Terry Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history, died on Sunday. He was 77.
“We mourn the loss of a true Bruin and college football legend,” UCLA wrote on Twitter. The school wrote that “[Donahue] passed away on Sunday evening, July 4, at his home in Newport Beach, Calif., surrounded by family, following a two-year battle with cancer.”
The legendary coach was born and raised in Los Angeles and played at UCLA in the 1960s. After graduating, he worked as an assistant to Pepper Rodgers at Kansas and then became an assistant coach at UCLA when Rodgers was hired there in 1971. Donohue worked as an assistant coach from 1971 to 1975 under Rodgers and then Dick Vermeil. At the age of 31, Donahue took over as head coach, serving from 1976 to 1995.
As the Bruins’ head coach, he led them to five league titles and three Rose Bowl wins. He compiled a 151-74-8 record at UCLA and a 98-51-5 record in Pac-12 play. Donahue’s 98 wins are the most of any coach in Pac-12 history, and his 151 victories are the most in UCLA history. He coached future Hall of Famers: quarterback Troy Aikman, safety Kenny Easley and offensive tackle Jonathan Ogden.
Donahue retired in 1995 and became the lead college football analyst for CBS Sports from 1996-1998. In 1999, he began working for the San Francisco 49ers before becoming their general manager from 2001-2005.
Donahue was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. In 1997, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. In 2013 the press box at the Rose Bowl was named after him.
It was a sad day for the college football community.
