Donahue devoted the majority of his adult life to championing UCLA after enrolling at the school as a walk-on defensive lineman. In his first season (1965) in Westwood as a student-athlete, the 190-pound lineman helped lead the Bruins to the program’s first-ever Rose Bowl victory with an upset of previously unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Michigan State. He went on to serve as an assistant coach for the Bruins under Pepper Rodgers and Dick Vermeil and then took over the reigns as UCLA’s head coach, at age 31, beginning with the 1976 season.
Donahue, the first person to appear in a Rose Bowl Game as a player, assistant coach and head coach, would go on to post a conference-record 98 wins (98-51-5) and a school-record 151 wins (151-74-8). In a 20-year span, he won or shared five conference titles (1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1993) while finishing first or second in the league standings 12 times.