Our friend, Greg Hansen, has a nice article in today's Daily Star Sports Section about Donnie titled "Strategy of Waiting 30 Years Backfires"...
He laments not having the opportunity to interview Donnie over the years since they are both Utah State alums and their wives knew each other at the school...
And, she had nothing but nice things to say about Donnie, as a class act and man of integrity, who has overcome a lot in his life...
He grew up in South LA near Watts, where he attended Locke High School, and where he was teammates with MLB Hall of Fame players...Ozzie Smith and Eddie Murray...
He didn't have enough money to get his own baseball cleats so Ozzie gave him his cleats...
Donnie was a star athlete at LHS and was offered a contract by the Detroit Tigers but he opted to play football at Santa Monica Junior College where he was spotted and recruited by Bruce Snyder, who was coaching at Utah State at the time...
He was drafted by the Detroit Lions out of college but didn't stick and became a clothing salesman until he got a coaching job a few years later at Utah State...
Since then, he's had a storybook type career that has included many coaching stops in college and the NFL...
He was the Ravens DB coach under Brian Billick for Baltimore in 2000 when they won the Super Bowl and, shortly thereafter, he became the DC for Herm Edwards and the Jets...
He subsequently was the DC for the Detroit Lions under Rod Marinelli who was also from Utah State...
His resume is like a Coaching Handbook of Who's Who related to both college and pro coaching...
He's coached in more than 400 football games over his career and he is also a part of the Utah State All Century football team as a DB...
I really liked this human interest story since it helps to put things in perspective especially as we approach Thanksgiving...
Donnie didn't seek out the job he now has at ASU but did it even though the ASU program was in deep muck, and, for that, we should all be thankful, IMHO...
I bet he cannot wait for this dreadful season to be over, so he can get on with his life, as a retired, very well respected coach and person...
I don't think he's mailed it in but this is a young man's game and I'm sure that our next DC, whoever that turns out to be, will be much younger...at least I sure hope so...
I hope that you all have a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving...
Go Devils!!!
He laments not having the opportunity to interview Donnie over the years since they are both Utah State alums and their wives knew each other at the school...
And, she had nothing but nice things to say about Donnie, as a class act and man of integrity, who has overcome a lot in his life...
He grew up in South LA near Watts, where he attended Locke High School, and where he was teammates with MLB Hall of Fame players...Ozzie Smith and Eddie Murray...
He didn't have enough money to get his own baseball cleats so Ozzie gave him his cleats...
Donnie was a star athlete at LHS and was offered a contract by the Detroit Tigers but he opted to play football at Santa Monica Junior College where he was spotted and recruited by Bruce Snyder, who was coaching at Utah State at the time...
He was drafted by the Detroit Lions out of college but didn't stick and became a clothing salesman until he got a coaching job a few years later at Utah State...
Since then, he's had a storybook type career that has included many coaching stops in college and the NFL...
He was the Ravens DB coach under Brian Billick for Baltimore in 2000 when they won the Super Bowl and, shortly thereafter, he became the DC for Herm Edwards and the Jets...
He subsequently was the DC for the Detroit Lions under Rod Marinelli who was also from Utah State...
His resume is like a Coaching Handbook of Who's Who related to both college and pro coaching...
He's coached in more than 400 football games over his career and he is also a part of the Utah State All Century football team as a DB...
I really liked this human interest story since it helps to put things in perspective especially as we approach Thanksgiving...
Donnie didn't seek out the job he now has at ASU but did it even though the ASU program was in deep muck, and, for that, we should all be thankful, IMHO...
I bet he cannot wait for this dreadful season to be over, so he can get on with his life, as a retired, very well respected coach and person...
I don't think he's mailed it in but this is a young man's game and I'm sure that our next DC, whoever that turns out to be, will be much younger...at least I sure hope so...
I hope that you all have a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving...
Go Devils!!!
