Typhoid Terry Donahue

by Nestor on Dec 29, 2005 6:00 AM PST in Football

I have never been big fan of Terry Donahue, the former UCLA football coach, who is basically the godfather of mediocre Karl Dorrell. Donahue was a mediocre football coach at best who never got the best out of blue chip talents the UCLA football program stockpiled during the 80s. He was able to stick around Westwood for so long back in the 80s and 90s, because back then we Bruin fans did not have avenues to express the latent frustrations we were experiencing from constant chokes and let downs of the Donahue coached football program. Sure he took the Bruins to the Rose Bowl in 94, and ended with a 5 game winning streaking against those SCumbags from cross town, people still seem to forget he was responsible for the incredible letdown of hugely favored Bruin football team experience against the Badgers at our home turn back in 94.

Not only that, Donahue was an insecure head coach who was never confident in his abilities. So much so he did not have the balls to promote Neuhisel from wide-receivers coach to OC, when Homer Smith left the OC position for the second time in 1994, right after the Rose Bowl. Instead of promoting Neuhisel, Donahue decided to hire Bob Toledo, a loser OC from R.C. Slocum's Texas A&M program, who was never going to be a threat to TD, unlike Neuhisel.

Anyways, why I am writing about Donahue today? Well check out this Jill Painter profile on UCLA's poor man's version of Lloyd Carr (sorry Joey we feel your pain brother), who is about to get inducted into the "Hall of Fame" of a bowl game no one in the country (except for bunch of nerds in the Big-10 and Dorrell's family, friends, and some delusional UCLA fans who still think UCLA will experience glory under KD) gives a rat ass about. If you need a real picture/perspective on Donahue, check out this Ray Ratto piece on Dorrells' godfather, who after leaving UCLA in mediocre shape, became the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers, and played a premier role in the ruining of one of the gold franchises in the NFL. Ratto's piece on Donahue after he was fired based upon an ugly video tape scandal should bring anyone back to reality if he or she has any delusions about Donahue being some kind of football genius (emphasis mine and full disclosure - yes, I am a Niners fan):

Of course, during the last several years we've seen that the franchise will stand for just about anything, including the hiring of Typhoid Terry Donahue.

Therein lies the 49ers' truest regret.

Oh, they're not happy about having crossed Mayor Gavin Newsom at a time when they're trying to get him to cozy up to the idea of a new stadium. Putting your political clout in a PR vise is no way to keep him as your political clout.

Still, if you could get Tortoise-Shell Johnny to admit to his greatest sin, it was hiring Donahue in the first place.

That is, unless the master plan was to deface the brand name to Eddie DeBartolo-Hires-Joe Thomas levels.

Donahue helped make Bill Walsh inert in the 49er hierarchy (with York's active connivance). He spent a huge chunk of his time as general manager in Southern California, where the burdens of the work ethic would not unduly weigh upon him. He made personnel decisions that made your eyelids bleed.

Mostly, he spent his time in San Francisco taking care of himself.

Now, this.

Donahue has denied sending the tape to The Chronicle, but his denial is no more convincing than his assurances that he could fix the team. There is no incontrovertible proof that he did it, but circumstances point with neon- intensity toward him as the prime suspect. He had means (he'd had the tape for months), motive (he was angry at York for having fired him, and was all but convinced that public relations director/nascent movie producer Kirk Reynolds helped to get him fired), and having been fired in January eight months after his contract was extended, he had five months' worth of opportunity.

But even if you want to go with innocent-until-proven-treacherous, you still have the fact that because Donahue knew about the tape months earlier, he is at the very least as complicit as York. If Donahue had a problem with the tape, he could have killed it at the time, and if he didn't know about it, he should have.

In other words, Donahue hurt the 49ers coming, he hurt them while he was there, and he hurt them going. When you put it that way, he was even worse than Joe Thomas.

By the way ... here is that lame video again (you will have to sign an adult content disclaimer).

So there you have it. Dorrell learned everything about how to be a mediocre coach from none other than Typhoid Terry Donahue - a backstabbing insecure tool who is always out for himself, as he had no qualms of throwing his former star quarterback, eventual protégé, Neuhisel under the bus, when it became clear that Skippy could become a threat to Donahue's mediocre, lackluster, uninspirational, boring, brand of football.

To sum it up, Typhoid Donahue was a joke, and is still a joke. And one has to shudder to think now we are stuck with a loser like Dorrell, who is not half the head coach Donahue was.

Have mercy on the Bruin Nation.

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Comments

Why the bitterness against Donahue?

Overall he was the best and most successful football coach UCLA has had in a very long time. I don't understand why you are so bitter against him.

And you really need to lighten up on Dorrell. Any number of schools would kill for a 9-2 season. The complainers just sound like whiney babies.

by philroq on Dec 29, 2005 4:50 PM PST reply actions

Only problem is ...

We are not like any other school. We are the king of champions. We have 97 NCAA national championships, more than any other school on the face of this planet. So when your football program goes 9-2 while your crosstown rival goes 12-0 enroute to their 3rd consecutive national championship in football, expectations to perform and succeed rise accordingly.

by ucla2k3 on Dec 30, 2005 7:37 AM PST up reply actions

only problem is...

The "we are just better" arguement is pretty silly. UCLA was a great basketball school and is a great goal to recapture some of that glory and return to the ranks of the national elite on a continuing basis.

SC is in the midst (maybe at the end if they don't win the Rose Bowl) of a great run in football. Being jealous of that just makes you bitter and unrealistic. Striving for it is fine, but the some of the whining and anger expressed by some folks on this site make UCLA look bad.

by philroq on Dec 30, 2005 10:24 AM PST up reply actions

Whatever ...

its so called fans like who are happy with Donahue/Dorrell axis of mediocre performances ... that makes UCLA fans look sad and apathetic. UCLA should be a school that is making NC runs in football every 3-4 years. We were certainly in a different plain under coaches like Vermiel or even during the McNowne years. We are nowhere close to that now ... and that seems fine with fans like you. Pathetic. And you didn't any of the points in my post on how Donahue destroyed the Niners, and left UCLA in bad shape.

by Nestor on Dec 30, 2005 10:34 AM PST up reply actions

How about realistic?

Donahoe left UCLA in roughly the same shape it was in when he got it. It wasn't like they'd just won back to back national championships at that point. The 49'ers were at the end of a VERY long run and the downward cycle was already starting. He would have had to be a magician to overcome the salary cap problems and age structure of the team he took over for.

I think the vocal whiners here live in a dream world. Some of the same folks crying for the coach's head are the same ones who felt that UCLA was going to beat USC this year.

by philroq on Dec 30, 2005 7:53 PM PST up reply actions

National title

I'd be lying to say I'm not bitter and jealous over SC's dominance. The fact that SC is establishing one of college football's greatest dynasty and is our crosstown rival makes me want to puke. Thus, the high expectations in Westwood. And given the talent that we have, I don't think it's too much to ask for a national championship to be delivered every now and then. For crying out loud, UCLA hasn't won a football national title since 1954! That's 51 years and counting.

by ucla2k3 on Dec 30, 2005 11:09 AM PST up reply actions