After a decade as head coach at Penn, Steve Donahue is out as head coach following a rough end to his tenure. A former assistant with the school, he’s become one of the winningest Ivy League coaches in recent memories, but the Quakers will hunt for their next leader and begin a new era.
Donahue played collegiately at Ursinus, a small D3 college in Pennsylvania, and began his coaching career at the high school level quickly thereafter. He actually caught on as an assistant at Penn under Fran Dunphy, spending a decade on his bench prior to the turn of the century.
In 2000, Donahue began his head coaching career at Cornell and slowly built something really special with the Big Red. It took a few slow seasons, but Donahue made major strides, taking Cornell to three straight NCAA Tournaments including an unforgettable run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010.
Shortly thereafter he was hired at Boston College and spent four up and down seasons in the ACC with the Eagles. After bottoming out, he bounced back nicely when Penn handed him the reigns of their program in 2015. Success came in his third year, taking the Quakers back to the NCAA Tournament, while his team would finish Top 4 in the league for six straight seasons.
Unfortunately, Penn has taken a major step back in recent seasons. The Quakers just concluded an 8-19 season and a second straight 7th place finish in the 8-team Ivy League. That marked the Quakers’ worst record in more than a decade and opened the door for a major change for this program.
Donahue spent nearly two decades as a head coach in the Ivy League and was around these programs for 30 years. His career is far from a failure, touching many lives and leading four teams to the NCAA Tournament as the head coach. However, it was definitely time for a change and Penn is set to look in a new direction.
His hire produced quick results in 2015 and it wouldn’t surprise to see Penn look into someone similar with head coaching experience. We don’t have any specific names in mind at this point, but winning in the Ivy League is much tougher than in other leagues. A program like Penn should have the tools to succeed with the right hire, but who exactly will that next coach be?