Don James

This is an article about Don James, the American football coach. For Don James the writer, see Don James (writer).

Don James (born December 31, 1932 in Massillon, Ohio) was a college football coach at the University of Washington.

James played quarterback for the University of Miami, where he set five school passing records. He then received a Master's Degree in Education from the University of Kansas. In 1971, James became the head football coach at Kent State University, where he compiled a 25-19 record in three years.

Coaching career

From 1975-1992, James was head coach for the University of Washington football team. Highlights include guiding his Washington teams to the national championship in 1991, six Rose Bowls (4 wins, 2 losses), an Orange Bowl title in 1985 and fifteen bowl games (10 wins, 5 losses) in eighteen years. In all, James compiled a 153-57-2 record, including a conference record 99 wins in Pac-10 conference play. Washington won 22 straight games from 1990-1992.

James was named national college coach of the year in 1984 and 1991. In 1997, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He resigned from his head coaching position on August 22, 1993, in protest of the double-jeopardy imposition of NCAA and Pac-10 sanctions against his team.

In a 2004 interview with a writer named Derek Johnson, James discussed publicly for the first time the reasons behind his resignation a decade earlier. [The Roses of Wrath]

He was given the nick-name of the "Dawgfather" by UW fans, a portmanteau of dog (in reference to the UW mascot—a husky) and Godfather.

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