On Nov. 25, 1985 a youngish reporter, in his Monday duties writing about Griz football for the Montana Kaimin student newspaper, traipsed into Larry Donovan’s office.

There, he began a question to UM’s head coach that dragged on a bit. It hit the low points (last in total defense in Division I-AA for a second straight year) and a high point (but you just beat Northern Arizona) and more low points (six league wins the last three seasons, none against the Bobcats) and another high point (Washington-Grizzly Stadium is really taking shape!). 

Finally, he closed: “So given all that, are you worried about your job?”  

“They fired me this morning,” Donovan said. 

Donovan passed away this week, though an exact cause, date and place is not known. The B.C. Lions, who took on Donovan as a defensive coach and then as head coach after his UM days, confirmed the news on Tuesday. He was 84. 

I have come here not to bury Donovan, to reverse a bit of Shakespeare, though it is also hard for some to praise the man who went 25-38-1 as the Grizzlies’ coach.  

As much as one could dread those Monday sit-downs with the taciturn coach — or the Wishbone offense of 1985 — he did some serious good. The list is not limited to bringing the Grizzlies their first Big Sky Conference title in 12 seasons, in 1982. 

He was a force behind the building of UM’s on-campus stadium, one of the jewels of the FCS. And if you found a couple old media guides you’d also discover a decent coaching tree. 

Joe Glenn, who guided Northern Colorado to two DII titles and the Griz to their last FCS crown in 2001, is on that ‘85 staff. So are Mike Van Diest and Jim Hogan, who helped Carroll College win six NAIA championships from 2002-10. 

Then there’s his last recruiting class, which numbered 42. It included several players important to Don Read hitting the turf running, or passing; Brent Pease; Mike Rice; Mike Rankin; Kenneth Gober; Duane Hans; Kirk Scrafford; Scott Werbelow; Clay Clausen; Tony Arntson; Kevin Bartsch; Renard Coleman; Tim Polich; and Pat Hardiman. 

Read, who passed away in early 2024, never had a losing season with the Grizzlies and is a beloved figure around UM. Yet part of his success can be credited to Donovan. 

Can anyone imagine Donovan diagramming plays for a Kaimin reporter, as Read did in 1986? Negative, the Army veteran Donovan might say. But while Read retired after the 1995 championship year, Donovan kept going.  

The CFL Lions hired him in 1987 and then elevated Donovan to head coach that season after firing Don Matthews. The Lions won their last four games that season and went 12-9 the next season, including a 2-1 playoff run. They lost 22-21 to Winnipeg in the 1988 Grey Cup. 

He was dismissed after a 0-4 start in 1989. Then from 1992-2007 he coached football in Japan.  

“Throughout his tenure, Larry positively influenced everyone in our organization,” Jamie Taras, a B.C. Lions official who also played for Donovan, said Tuesday. “He always had a great upbeat energy that trickled down to the rest of the team. 

“Our thoughts are with his wife Georgia, their three daughters and the entire family.” 

I didn’t know Donovan very well; I certainly never played Babe Ruth baseball against him, like I did the current Griz coach, but he deserves credit where it is due. So we say: “Friends, Grizzlies, countrymen, lend me your ears. ... “ 

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or at [email protected].