Mickey Donovan is a professional

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

coach who is currently the

special teams coordinator A special teams coordinator (STC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's special teams unit. Generally, the special teams coordinator, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator represent the second level of a t ...

for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He is a two-time

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

champion after winning with the Argonauts in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

College career

Donovan played

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 ...

for two years for the

Maine Black Bears The Maine Black Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of Maine. A member of the America East Conference, the University of Maine sponsors teams in eight men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports. The men's and women's Col ...

where he had 27 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 10 games played. He then transferred to

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

to play for the Stingers from 2002 to 2004. He was named a First Team All-Canadian in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and also won the

Presidents' Trophy The Presidents' Trophy () is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e., best overall record) during the regular season. If two teams are tied for the most points, then the Trophy ...

in 2004 as the top defensive player in

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athlet ...

Professional career

After attending a free agent tryout, Donovan signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

on May 18, 2005, to a two-year plus an option contract. He played in the

Touchdown Atlantic Touchdown Atlantic ( French: ''Touché Atlantique'') is a series of neutral site Canadian Football League games played in the Maritime provinces of Canada. In 2003, the league had struck a committee to examine the feasibility of adding a tent ...

preseason game, but was released on June 13, 2005. It was announced on February 22, 2006, that he had re-signed with the Tiger-Cats, but he was again released after the second pre-season game on June 3, 2006. Donovan had suffered a knee injury in 2006 which had ended his playing career.

Coaching career

Donovan began his coaching career as an intern with the

New Hampshire Wildcats The New Hampshire Wildcats, or 'Cats, are the College athletics in the United States, American intercollegiate athletic teams representing the University of New Hampshire (UNH), located in Durham, New Hampshire, Durham. The Bobcat, wildcat is the ...

in 2006. He was then hired by former Tiger-Cats head coach, Greg Marshall, to become the

linebackers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, associate and assistant coach, and the offensive and defensive coordina ...

for the

Western Mustangs The Western Mustangs are the athletic teams that represent University of Western Ontario, Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. The school's athletic program supports 46 Varsity team, varsity teams. Their mascot is a Mustang named J.W. a ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. Over his four years with the Mustangs, he also coached the special teams units and was the team's recruiting coordinator. On November 18, 2011, it was announced that Donovan had been hired as the assistant head coach and

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

for the

McGill Redmen The McGill Redbirds (formerly the McGill Redmen) and McGill Martlets are the varsity athletic teams that represent McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History In 1868, the first recorded game of rugby in North America occurred in M ...

. He spent two years with McGill, but the team was unable to qualify for the playoffs during that time. He returned to his alma mater on February 11, 2014 as he was announced as the new head coach for the

Concordia Stingers The Concordia Stingers are the athletic teams that represent Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They compete with other schools in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and more specifically in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RS ...

and was the fifth in the program's history. In his first season, the Stingers finished with a 5–3 record and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Donovan was subsequently named the RSEQ Coach of the Year. The Stingers qualified for the playoffs in each of the next three seasons, but were defeated in the semi-finals in all four years. After four seasons and a 16–15 regular season record, Donovan resigned as head coach of the Stingers after the 2017 season. On January 3, 2018, it was announced that Donovan had been hired as the

for the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

. He added the title of linebackers coach for the

2021 season 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

. However, Donovan was not retained following the 2021 season. It was announced on January 19, 2022, that Donovan had joined the

as their special teams coordinator.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Mickey 1980 births Living people American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Concordia Stingers football coaches Concordia Stingers football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Maine Black Bears football players McGill Redbirds football coaches Montreal Alouettes coaches People from Laconia, New Hampshire Players of American football from New Hampshire Toronto Argonauts coaches Players of Canadian football from New Hampshire New Hampshire Wildcats football coaches Western Mustangs football coaches Coaches of American football from New Hampshire