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CFB RIP Terry Donahue

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Midlo Cane Fan said:
www.espn.com

Donahue, winningest UCLA football coach, dies

Donahue has the most wins (98) of any football coach in Pac-12 history and the most victories (151) in UCLA history.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this, Midlo.

I had an old friend who was an undersized high school DB in SoCal in the late 70's and wanted to play for his dream school UCLA. Terry Donahue did not think he was a Power 5 caliber athlete, but coach Donahue respected my buddy's desire to play for UCLA so much that he advocated for my friend and actually helped get him a scholarship offer to play for the University of Hawaii.

Four years later my friend was drafted by the 49ers in the 12 round and played 4 or 5 seasons for the 49ers, winning a Super Bowl. I don't know if the record still stands but at one point my old friend held the record for the most return yards in a Super Bowl game....against the Dolphins.

As recently as the mid-2000's (the last time I spoke to him) he always spoke very highly of coach Donahue.
 
SFbayCane said:
Thanks for posting this, Midlo.

I had an old friend who was an undersized high school DB in SoCal in the late 70's and wanted to play for his dream school UCLA. Terry Donahue did not think he was a Power 5 caliber athlete, but coach Donahue respected my buddy's desire to play for UCLA so much that he advocated for my friend and actually helped get him a scholarship offer to play for the University of Hawaii.

Four years later my friend was drafted by the 49ers in the 12 round and played 4 or 5 seasons for the 49ers, winning a Super Bowl. I don't know if the record still stands but at one point my old friend held the record for the most return yards in a Super Bowl game....against the Dolphins.

As recently as the mid-2000's (the last time I spoke to him) he always spoke very highly of coach Donahue.
Click to expand...
He was an absolute Class act...my cousin was very close to him...
 
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People might not realize that Terry had an impact on UM football that is not at all obvious. When our Athletic Director, Sam Jankovich, had to hire a replacement for Jimmy Johnson, reports were that Sam sat down with Donahue to get his ideas. Sam was from the Pacific Northwest, and had been a PAC-10 coach and Athletic Director at WSU. Some speculated that the rumors about the Jankovich-Donahue meetings were to offer the empty UM job to Donahue. What is better known was that Donahue gave advice on Dennis Erickson, then an up-and-coming young coach at WSU, as a possible successor to Johnson. Donahue’s ‘88 team was knocked out of no. 1 in the country, when WSU and QB Timm Rosenbach upset them. Donahue was later quoted as saying DE’s offense was the “best conceived” offense in the PAC-10.

The Donahue endorsement probably was significant in the decision to hire Dennis, who, despite a great amount of criticism, did manage to win two NCs in a short period of time.

(Back then, it was still the PAC-10, not yet the PAC-12.)
 
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