Filed for intro on 02/04/99

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 43 By Womack

A RESOLUTION to honor and commend James "Boots" Donnelly, longtime Middle Tennessee State University football coach on the occasion of his retirement.

WHEREAS, it was with a sense of remembrance, reflection and deep admiration that the members of the Tennessee General Assembly, the many Middle Tennessee State University football fans and all those who love the collegiate game learned of the retirement of one of the greatest and most beloved coaches of all time, James “Boots” Donnelly; and

WHEREAS, a top athlete at Father Ryan High School in Nashville, Coach Donnelly received the prestigious title of Nashville Interscholastic Player of the Year in 1960; and

WHEREAS, after his sterling career at Father Ryan, he enrolled at Middle Tennessee

State University, where he played defensive back on the football team for three years, before graduating in 1965; and

WHEREAS, Coach Donnelly received his Master’s Degree from MTSU in 1966; and

WHEREAS, after graduation, “Boots” began his illustrious coaching career as an

Assistant football coach at Father Ryan, serving expertly in that important post from 1966-1973.

He was a major factor in the success the Fighting Irish enjoyed during this period; and

WHEREAS, a natural choice for a head coaching job, he served as the Father Ryan

Head football Coach from 1974-1975. Under his able tutelage, Ryan compiled an excellent 21-1

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 43

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-1- overall mark, including a perfect 13-0 mark and the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic

Association Class AA state championship in 1974; and

WHEREAS, in 1976, Coach Donnelly served for one season as an Assistant Coach at

Vanderbilt, where his solid reputation as a great recruiter first gained attention; and

WHEREAS, for the next two seasons, he was the Head Coach at Austin Peay State

University, where he lead the Governors to their first ever Ohio Valley Conference title in 1977 and was honored as the OVC Coach of the Year. His impressive overall record at Peay was 14-

7; and

WHEREAS, Coach Donnelly returned to Middle Tennessee State as head football coach in December 1976, a period when their football program had not posted a winning season since

1972; and

WHEREAS, a realist, Coach Donnelly knew that it would take several years to reverse the losing trend. In 1981, MTSU finally posted a winning season at 6-5, a memorable year that included a stunning upset victory against traditional power Murray State, then the nation’s top- ranked NCAA Division 1-AA team; and

WHEREAS, in 1984, the Blue Raiders received an at-large berth in the NCAA Division 1-

AA playoffs, and beat OVC champion Eastern Kentucky and fourth-seeded Indiana State, thus reaching the semifinal playoff round and finishing with a fine 11-3 record; and

WHEREAS, in 1985, MTSU compiled a perfect 11-0 regular season record, won their first Ohio Valley Conference championship since 1965 and were ranked number one in the nation in the Division 1-AA poll during the final five weeks of the season. Their only loss that year came to Georgia Southern, the eventual national champion, whom they had beaten earlier; and

WHEREAS, in 1989, the Blue Raiders won the Ohio Valley Conference title, finishing 6-0 in league play, and won a first-round playoff win against highly regarded Appalachian State; and

- 2 - 00184426 WHEREAS, the 1990 team was the OVC co-champion, and finished the regular season ranked number one in the nation. MTSU reached the quarterfinal playoff round despite losing two quarterbacks to injury in the last three weeks of play. They finished with a superb 11-2 record; and

WHEREAS, in 1991, Middle Tennessee reached the quarter final playoff round and finished 9-4; and

WHEREAS, the 1992 squad won another OVC championship, finishing 10-3, with those three losses coming to Division 1-A giant Nebraska, Division 1-AA power Georgia Southern and

Division 1-AA national champions Marshall; and

WHEREAS, the 1994 team compiled an 8-2-1 record, reaching to the NCAA playoffs for the seventh time, and the relatively young 1995 Blue Raiders finished in the Division 1-AA Top

25; and

WHEREAS, in his twenty years as Head Coach at Middle Tennessee State University,

Coach Donnelly compiled an enviable overall record of 154 victories and just 94 losses, a winning percentage of .631; and

WHEREAS, under his brilliant guidance, the Blue Raiders won four Ohio Valley

Conference championships, finished in the National Top 25 ten times and made 7 Division 1-

AA playoff appearances; and

WHEREAS, Coach Donnelly has coached 13 National Football League players, 8 First

Team All-Americans and 12 Ohio Valley Conference Players of the Year; and

WHEREAS, each person that he has coached has been taught the value of hard work and to "play fair BUT PLAY TOUGH"; and

WHEREAS, four times, in 1977, 1983, 1985 and 1989, Boots' superior coaching ability was specially recognized with the appropriate honorific of OVC Coach of the Year; and

WHEREAS, in 1984 and 1989, Coach Donnelly was recognized as the NCAA Region 3

Coach of the Year; and

- 3 - 00184426 WHEREAS, the Tennessee Sports Writers Association named him their Coach of the

Year in 1988 and 1994; and

WHEREAS, in 1989, Coach Donnelly received the National Football Foundation's

“Contributions to Football Award”; and

WHEREAS, “Boots” is a popular guest speaker, and contributes a great deal of his time to charity golf tournaments; and

WHEREAS, he was instrumental in starting a yearly get-together of his former players, an event which has evolved into a yearly gathering of former Blue Raider athletes of all sports; and

WHEREAS, “Boots” is married to the former Carole Holtzapfel and they have three daughters, Helen Donnelly, Lauren Donnelly and Annie (Bunny) Wolf, who is married to Kevin

Wolf. They also have two grandchildren, Donnelly and Nicholas; and

WHEREAS, it is fitting that this General Assembly should pause in their deliberations to recognize the numerous contributions made by “Boots" Donnelly to the Middle Tennessee State

University football program, to the Ohio Valley Conference and to collegiate sports; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL

ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

CONCURRING, That we honor and commend Coach James “Boots” Donnelly and wish him much success in his retirement.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we express our deep appreciation to Coach

Donnelly for his countless contributions to collegiate athletics and for the many successful citizens he has helped to mold.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy.

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