John McDonough Jr. comes to Florida Atlantic University from Austin, Texas where he had been working in a successful private psychotherapy practice. He has played competitive tennis at the junior, collegiate, and adult levels and most recently achieved the adult Texas State number one ranking in 2004.

McDonough has taught tennis at the top junior camps and resorts in the country as well as at the high school and college levels. In 1991, he was the assistant tennis coach of the men's and women's teams at Savannah State University. In 1992, he helped coach Savannah State's men's team to a top eight NCAA Division II ranking, a men's individual Division II Championship, and a top ten individual NCAA Division II finish for the university's top female player.

McDonough received his B.A. in Sociology from Clemson University, where he also played collegiately from 1984-1986. He got his Masters degree in teaching from Rockford college in Illinois, and his masters in counseling from Texas State University.