, I’m just focused on learning as much as I can at my job and

seeing where that takes me,” said McDonough, 23 and single. “I use a lot

of the things I learned playing football at Newport Harbor,

professionally.”

McDonough, who attended several games during the 1999 CIF Division VI

championship season, said he still takes great pride in being a part of

the Harbor football program.

“When you stop playing, you kind of graduate into a bigger family -- the

whole Newport Harbor community.

“I have a lot of memories and a few stand out. But, most of all, I just

enjoyed hanging out with the guys. We all had a good time together and

everyone laughed and had fun.”

McDonough said he occasionally gets together with former teammates, as

well as Sailor products from succeeding years, to play a friendly game of

touch.

“It’s mainly guys just going out, throwing the ball around and having

fun,” he said.

Sometimes the postgame discussion turns to this season’s title run (a

13-0-1 season) and how it affects the ’94 team’s place in Sailor history.

“I think 14-0 is enough to set us apart,” he said. “We’ll take the 14-0.

Even if another team matches that, we’ll always be able to say we did it

first.”