Terry Donahue, the winningest coach in Pac-12 Conference and UCLA football history who later served as general manager of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, died Sunday. He was 77.
The school said he died at his home in Newport Beach after a two-year struggle with cancer.
Donahue has the most wins (98) of any coach in Pac-12 history and also the most wins (151) in UCLA history. He coached the Bruins from 1971-75, working as an assistant under Pepper Rodgers and then Dick Vermeil, before taking over as head coach at age 31 and serving from 1976-95. His first job out of college was as an assistant to Rodgers at Kansas for one season.
Donahue was the first to appear in a Rose Bowl game as a player, assistant coach and head coach. The Bruins won the New Year’s Day game in 1983, ’84 and ’86 during his coaching tenure. He was the first college coach to earn bowl game victories in seven consecutive seasons, from 1983 to 1989.