Terry Donahue, who led UCLA to the Bowl Victories, dies at 77


Terry Donahue, who became the face of football at UCLA as a player and coach, holding the second position for 20 years and leading the school to seven consecutive trophy-winning seasons in the 1980s, died at his Newport Beach home on Sunday. He was 77 years old.

UCLA said the cause was cancer.

Donahue won more games than any other coach in school and Pac-12 Conference history, ending his career with a winning record against every team in the conference, including the Bruins’ inter-city rival, the University of Southern California Trojans.

Overall, he won 151 of the 233 matches he coached, and 98 of those victories were in the Pac-10 (as the conference was previously known). Adding two teams in 2011). His eighth and final win in a bowl came at the 1991 John Hancock Bowl.

Donahue’s bowling win streak included Rose Bowl wins in ’83, ’84, and ’86. He was the first person to appear in the Rose Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and coach.

On the field, Donahue played in UCLA’s first Rose Bowl victory in 1966. The team earned the nickname “Gutty Little Bruins” because no one on the defensive line weighed more than 225 pounds. Walking Donahue weighed just 195 pounds.

He brought that same spirit of excellence to his tenure as a coach. Like future Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden, some of UCLA’s top players from the Donahue era came from areas far from California. Famous quarterback Troy Aikman transferred to UCLA from another college football program.

one article Last year, when Donahue’s successors didn’t live up to the standard he set, The Los Angeles Times attributed Donahue’s success in part to being a “pioneer in national recruitment” with a tracker who “scours the country for talent.” NFL teams selected 14 Donahue-era players in the first round of professional drafts.

in 2011 interview He and the Los Angeles Times discussed the level of commitment needed to discover and influence young quarterbacks. “You need money, you need access to a plane if possible,” he said. I bought players from Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Hawaii, Texas, Oregon.

A press conference in which Donahue announced his retirement in 1995 became the event. The Los Angeles Times said a UCLA spokesperson had prepared two newsletters in case Donahue changed his mind. As The Times began announcing its decision, it reported that hundreds of reporters and their friends were “leaning forward simultaneously.”

“I can’t believe I’m holding this press conference,” Donahue said. “What are you all doing here?”

But he is retired. Twenty-five years later, The Times write He said the UCLA football program “has suffered” since Donahue’s departure.

Terrence Michael Donahue was born on June 24, 1944, in Los Angeles, the child of Betty (Gantner) Donahue and Bill Donahue, a doctor.

He was a beginner defensive lineman at his high school in Los Angeles’ Sherman Oaks department, but struggled to establish himself in college as he failed to secure a fixed position at San Jose State and Los Angeles Valley College before trying at UCLA in 1964. He was recruited as a reserve lineman and rose to the anthem.

“Terry wasn’t very talented, but he had a lot of character, high intelligence, and rarely made mistakes,” said Jerry Long, a former UCLA line coach.

Donahue graduated from UCLA in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He also earned a master’s degree in kinesiology from the university in 1977.

He began his career as a coach by asking Pepper Rodgers, a former mentor, to take him as an unpaid assistant at the University of Kansas Jayhawks. When Rodgers became head coach at UCLA, Donahue followed. Rodgers’ successor, Dick Vermeil, left to run the Philadelphia Eagles in 1976, and Donahue took over, despite being in his early 30s.

After leaving UCLA, he worked in the front office of the San Francisco 49ers from 1999 to 2005.

Survivors of Donahue include Andrea (Sogas) Donahue, his wife of 52 years; three daughters, Nicole, Michele and Jennifer; and 10 grandchildren.

In 1976, in Donahue’s first season as UCLA coach, the Bruins went 9-2-1. An article in Sports Illustrated I said “He could be the best young coach in the country.” Known as a relaxed and tanned person, Donahue was asked if she ever felt nervous.

“We prepared and worked hard, so it’s nothing to worry about,” he told Sports Illustrated. “Now if you excuse me I’m going to vomit.”



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