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Tuesday, December 5, 2000
ATHENS, Ga. -- The players wandered into Georgia's athletic complex, expecting to talk about their bowl trip to Hawaii. Oahu Bowl-bound
Bulldogs stunnedThe firing of head coach
Donnan puts a damper in
Georgia's trip to HawaiiBy Paul Newberry
Associated PressInstead, they learned their coach had been fired.
Jim Donnan was dismissed yesterday by the Bulldogs despite winning more than two-thirds of his games and receiving a vote of confidence from athletic director Vince Dooley just three weeks ago.
"We heard some rumors right before we went in," running back Brett Millican said. "But you never think it's really going to happen."
Donnan came under fire for coaching an underachieving team that began the season ranked No. 10 and expected to win the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division.
The No. 24 Bulldogs (7-4) lost three of their last four regular-season games for the second year in a row, settling for a spot in the Oahu Bowl.
Still, the dismissal was stunning in light of Donnan's overall record: 39-19 in five seasons, plus four straight bowl invitations. He had the third-best winning percentage among SEC coaches, trailing only Florida's Steve Spurrier and Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer.
"A lot of coaches would love to be able to say that," Georgia quarterback Cory Phillips said. "I guess it came down to the fact that he couldn't beat the big four."
For Georgia, the biggest rivals are Florida, Tennessee, Auburn and Georgia Tech. Donnan had a losing record against all four, going 6-14 overall.
The Bulldog Nation was especially perturbed about a third straight loss to Georgia Tech, a streak that hadn't happened since the early 1960s.
"It's something we can't ignore," Dooley said. "Suppose we had a winning record against all four of those teams. Would we be here? The fact of the matter is we would not be here if that was the case."
With Donnan coming under increasing criticism, Dooley said Nov. 14 that had no intention of firing the coach.
"I like our coach," Dooley said at the time. "I feel like he's putting together a good program."
Dooley wanted to give Donnan another season -- "with the idea that next season would be extremely important." The AD changed his mind at the behest of university president Michael Adams, who has taken an active role in the athletic department during his four-year tenure.
"Once we went through the likelihood of whether or not we'd be sitting here doing this a year from now, we became convinced ... that it was probably fairer to coach Donnan and to the program to go ahead and make a change now," Adams said.
The final blow was a loss to Georgia Tech, which cost the Bulldogs a possible New Year's Day game.
Donnan did not immediately comment on his firing or whether he would accept the offer to coach the bowl game for the Bulldogs. A woman who answered the telephone at the coach's home said he was not taking calls.
Several players hinted at a possible Oahu boycott if Donnan wasn't the coach. Dooley, who was a coach for 25 years, downplayed those feelings after meeting with the team.