Jim Donnan reconsidered: Not a bad ‘Old Coach’ after all
I never thought Jim Donnan was a bad coach. I thought he was a good coach who never got the one break he needed. And don’t think for a moment that breaks don’t make/unmake a coach’s career. Where would Phillip Fulmer had been if Arkansas’ Clint Stoerner hadn’t put the ball on the ground in 1998? Where would Mark Richt be had Horace Willis knocked down the pass to Michael Johnson that cold day at Auburn?
The “Old Coach” — Donnan liked to call himself “Old Coach” — was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame over the weekend, and I was glad to see it. I was one of the few people who seemed to like Jim Donnan, and that was another part of his undoing. After the curious failed season of 2000, he had no real allies other than Vince Dooley, and about all the AD could say in Donnan’s defense was that he deserved one more year.
(I agreed then, and I agree now. But that doesn’t mean I don’t recognize that Georgia upgraded with Richt.)
Donnan intrigued me. He loved game-planning and play-calling, and sometimes he complicated things when an off-tackle blast would have sufficed. But he knew offense — didn’t care much about defense, which is the way of most offensive men — and I’d been following his career at Marshall before he got to Athens. On the day Georgia introduced Glen Mason as its choice to succeed Ray Goff, Dooley said he’d also interviewed Donnan. And I thought, “That wouldn’t have been a bad choice, either.”
On Christmas Day 1995, following Mason’s Yuletide reversal, Donnan was indeed Georgia’s coach. He was 5-6 that first season but won every year thereafter. But he seemed to win more games than he did supporters, which was strange.
At a Bulldog Club meeting after Donnan was fired, Loran Smith introduced Richt by saying this coach wouldn’t look off in the distance when you shook his hand and mentioned a Georgia game from 30 years ago. That was a slam of Donnan, who suffered alums grudgingly and with whom Smith had a postgame moment. (In 1997, Smith wondered about the rampant cramps the Bulldogs had suffered during the game just concluded. And Donnan, perhaps justifiably, said: “I can’t believe we beat South Carolina and your first question is about cramps.”)
Loading ...With a better bounce or two, Donnan mightn’t have needed friends. Say Jasper Sanks hadn’t fumbled against Florida, or if Al Ford had decided Sanks didn’t fumble against Georgia Tech. Say Terrence Edwards, deployed at quarterback, hadn’t stepped out of bounds on third-and-goal in OT at Auburn in November 2000. Had Donnan won one or two of those, would Michael Adams have acted as he did when he did?
In hindsight, it’s clear Donnan’s last team was undercoached and Quincy Carter, so good as a freshman in 1998, got worse the more he played. But Donnan won at Auburn and at LSU and he beat Tennesee once — from 1996 through 1999, Donnan’s first four seasons, only Florida beat Tennessee — and he even beat Spurrier in 1997. The man had some moments. He just needed one or two more.
So he should have swallowed hard and answered Loran’s goofy question about cramps. Laugh all you want, but that moment on live radio made Donnan seem a bit of a bully, which, in all honesty, he could be.
But he and I got along, and I’ll never forget the night he was fired. He called my cell phone and said, “It’s Coach Donnan.” Then he actually had the grace to laugh. And he said, “Well, not anymore.”
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81 comments Add your comment
Atticus
July 20th, 2009
10:57 am
Come on can we drop the “he won with so and so’s players”…
Urban Meyer won with mostly Ron Zook players, Saban with a lot of Mike Shula’s, Paul Johnson with Chan’s? No, it doesn’t fly. Everybody has players, yes you get the occasional game breaker…but what game breakers did Utah have last year?
Coaching staff’s make the team in college football….you win with discipline, expectations and a commitment to excellence at all costs.
MightyQuinn
July 20th, 2009
11:02 am
I will die a happy man if this comes to fruition, MB!
Otto
July 20th, 2009
11:05 am
Mark, It gets back to replies to articles from your fellow writers. Donnan did not improve the program. He went 8-4 with his recruits and DC. Donnan is in the HOF for his time in Marshal not Athens. Goff was a good recruiter who was a 8-4 to 10-2 coach with a good DC. Talent has not been a problem in Athens for atleast 30 years but doing something with it has.
Atticus, Urban was mostly using his players last year.
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July 20th, 2009
11:07 am
[...] other Hall-of-Fame induction news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reconsiders ex-Georgia coach Jim Donnan, Holtz’s new classmate in South Bend, whose name has elicited a very Lou-like reaction from [...]
Atticus
July 20th, 2009
11:08 am
Otto…I KNOW that but not when he won his first title.
Ed-Covington
July 20th, 2009
11:10 am
Whenever I hear Loran Smith talk; I can’t help but be reminded of “The Seer” in the “Cannery Row” movie who had suffered brain damage after being hit by a fastball from the Nick Nolte character.
murfdawg
July 20th, 2009
11:16 am
Coaches use their own players. Scholarships are renewed on a yearly basis. If a coach doesn’t want a player, he will not renew his scholarship. So all the arrest at fl and all the mnc are with oscar meyer’s weiners. Donnan had ample opportunity to cut Quincy free and let he pursue his habit somewhere else. Also donnan had the chance to kick a field goal against GT and win the game, but his ego wouldn’t allow it. Did GT put Sanks in their HOF like we did Reggie?
G$DAWG
July 20th, 2009
12:03 pm
We can discuss all day long Coach Donnan’s term at UGA. Personally, I feel the guy was more interested in designing uniform changes then he was in designing game plans. Regardless, the facts are clear about his record at UGA, especially against the higher quality programs. Do not confuse results with actions. Donnan is for Georgia what John Blake was Oklahoma: a decent coach who recruited well and stopped the hemorraging for previous errors by both coaches and the administration upon the football program. But just like Blake at Oklahoma, Donnan, for whatever logical reasons, could not get the job done. Richt, like any other coach, has had his poor coaching days, like the “blackout” lost to Alabama. But Donnan’s poor coaching days seemed to be a regular, such as the humiliating loss to Auburn at home (35-0 halftime), the embarasing loss to South Carolina, all the humbling losses to Tennessee (in retrospect, his sole victory over UT now appears to be at the start when UT was on the decline), the constant destruction, save one, of Georgia at the hands for Florida. Let’s not forget the mind numbing losses to Georgia Tech and let down losses to teams like Ole Miss in his first year after the big win against Auburn in 1996. The administration can be faulted for many things, according to all those with an opinion. But the firing of Donnan and the hiring of Richt is one decision that they got right.
Dawg Grad02
July 20th, 2009
12:25 pm
Loran always asked stupid questions….I remember one time before a Kentucky game he asked Coach Donnan did he think this was gonna be a game where the team that scored the most points would win. Donnan impressed me then by pausing I’m sure to not say what he really wanted to say…..he wasn’t a bad coach but glad we have Richt
ccdawg
July 20th, 2009
12:50 pm
It kills me when people say Donnan improved our recruiting. He lost many of Georgia’s top talent to Tennessee and Auburn(Jamaal Lewis, Takeo Spikes, etc). He had no more or no less talent than Ray Goff(Remember Spurrier’s “coaching” comment). He made some poor recruiting decisions Quincy and Jasper and alienated players and alumni. Many high school coaches, even those who liked UGA, could not stand him and were sending players elsewhere. He was an average coach at best. I’m glad he was fired when he was and that we got Richt when we did and didn’t have to dangle in mediocrity while Dooley decided whether “significant improvement” was needed. Stop rewriting history, Donnan went 8-4 his last 3 yrs and lost 3 times in a row to Tech and Fla and 2 out of 3 to Auburn and Tennessee. That’s not good. Period.
Lee Dawg
July 20th, 2009
1:21 pm
I think he did bring UGA back to relevence and improved recruiting. The thing that got him was his record against our rivals and not being able to get along with the Alumni. They are the ones that write the checks!
mike
July 20th, 2009
1:33 pm
Coach Donnan was an excellent coach, with a unique ability to recognize
talented football players. When he joined Ga. there was a lack of talent, when he departed, Coach Richt inherited outstanding talent.
There has also been much incorrect info about a lack of discipline.
Let me remind everyone, his teams has one arrest in five years and
annually were at the top of the conference in least amount of penalties.
Dawg Tired
July 20th, 2009
1:33 pm
When he was interviewed after the victory over UT in Sanford Stadium on national TV the first thing out of his mouth was how he guessed he could coach after-all. Not one word about being proud of his team or assistant coaches. He was an embarrassment. If he deserves to be in the College Hall of Fame, Erk Russell should have a statue at the entrance to the place.
Doolydawg
July 20th, 2009
2:09 pm
Donnan seemed a much better coach than he actually was because he followed Ray Goff. I could have seemed a good coach after Ray.
chazzo
July 20th, 2009
2:23 pm
I am not one to want to fire coaches. I think it takes about 5 seasons before you really start to see what a head coach’s program is about. All sympathy aside, though, Donnan may have been a great coach, but he wasn’t a good manager which is what a good head coach has to be. The Quincey Carter debacle went on far too long, and he never got the right personnel to get the “D” to gel. Worst of all, he promised to deliver big and failed miserably, not only coming up short but losing to every major rival on the schedule (another administrative failure). Hey, I’m glad you were pals. He deserves recognition for what he did at Marshall. But, he was pretty average as a Div I head coach. As for Goff. He was kind of the Dan Quayle of college football… in the big show, he was over his head. Goff was a solid assistant and, who knows, maybe could have developed into a solid HC, but he was picked too early for political reasons, causing a lot of dissension and doubt.
ccdawg
July 20th, 2009
2:39 pm
Mike- “Coach Donnan was an excellent coach, with a unique ability to recognize talented football players. When he joined Ga. there was a lack of talent” Just a reminder Donnan inherited talent too. Robert Edwards, Hines Ward, Champ Bailey, Mike Bobo, Adam Meadows, Matt Stinchcomb,Jason Ferguson, Jermaine Smith, Greg Bright. So Donnan reaped as much from Goff as Richt did from Donnan. I obviously have higher standards for Hall of Fame material. Donnan was an average coach. His average record was 8.0 – 3.8. He lost 19 games in 5 years and had no championships. In his last 3 yrs, when he “improved our recruiting” he lost 3 in a row to Ga Tech and Florida. He lost 2 out of 3 to Auburn and Tennessee. He stuck with Quincy and Jasper when most knew that potential was all they would ever have. The reason there weren’t alot of arrest is because Donnan covered it up. Quincy flunked drug tests. There was no team discipline and the UGA program was headed in the wrong dirction. Donnan- an excellent coach- no Mark Richt is an excellent coach. Side by side comparisons and Donnan looks even worst than an average coach. 2 SEC Championships and 6- 10 win seasons with 22 loses over 8 yrs is excellent that’s not Donnan.
74 Dawg
July 20th, 2009
3:02 pm
What i wanna know is why we can’t recruit defensive players like those on the 2000 team consistently now. How many guys on defense drafted last year? 2? in the later rounds?
Greg
July 20th, 2009
3:05 pm
Ccdawg-do you really believe any coach could actually cover up an arrest in Athens or Atlanta?You make some good points but that one is way off!Greer was dismissed because of failing drug tests and Jasper Sanks missed two games.The AD controls the tests not the coach so why not ask Dooley or Damon?
Headlinin’: Nick Saban, the frugal recruiter | ReadSports.com - Everything about sports
July 20th, 2009
3:47 pm
[...] other Hall-of-Fame induction news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reconsiders ex-Georgia coach Jim Donnan, Holtz’s new classmate in South Bend, whose name has elicited a very Lou-like reaction from [...]
89Dawg
July 20th, 2009
3:55 pm
Lots of really good comments on this board, which in my mind means Donnan’s HOF selection truly is highly debatable. Add me to the list of those who were surprised by Donnan’s selection to the College Football HOF. I’d have nominated him for the Hall of Good, maybe even the Hall of Really Good, when you lump in his Marshall years. But Hall of Fame? You gotta ask, what exactly among his career milestones is he famous for?
And he did burn up every last bit of his benefit-of-the-doubt with his surliness and hostility toward fans. As a result, he got the fate he deserved when a better bounce or two didn’t go his way. I think every D-1 football coach would happily work for a six-figure salary if all they had to do was coach football well. They got paid the $1 million salaries in Donnan’s years and the $2 million to $4 million salaries now to suffer the fools impeccably well. Exhibit A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD1Gxrl4tLs. Richt is one of the best I’ve ever seen at it, and Donnan was one of the worst.
One thing I do admire about Coach Donnan is that he has family in Athens and decided to remain there after he was fired when it probably would’ve have been easier personally to move back to North Carolina or closer to a broadcasting gig. So he does show good taste for knowing what the best college town in America has going for it.
Ole Dawg
July 20th, 2009
4:44 pm
I did not think he should be fired but I didn’t like the fact that he never answered the NC coaching rumors by saying I’m where I want to be and I’ll be a dawg for as long as they will have me. I also wonder why he has never coached anywhere since being fired?
Monday (7/20) reading « The Chapel Bell
July 20th, 2009
4:48 pm
[...] Bradley offers his opinion that Jim Donnan just needed a break or two to go his way while he was the coach at [...]
chazzo
July 20th, 2009
5:47 pm
Ole Dawg: He had a clause in his contract did he not? He received a nice pay check for doing nothing. That was one of my worries about firing him at the time. Anyone know what he got severance? What about Goff?
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July 20th, 2009
10:24 pm
[...] the College Football Hall of Fame. Now, I have no intention of continuing to flog a dead horse, but the latest apologia penned by mealy-mouthed Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Mark Bradley (for whom the defense of the 1990 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Coach Donnan are recurring [...]
Dawg stuck in Bham
July 20th, 2009
10:38 pm
As the brother of an Athens teacher and coach(he coached numerous athletic dept. kids, let me share what was shared with him…
Donnan’s downfall was he only wanted to deal with X’s & O’s and no off field stuff. The day of that coach is over. A Div I coach is a CEO and Donnan was not that at all. The teams had a TON of racial issues between the players during his years. Donnan’s view was let the players work it out among themselves.
Donnan allowed the program to be in complete disarray behind the scenes. That, along with not winning some important games, is what cost him his job.
Mark Bradley
July 20th, 2009
10:43 pm
I got an e-mail from the Old Coach today. He asked me to keep the contents private, and I’ll honor that request, with this tiny exception: He did say thanks for the kind words.
George
July 20th, 2009
10:55 pm
Donnan was offered the Kentucky and Kansas jobs before Brooks and Mangino along with others that his agent told me since he was terminated.
lazydawg
July 21st, 2009
10:21 am
Can you say tunnel sceen?Mr.Predictable let the players run the school and the locker room,but was a hell of alot better than what we had.
shepdawg
July 21st, 2009
5:45 pm
Thanks Mark for a nice article on an underappreciated coach. Coach Donnan left Georgia much better than when he arrived. Most of the criticisms of him are childish and uninformed. While everyone was disappointed in Quincy, Donnan did what was best for the program at the time and thankfully did not lift the redshirt on David Greene. His loyalty to Georgia is great even today ( yet our loyalty to him has been shaky at best). If you remember he turned down offers at NC, NCSt, and Oklahoma. Had Georgia stuck with Donnan I am sure he would have won several SEC titles and competed for the national title also. Don’t forget his comment on David Greene ” If you think Quincy was good wait till you see this kid’. He would have had a great team in 2001 and 2002. As for the Tech losses it seems to me that Al Ford should have been fired not Donnan. Rarely is it mentioned that ACC officials in Athens blew the Hamilton fumble at the end of that game also. He would have been averaging over 9 wins a season over his last 4 seasons at a time when Fla and Tenn were winning national championships and always ranked in the top 5. Yet he broke long losing streaks against both. He was always very pleasant around me so I never understood the off field angst. As a former high school coach I can tell you that his X’s and O’s were highly respected in the profession. Thanks Coach Donnan for all that you did to pave the way for our current successes.
Cindy Hendrix
September 14th, 2009
11:02 am
Jim Donnan did a fair to average job at ga going from Marshall to Div 1-A was a big leap & he just
could not do it compete with the big boys in the sec will give him credit for 97 his best year ga was
10-3 & beat fla great game in 97 aganist Auburn his personality needed some work after all remember alumni donate big money & the fans buy the tickets to fill up the stadium I commend Mike
Adams for saying it’s time for a change in the football program & now is the time Dooley taking up for him was a lost cause If Adams had not made the choice to fire him & hire Mark Richt UGA would not be where we are today Richt has taken us back to a team to be proud of not since Dooley have we come so far Richt is a fine coach & a good man a good fit for ga he learnded from 1 of the best Bobby Bowden Donnan did a good job at Marshall but the sec is a whole new ball game 1 he just could not compete with great job Mark Richt I hope you will be our coach for a long time to come GO DAWGS!!! Cindy
Palemoon
October 10th, 2009
10:50 pm
I don’t see the same “upgrade” in Richt that everyone sees. He’s not a very good coach. A micro-manager, sure. Brazen? Very. You can tell Richt graduated from the dirtiest, cheating’est program in the NCAA, the Miami Hurricanes.
Anyways, I want Richt held to the same standard as Donnan. I want him fired because he will never, ever, beat Tennessee and Florida in the same season. Especially when Urban Meyer is coaching Florida. Now *THAT* would have been a serious upgrade at coach for Georgia, to have landed him instead of Richt.