MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — CJ Donaldson can’t guarantee his third season of college football will be his first one playing all the way through.
Yet the Miami native is confident he’s done his part and then some to put himself in position to do just that despite being a 238-pound bruising tailback welcoming contact at every opportunity.
Donaldson burst onto the scene as a true freshman in 2022, but a seamless transition to running back and college football was cut short after seven games. He registered a team-high 171 carries as a sophomore last season, but Donaldson was limited to 10 total carries over the final two regular season games as he battled a shoulder injury. He was then held out of a Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over North Carolina as a result of undergoing surgery during the season that head coach Neal Brown thought negatively impacted his play down the stretch.
“There’s nothing really to avoid it,” Donaldson said. “You kind of have to take that head on, but take care of your body and be a pro about it. Not be a little kid and do what you have to do to be at 100 percent the next day.”
Donaldson isn’t about to change his running style or his mindset of priding himself on physicality, both of which make him unique and have helped him rush for 1,324 yards and 19 touchdowns over 19 games in two seasons at West Virginia.
“It’s a dangerous sport. We choose to play it and love to play it,” Donaldson said. “If I only have one play left on the field, I’d definitely do it. It’s not really a safe way. You just have to practice certain movements, certain ways I finish runs, certain looks when a defender is coming this way and how do I want to make a move on this guy. Just practicing those things over and over.”
The Mountaineers have another plenty established tailback set to enter his sophomore season in Jahiem White, but Donaldson’s importance to the team has perhaps never been greater.
While White emerged over the second half of his first season to finish with a team-high 842 rushing yards on 109 carries, he has yet to fit the role of an every down back at this level. At 5-foot-7, 195 pounds, White possesses a different running style than that of Donaldson, who has scored a touchdown in 14 games and on 7.3 percent of his college carries.
“Sometimes we go 21 [personnel] with me and Jahiem in the game, and they don’t know who’s a true running back, because it’s so hard to stop both of us,” Donaldson said. “When Jahiem brings the speed, they’re so worried about him bouncing outside and I get downhill. It’s kind of hard to stop that — very hard.”
As the lead-up to his junior campaign continues throughout preseason camp, Donaldson says he can tell a difference in his body, which can largely be attributed to the attention he devoted to rehabbing his injury and a focus on improving his diet.
“I didn’t understand it as much last year, but I truly understand my body is a business,” Donaldson said. “I’m sitting down with [Director of Sports Nutrition Haley Bishop] and texting her all the time, is this the right thing to eat, do I need to put this in my body and how much do I need to hydrate today. Paying attention to the little details. Such a small detail can help you excel.”
Once a regular at McDonald’s, Donaldson now stays away from fast food.
“I’m trying to play a long season and definitely help us emerge as a team,” he said.
Part of that is maintaining consistent contact with Bishop and adhering to the advice she offers.
“Haley goes above and beyond and does more than she’s required,” Donaldson said. “She’ll take us shopping on her free time and load up our red cart. She put me on a new drink, a pomegranate juice. At first, I didn’t like it, but it’s grown on me a little bit. She definitely goes above and beyond making sure we’re able to play the next day and we’re putting the right things in our body.
“I was kind of shook at first. We went shopping and I’m like, ‘I don’t really eat that or I don’t really like that.’ Then as it grew, I’m like, ‘my body feels great today and I should keep eating that stuff.’ The biggest thing is just listening to our resources and everything that’s around us, use it.”
Chad Scott, WVU’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach, has worked as closely with Donaldson as anybody in the program since his initiation to college football and sees no reason a memorable junior season isn’t in store.
“I’m so excited about CJ Donaldson. He did a phenomenal job with his rehab,” Scott said. “This spring, we held him out, but he was so locked in mentally and paying attention in meetings and at practice. This is the best he’s felt since his freshman year and his confidence is exactly what it was his freshman year. He’s changed his body and he’s having a great camp. He looks good.”