#12

Tamarion McDonald

Former defensive back at Louisville. 2024: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 58 tackles.

DB · Louisville · Sr. · #12

6′2″ · 195 lb · Memphis, TN

CFB Index 61 · #175 of 537 safetiesLow confidenceLouisville 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

OLB recruit

No. 596 nationally · Signed with Whitehaven

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive back at Louisville. 2024: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 58 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Whitehaven in 2020.
Transferred from Tennessee to Louisville in 2024.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Louisville, 168 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20207 games

Recruited3-star out of Whitehaven

202413 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#596 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

2 coaches

2020–2022

Scott Satterfield

Louisville

2023–2024

Jeff Brohm

Louisville

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Scott Satterfield → Jeff Brohm. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Tennessee3-7HC: Jeremy Pruitt · Run-leaning

2021Tennessee7-6HC: Josh Heupel · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2022Tennessee11-2HC: Josh Heupel · Run-leaning

2023Tennessee9-4HC: Josh Heupel · Run-leaning

2024Louisville9-4HC: Jeff Brohm · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

61Quality starter #175 of 537?

Medium confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (91st percentile). Strength: tackles (85th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (23rd percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Solo tackles#240 / 2892 · 91st pct

Tackles#419 / 2892 · 85th pct

Sacks#502 / 2892 · 79th pct

2.0

Tackles for loss#900 / 2892 · 66th pct

3.5

Passes defended#1155 / 2892 · 49th pct

Forced fumbles#55 / 700 · 46th pct

Interceptions#314 / 862 · 32nd pct

QB hurries#1536 / 2892 · 23rd pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.7	0.6	0.3	0.0
Road7g	4.3	0.0	0.0	0.1

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.6	0.4	0.3	0.1
Weeks 8+6g	4.3	0.1	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Brohm

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

61 · #175 of 537 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #175 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Louisville	58	39	3.5	2.0	1	1	--
2023	Tennessee	40	23	3.5	1.0	4	1	--
2022	Tennessee	50	34	4.0	0.0	7	2	--
2021	Tennessee	9	8	1.0	0.0	1	1	--
2020	Tennessee	11	5	0.0	0.0	1	--	--
Career		168	109	12.0	3.0	14	5	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2024

W 33–21

at Clemson

4 TOT · 4 SOLO

With T. Shough — 156 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 78.1 · 9 rush yds (3 car) · 1 TD · I. Brown — 151 rush yds (20 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 62-0vs Austin Peay	3	3	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 2	W 49-14vs Jacksonville State	3	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 31-19vs Georgia Tech	7	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 24-31@ Notre Dame	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 27-34vs SMU	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 24-20@ Virginia	9	7	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 8	L 45-52vs Miami	9	6	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 31-27@ Boston College	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 33-21@ Clemson	4	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 35-38@ Stanford	7	6	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 37-9vs Pittsburgh	4	2	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 41-14@ Kentucky	1	1	0.0	0.0	1	0
Bowl	W 35-34@ Washington	6	4	0.0	0.0	—	1
Total		58	39	3.5	2.0	1	1

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology