Kevin Donley has established himself as one of the most successful head coaches in the country. He has taken two different programs to national prominence and, in the process, won a national championship and national coach of the year honors. This fall he begins his 13th season as head coach at the University of Saint Francis, an NAIA college in Ft. Wayne, IN.
Donley played as an undergraduate at Anderson College (1970-1973), returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach a few years later and, in 1978, at the age of 26, was named Anderson’s head coach. At the time, Donley was the youngest head coach in the country. Donley’s four year record at Anderson was 28-9. He then was named head coach at Georgetown College and compiled a 75-43-1 mark over an 11 year period (1982-1992).
After four years as head coach at California (PA), Donley was then hired to start the Saint Francis program from scratch with their inaugural season in 1998. After a 2-8 campaign that fall, the Cougars have gone 119-18 and had three straight 13-1 seasons (2004-2006). Donley’s teams have set national offensive records in points per game (59.5), rushing touchdowns (69), and total offense per game (541.4). He owns the title of most points in a season (744) by any college team in the 20th century at all collegiate levels.
It looks like Donley will be staying at Saint Francis for awhile. Last month he signed a contract extension that will ensure his tenure at USF until 2016.