Will McDonald joined Baylor athletics on head coach Ryan McGuyre's volleyball staff in February of 2023 as the Bears' Technical Coordinator.
In his role he is tasked with scouting and performance analysis using video and statistics. He is charged with the exchange of film with teams, equipment management, practice player management and fundraising efforts.
In 2024, McDonald saw the squad reach 23 wins, including 14 in conference for a third-place Big 12 finish. BU went to its school record ninth-consecutive NCAA Tournament, hosting the first and second rounds for the fifth time in eight years. The Bears were the regional fourth seed and the No. 15 seed overall headed into the tournament. The green and gold saw multiple NCAA Tournament records be broken for the program including kills, attack percentage, service aces and digs in a five-set match. Senior Elise McGhee was led to an Honorable Mention AVCA All-America finish as well as being unanimously named First Team All-Big 12, while Jackie Barrett Frazier, Lauren Briseño and Allie Sczech were named to the second team. Briseño entered the Baylor record books for her 89 career service aces and 1,412 digs. McGhee entered the record book for her 30-kill match against TCU (10/25), while Barrett Frazier also saw her name etched in history for the first triple-double by a BU player since 2009, posting 10 kills, 16 digs and 23 assists against Iowa State (10/30). McGhee capped off her senior season being the first Bear to be drafted to the Pro Volleyball Federation, called as the 34th overall pick, second in the fifth round of the PVF draft by the San Diego Mojo. The Bears were featured in all AVCA Coaches' Polls, finishing the season in 20th and 20th in RPI.
In the 2023 season, McDonald elevated the Bears’ game by tracking all serve speeds and applying it to the data. He was also called upon to help out the newly-created Pro Volleyball Federation with their stats after the collegiate season was over, for the Atlanta Vibe.
McDonald saw the Bears to their eighth-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament in his first season in Waco, 2023. Baylor had three AVCA All-Region honors coupled with four All-Big 12 honorees for the season, along with three being named Academic All-District. McDonald saw the student-athletes break multiple personal records on the season, and three Bears enter the record book for single-match attack percentage, career assists. Baylor won out in Colorado State’s Ram Volleyball Classic, notched a win over No. 19 Ohio State, and carved out season sweeps against Cincinnati and UCF while splitting series with Iowa State and Kansas State.
Prior to Baylor, McDonald was in the same role at Georgia Tech in 2022.
He has 10 years of coaching experience including England's National Teams, Oxford University, UCL and various club teams in the UK and USA.
The Surrey, England, native is married to Kaitlyn McDonald.
