How Basha's Chris McDonald coached a game on his wedding day

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Chandler Basha football coach Chris McDonald loves football. 

So much so that he coached a game on his wedding day. That’s right — Chris McDonald coached a football on the same day of his wedding. 

McDonald revealed this during his opening remarks at the Arizona Interscholastic Association's high school football state championships media day on Dec. 1, seemingly prompted by Chandler coach Ty Wisdom thanking his wife during his statement.

Basha is back in the Open title game again this year, playing Chandler on Dec. 6 at Mountain America Stadium.

The craziest part of the story? It was McDonald’s wife, Amy, who said he should go to the game.

The date was Nov. 5, 2005, and McDonald was coaching a youth football team of 12 to 13-year-olds in Mesa, the WarHawks. He had a game at 9 a.m. at Westwood High, with the wedding later in the afternoon at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church in Chandler. A limo was scheduled to pick up McDonald at noon.

“It was actually quite simple,” McDonald said. “It was, ‘What do I do?’ She said, ‘Just be in the limo by noon.’ You don’t see each other during the day, anyway. That’s basically how it went. It was easy. She was the one that made the decision for me.”

The ease of the situation may come off as peculiar to some, but Amy hails from a family with a deep background in football. On her father’s side is the Campanile family, which has been called “The First Family of New Jersey Football.” One of her cousins is the defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars and another is the quarterbacks coach at Syracuse.

“It’s funny. People think it’s fascinating, but it really wasn’t a big deal to her. It really wasn’t,” McDonald said. “She was like, ‘Yeah. What else are you going to do?’ What else would I have been doing? Watching college football? Waiting?"

The WarHawks won the game, and McDonald made it to the limo with plenty of time to spare.

Now, 20 years later, the pair have two kids, one in high school and another in college, and McDonald has turned the Basha football program into a powerhouse. Basha has compiled a 70-22 record since McDonald was hired in 2018, winning the Open Division state championship in 2022 and finishing runner-up last season.

“She’s been there through thick and thin,” McDonald. “Does a lot behind the scenes in terms of our family. There’s a lot of sacrifice.”

Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, college and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@usatodayco.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @LSscribe.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Basha's Chris McDonald coached a game on his wedding day

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