James F. "Boots" Donnelly (born October 15, 1942) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University (APSU) () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 ...

from 1977 to 1978 and at

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a Public university, public research university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as ...

(MTSU) from 1979 to 1998, compiling a career

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coaching record of 154–94–1. Donnelly was inducted into the Blue Raider Hall of Fame in 1993. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

as a coach in 2013.

Playing career

Donnelly was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

at MTSU; his playing career culminated with an MTSU victory in the

1964 Grantland Rice Bowl The 1964 Grantland Rice Bowl was an NCAA College Division game following the 1964 season, between the Muskingum Fighting Muskies and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. This was the inaugural playing of the bowl. Notable participants Middle Tenn ...

Coaching career

Donnelly began his coaching career at his alma mater,

Father Ryan High School Father Ryan High School is a private Catholic Church, Catholic high school in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1925 as Nashville Catholic High School for Boys, Father Ryan is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville, Diocese of Nashvill ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He served as the head football coach there from 1974 to 1975, tallying a mark of 21–2. His 1974 team went 13–0 and won the Tennessee Class AAA title. In 1976 Donnelly joined the football staff at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, coaching the offensive backfield under head coach, Fred Pancoast. Donnelly went on to be the head coach at Austin Peay for two seasons, and at MTSU for twenty seasons.

Later life

After the conclusion of his coaching career, Donnelly served as athletic director at MTSU for several years. In 2006, he became CEO of ''Backfield in Motion'', an organization dedicated to fostering academic and athletic abilities among inner city youth. In October 2015, a statue of Donnelly was unveiled on the MTSU campus.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

*
Boots Donnelly photo
playing in the

''Backfield in Motion'' homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Boots 1942 births Living people American football defensive backs Austin Peay Governors football coaches Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders athletic directors Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football coaches Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football players Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches High school football coaches in Tennessee College Football Hall of Fame inductees Coaches of American football from Tennessee Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee