Georgia Bulldogs Countdown to Kickoff: 96 Days
The countdown to kickoff has begun as we are less than 100 days to kickoff of the 2022 football season for the Georgia Bulldogs, who take on Oregon September 3rd at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. To pass the time before then, DawgsHQ is going to give you a day by day rundown, telling you why that number is important in the program’s history. It could be a player – current or past – that fans have fallen in love with. It could be a game, a play or any number of reasons why that particular day is special in Georgia Football history. We continue today, 96 days away from kickoff, with the No. 96.
No. 96 – Jim Donnan’s first season as Georgia head coach in 1996
In keeping with the year theme from yesterday, we’re turning the clock back to ‘96, a great time to be in the Peach State with the eyes of the world turning toward Georgia and the Atlanta Olympics.
It was also a time of great change in the Classic City, as Ray Goff was relieved of his duties, and the Dawgs brought in one of the greatest Division 1-AA coaches in history, Jim Donnan, for his first season.
A first-class offensive mind and integral part of the success of the Oklahoma Sooners dominance of the late 1980s, Donnan’s prowess with the wishbone offense would help the team secure a National Championship in 1985. They would follow it up with consecutive 11-1 seasons over the next two years.
From Norman, Donnan would go on to Huntington, West Virginia to lead the Thundering Herd of Marshall to a 1992 1-AA National Championship and amass five consecutive seasons of 11 or more wins.
Georgia took notice and brought Donnan in to head the program, with his time perhaps best remembered from his second season (1997) in which the Dawgs finished 10-2 and secured a win over Barry Alvarez and the Wisconsin Badgers in the Outback Bowl.
Since the end of his tenure, however, Donnan’s lasting impact on Georgia football has only grown, with his recruiting classes and coaching producing some of the greatest Dawgs in the history of the program.
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Names such as Hines Ward, Richard Seymour, Champ Bailey, and Marcus Stroud are all among stars who were either recruited by or played under and were developed by Donnan, and the list beyond them is quite lengthy as well.
Of course, he was also the head coach of Georgia’s current head coach, Kirby Smart, as well as offensive assistant Mike Bobo.
It seems quite safe to say we don’t know Georgia as it is today without the work and efforts of Jim Donnan, and that all started in ‘96.
“Without question, Jim Donnan is one of the finest offensive coaches I was ever associated with in college football. His offenses were the best in the nation in rushing and scoring.” – Barry Switzer
