Inside The Huskies

Ex-Husky OC John Donovan Resurfaces as Florida Analyst

The well-traveled coach is 20 months removed from getting dismissed in Montlake.
Dan Raley|
Ex-Husky OC John Donovan Resurfaces as Florida Analyst
Ex-Husky OC John Donovan Resurfaces as Florida Analyst

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Two years ago during fall camp, John Donovan was an embattled University of Washington offensive coordinator, trying to make his pro-style offense work in Montlake.

He seemed like a nice enough guy when meeting with the media corps, self-deprecating to the point he told how he often was a critical New York Mets baseball fan not unlike those who were loudly booing him at Husky Stadium.

Donovan, however, didn't make it past nine games of a dreary, offense-challenged 2021 season for the UW, getting let go with the season still in play immediately following a 16-6 loss to Oregon at home.

Today, the New Jersey native is in the SEC, working as a senior offensive analyst for the Florida Gators and Bill Napier's staff, trying his best to rebuild a damaged coaching reputation.

Last season, Donovan joined the Green Bay Packers as a senior analyst — on defense. So he's made some progress since then.

Former UW coach Jimmy Lake hired Donovan from the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, sight unseen until they interviewed, and only because Lake's top choices for the job turned him down.

Donovan previously had enjoyed OC success at another SEC school, Vanderbilt (2011-13), but was fired after just two seasons as the Penn State offensive coordinator (2014-15). 

Even after the Huskies captured three of their four games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Donovan never heard the end of the criticism directed at his run-first offense. 

It got so bad Lake met with local media before the start of 2021 UW spring football practice simply to run video over and over, and try hard to convince a cynical audience the pro-style offense would work.

It never did and everyone eventually became unemployed.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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