Mike Donahue
Mike Donahue went 127–59–8 as a head coach, 1904–1934, at Auburn, LSU and Spring Hill. His teams claim three national titles: Auburn in 1910, 1913 and 1914. Wikipedia’s season articles record one season differently (1904, 9–0); by them his record is 130–59–8. Share
One season our game records don’t credit to him comes from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1934 at Spring Hill. It’s marked in the table.
- Record
- 127–59–8 career
- Seasons
- 24
- Schools
- 3
- National titles
- 3 claimed: 1910, 1913 and 1914
- Hall of Fame
- 1951 inducted
- Best season
- 1913 8–0
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904 | Auburn | 6–0 (Wikipedia: 9–0) | T–1st | |||
| 1905 | Auburn | 2–4 | 9th | |||
| 1906 | Auburn | 1–5–1 | 16th | |||
| 1907: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1908 | Auburn | 6–1 | T–1st | |||
| 1909 | Auburn | 5–2 | 6th | |||
| 1910 | Auburn | 6–1 | T–1st | |||
| 1911 | Auburn | 4–2–1 | 2nd | |||
| 1912 | Auburn | 6–1–1 | 3rd | |||
| 1913 | Auburn | 8–0 | 1st | |||
| 1914 | Auburn | 8–0–1 | T–1st | |||
| 1915 | Auburn | 6–2 | 7th | |||
| 1916 | Auburn | 6–2 | 6th | |||
| 1917 | Auburn | 6–2–1 | T–2nd | |||
| 1918 | Auburn | 2–5 | 11th | |||
| 1919 | Auburn | 8–1 | T–1st | |||
| 1920 | Auburn | 7–2 | 8th | |||
| 1921 | Auburn | 5–3 | 9th | |||
| 1922 | Auburn | 8–2 | T–6th | |||
| 1923 | LSU | 3–5–1 | 19th | |||
| 1924 | LSU | 5–4 | T–19th | |||
| 1925 | LSU | 5–3–1 | T–17th | |||
| 1926 | LSU | 6–3 | T–10th | |||
| 1927 | LSU | 4–4–1 | 11th | |||
| 1928–33: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1934 | Spring Hill * | 4–5 | 9th | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against rivals | 97 | 54–39–4 | 58% |
| Conference games | 109 | 69–35–5 | 66% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 61 | 31–22–8 | 57% |
| At home | 104 | 82–17–5 | 81% |
| On the road | 81 | 41–37–3 | 52% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 124 | 103–18–3 | 84% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 61 | 20–36–5 | 37% |
His own 185 games on file, 1904–1927, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Heisman 1904–1925 | 11–5 | Georgia Tech, Rice | 16 | |
| Dan McGugin 1905–1920 | 4–5–1 | Vanderbilt | 10 | |
| W.A. Cunningham 1910–1919 | 5–1–2 | Georgia | 8 | |
| Bob Williams 1905–1915 | 3–2 | Davidson, Clemson | 5 | |
| Clark Shaughnessy 1922–1926 | 2–3 | Tulane | 5 | |
| Francis Schmidt 1923–1927 | 1–4 | Arkansas | 5 | |
| William Alexander 1920–1927 | 0–5 | Georgia Tech | 5 | |
| William Chadwick 1910–1913 | 4–0 | Mississippi State | 4 | |
| Wallace Wade 1923–1927 | 0–3–1 | Alabama | 4 | |
| Frank Dobson 1910–1912 | 3–0 | Clemson | 3 |
Mike Donahue’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia Techseries | 19 | 9–10 |
| Georgiaseries | 16 | 10–4–2 |
| Clemsonseries | 14 | 12–2 |
| Mississippi Stateseries | 13 | 11–2 |
| Vanderbiltseries | 11 | 4–6–1 |
| Samfordseries | 9 | 9–0 |
| Mercerseries | 8 | 8–0 |
| Tulaneseries | 8 | 4–4 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1904–06 | Auburn | Head coach | |
| 1908–22 | Auburn | Head coach | |
| 1923–27 | LSU | Head coach | |
| 1931–32 | Spring Hill | Assistant coach | |
| 1934 | Spring Hill | Head coach | |
| 1935–36 | Spring Hill | Freshman coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Assistants who became head coaches
- Pat DwyerLSU, Toledo
- Boozer PittsAuburn
- Harry RabenhorstWake Forest, New Mexico Military
Coached under him, later head coaches (3)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Dwyer | Auburn, 1908: assistant coach | LSU, Toledo | |
| Boozer Pitts | Auburn, 1919–22: assistant coach | Auburn | |
| Harry Rabenhorst | LSU, 1925–27: assistant coach | Wake Forest, New Mexico Military |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.