Sean Patrick McDonnell (born October 15, 1956) is a retired

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

coach and former player, best known for his tenure as head football coach at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

Biography

McDonnell, nicknamed "Coach Mac", served as the head football coach of the

New Hampshire Wildcats football The New Hampshire Wildcats football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of New Hampshire located in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. The Wildcats compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

program from 1999 to 2021. From August 2019 to March 2020, took a leave of absence for medical reasons, with associate head coach

Ricky Santos Ricky Santos (born April 26, 1984) is an American former gridiron football quarterback who is currently the head coach for the New Hampshire Wildcats football team. He played college football at New Hampshire, and was signed by the Kansas City C ...

acting as interim head coach for the 2019 season. McDonnell returned to coaching in March 2020. McDonnell announced his retirement on December 1, 2021, at the conclusion of his 30th year as a coach for New Hampshire and 23rd year as head coach of the program. McDonnell won the

Eddie Robinson Award The Eddie Robinson Award is awarded annually to college football's top head coach in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). The award was established by The Sports Network, since merged into Stats Perform, ...

in 2005 and 2014, which is given annually to the top head coach in the

NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

(FCS). McDonnell ranks third all-time in

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

(CAA) victories. He ranks second all-time in wins at New Hampshire, only behind 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 vote ...

inductee he once coached under,

Bill Bowes William Eric Bowes (25 July 1908 – 4 September 1987) was an English professional cricketer active from 1929 to 1947 who played in 372 first-class matches as a right arm fast bowler and a right-handed tail end batsman. He took 1,639 wickets ...

. McDonnell is one of 13 FCS coaches with over 150 wins all-time as a head coach, and also had six wins versus

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS) opponents. McDonnell coached as players or had as assistants multiple people who went on to become college football head coaches, including: Ryan Day (Ohio State),

Chip Kelly Charles Edward Kelly (born November 25, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the UCLA Bruins. He came to prominence as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks from 2009 to 2012, whom he led to four consecutive BCS bowl game a ...

(UCLA),

Joe Conlin Joe Conlin is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at Fordham University. He previously served as an assistant football coach at Yale University, Harvard University, the University of New Hampshire, and West Virgin ...

(Fordham),

Tony Trisciani Tony Trisciani (born April 24, 1973) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina a position he has held since the 2019 season. Before becoming head coach, Trisciani was ...

(Elon), Dan Curren (Merrimack), Mike Letchen (University of New England),

Ryan Carty Ryan Carty (born August 9, 1983) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Delaware, a position he had held since the 2022 season. Playing career Raised in Somerville, New Jersey, Carty played hig ...

(University of Delaware) and his successor at New Hampshire, Ricky Santos. McDonnell has two sons. He lives with his wife in

Durham, New Hampshire Durham is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 15,490 at the 2020 census, up from 14,638 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauU.S. Census website 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, 2011. D ...

Head coaching record

Notes

References

External links

New Hampshire profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Sean 1956 births Living people American football defensive backs Boston University Terriers football coaches Boston College Eagles football coaches Columbia Lions football coaches Hamilton Continentals football coaches New Hampshire Wildcats football coaches New Hampshire Wildcats football players People from Durham, New Hampshire Sportspeople from Strafford County, New Hampshire Sportspeople from Saratoga Springs, New York Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from New York (state)