FILE – In this Dec. 11, 1995, file photo, Terry Donahue, the all-time leader in victories at UCLA and in the Pac-10, announces his resignation as head football coach, in Los Angeles. Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history who later served as general manager of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday, July 4, 2021. He was 77.
FILE – In this Sept. 10, 1988, file photo, UCLA coach Terry Donahue is carried off the field by his players after UCLA defeated Nebraska, 41-28 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The victory was Donahue’s 100th as Bruin coach. Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history who later served as general manager of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday, July 4, 2021. He was 77.
FILE – In this Nov. 11, 1995, file photo, UCLA head coach Terry Donahue watches his team play Washington during the closing minutes of an NCAA college football game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history who later served as general manager of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday, July 4, 2021. He was 77.
FILE – In this Thursday, Jan. 10, 2002, file photo, San Francisco 49ers running back Garrison Hearst, left, is congratulated by 49ers general manager Terry Donahue during practice at the 49ers training camp in Santa Clara, Calif., as Hearst won The Associated Press NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history who later served as general manager of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday, July 4, 2021. He was 77.
FILE – In this Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2003, file photo, San Francisco 49ers general manager Terry Donahue speaks at an NFL football news conference at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history who later served as general manager of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday, July 4, 2021. He was 77.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Terry Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history who later served as general manager of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday. He was 77.
The school said he died at his home in Newport Beach after a two-year struggle with cancer.
Donahue has the most wins (98) of any coach in Pac-12 history and also the most wins (151) in UCLA history. He coached the Bruins from 1971-75, working as an assistant under Pepper Rodgers and then Dick Vermeil, before taking over as head coach at age 31 and serving from 1976-95. His first job out of college was as an assistant to Rodgers at Kansas for one season.
Donahue was the first to appear in a Rose Bowl game as a player, assistant coach and head coach. The Bruins won the New Year’s Day game in 1983, ‘84 and ’86 during his coaching tenure. He was the first college coach to earn bowl game victories in seven consecutive seasons, from 1983 to 1989.
Born in Los Angeles, Terrence Michael Donahue graduated from Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks before going to UCLA. He joined the football team as a walk-on defensive lineman in 1965. He helped lead the Bruins to their first-ever Rose Bowl win in 1966 with an upset of previously undefeated and top-ranked Michigan State.
He had a 151-74-8 coaching record at UCLA and a 98-51-5 mark in Pac-12 play. The Bruins won or shared five league titles during Donahue’s tenure. He coached such future Hall of Famers as quarterback Troy Aikman, safety Kenny Easley and outside linebacker Jonathan Ogden.
