| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1944-06-24)June 24, 1944 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Died | July 4, 2021(2021-07-04) (aged 77) Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1965–1966 | UCLA |
| Position(s) | Defensive tackle |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1968–1970 | Kansas (DL) |
| 1971–1975 | UCLA (OL) |
| 1976–1995 | UCLA |
| Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
| 1999–2000 | San Francisco 49ers (dir. player pers.) |
| 2001–2005 | San Francisco 49ers (GM) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 151–74–8 |
| Bowls | 8–4–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 5Pac-10 (1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1993) | |
| Awards | |
| 2×Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1985, 1993) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2000 (profile) | |
Terrence Michael Donahue (June 24, 1944 – July 4, 2021) was anAmerican football coach and executive. He served as the head coach at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1976 to 1995, compiling a record of 151–74–8. His 151 wins are the most inUCLA Bruins history, and his 98 wins in the Pac-10 Conference—now known as thePac-12 Conference—remain the most in the conference's history. Donahue's Bruins won five Pac-10 titles and appeared in fourRose Bowls, winning three. He became the first head coach to win abowl game in seven consecutive seasons.
Donahue playedcollege football for UCLA as an undersizeddefensive tackle. He left coaching after the 1995 season to become a college footballcolor commentator. Donahue was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2000. From 2001 to 2005, he was the general manager for theSan Francisco 49ers of theNational Football League (NFL).
Born inLos Angeles,[1] Donahue attended St. Charles Borromeo Elementary School inNorth Hollywood, California, and graduated fromNotre Dame High School inSherman Oaks.[2] After not beingrecruited in high school, he was awalk-on atSan Jose State University,Los Angeles Valley College and then theUniversity of California, Los Angeles.[2][3] He played two seasons for theBruins as an undersized 6-foot (1.8 m), 190-pound (86 kg)defensive tackle.[2][4] His1965 team was the school's first to win theRose Bowl. They were nicknamed "Gutty Little Bruins" because nobody on thedefensive line weighed more than 225 pounds (102 kg).[1]
After graduating from UCLA with a bachelor's degree in history,[1] Donahue became an assistant coach at theUniversity of Kansas underPepper Rodgers. In1971, he returned to UCLA when Rodgers became their head coach. When Rodgers left after1973, Donahue remained as an assistant underDick Vermeil and succeeded him in February1976.[2][5][6] In the season opener, the Bruins won a nationally televised Thursday night game overthird-rankedArizona State,[7] and finished 9–2–1 in his first season.[1]Sports Illustrated said Donahue, who was only in his early 30s, "may be the best young coach in the country."[1] UCLA's best finish under Donahue was 10–1–1 in1982, with his other ten-win seasons coming in1987 and1988 at 10–2.[5]
In the final regular-season game of1995, the Bruins defeated theUSC Trojans, their fifth straight win againsttheir crosstown rival. It was Donahue's 98th conference victory in thePac-10, surpassingDon James for the most in the conference's history. Afterwards, Donahue announced that he would retire from coaching after theirAloha Bowl game to become a college football analyst withCBS. He has the most wins of any coach in UCLA football history (151).[8] TheLos Angeles Times attributed his coaching success to his being "a pioneer in national recruiting".[1] His Bruins squads finished the season ranked in the top 20 on 12 occasions,[5] including five times in the top 10 from 1982 though 1988,[7] though he received some criticism for not winning anational championship. In his tenure as coach, the Bruins were ranked as high as No. 5 for a season, while being ranked No. 1 for two games (1988).[5][9] He coached 34 first-teamAll-Americans,[10] and 14 UCLA players from his era were chosen in the first round of theNFL Draft.[1]
Donahue's UCLA teams won four Pac-10 championships and tied for another while winning three Rose Bowls (1983,1984, and1986).[11][12] He was the first person to participate in the Rose Bowl as a player, assistant coach and head coach.[1] He compiled a record of 8–4–1 inbowl games and was the first coach to win a bowl game in seven consecutive seasons.[5][13] The Bruins won four New Year's Day bowl games in a row from 1983 to 1986.[5] However, they made just three bowl appearances in his last seven seasons, when their record was 43–35–1 after quarterbackTroy Aikman graduated following the 1988 season.[10] Donahue's record was 10–9–1 against USC.[14] He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2000.[15] In 2015, Donahue lamented that he "quit too early" from UCLA; he had wanted the program to be more aggressive to pursue a national championship, but felt that unspecified differences with UCLA athletic officials hampered his effectiveness, prompting his departure.[4][16]
In 1998, Donahue was offered an opportunity to coach in theNFL with theDallas Cowboys. He would have re-united with Aikman. However, negotiations broke down with ownerJerry Jones, who instead hiredChan Gailey.[17][18]
Donahue was the lead college football analyst forCBS Sports from 1996 to 1998.[19] He left CBS to join theSan Francisco 49ers front office in 1999.[20] He was hand-picked byBill Walsh to succeed him asgeneral manager.[21] During his first two years in San Francisco, Donahue served as Walsh's director of player personnel.[22] When Walsh retired in 2001, Donahue was elevated to the general manager position, which he held for four seasons.[21][23] In his first two seasons, the 49ers were 22–10 under coachSteve Mariucci. However, Mariucci was fired after the2002 season following a 31–6 loss toTampa Bay in adivisional playoff game.Dennis Erickson was hired as his replacement, but he went 9–23 in two seasons, including a franchise-worst 2–14 in2004. San Francisco facedsalary cap issues during that span, prompting the break up of their playoff-caliber roster, while their high draft picks did not pan out. Donahue and Erickson were fired in January 2005.[24]
In 2006, Donahue became a game analyst for theNFL on Fox and worked on theirBowl Championship Series coverage as well.[25][26] He served as an analyst onCollege Football Now onNFL Network.[27] He was also an analyst forDial Global.[28]
Donahue helped found the California Showcase in 2013. The free annual one-day football combine provides high school seniors and junior college sophomores the opportunity to showcase their skills to college coaches fromDivision II,Division III andNAIA schools.[29][30] He was also on the board of directors of theLott IMPACT Trophy.[31]
Donahue met his wife, Andrea, on ablind date during his first year as a graduate assistant at the University of Kansas and her junior year as an undergraduate. They married two weeks after her graduation in 1969.[32] They had three daughters and ten grandchildren.[33]
On July 4, 2021, Donahue died at his home inNewport Beach, California, following a two-year battle with cancer. He was 77.[1][4]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA Bruins(Pacific-8/Pacific-10 Conference)(1976–1995) | |||||||||
| 1976 | UCLA | 9–2–1 | 6–1 | 2nd | LLiberty | 15 | 15 | ||
| 1977 | UCLA | 7–4[a] | 5–2[a] | T–2nd | |||||
| 1978 | UCLA | 8–3–1 | 6–2 | 2nd | TFiesta | 12 | 14 | ||
| 1979 | UCLA | 5–6 | 3–4 | 7th | |||||
| 1980 | UCLA | 9–2 | 5–2 | 2nd | [b] | 14 | 13 | ||
| 1981 | UCLA | 7–4–1 | 5–2–1 | T–4th | LAstro-Bluebonnet | ||||
| 1982 | UCLA | 10–1–1 | 5–1–1 | 1st | WRose | 5 | 5 | ||
| 1983 | UCLA | 7–4–1 | 6–1–1 | 1st | WRose | 13 | 17 | ||
| 1984 | UCLA | 9–3 | 5–2 | T–3rd | WFiesta | 10 | 9 | ||
| 1985 | UCLA | 9–2–1 | 6–2 | 1st | WRose | 6 | 7 | ||
| 1986 | UCLA | 8–3–1 | 5–2–1 | T–2nd | WFreedom | 14 | 14 | ||
| 1987 | UCLA | 10–2 | 7–1 | T–1st | WAloha | 11 | 9 | ||
| 1988 | UCLA | 10–2 | 6–2 | 2nd | WCotton | 6 | 6 | ||
| 1989 | UCLA | 3–7–1 | 2–5–1 | 9th | |||||
| 1990 | UCLA | 5–6 | 4–4 | T–6th | |||||
| 1991 | UCLA | 9–3 | 6–2 | T–2nd | WJohn Hancock | 18 | 19 | ||
| 1992 | UCLA | 6–5 | 3–5 | 8th | |||||
| 1993 | UCLA | 8–4 | 6–2 | T–1st | LRose | 17 | 18 | ||
| 1994 | UCLA | 5–6 | 3–5 | T–5th | |||||
| 1995 | UCLA | 7–5 | 4–4 | T–5th | LAloha | ||||
| UCLA: | 151–74–8 | 98–51–5 | |||||||
| Total: | 151–74–8 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||