American football player and coach (1932?2013)
Don James
James in July 2013
|
|
Born
| (
1932-12-31
)
December 31, 1932
Massillon, Ohio
, U.S.
|
---|
Died
| October 20, 2013
(2013-10-20)
(aged 80)
Kirkland, Washington
, U.S.
|
---|
|
1951?1953
| Miami (FL)
|
---|
|
---|
Position(s)
| Quarterback
,
defensive back
|
---|
|
1956?1957
| Kansas
(
GA
)
|
---|
1958
| Southwest Miami HS (FL)
|
---|
1959?1961
| Florida State
(DB)
|
---|
1962?1965
| Florida State (
DC
)
|
---|
1966?1967
| Michigan
(DB)
|
---|
1968?1970
| Colorado
(DC)
|
---|
1971?1974
| Kent State
|
---|
1975?1992
| Washington
|
---|
|
---|
|
Overall
| 178?76?3 (college)
|
---|
Bowls
| 10?5
|
---|
|
|
1
national
(
1991
)
[1]
1
MAC
(1972)
6
Pac-8/Pac-10
(1977, 1980?81, 1990?92)
|
|
AFCA Coach of the Year
(1977)
Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
(1991)
Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year
(1991)
George Munger Award
(1991)
Sporting News College Football COY
(1991)
MAC Coach of the Year
(1972)
3×
Pac-10 Coach of the Year
(1980, 1990, 1991)
|
|
---|
|
College Football Hall of Fame
Inducted in 1997 (
profile
)
|
|
|
|
Allegiance
|
United States
|
---|
Service/
branch
| U.S. Army
|
---|
Years of service
| 1954?1956
|
---|
Rank
|
Lieutenant
|
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Battles/wars
| Cold War
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Donald Earl James
(December 31, 1932 ? October 20, 2013) was an
American football
player and coach. He served as the head coach at
Kent State University
from 1971 to 1974 and at the
University of Washington
from 1975 to 1992, compiling a career
college football
record of
178?76?3 (.698).
His
1991 Washington team
won a share of the
national championship
after completing a
12?0
season with a decisive win over
Michigan
in the
Rose Bowl
. James was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
as a coach
in 1997.
Early life
[
edit
]
James was born in 1932 at his family's home on the outskirts of
Massillon, Ohio
.
[2]
He was the fourth of five sons. Four of the five played football, and the eldest,
Tommy
, starred at
Ohio State
on the
1942
national championship
team, and played professional football for a decade
(1947?1956).
James attended
Massillon Washington High School
, where was quarterback for the school's football team in 1948 and 1949, and graduated in 1950.
[2]
College football and military service
[
edit
]
James attended the
University of Miami
on a football scholarship, and was the
quarterback
for the
Hurricanes
in
1952
and
1953
. He set Miami single-season records for completions (121), yards (1,363), and completion percentage (56.9%).
[3]
He earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1954, and was commissioned as a
lieutenant
in the
U.S. Army
.
James was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
[4]
Coaching career
[
edit
]
Assistant coaching positions
[
edit
]
James was a graduate assistant for the
Jayhawks
at the
University of Kansas
under his former high school coach,
Chuck Mather
, and received a
master's degree
in education. He coached
high school football
in
Florida
at
Southwest Miami High School
in 1959, then was a college assistant coach for twelve seasons at
Florida State
,
Michigan
, and
Colorado
.
Kent State
[
edit
]
James became a head coach in
1971
at
Kent State
in his native Ohio, where he had a 25?19?1 (.567) record in four years. At Kent State, he coached future
NFL
player
Jack Lambert
, and future college head coaches
Nick Saban
of
Alabama
, and
Gary Pinkel
of
Missouri
. During his four seasons at Kent States, the
Golden Flashes
won their only
Mid-American Conference
(MAC) title in
1972
, and played in their first
bowl game
, the
Tangerine Bowl
.
[5]
The
1973
team posted the best record in program history at 9?2.
[6]
Washington
[
edit
]
In December
1974
, James was hired by
University of Washington
(UW)
athletic director
Joseph Kearney
to succeed
Jim Owens
as head coach of the
Huskies
.
[6]
[7]
[8]
His original contract was for four years, starting at $28,000 per year.
[8]
Like Owens, James served as Husky head coach for 18 seasons, from
1975
until August
1993
. He led the
Huskies
to a
national championship
in
1991
. While at Washington, James' teams won four
Rose Bowls
, the
Orange Bowl
in January 1985, and had a
10?4
record in all bowl games. Overall, James tallied a
153?57?2 (.726)
record at Washington, including a then-record 98 wins in
Pacific-10 Conference
play. (Against the five current North division opponents of the Pac-12, his record was
68?14 (.829)).
Washington won 22 consecutive games from November 1990 to November 1992.
[9]
James won national college coach of the year honors in 1977, 1984, and 1991. He was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
in 1997.
In early November
1992
, it was revealed that several Huskies players had received improper benefits. Among them, starting quarterback
Billy Joe Hobert
had received a series of loans totaling $50,000 made by a friend's father-in-law.
[10]
[11]
At the time, the defending national champion Huskies were undefeated (8?0),
ranked first in the AP poll
, and second in the coaches' poll.
[12]
While it was later determined the loan was neither an NCAA violation nor an institutional violation, this was the first in a series of reports by
The Seattle Times
and
Los Angeles Times
that initiated Pacific-10 Conference and NCAA investigations.
[13]
[14]
These led to charges that Washington exhibited "lack of institutional control" over its handling of recruiting funds for on-campus visits and a Los Angeles
booster
summer jobs program.
[15]
The Huskies received sanctions from both the
NCAA
and Pacific-10 Conference.
Though notably James and the coaching staff were not specifically cited as having broken any rules, James resigned from his head coaching position on August 22, 1993, in protest of what were considered unfair sanctions against his team for minor, unsubstantiated, or fabricated infractions.
[16]
Though university president
William Gerberding
and athletic director
Barbara Hedges
had presented James the final list of penalties that all Pac-10 parties had agreed best for the football program and athletics, Gerberding argued in favor of altering the penalties against the program from a two-year TV revenue ban and one-year bowl ban, to a one-year TV revenue ban and two-year
bowl ban.
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
In a 2019 interview with
The Athletic
, it was cited by his wife that his resignation from head coaching probably saved his life.
[22]
Personal life
[
edit
]
James married his high school sweetheart, Carol Hoobler, a
Massillon
native who followed James to Miami where she became a cheerleader.
[23]
[24]
They were married in August 1952 and had three children: Jeff, Jill, and Jeni.
[3]
On October 10, 2004, James raised the
Seattle Seahawks
12 flag
before a game at
Quest Field
vs. the
St. Louis Rams
.
[25]
Death
[
edit
]
James died of
pancreatic cancer
at his
Kirkland
residence in 2013 at age 80.
[26]
Legacy
[
edit
]
In October 2017, the University of Washington unveiled a
bronze statue of James
in the northwest plaza of
Husky Stadium
in
Seattle
.
[27]
Head coaching record
[
edit
]
- Wins by
MSU
and
UCLA
in (
1977
) and
ASU
in (
1979
) were later vacated, yielding James' overall record in Washington 153?57?2 (.726) and conference record in 99?36?2 (.730). Overall James' record yielding 178?76?3 (.698). However those wins are recognized by Washington they aren't recognized by NCAA.
[28]
Pac-10 opponents
[
edit
]
James' record at Washington against conference opponents (1975?1992)
- †
excludes non-conference loss to
ASU
(
WAC
) in
1975
- Wins by
UCLA
(
1977
) and
ASU
(
1979
) were later vacated, yielding 99?36?2 (.730)
Coaching tree
[
edit
]
James worked under five head coaches:
Thirteen of James' assistant coaches became head coaches in the NCAA or NFL:
- Dennis Fitzgerald
,
Kent State
(1975?1977)
- Dick Scesniak
, Kent State (1983?1985)
- Bob Stull
,
UMass
(1984?1985),
UTEP
(1986?1988),
Missouri
(1989?1993)
- Keith Gilbertson
,
Idaho
(1986?1988),
California
(1992?1995),
Washington
(2003?2004)
- Jim E. Mora
,
New Orleans Saints
(1986?1996),
Indianapolis Colts
(1998?2001)
- Nick Saban
,
Toledo
(1990),
Michigan State
(1995?1999),
LSU
(2000?2004),
Miami Dolphins
(2005?2006),
Alabama
(2007?2023)
- Gary Pinkel
,
Toledo
(1991?2000),
Missouri
(2001?2015)
- Jim Lambright
, Washington (1993?1998)
- Bill Wentworth
,
Denison
(1993?1999)
- Chris Tormey
, Idaho (1995?1999),
Nevada
(2000?2003)
- Jeff Woodruff
,
Eastern Michigan
(2000?2003)
- Al Lavan
,
Delaware
(2004?2010)
- Jim L. Mora
,
Atlanta Falcons
(2004?2006),
Seattle Seahawks
(2009),
UCLA
(2012?2017),
UConn
(2022?present)
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"UW Football National Championships"
. University of Washington
. Retrieved
February 17,
2021
.
- ^
a
b
Gregg Patton (December 25, 1981).
"Don James: Born to be a football coach"
.
The Sun
. pp. F1, F7 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
a
b
"Miami Mourns Loss of Don James"
. University of Miami. October 20, 2013
. Retrieved
January 5,
2018
.
- ^
"Don James"
. University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame
. Retrieved
January 6,
2018
.
- ^
"Kent State Game by Game Results, 1970"
. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2007.
- ^
a
b
"Rose Bowl in James' plans at UW"
.
Toledo Blade
. (Ohio). Associated Press. December 24, 1974. p. 13.
- ^
"Kent State coach is Huskies' choice"
.
Spokane Daily Chronicle
. (Washington). Associated Press. December 23, 1974. p. 19.
- ^
a
b
"UW: Kent State's James"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 24, 1974. p. 12.
- ^
"Washington Game by Game Results, 1990"
. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2007.
- ^
Farrey, Tom; Nalder, Eric (November 6, 1992).
"Hobert blows $50,000 loan"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). (Seattle Times). p. C1.
- ^
Carpenter, Les (June 20, 2002).
"Billy Joe Hobert: Villain, hero? Debate rages"
.
The Seattle Times
. Retrieved
January 2,
2012
.
- ^
Cour, Jim (November 3, 1992).
"UW coach coach says convincing win justifies ranking"
.
Spokesman-Review
. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. C4.
- ^
Johnson, Derek (2007).
Husky Football in the Don James Era
. Derek Johnson Books.
ISBN
978-0979327100
.
- ^
Carpenter, Les (June 20, 2002).
"Billy Joe Hobert: Villain, hero? Debate rages"
.
The Seattle Times
.
- ^
Farrey, Tom (August 22, 1993).
"No Bowl Play For Huskies, Pac-10 Decides -- Penalties Beyond 1-Year Ban Possible; Ratification Vote Today"
.
The Seattle Times
. Retrieved
January 2,
2012
.
- ^
Caldwell, Phil (January 21, 2011).
"USC Sanctions: Unjust Penalties Against UW a Decade Ago Might Force NCAA's Hand"
.
Bleacher Report
.
- ^
Johnson, Derek (2007).
Husky Football in the Don James Era
.
ISBN
9780979327100
.
- ^
"The Betrayal of Don James"
.
UW Dawg Pound
.
- ^
Munson, Carl (December 9, 2011).
"The Betrayal: Don James"
.
The Husky Haul
.
- ^
"William Gerberding 1929 -2014, fmr UW President Was Architect Of Husky Football's Demise"
.
UW Dawg Pound
. January 9, 2015.
- ^
Samek, Dave (August 29, 2004).
"The Roses of Wrath"
.
UW Dawg Pound
.
- ^
"The final days of Don James"
.
- ^
"Husband and Wife Graduate"
.
The Evening Independent
. June 8, 1954. p. 2 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Don James induction video"
. University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-13
. Retrieved
January 6,
2018
.
- ^
Seattle Seahawks 12 Flag Raisers
(Stadium Sign).
Qwest Field
:
Seattle Seahawks
. 2006
. Retrieved
May 4,
2022
.
- ^
Jude, Adam (October 20, 2013).
"Legendary Washington football coach Don James dies at age 80"
.
The Seattle Times
.
- ^
Cohen, Stephen (October 27, 2017).
"UW unveils 'Dawgfather' Don James statue outside Husky Stadium"
.
SeattlePI
.
- ^
"All-Time Records for Washington"
. Archived from
the original
on 2016-08-22
. Retrieved
2020-01-11
.
External links
[
edit
]
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# denotes interim head coach
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