Kevin Donley

Head Football Coach

Born: July 4, 1951

Hometown: Springfield, Ohio

High School: Springfield Shawnee H.S.

Academic Degrees: Anderson College (BA) '73; Ball State University (MBA) '80.

Coaching Experience: Anderson College (HC) 1976-81; Georgetown College (HC) 1982-92; University of California, PA (HC) 1993-96; University of Saint Francis (HC) 1997-present

NAIA National Coach-of-the-Year: 1991 (Georgetown); 2004 (USF)

MSFA MEL Coach-of-the-Year (6): 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 

MSFA MEL Championships (9): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 

Record @ USF: 236-112-1 (12 years)   Career Record: 236-112-1 (31 seasons)

Just two years.

That’s all the time it took for Kevin Donley to take a collegiate football program from scratch at the University of Saint Francis and turn it into not only a winner, but a conference champion and perennial NAIA Top 25 team.

Donley, who takes the Cougars into their 13th football season in 2010, came to Fort Wayne in 1997 with a vision. With the blessing of the USF administration, he quickly developed one of the most successful collegiate football programs at any level during any time period. Sometimes referred to as the ‘Founding Father’ of collegiate football in Fort Wayne, Ind., Donley secured his and the program’s 100th win in the tenth game of the 2007 season, just the 121st game in program history and unofficially the fastest program ever to win 100 games in a program’s first 10 seasons in the fewest number of games.

He’s been a conference coach of the year 15 times including MSFA Mideast League Coach of the Year seven times. Donley was recognized for his contribution to the Fort Wayne Community in June 2007 when he was named a ‘Red Coat Recipient’ by Mad Anthony’s Charity Classic for Children, one of the most prestigious awards in Fort Wayne.

Donley, who was inducted into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame in October 2008, has guided the Cougars to six unbeaten regular seasons in the last eight, seven consecutive double-figure win seasons, a 92-11 record over the last eight seasons, an .893 winning percentage. USF has won an unprecedented nine Mid-States Football Association Mideast League championships including eight straight, and a record-tying 11 consecutive berths in the NAIA Football Championship Series including three consecutive runner-up finishes in 2004-06. USF won its first 13 games of the season three consecutive seasons and Donley has been named National Coach of the Year twice (2004 NAIA; 2005 Schutt).

A 2004 inductee to the Georgetown College (near Lexington, Ky.,) Athletic Hall of Fame, Donley relished the challenge of developing a collegiate football program from scratch starting in April 1997. Along with a savvy, hard-working staff of assistant coaches, the Cougars wasted no time delivering Fort Wayne area collegiate fans with football thrills as the only collegiate football program in Fort Wayne. USF may have taken its lumps in 1998, but in 1999 Donley guided the Cougars to their first conference title and NAIA FCS berth and USF has been a perennial NAIA Top 25 team for nine straight seasons.

Donley saw Fort Wayne, northeastern Indiana and northwestern Ohio as an untapped source of quality football talent and expected success. A Springfield, Ohio native, Donley’s teams have won 16 conference titles and he ranks No. 2 in NAIA in wins among active coaches with 229.

Anderson University (Indiana) is where Donley launched his coaching career after playing for the Ravens. He spent his first two seasons as offensive coordinator before being named the Ravens head coach in 1978. Though just 26, then the youngest head coach in the nation at any level, Donley made an immediate impact. In four seasons Donley compiled a 30-9 overall record. In 1981, he led the Ravens to a 9-2 record and they advanced to the NAIA II national playoffs. They also won Hoosier-Buckeye Collegiate Conference championships in 1980 and 1981.

Donley became the 25th head coach at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky., near Lexington, in 1982. GC had gone 14-24 the previous five seasons. After a 2-9 first season, GC went 73-34-1 the next 10 seasons. He directed GC to the 1991 NAIA II National Championship. Donley’s Tigers defeated perennial NAIA power Pacific Lutheran 28-20 to finish 13-1 in 1991. Donley was named 1991 NAIA National Coach of the Year. He left as the winningest coach in GC history with 75 career wins after his Tigers went 52-15-1 and won five Mid-South Conference titles in his last six seasons there.

Donley left Georgetown after the 1992 season to take over at NCAA Division II member California University of Pennsylvania. He spent four seasons trying to revive a program that had fallen on hard times. He left the Vulcan program in April 1997 to accept the challenge at the University of Saint Francis.

Donley-coached teams have etched some impressive offensive records in his 26 seasons including five national offensive records. His 1991 Georgetown team set national single-season offensive records for points per game (59.5), rushing touchdowns scored (69), total touchdowns (102), yards gained per play (7.0), most yards gained (7,580) and total offensive yards per game (541.4). His offensive teams have averaged 40.8 points per game. He owns the title of most points scored in a season (744) by any college team in the 20th century at all collegiate levels and earned a display in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992.

An Indiana Football Hall of Fame inductee (June 2005), Donley has an overall career coaching record of 236-112-1 (.677) after completing his 31st season in 2009. Donley has a .740 winning percentage (226-79-1) in 27 NAIA seasons as a head coach and has winning seasons in 18 of the last 19. In Donley’s 31 years as a head coach, 159 players have earned all-conference at USF, and 15 of his players have continued playing in the professional ranks at some level.

As a player, Donley was a linebacker and fullback at Anderson College. He is a 1973 graduate of Anderson College with a Bachelor’s Degree in physical education.

Donley, 59, earned his Master’s Degree in education from Ball State in 1980. He served as Director of Athletics at USF for nearly eight years. Donley was named a Hilliard Gates Achievement Award winner in November 2004 by the Fort Wayne Sports Corporation.

Donley has two children, son Patrick and daughter Megan.