Larry Donovan (born March 30, 1941) is a former head football coach for the Montana Grizzlies and BC Lions.
A 1964 graduate of the University of Nebraska, Donovan served as an assistant at Iowa, South Dakota, Washington State, and Kansas State before becoming Montana's head coach on December 15, 1979.[1]
In his six seasons as head coach of the Grizzlies, Donovan had a 25-38-1 record and only one winning season.[2] On November 25, 1985, Athletic Director Harley Lewis announced that the contracts of Donovan and eight of his assistants would not be renewed.[3] Donovan believed that he had been unjustly fired and blamed the antiquated Dornblaser Field for his lack of success in recruiting. His requests for a new stadium resulted in the construction of Washington-Grizzly Stadium, which opened in 1986.[4]
Donovan's next coaching job was as the defensive line coach for the BC Lions. On October 30, 1987, head coach Don Matthews was fired and Donovan was named interim head coach.[5] The Lions went 4-0 after the coaching change and finished the season in first place in the Canadian Football League West Division. In his first full season as head coach, the Lions had a 10-8 record and made it to the Grey Cup, losing to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22-21. The Lions struggled in 1989 and Donovan was fired after an 0-4 start.[6]
Donovan was an assisted Coach for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders in 1990 and 1991. He traveled to Japan to Coach the Japanese X League Hurricanes sponsored by Hitachi Limited and Renesas Technologies from 1992 until 2007. He was a Training Camp Coach and Consultant for the Asahi Beverage Challengers in Osaka, Japan in 2010.
References[]
- ↑ "Donovan Gets Montana Job". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 1979-12-15. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z54SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LPkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5634,5178164&dq. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ↑ http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/coaching/alltime_coach_year_by_year.php?coachid=2908
- ↑ "Montana coach won't be returning". The Gainesville Sun. 1985-11-26. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DewTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dAYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3928,3614152&dq. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ↑ "Donovan still bitter over firing". The Spokesman-Review. 1985-12-01.
- ↑ "People in Sports". Eugene Register-Guard. 1987-10-15. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=I2kVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eeEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1789,3602729&dq. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ↑ "Ex-Griz Donovan fired by B.C.". The Spokesman-Review. 1989-08-07. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=W-IRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7u8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6661,5084765. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
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