James Mason Donnan III (born January 29, 1945) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...
player and coach and now a television analyst for college football and a
motivational speaker
A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk.
Motivational speakers ...
. He served as the head football coach at
Marshall University
Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States.
The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...
(1990–1995) and the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...
Burlington, North Carolina
Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
at
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universi ...
, Donnan defeated his future team,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to t ...
, 14–7, in the 1967
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...
. He was the ACC Player of the Year in 1967. He also played tennis for NC State. Donnan graduated from NC State in January 1968 with a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in recreation and park administration.
Coaching career
Prior to working as a head coach, Donnan served as an assistant coach at several schools, including
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public insti ...
,
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...
University of Oklahoma
, mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State"
, type = Public research university
, established =
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.7billion (2021)
, pr ...
. Donnan was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma from 1985 to 1989. From 1985 to 1988, he coached under
Barry Switzer
Barry Layne Switzer (born October 5, 1937) is a former American football coach and player. He served for 16 years as head football coach at the University of Oklahoma and four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Footbal ...
, a member of the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...
and a Super Bowl winning coach. Donnan coached the legendary Oklahoma Sooner wishbone offense that helped the Sooners to three consecutive 11–1 seasons from 1985–1987, and a national championship in 1985. In 1986, the Sooners scored 508 points, which at the time was the second highest point total in the school's storied history, trailing only the Sooners 1971 NCAA record setting rushing offense that scored 534 points.
Donnan was head football coach at
Marshall University
Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States.
The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...
, where he led the Thundering Herd to a 64–21 record from 1990 to 1995, including five consecutive 11-plus win seasons, four championship games, and the 1992 NCAA Division I-AA national football championship. He was named the Division I-AA Coach of the Year twice.
Donnan was then the head football coach at the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
from 1996 to 2000. He compiled a 40–19 record during his tenure. He was the first football coach in school history to lead
Bulldog
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.bowl victories. Under Donnan, the Bulldogs won the 1998 Outback Bowl, the 1998 Peach Bowl, the
2000 Outback Bowl
The 2000 Outback Bowl featured the Georgia Bulldogs and the Purdue Boilermakers. It was the 14th edition of the Outback Bowl.
Summary
Purdue quarterback Drew Brees threw touchdown passes of 3 and 11 yards to wide receiver Chris Daniels as Purdue ...
, and the
2000 Oahu Bowl
The 2000 Jeep Oahu Bowl was a college football bowl game, played as part of the 2000–01 bowl game schedule of the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. It was the 3rd and final game named Oahu Bowl, and became the Seattle Bowl for the 2001 ...
. Before the 1997 game against
Mississippi State
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...
, Donnan drove a
steamroller
A steamroller (or steam roller) is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for leveling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine. The leveling/flattening action is achieved throug ...
into practice and told his players they "were either going to be the steamroller or the pavement"; Georgia won the game, 47–0.
Donnan was fired by University President Michael F. Adams, against the wishes of athletic director
Vince Dooley
Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 t ...
, in 2000 after the Bulldogs struggled to two consecutive eight-win seasons, and three consecutive losses against
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...
. Donnan's inability to return the program to the national prominence of Dooley's era and to compete with longtime SEC Eastern Division rivals such as
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...
and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
, combined with certain off-the-field problems for players, are believed to be the reasons for his dismissal.
In May 2009, Donnan was elected to the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were v ...
for his coaching successes.
Post-coaching career
After coaching, Donnan worked as a college football analyst for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. In August 2014, Donnan was hired as an analyst for the American Sports Network.http://www.conferenceusa.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080714aad.html