By Amar Shah
Chris Donahue remembers one of his dad's more important principles on defense: not to be predictable.
“In the world of football, whether it's NFL or college level,” Chris says, “the other team is going to get video or films of your games and study what you do.”
His father, Ken Donahue, was a former Alabama defensive coordinator and assistant head coach under legendary head coach Paul “Bear” Bryant for 21 years. He won five national championships during his time. For Chris, as a coach's son, the concepts of football also translated to lessons in life.
Chris's upbringing was far from predictable, but it sure was eventful. He was the youngest of four boys.
“We had a goal post in our backyard to kick field goals,” Chris says. “We had weight machines in our garage. And this is the late 1960s so I was a very young kid.”
Coach Donahue would take his four sons to lift weights and run on a regular basis.
“He was trying to make us into football players at an early age,” Chris adds.
But his father wasn't a hard-ass coach like Bud Kilmer from Varsity Blues.
“I'm sure you've heard about fathers who overdo it with their sons,” Chris says. “I don't feel like my dad pushed us too hard. He was a great father, and we were very thankful to grow up in that environment.”
Some of Ken Donahue's Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl watches and Commemorative Coin Collection will be available in REA's Spring Catalog Auction
Chris played baseball and basketball and practiced boxing, but it was life on Saturdays in Tuscaloosa that he remembers most fondly.
“My dad would get tickets and give them to my mom and my brothers and we would go to the home games,” Chris says.
Though his dad was a football coach, it was another sport that elicited some of his strongest memories.
“He worked at Memorial Coliseum (now Coleman Coliseum),” Chris recalls about his dad. “The football coaches' offices were there and the basketball games were played there. We didn't have tickets, but he had the key.”
One memorable night was in February 1970 when Alabama’s basketball team hosted LSU, whose premier player was a gawky kid named "Pistol" Pete Maravich.
“I was very young and probably didn't know what was going on,” Chris remembers. “But he scored 60-something points that game, but I think Alabama still won.”
Afterward, Coach Donahue would usually take his sons to Shoney's to get a chocolate sundae.
“As a little kid, I liked to go so I could get dessert afterward.”
November 28, 1981 University of Alabama (vs. Auburn University) Full Ticket and Press Pass Pair - Coach Bear Bryant breaks the collegiate win record
His dad would coach football for 38 years with stops at Memphis, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Alabama. But during those Alabama years, when his dad coached under the legendary Bear Bryant, winning was elevated to another level. It was to the point where it was expected.
“Growing up with Alabama football, it got to a point where it was not a big deal to me,” Chris says.
One of the games to which his dad gave Chris a ticket was to the Alabama-Auburn rivalry game, which was in Birmingham at that time. Dubbed the “Iron Bowl,” it’s one of the most intense college football rivalries in the country and dates all the way back to 1893.
Although Chris decided not to attend this particular game, it ended up being historic. The legendary Bear Bryant won his 315th game, breaking the then-record for most college coaching wins previously held by Amos Alonzo Stagg.
Realizing the historical impact, Chris held on to the unused ticket all these years. That ticket along with a treasure trove of items from throughout Coach Donahue’s decorated career will be available in REA’s Spring Catalog Auction that runs from April 5 to 21.
The “Ken Donahue Collection” will include championship rings, pendants, watches, tickets, and press passes from notable games, including his national championship rings from 1964, 1978 and 1979, along with his national championship pendants from 1964 and 1965.
1981 University of Alabama SEC Championship Ring Commemorating Bear Bryant's 315th Win Presented to Coach Ken Donahue
“Whenever Alabama had a winning season, which was quite often during the '60s and '70s, we would go to a bowl game,” Chris recalls. “The bowls would usually give watches to the coaching staff. Or you might get some kind of luggage that might say the Sugar Bowl on it. Little odds and ends, but the watches were the big thing.”
His dad would get his mom a watch, but most of the time, they just stayed in a box inside his desk.
More of those items would gather dust and sit in the house. Several years ago, Chris was in contact with REA, but he wasn't ready to let them go. Now he is.
“I'm 60, and my brothers are older than me,” Chris says. “They're just trinkets. I have a son and a daughter. They're a generation removed from the '60s and '70s. It's not something they would appreciate as much as somebody else. And for the last few years, I've been talking to my brothers. These items are more for somebody who's a collector or a big fan who wants to put them in their trophy room. Let somebody else enjoy it. That's how I imagined it.”
So do we.
Amar Shah is a multiple Emmy-winning writer and producer who has written for ESPN.com, NFL.com, The Wall Street Journal, The Orlando Sentinel, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Slam Magazine and The Washington Post. In the 90s, Amar was a teen sports reporter and got to hang out with the Chicago Bulls during their golden era. He even landed on the cover for Sports Illustrated for Kids with Shaquille O’Neal. His debut novel "The Hoop Con" is now available with Scholastic. You can order it here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-hoop-con-amar-shah/1143287376?ean=9781338840315